The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 27, 2007
Filed:
Apr. 29, 2004
Danny D. Howard, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Che-hang Charles Ih, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Danny D. Howard, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Che-Hang Charles Ih, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A system and method to enhance attitude estimation for transfer orbit maneuvers of a spinning satellite includes a transfer orbit earth sensor that can receive and convert an infrared radiance to an analog signal. The analog signal is provided to a hardware chord processor and an analog-to-digital converter. The hardware chord processor determines an earth chord length based on the analog signal. The analog signal is sampled in the analog-to-digital converter to provide a digital signal to a digital earth sensor pre-processor, which reshapes the digital signal to provide a pre-processed signal having nearly distinct peaks. A software chord processor is provided with the pre-processed signal. The software chord processor locates the peaks in the pre-processed signal and determines an earth chord length.