The present invention is directed generally to antennas and particularly to antenna systems for mounting to a vehicle for receiving signals, such as from a Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS).
With the proliferation of various communication and entertainment technologies, it is becoming increasingly desirable to receive signals in moving vehicles. Today's vehicles sometimes receive radio, wireless telephone signals, email, electronic data, Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) data, television signals, etc. This need for in-vehicle reception exists in consumer automobiles, commercial automobiles and trucks, commercial and private airplanes, pleasure and commercial boats, and in military vehicles of all sorts, just to name a few. For many of these applications, it would be desirable if the signals could be received using a rather unobtrusive antenna. At the same time, it can be desirable to use a large, somewhat narrow beam antenna, as opposed to a small, wide beam antenna, in order to be able to pick up signals from rather remote sources (which can be faint).
Moreover, in order to collect the faint signals from the remote sources, often it is necessary to keep the antenna pointed at the source. Unfortunately, the movement of a vehicle makes it difficult for a typical antenna to track a signal source. The antenna could be made to track side-to-side (azimuth) and up and down (elevation), but if the antenna is of substantial size, this has disadvantages. One such serious disadvantage is that the antenna might then protrude significantly at times, interfering with the smooth airflow over the vehicle or adversely affecting the aesthetics of the vehicle.
In military radar applications for aircraft, it has been known to utilize an array of antenna elements and to mechanically rotate the array in azimuth to provide wide side-to-side coverage. To provide wide up and down (elevation) coverage, the radar array is electronically controlled to “look” in a wide variety of elevation directions (to scan in elevation without moving the antenna elements physically). The electronic control consists of applying phase shifts to the incoming electromagnetic energy received at the various antenna elements to cause the energy received from a desired direction to add up constructively, allowing the array to “see” in that direction. Unfortunately, the electronic hardware typically needed for such scanning by applying varying phase shifts is rather expensive, limiting the practical application of such antenna arrays to military or similar applications.
In recent years, Earth-orbit satellites have been launched to provide digital television signals directly to peoples' homes. These satellites are called Direct Broadcast Satellites (DBS). Typically, the satellite is placed into a geosynchronous (stationary) orbit around the Earth. As such, in order to receive the television signals at a building or home, a small antenna dish typically is mounted to the building or to a nearby mounting pole and is aimed at the satellite. These small antenna dishes are concave and are about the size of a pizza pan.
While such dish antenna designs are useful for receiving the DBS signal at a building, these antennas are especially ill-suited for use on a moving vehicle. This is so because this type of dish antenna presents a rather large profile, which can interrupt smooth airflow as the vehicle travels. Indeed, the dish antenna is large enough and has a large enough profile that wind resistance and noise generated thereby would be very objectionable if one were to mount the dish antenna to the outside of the vehicle. Moreover, because of the large profile of the dish antenna, mounting this antenna securely enough to maintain a stable position despite wind resistance presents a formidable challenge.
As mentioned above, mounting a dish antenna to a vehicle presents an additional challenge in the difficulty of keeping the antenna trained on the satellite. The reason for the difficulty is that the vehicle changes orientation in use. One moment the vehicle is oriented in one direction and at another moment the vehicle can be turned to be pointing in a very different direction. For example, in order for a vehicle-mounted DBS antenna to be useful, it would need to be able to be trained on the satellite and generally stay pointed at the satellite regardless of changes in orientation of the vehicle. To accomplish this with a dish antenna would mean rotating the dish and/or changing the elevation angle of the dish. In general, this is impractical.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need remains in the art for a low-cost directional antenna which can be mounted to a vehicle for receiving signals, which antenna has a low profile, and which can be trained on a source and continue to point at the source as the vehicle changes orientation. It is to the provision of such an antenna that present invention is primarily directed.
Briefly described, in a first preferred form the present invention comprises a low-profile antenna for mounting to a vehicle. The low-profile antenna includes an array of antenna elements for receiving incoming electromagnetic signals. An azimuth drive is provided for physically rotating the array of antenna elements about an azimuth axis. Furthermore, an altitude drive is provided for physically pivoting the individual antenna elements to change the elevation angle at which the individual antenna elements point. With this construction, the antenna system can be pointed at a source, such as a satellite, by operation of the azimuth drive and/or the altitude drive and can maintain the pointing over a wide range of vehicle orientations.
Preferably, the antenna elements are each a low-profile element. More preferably, the antenna elements are half-cylinders each comprising a dielectric cylinder with a reflector extending axially therein. In one optional form, the antenna elements are all about the same size and lie in one plane. In another optional form, the antenna elements are of different sizes. Preferably, the antenna elements lie in a plane which is generally perpendicular to the azimuth axis. Optionally, the antenna elements can lie generally in a plane which is at an acute angle with respect to the azimuth axis. Optionally, the antenna elements can be positioned in one orientation relative to the azimuth axis for pointing at a satellite roughly overhead and the orientation of the elements can be varied relative to the azimuth axis by tilting the entire grouping.
Preferably, the antenna elements are controlled in elevation together using a single drive motor to effect elevation changes. Also preferably, the antenna system includes phase shifters to phase align the antenna elements. In one form, the phase shifters comprise mechanical “trombone” phase shifters. In another form, the phase shifters comprise electronic ferrite phase shifters.
Preferably, the antenna further includes a controller for monitoring signals received by the antenna array and for controlling the elevation drive and the azimuth drive to maximize the signal so received. Moreover, ideally the controller also is operative for controlling the operation of the mechanical phase shifters.
Preferably, the antenna elements are mounted to a sub-base or platen and the sub-base has a major dimension of about 30 inches or less. Also preferably, the antenna array system has a low profile such that wind resistance and wind noise are minimized. Typically, the antenna system is much wider than it is tall. Preferably, the number of antenna elements is between 2 and 12. More preferably, there are between 4 and 8 antenna elements in the array.
It is preferred that the antenna system includes feed sources in the form of slotted waveguides associated with each antenna element. The slotted waveguides can be positioned below each associated antenna element. Alternatively, the slotted waveguides can be positioned laterally to the side of the associated antenna element.
Preferably, the outputs from the feed sources are combined and then channeled through a single channel rotary joint for coupling the combined signal with an external device. For example, the combined signal can be coupled to a DBS tuner for connection to a television screen.
Advantageously, by utilizing an array of relatively small elements, the overall profile of the system can be kept low. At the same time, the individual elements are controlled to maintain good pointing at the source. Collectively, the output from the array of elements is adequate to deliver a good, usable signal even from a relatively weak input signal, such as from a direct broadcast satellite. The invention therefore provides a low profile antenna system which is effective for receiving a variety of signals and is well-suited for use with moving vehicles. The low profile nature of the antenna system makes it practical to use the system on a wide variety of vehicles. Such vehicles would include automobiles, vans, trucks, buses, trains, boats, airplanes, tractors, off-road vehicles, etc.
One exemplary application for the invention is the use of the antenna on moving vehicles to receive DBS television and audio signals from a geosynchronous (fixed orbit) satellite. In such an application, it should be noted that a single satellite typically broadcasts its signal over a very wide area, such as North America, with the result being that the signal to be picked up at the vehicle is rather weak. This would ordinarily indicate the use of a somewhat large antenna. The present invention allows the rather weak signal to be picked up using the array of elements and combined into a signal of sufficient strength to be useful. The present invention also allows the antenna to be trained on and track the satellite, despite movement of the vehicle in various orientations. Also, the invention accomplishes this while maintaining a rather low, unobtrusive profile that does not interfere excessively with the airflow past the vehicle as the vehicle moves.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.
Referring now in detail to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views,
Referring now to
As shown in
Turning now to
The output from the last of the slotted waveguides 22 is directed or coupled directly to the combiner. The output from the other slotted waveguides is directed or coupled to a mechanical phase shifter, such as phase shifters 42, 44, 46. It should be noted that each of the antenna elements after the first (after antenna element 37) requires greater and greater modification of path length. This is accomplished by extension and contraction of the “trombone” type mechanical phase shifters, which allows the optical path length for individual antenna elements to be adjusted. In this way, the electromagnetic energy delivered to the combiner 50 from the various antenna elements can all be received in phase so that a strong resulting signal is obtained. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the phase shifters are controlled in a manner to progressively lengthen the optical path length, beginning with the farthest antenna element (relative to the source). For example, in the particular configuration orientation situation shown in
It should be noted that the amount of phase shift required at each of the individual antenna elements varies with the orientation of the antenna elements. For example, when antenna elements are oriented to receive electromagnetic energy from directly overhead, little or no phase shift is required. Likewise, when the antenna elements are oriented to receive electromagnetic energy from a low angle, a more substantial phase shift is required from one antenna element to the next. The amount of the phase shift required varies with the angle of the incoming electromagnetic energy. Therefore, the actuator mechanism that is used to control the phase shifters can be driven by the same motor used to control the angular orientation of the individual antenna elements. Advantageously, this minimizes expense. For example, the phase shifters 42, 44, 46 can be all moved back and forth by a linkage arm, such as linkage arm 40 shown in dashed lines in this figure.
Still referring to
A pointing controller 60 is provided for controlling operation of the platen 13, the antenna elements 20, and the phase shifters. The pointing controller 60 samples the signal delivered from the combiner 50. The controller 60 then controls the azimuth pointing of the platen 13, the elevation pointing of the antenna elements 20, and the phase delays effected by the phase shifters to obtain and maintain a signal of maximum strength. To accomplish this, the pointing controller 60 sends a control signal 62 to the azimuth drive motor 19 to effect the desired azimuth pointing of the platen 13. Likewise, the pointing controller 60 sends another control signal 64 to control operation of the elevation drive motor 72 to point the individual antenna elements in a desired elevation direction. The controller 60 can be used to separately control the phase shifters or the control of the phase shifters can be subsumed in the control of the elevation drive (the phase shifters can be mechanically linked to the elevation drive motor 72).
Referring now to
Attention is now drawn to
Regarding the number and size of the antenna elements, such as antenna, 21, if a smaller diameter is used, this leads to more cylinders to obtain the same effective total area. This leads to increases in cost due to the larger number of phase shifters. It is contemplated that somewhere between about two and twelve antenna elements are preferred, and it is more preferred that there be about 4 to 8 antenna elements. One could use fewer, larger cylinders, but at the expense of increasing antenna height (profile).
Ideally, the antenna array would be less than about three feet in diameter. For aesthetic reasons, is preferred that the antenna array is as small as possible. However, to obtain the relatively weak signals from a remote source, larger array sizes provide a stronger reception. The balance between these two competing design considerations provides for a preferred antenna array size of between about one foot and three feet, with the most preferred size being about 18 to 30 inches. Moreover, ideally the array is arranged in a circular fashion to minimize the footprint while maximizing collection effectiveness. However, non-circular arrays could be employed. Also, while the arrays depicted in the figures are planar in that all of the antenna elements lie in a common plane (or very nearly so), it is possible to make the upper surface of the platen curved and to place the antenna elements along this curved surface such that a curved array is provided. This is very effective for low angle reception, but at the cost of some increased profile.
While the invention has been disclosed in preferred forms, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications, additions, deletions, and changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. For example, while mechanical phase shifters are specifically disclosed herein, those skilled in the art will recognize that electronic phase shifters could be employed, although at slightly higher cost.
The present application claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/345,065, filed on Nov. 9, 2001 and incorporates the same herein by reference.
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