JP2018201109A - Antenna control device and flying object - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide technique enabling an antenna to be properly controlled according to a situation of a flying object of a stratospheric platform.SOLUTION: The antenna control device for controlling an antenna of a flying object flying in a stratosphere is provided that comprises: an information acquiring unit which acquires position information indicating a position of the flying object, posture information indicating a posture of the flying object, and altitude information indicating an altitude of the flying object; and an antenna control unit which controls the antenna on the basis of the position information, the posture information, and the altitude information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an antenna control device and a flying object.

In order to provide a stratosphere platform, an aircraft having an antenna and flying in the stratosphere has been known (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[Prior art documents]
[Patent Literature]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-211496

  It is desirable to provide a technique capable of appropriately controlling an antenna according to the status of a flying object.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an antenna control apparatus for controlling an antenna of a flying object flying in the stratosphere. The antenna control device may include an information acquisition unit that acquires position information indicating the position of the flying object, attitude information indicating the attitude of the flying object, and altitude information indicating the altitude of the flying object. The antenna control device may include an antenna control unit that controls the antenna based on position information, posture information, and altitude information.

  The attitude information may indicate a traveling direction of the flying object and an inclination of the flying object. The antenna control device may further include an area information storage unit that stores area information indicating a range of a service area to be formed on the ground by a beam irradiated from the antenna, and the antenna control unit includes the position information, Based on the attitude information, the altitude information, and the area information, at least one of the beam direction and the beam width may be controlled.

  The antenna may include a directional antenna element and a reflector, and the antenna control unit may change the width of the beam by changing a distance between the antenna element and the reflector. . The antenna control unit may change the direction of the beam by changing the direction of the antenna element with respect to the reflector.

  When the antenna control unit determines that the antenna control unit can cover the service area by controlling the antenna, and the cover determination unit determines that the antenna cannot be covered by the cover determination unit. And a cover requesting unit that requests to cover a part of the service area.

  The information acquisition unit may acquire trajectory information indicating the trajectory of the flying object, and the antenna control unit may be configured based on the position information, the attitude information, the altitude information, and the trajectory information. The antenna may be controlled. The antenna may be a multi-beam antenna, and the antenna control unit may control each of a plurality of beams emitted from the multi-beam antenna. The multi-beam antenna may include a plurality of antenna elements, each of the plurality of antenna elements may include at least two actuators, and the antenna control unit may include each actuator of the plurality of antenna elements. May be individually controlled.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an aircraft that includes the antenna control device and functions as a stratospheric platform. The flying object may further include a flight control device that controls the flight of the flying object.

  It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention. In addition, a sub-combination of these feature groups can also be an invention.

An example of the flying body 100 is shown schematically. An example of the service area 150 formed with the flying body 100 is shown schematically. An example of the service area 150 formed with the flying body 100 is shown schematically. An example of the service area formed by the flying body 100, the flying body 180, and the flying body 190 is shown schematically. An example of functional composition of antenna control device 200 is shown roughly. An example of the antenna element 122 is shown schematically. An example of the antenna element 132 and the reflecting plate 134 is shown schematically. An example of the antenna element 132 and the reflecting plate 134 is shown schematically. An example of the antenna element 132 and the reflecting plate 134 is shown schematically. An example of the hardware constitutions of the computer 1000 which functions as the antenna control apparatus 200 is shown schematically.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. In addition, not all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solving means of the invention.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of an aircraft 100. The flying object 100 according to the present embodiment flies in the stratosphere. The air vehicle 100 may function as a stratosphere platform.

  The flying object 100 includes a main body 102, a propeller 104, a solar battery panel 106, and an antenna 120. In addition, the flying object 100 includes a battery (not shown) that stores electric power generated by the solar battery panel 106. The flying object 100 includes a flight control device (not shown) that controls the flight of the flying object 100. The flying object 100 also includes an antenna control device (not shown) that controls the antenna 120.

  The flight control device controls the flight of the flying object 100 using the electric power generated by the solar panel 106. The flight control device causes the flying object 100 to fly by rotating the propeller 104. The flying object 100 flies within a range of, for example, several kilometers to several tens of kilometers under the control of the flight control device. The flying object 100 flies in an arbitrary trajectory such as a circular trajectory, an elliptical trajectory, and an eight-shaped trajectory.

  The flight control device may control the flight of the flying object 100 so as to eliminate the inclination when the flying object 100 is inclined due to the influence of wind or the like. Further, the flight control device may control the flight of the flying object 100 so that the solar battery panel 106 can receive sunlight efficiently. The flight control device may control the flight of the flying object 100 in consideration of the wind direction. Further, the flight control device may control the flight of the flying object 100 so as to avoid clouds such as cumulonimbus clouds. In addition, the flight control device flies so as to rise while the sun is rising and receiving sunlight so that the flight of the flying object 100 can continue appropriately while the sun is sinking and not receiving sunlight. The flight of body 100 may be controlled. The flight control device may control the flight of the flying object 100 in consideration of the plurality of conditions.

  The antenna control device controls the antenna 120 to form a service area 150 on the ground. The antenna 120 is, for example, a multi-beam antenna. The antenna control apparatus may form the service area 150 on the ground by irradiating a plurality of beams from the antenna 120.

  The antenna control device may store in advance area information indicating the range of the service area 150 to be formed on the ground. The antenna control device may receive area information from a so-called ground station during flight. For example, the antenna control apparatus receives and stores area information determined according to the number of communication terminals existing in the service area 150 and the communication traffic volume of the communication terminals existing in the service area 150, and stores the area information. The service area 150 is formed in the range indicated by.

  The antenna control apparatus according to the present embodiment has the antenna 120 in order to form a certain service area 150 on the ground even when the position of the flying object 100, the attitude of the flying object 100, the altitude of the flying object 100, and the like change. To control.

  2 and 3 schematically show an example of a service area 150 formed by the aircraft 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the antenna control device included in the flying object 100 maintains the size of the service area 150 by controlling the width of the beam formed by the antenna 120 according to the altitude of the flying object 100. To do. The antenna control device may control the antenna 120 so that the beam width is narrowed as the altitude of the flying object 100 is increased, and the antenna 120 is configured to increase the beam width as the altitude of the flying object 100 is decreased. You may control.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the antenna control device controls the service area by controlling at least one of the beam direction and the beam width according to the position, posture, altitude, and the like of the flying object 100. 150 is maintained. If the service area 150 cannot be maintained only by controlling the antenna 120 depending on the status of the aircraft 100, the antenna control device may operate to maintain the service area 150 in cooperation with other aircraft. Good.

  FIG. 4 schematically shows an example of a service area formed by the flying object 100, the flying object 180, and the flying object 190. The service area 150 is formed by the flying object 100. The service area 182 is formed by the flying object 180. The service area 192 is formed by the flying object 190. An area 152 indicates a range of a service area that the aircraft 100 should form.

  The antenna control device of the flying object 100 controls the antenna 120 to cover the area 152 based on the position, posture, altitude, and the like of the flying object 100, but the area 152 cannot be covered by controlling the antenna 120. If determined, the other aircraft is requested to cover a part of the area 152 that cannot be covered. For example, the antenna control device of the flying object 100 transmits request information requesting that a part of the area 152 be covered to the flying object 180 and the flying object 190.

  The antenna control device of the flying object 100 transmits request information to the flying object 180 and the flying object 190 via, for example, a ground station and a ground network. Further, when the antenna control device of the flying object 100 can directly wirelessly communicate with the flying object 180 and the flying object 190, the request information may be transmitted directly to the flying object 180 and the flying object 190.

  The antenna control device of the flying object 180 may cover a part of the area 152 by deforming the service area 182 by controlling the antenna of the flying object 180 according to the received request information. Further, the flight control device of the flying object 180 may cover a part of the area 152 by changing at least one of the position, posture, and altitude of the flying object 180 according to the received request information. .

  The antenna control device of the flying object 190 may cover a part of the area 152 by deforming the service area 192 by controlling the antenna of the flying object 190 according to the received request information. Further, the flight control device of the flying object 190 may cover a part of the area 152 by changing at least one of the position, posture, and altitude of the flying object 190 according to the received request information. .

  When receiving the request information from the antenna control device of the flying object 180 or the antenna control device of the flying object 190, the antenna control device of the flying object 100 controls the antenna 120 and transforms the service area 150 according to the request information. You can do it. For example, the antenna control device of the flying object 100 controls the antenna 120 to deform the service area 150 so that a part of the area that the flying object 180 should cover or a part of the area that the flying object 190 should cover. May be covered.

  FIG. 5 schematically shows an example of the functional configuration of the antenna control device 200. The antenna control device 200 includes a wireless communication unit 202, an area information storage unit 204, an information acquisition unit 210, an antenna control unit 220, a cover determination unit 230, and a cover request unit 232. In addition, it is not necessarily essential that the antenna control apparatus 200 has all these configurations.

  The wireless communication unit 202 performs wireless communication. The wireless communication unit 202 may wirelessly communicate with an arbitrary communication device on the ground. The wireless communication unit 202 performs wireless communication with a ground station, for example.

  The area information storage unit 204 stores area information indicating the range of service areas to be formed on the ground. The area information storage unit 204 stores, for example, area information that is input, received, or read before the flying object 100 flies. The area information storage unit 204 may store the area information received by the wireless communication unit 202 while the flying object 100 is flying.

  The information acquisition unit 210 acquires various types of information. The information acquisition unit 210 includes a position information acquisition unit 211, a posture information acquisition unit 212, an altitude information acquisition unit 213, and a trajectory information acquisition unit 214.

  The position information acquisition unit 211 acquires position information indicating the position of the flying object 100. When the antenna control apparatus 200 has a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor, the position information acquisition unit 211 may acquire position information from the GPS sensor. The position information acquisition unit 211 may acquire position information of the flying object 100 from the flight control device 110.

  The attitude information acquisition unit 212 acquires attitude information indicating the attitude of the flying object 100. The attitude information may include inclination information indicating the inclination of the flying object 100. The inclination information indicates, for example, the inclination of the flying object 100 in the front-rear and left-right directions. The posture information may include traveling direction information indicating the traveling direction of the flying object 100. When the antenna control apparatus 200 includes a sensor that detects the attitude of the flying object 100, the attitude information acquisition unit 212 may acquire attitude information from the sensor. The sensor that detects the posture may be a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, or the like. The attitude information acquisition unit 212 may acquire attitude information of the flying object 100 from the flight control device 110.

  The altitude information acquisition unit 213 acquires altitude information indicating the altitude of the flying object 100. When the antenna control apparatus 200 has a sensor that detects the altitude of the flying object 100, the altitude information acquisition unit 213 may acquire altitude information from the sensor. The sensor for detecting the altitude may be an atmospheric pressure sensor, a GPS sensor, or the like. The altitude information acquisition unit 213 may acquire altitude information of the flying object 100 from the flight control device 110.

  The trajectory information acquisition unit 214 acquires trajectory information indicating the trajectory of the flying object 100. The trajectory information acquisition unit 214 may acquire trajectory information from the flight control device 110. For example, when the flying object 100 flies along a circular trajectory, an elliptical trajectory, and an 8-shaped trajectory, the trajectory information indicates the entire circular trajectory, elliptical trajectory, 8-shaped trajectory, and the like. The trajectory information may indicate a traveling direction based on the position of the flying object 100 along the trajectory of the flying object 100. For example, the trajectory information includes information such as how many meters in which direction, and how many meters in which direction thereafter.

  In addition, the trajectory information indicates the predicted trajectory predicted when the flying object 100 is flying according to the predetermined trajectory and deviates from the predetermined trajectory due to an external factor. The trajectory after deviating may be shown. For example, the trajectory information may indicate a future trajectory predicted based on the trajectory of the flying object 100 while the flying object 100 is swept by a strong wind.

  The antenna control unit 220 controls the antenna 120. The antenna control unit 220 may control the antenna 120 based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 211, the posture information acquired by the posture information acquisition unit 212, and the altitude information acquired by the altitude information acquisition unit 213. .

  The antenna control unit 220 may control the antenna 120 based on position information, posture information, altitude information, and area information stored in the area information storage unit 204. For example, the antenna control unit 220 controls at least one of the direction and width of the beam formed by the antenna 120 based on position information, posture information, altitude information, and area information.

  The antenna control unit 220 derives the positional relationship between the flying object 100 and the service area that the flying object 100 should form from the position information, altitude information, and area information. Further, the antenna control unit 220 determines the beam direction and beam width from the positional relationship and posture information, and controls the antenna 120 to realize the determined beam direction and beam width.

  The antenna control unit 220 may further control the antenna 120 based on the trajectory information acquired by the trajectory information acquisition unit 214. For example, the antenna control unit 220 determines the position, posture, and altitude of the flying object 100 based on the traveling direction based on the position of the flying object 100 indicated by the trajectory information, the position information, the posture information, and the altitude information. A relative relationship with the service area 150 to be formed is predicted, and the antenna 120 is controlled based on the prediction.

  The cover determination unit 230 determines whether or not the range indicated by the area information stored in the area information storage unit 204 can be covered by the antenna control unit 220 controlling the antenna 120. For example, the cover determination unit 230 stores in advance a formable range indicating a range in which a service area can be formed theoretically or experimentally by controlling the antenna 120 with the flying object 100 as a reference. It is determined whether or not the vehicle 100 can be covered by comparing the relative relationship between the position, posture, and altitude of the flying object 100 and the range indicated by the area information with the formable range.

  When it is determined that the cover request unit 232 cannot cover the cover request unit 232, the cover request unit 232 requests another aircraft to cover a part of the range indicated by the area information. For example, the cover requesting unit 232 transmits request information requesting to cover a part of the range indicated by the area information to another flying object. For example, the cover request unit 232 transmits the request information to another flying body via the radio communication unit 202 through the ground station and the ground network. Moreover, the cover request | requirement part 232 may transmit request information to another flying body via a satellite, for example. Moreover, when it is possible to perform wireless communication directly with another aircraft, the cover request unit 232 may directly transmit the request information to the other aircraft.

  The wireless communication unit 202 may receive request information transmitted by another aircraft. When the wireless communication unit 202 receives request information from another flying object, the antenna control unit 220 may control the antenna 120 according to the request information.

  FIG. 6 schematically shows an example of the antenna 120. The antenna 120 illustrated in FIG. 6 may be an array antenna and may include a plurality of antenna elements 122. The plurality of antenna elements 122 may be arbitrarily arranged, such as a column shape and a matrix shape, and may be an arbitrary number. Each of the plurality of antenna elements 122 includes an actuator 124 and an actuator 126. Each of the plurality of antenna elements 122 may have three or more actuators. As shown in FIG. 6, the antenna control unit 220 may arbitrarily adjust the inclination of each of the plurality of antenna elements 122 by individually controlling the actuator 124 and the actuator 126 of each of the plurality of antenna elements 122. .

  7 and 8 schematically show an example of the antenna 120. The antenna 120 shown in the figure includes an antenna element 132 having directivity and a reflecting plate 134. The antenna 120 may have a plurality of pairs of antenna elements 132 and reflectors 134. As shown in the figure, the antenna control unit 220 may change the beam width by changing the distance between the antenna element 132 and the reflecting plate 134. The antenna control unit 220 may change the distance between the antenna element 132 and the reflector 134 by moving the antenna element 132. The antenna controller 220 may change the distance between the antenna element 132 and the reflector 134 by moving the reflector 134. The antenna control unit 220 may change the distance between the antenna element 132 and the reflecting plate 134 by moving both the antenna element 132 and the reflecting plate 134.

  FIG. 9 schematically shows an example of the antenna 120. The antenna 120 shown in the figure includes an antenna element 132 having directivity and a reflecting plate 134. The antenna 120 may have a plurality of pairs of antenna elements 132 and reflectors 134. The antenna control unit 220 may change the direction of the beam by changing the direction of the antenna element 132 with respect to the reflector 134 as shown in the figure.

  FIG. 10 schematically shows an example of a computer 1000 that functions as the antenna control apparatus 200. The computer 1000 according to this embodiment includes a CPU peripheral unit having a CPU 1010 and a RAM 1030 that are connected to each other by a host controller 1092, a ROM 1020 that is connected to the host controller 1092 by an input / output controller 1094, a communication I / F 1040, and a hard disk drive 1050. , And an input / output unit having an input / output chip 1080.

  The CPU 1010 operates based on programs stored in the ROM 1020 and the RAM 1030 and controls each unit. The communication I / F 1040 communicates with other devices via a network by wire or wireless. The communication I / F 1040 functions as hardware that performs communication. The hard disk drive 1050 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1010.

  The ROM 1020 stores a boot program executed when the computer 1000 is started up, a program depending on the hardware of the computer 1000, and the like. The input / output chip 1080 connects various input / output devices to the input / output controller 1094 via, for example, a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and the like.

  A program provided to the hard disk drive 1050 via the RAM 1030 is stored in a recording medium such as an IC card and provided by the user. The program is read from the recording medium, installed in the hard disk drive 1050 via the RAM 1030, and executed by the CPU 1010.

  A program that is installed in the computer 1000 and causes the computer 1000 to function as the antenna control apparatus 200 may work on the CPU 1010 or the like to cause the computer 1000 to function as each part of the antenna control apparatus 200. Information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 1000, whereby the wireless communication unit 202 and the area information storage unit 204, which are specific means in which the software and the various hardware resources described above cooperate. , Function as information acquisition unit 210, antenna control unit 220, cover determination unit 230, and cover request unit 232. And the specific antenna control apparatus 200 according to the intended purpose is constructed | assembled by implement | achieving the calculation or processing of the information according to the intended purpose of the computer 1000 in this embodiment by these specific means.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The order of execution of each process such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims, the description, and the drawings is particularly “before” or “prior to”. It should be noted that it can be realized in any order unless the output of the previous process is used in the subsequent process. Regarding the operation flow in the claims, the description, and the drawings, even if it is described using “first,” “next,” etc. for convenience, it means that it is essential to carry out in this order. It is not a thing.

100 flying object, 102 main body, 104 propeller, 106 solar panel, 110 flight control device, 120 antenna, 122 antenna element, 124 actuator, 126 actuator, 132 antenna element, 134 reflector, 150 service area, 152 area, 180 flight Body, 182 service area, 190 flying object, 192 service area, 200 antenna control device, 202 wireless communication unit, 204 area information storage unit, 210 information acquisition unit, 211 position information acquisition unit, 212 attitude information acquisition unit, 213 altitude information Acquisition unit, 214 Orbit information acquisition unit, 220 Antenna control unit, 230 Cover determination unit, 232 Cover request unit, 1000 computer, 1010 CPU, 1020 ROM, 1030 RAM, 1040 communication / F, 1050 hard disk drive, 1080 input-output chip, 1092 host controller, 1094 input and output controller

Claims (11)

An antenna control device for controlling an antenna of a flying object flying in the stratosphere,
An information acquisition unit that acquires position information indicating the position of the flying object, attitude information indicating the attitude of the flying object, and altitude information indicating the altitude of the flying object;
An antenna control device comprising: an antenna control unit that controls the antenna based on the position information, the attitude information, and the altitude information.   The antenna control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attitude information indicates a traveling direction of the flying object and an inclination of the flying object. An area information storage unit for storing area information indicating a range of a service area to be formed on the ground by a beam irradiated from the antenna;
The antenna control unit controls at least one of the direction of the beam and the width of the beam based on the position information, the attitude information, the altitude information, and the area information. The antenna control device described in 1. The antenna has a directional antenna element and a reflector,
The antenna control device according to claim 3, wherein the antenna control unit changes a width of the beam by changing a distance between the antenna element and the reflection plate.   The antenna control device according to claim 4, wherein the antenna control unit changes a direction of the beam by changing a direction of the antenna element with respect to the reflection plate. A cover determination unit that determines whether or not the antenna control unit can cover the service area by controlling the antenna;
A cover request unit that requests that another flying body cover a part of the service area when it is determined by the cover determination unit that it cannot be covered. The antenna control device described. The information acquisition unit acquires trajectory information indicating the trajectory of the flying object,
The antenna control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the antenna control unit controls the antenna based on the position information, the attitude information, the altitude information, and the trajectory information. . The antenna is a multi-beam antenna;
The antenna control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the antenna control unit controls each of a plurality of beams emitted from the multi-beam antenna. The multi-beam antenna has a plurality of antenna elements,
Each of the plurality of antenna elements has at least two actuators;
The antenna control device according to claim 8, wherein the antenna control unit individually controls each actuator of the plurality of antenna elements.   A flying object comprising the antenna control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 and functioning as a stratospheric platform.   The flying object according to claim 10, further comprising a flight control device that controls the flight of the flying object.

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