JPH0613810A - Antenna controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the searching time of a satellite and also to ensure the stable reception with an antenna by compensating the rotational angular speed of an angular speed sensor in the compass direction of a mobile object. CONSTITUTION:In an initial state, a switch 32 of an antenna controller main body 3 is connected to an angular speed sensor 4 together with a switch 33 connected to the search signal side respectively. The signal obtained with inversion of polarity of the angular speed of a mobile object is added to a search signal for compensation and elimination of the angular speed of the mobile object. Thus a satellite is searched at a fixed speed that can search a real satellite, and the satellite is automatically tracked by the signal of a switching transmitter/receiver 2. At the same time, the timer used for tracking of an open loop is initialized. The timer counts the time when the open loop is tracked based on the rotational information on the azimuth direction given from the sensor 4 in a non-catching state of satellite. Therefore the satellite is searched at a fixed speed after the rotational angle of the mobile object is compensated. Thus it is possible to ensure the stable reception and to shorten the searching time of the satellite.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an antenna control device, and more particularly to an antenna control device used in a satellite communication device mounted on a mobile body and for tracking a satellite.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of antenna control device,
The antenna was rotated at a constant speed with respect to the moving body to search for a satellite regardless of the angular velocity of rotation of the vehicle itself.

[0003]

In this conventional antenna control device, when the moving body has an angular velocity rotating in the azimuth direction and the antenna rotates at a constant velocity,
When viewed from an absolute angle, the rotational angular velocity of the moving body is superimposed on the antenna, so that the satellite cannot be searched at a constant velocity, stable reception cannot be achieved, and the time required for satellite acquisition becomes long. was there.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An antenna control device of the present invention comprises a transceiver and an antenna mounted on a moving body for transmitting and receiving satellite radio waves, an antenna driving device for driving the antenna, and an azimuth direction of the moving body itself. In an antenna control device provided with an angular velocity sensor for detecting an angular velocity, search signal generating means for searching a satellite at a constant velocity in the azimuth direction for initial capture or recapture of the satellite, and the angular velocity from the search signal. And a control unit including a calculation for compensating the rotational angular velocity of the moving body of the sensor in the azimuth direction, and causing the antenna driving device to perform a constant velocity search operation for satellite tracking.

[0005]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an operation flow for explaining the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an antenna for satellite tracking, 2 is a transceiver, which receives an RF signal from the antenna 1 and transmits an RF signal to the antenna 1.
Send a signal. When the transceiver 2 captures a satellite and receives a satellite radio wave, it outputs an automatic tracking signal for keeping the captured state optimum. Further, the transceiver 2 has a function of outputting a satellite capture signal indicating whether the satellite is being captured. An angular velocity sensor 4 detects the rotation of the moving body in the azimuth direction. Reference numeral 3 denotes an antenna control device main body, which generates a drive command to the antenna drive device 5 based on a satellite capture signal from the transceiver 2, an automatic tracking signal, and a signal detected by the angular velocity sensor 4. The antenna control device body 3 is composed of the following parts. An amplifier 30 for reversing the polarity of the angular velocity signal from the angular velocity sensor 4, a search signal generating circuit 31 for driving the antenna at a constant speed necessary for initial capture, and a changeover switch 32 are the signals of the angular velocity sensor 4 and automatic tracking. Switching with a signal, the changeover switch 33 turns on / off the output signal of the search signal generating circuit 31. The arithmetic unit 34 switches the changeover switches 32 and 33 based on the satellite acquisition signal from the transceiver 2. Besides, the antenna driving device 5
Then, the antenna is driven by the signal from the antenna control device 3. Further, a motor 6 and a speed reducer 7 are provided to drive the antenna 1.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, step 101 performs initial satellite acquisition. That is, at the initial stage, the switch 32 of the antenna control device body 3 is on the angular velocity sensor side, and the switch 33 is
By connecting to the search signal side, the rotational angular velocity of the moving body is compensated and removed by adding the signal in which the polarity of the angular velocity of the moving body is inverted and the search signal. That is, a satellite is searched at an angle of a constant speed for searching a true satellite.
In step 102, the state of satellite acquisition is judged based on the satellite acquisition signal from the transceiver 2, and if satellite radio waves are being received and acquisition is in progress, the process proceeds to step 103, and switches 32 and 33 are switched to the transceiver 2 Automatic tracking is performed by the automatic tracking signal of. In step 104, when the automatic tracking is started, the timer used for the open loop tracking (that is, the initial acquisition) is initialized. If NO in step 102, that is, if the satellite is not in the satellite acquisition state, the process proceeds to step 105 and open loop tracking is performed based on the rotation information in the azimuth direction from the angular velocity sensor 4. In step 106, the time during which open loop tracking is performed is counted by a timer. Step 107
If NO, that is, if the time-out has not occurred, the open-loop tracking is continued. Also,
When the time-out has occurred, the answer is YES and the open loop tracking is abandoned, and the process returns to the search mode of step 101 to capture the satellite again.

[0007]

As described above, the antenna control device of the present invention is provided with the angular velocity sensor for detecting the rotational angular velocity of the moving body itself, the changeover switches 32 and 33, and the adder. Therefore, when searching in all directions, the satellite can be searched at a constant speed after compensating for the rotational angular speed of the moving body itself. Therefore, there is an effect that stable reception is possible and the time required for satellite search can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flow for explaining the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Antenna 2 Transceiver 3 Antenna Control Device Main Body 4 Angular Velocity Sensor 5 Antenna Drive Device 6 Motor 7 Reducer 30 Amplifier 31 Search Signal Generation Circuit 32, 33 Switch 34 Computing Device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An antenna control equipped with a transceiver and an antenna mounted on a mobile body for transmitting and receiving satellite radio waves, an antenna driving device for driving the antenna, and an angular velocity sensor for detecting an angular velocity in the azimuth direction of the mobile body itself. In the device, search signal generating means for searching the satellite at a constant velocity in the azimuth direction for initial capture or recapture of the satellite, and compensation of the rotational angular velocity in the azimuth direction of the moving body of the angular velocity sensor from the search signal. And a control unit including a calculation for performing the search operation at a constant speed for tracking the satellite by the antenna drive device. 2. A first switch for turning on / off a search signal from said search signal generating means by said control means according to a control signal generated from information from said transceiver, and a signal from said angular velocity sensor or said The antenna control device according to claim 1, further comprising a second switch that selects one of the automatic tracking signals from the transceiver. 3. A time counter for counting the time from the time when the control means starts the satellite search, and when the time counter counts a predetermined time, it returns to the initial trapping operation and starts the satellite search. The antenna control device according to claim 1.