JPH08116209A - Satellite reception antenna system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow the system to confirm whether or not excellent reception is attained at antenna installation by controlling the directivity of the antenna go as to receive a radio wave from a satellite whose reception is desired and displaying information of the reception desired satellite. CONSTITUTION: A button on a panel of a receiver 5 is operated or a reception desired satellite is selected by the operation of a remote commander. Since a satellite sending a broadcast program or communication data is discriminated, the reception desired satellite is displayed on a state display section 51 of the receiver 5. Then a control pulse is sent to a control pulse extract circuit 4 at the antenna side through a cable 3b, and separately extracted among signals and fed to a microcomputer 14. Then the microcomputer 14 receives the control pulse to identify a received radio wave is a radio wave sent from a satellite 1 and controls an active block of the antenna to provide a control command so that the directivity is controlled to receive the radio wave from the satellite 1 in an optimum way and displays the reception of the radio wave from the satellite 1 onto an antenna state display section 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to satellite broadcasting or communication by using an antenna capable of selecting and receiving a desired radio wave from among radio waves coming from a large number of satellites by changing directional characteristics. Regarding the receiving system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when radio waves sent from a plurality of satellites are received, parabola antennas installed toward the respective satellites receive incoming radio waves and broadcast or communication received by those parabola antennas. The signal is sent from each antenna to the antenna input selector via a cable, and one antenna is selected by the antenna input selector to send the selected broadcast or communication signal to the receiver.

In this type of satellite receiving antenna system,
Since it is necessary to transmit the signals received by multiple parabolic antennas installed in different directions to the antenna input selector with different cables, the wiring of the cables during system construction is complicated, and the parabolic antennas with different directions The disadvantage is that a large space is required to install the satellite, and the problem becomes more serious as the number of satellites increases.

In order to solve this point, the present inventor has developed the following antenna system and filed a separate application. That is, the antenna system is an antenna system using a phased array antenna capable of capturing four CS (communication satellites) (satellites 1, 2, 3, 4) as shown in FIG. 4, for example.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes radio waves from satellites desired to be received among radio waves coming from a large number (four in this case) of satellites in the same frequency band (Ku band in this case) by changing directional characteristics. Is an antenna that is capable of selectively receiving and is a so-called phased array antenna.

This antenna has an antenna block 11 in which antenna elements are laterally arranged in an array, an active block 12 that amplifies a signal received by the antenna block 11 and controls the phase, and an active block 12 for each column. It is composed of a combiner block 13 for combining the phase-controlled signals.

In addition to the above, the antenna 1 includes a down converter 2, a microcomputer 14 and the like, and is connected to a receiver 5 via a cable 3a, a control pulse extraction circuit 4 and a cable 3b.

In this antenna system, when the receiver 5 performs a tuning operation with a button on the panel or a remote controller, the satellite from which the radio wave should be received is determined based on the selection operation. The receiver has a receiver status display unit 51, and as a result of tuning, information about which satellite the radio wave is desired to be received is displayed.

By setting a correspondence table of control contents and control pulse patterns in the receiver 5 and the microcomputer on the antenna side in advance, the receiver can select a control pulse corresponding to the control contents according to the correspondence table when tuning. Is transmitted to the control pulse extraction circuit 4 on the antenna side via the cable 3b.

The control pulse extraction circuit 4 includes a receiver 5
The control pulse sent from is extracted and sent to the microcomputer 14. The microcomputer 14 deciphers which satellite the control pulse is pointing to, and sends a control signal through the antenna block interface circuit 15 so as to give a control signal having an optimum directional characteristic for receiving a radio wave from the satellite. Give to twelve.

The DC power supply for the down converter 2 is supplied from the receiver 5 to the down converter 2 via the cable 3b, the control pulse extracting circuit 4 and the cable 3a. Further, this power supply is branched by the control pulse extraction circuit 4 and is also supplied to the microcomputer 14.

[0012]

When the above satellite receiving antenna system is used, since the antenna can be controlled from the receiver, there is no problem during normal use, but the antenna is installed. Sometimes some problems arise.

First, although the receiver shows the satellite to which the radio wave to be received is sent, there is no indicator on the antenna side. do not know.

Since the antenna is usually installed at a position away from the receiver, it is difficult to install the antenna because the receiver cannot see the display. In particular, the phased array antenna, by its nature, changes the beam direction due to control, so compared to a parabolic antenna where the beam is fixed in one direction, it is very difficult to install unless the state of the antenna is known. Become.

When the antenna is first installed,
In some cases, the radio wave from the satellite cannot be received. In such a case, it is necessary to check whether the microcomputer 14 on the antenna side correctly interprets the pulse signal sent from the receiver 5.

However, unless the microcomputer 14 has a means for displaying on the antenna side how to interpret the pulse sent from the receiver, it cannot be checked. These problems occur when the antenna is installed and can be left as they are in normal use during normal use.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a first aspect of a satellite receiving system using a phased array antenna controlled by a control signal sent from the receiver side. The purpose of the invention is to overcome the drawback that an operator does not know the state of the antenna when the antenna is installed.

[0018]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, by changing the directional characteristics, the radio waves desired to be received are selected from among the radio waves coming from many satellites and received. In the satellite broadcasting or communication receiving system, which includes an antenna that can be used, a receiver that demodulates a signal received by the antenna, and a cable that connects the antenna and the receiver, the selection by the receiver is performed. A means for generating information about a satellite desired to be received corresponding to the station state and transmitting the information to the antenna side through the cable, and a signal transmitted from the antenna side through the cable for the satellite. Means for extracting information and means for interpreting the extracted information and controlling the directional characteristics of the antenna so that radio waves from the desired satellite for reception can be received based on the interpretation result. , For displaying information about the desired reception satellite, mounted on an antenna body, it provides a satellite receiving antenna system characterized by comprising: a display unit.

In this satellite receiving antenna system, the display means can be composed of an LED (laser light emitting diode).

Further, this satellite receiving antenna system is
The display means may be a display means capable of displaying characters such as a liquid crystal display.

In the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention, the means for interpreting the information about the satellite and controlling the directional characteristics of the antenna includes a microcomputer, and the satellite extracted by the control pulse extracting circuit at the input of the microcomputer. Information is supplied, and the output from the microcomputer is supplied to the display means.

In the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention, the antenna is provided with a remote control light receiving portion for receiving a signal from a remote controller for directly controlling the antenna and a mode changeover switch, and the changeover switch has a first switch. It is preferable that one contact is connected to the control pulse extraction circuit, the second contact of the changeover switch is connected to the remote control light receiving section, and the output of the changeover switch is connected to the microcomputer.

Furthermore, in the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention, it is preferable that the display means is provided with an on / off switch so that the display means can be turned off when the display is not necessary.

Further, in the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention, it is preferable that the display means is detachably installed so that it can be detached and stored when the display is not necessary.

[0025]

As described above, in the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention, by mounting the display unit on the antenna body, the result of interpreting the control pulse by the microcomputer can be seen on the antenna side. Without looking at it, the antenna installation worker can know which satellite is being captured.

Since the reception state can be seen on the antenna side, it is possible to know whether or not the control pulse is correctly interpreted by the microcomputer.

Further, since a mode for directly controlling the antenna is newly provided, the mode can be switched by using the mode changeover switch as appropriate, so that the antenna is indirectly controlled by performing a tuning operation at the receiver when the antenna is installed. Since the antenna can be controlled more easily than that, the installation of the antenna becomes easier.

Also, when a switch is attached to the display unit so that the display unit can be turned off when it is not needed or the display unit can be removed, when the antenna installation is completed and the display of the antenna body is no longer needed. It can be removed.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the satellite receiving antenna system described above with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes the back surface of the phased array antenna, and the front surface is provided with an antenna block, an active block, and a combiner block, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, an antenna state display section 16 is provided on the back surface of the phased array antenna 1. The desired satellite supplied from the microcomputer 14 is displayed on this display unit.

Next, the operation of the antenna system shown in FIG. 1 will be briefly described. First, the receiver 5 is operated by operating a button on the panel or operating a remote controller to select a desired reception station.

Since the satellite transmitting the broadcast or communication can be known by this channel selection, the desired satellite for reception is displayed on the status display section 51 provided in the receiver 5. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, the satellite 1 is selected.

The command called the satellite 1 is converted into a code word according to the relationship between the antenna input and the code word shown in FIG. now,
Code word 0000 0001 because satellite 1 is selected
Will be sent. As shown in FIG. 5, the signal actually transmitted first sends out a guide pulse, and then an 8-bit code is sent in pulses. The carrier frequency is about 40 kHz. This 8-bit signal is initially 2
⁰ digit, next is 2 ¹ digit ... last is 2 ⁷ digit. Each digit is a wide pulse if the logic is "1" and a narrow pulse if the logic is "0".

This control pulse is sent to the control pulse extraction circuit 4 on the antenna side through the cable 3b, where it is separated and extracted from other signals and the microcomputer 14
Is supplied to.

The microcomputer 14 receives this control pulse, identifies that the radio wave to be received is the radio wave sent from the satellite 1, and controls the active block 12 of the antenna to change the directivity from the satellite 1 to the radio wave. A control command is issued to optimize the reception of the radio waves of
Is transmitted to the antenna state display unit 16 and displayed there.

The antenna status display section 16 shown in FIG.
It is equipped with two LEDs (laser light emitting diodes).
Therefore, the antenna 1 shown in the figure is an antenna that can receive radio waves from four satellites. Considering that the antenna is installed outdoors, it is preferable to attach a light shielding hood to the antenna status display section.

In the above embodiment, the case of the phased array antenna corresponding to four satellites has been described. However, even if the number of satellites is more than that, the same display is made by adjusting the number of LEDs to the number of satellites. be able to.

Further, although one example of the format of the control pulse is shown in the above embodiment, it is a pulse which does not interfere with the signal of the intermediate frequency received by the antenna transmitted through the same cable, and the correspondence of the code word. Other formats and / or pulsed signals can be used if the tables are matched on the receiver side and the antenna side.

Next, a second embodiment of the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Since this antenna system has almost the same configuration as the antenna system shown in FIG. 1, only different parts will be described below.

In the system shown in FIG. 2, the antenna status display section 16 is composed of a liquid crystal display and displays characters. Display contents and format are microcomputer 1
It can be changed by the program of 4.

In FIG. 2, the channel of the satellite 1 is selected by the receiver by the display of "SAT-1", and the "satellite 1" is actually transmitted from the control pulse on the antenna side.
It can be understood that the direction of the beam of the antenna is also in a state of capturing the satellite 1.

Next, a third embodiment of the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the infrared remote control light receiving unit 17 and the mode selector switch 1
Except for 8, the system is almost the same as the system of FIG. 1 and therefore detailed description is omitted.

In FIG. 3, the remote control attached to the receiver 5 is also used to directly control the antenna. Therefore, a remote control light receiving unit 17 for receiving infrared rays generated from the remote control is attached to the antenna body.

Further, either the pulse signal received by the remote control light receiving unit 17 or the control pulse from the receiver is switched by the mode switching switch 18 and supplied to the microcomputer 14.

The mode changeover switch 18 has a function as a hardware switch called signal changeover, and a format difference between a signal sent from the receiver and a signal output from the remote control light receiving unit 17. There is also a function as a soft switch that switches the decoding program when there is.

As in the case of FIG. 1, the antenna status display unit 16 is shown to light up the LED corresponding to the receiving satellite of the display consisting of four LEDs, but is not limited to this. Not a thing. The liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 2 can be used instead of the LED display shown in FIG.

Further, in the satellite receiving antenna system shown in FIG. 3, a switch may be provided in the antenna state display section so that the display can be turned on / off as necessary.

It is also possible to configure the antenna status display section with a liquid crystal display and add an on / off switch to it so that the status is displayed only when necessary. The liquid crystal display can be appropriately removable so as not to be exposed outdoors for a long time.

[0049]

According to the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention,
By providing the above-described configuration, it is possible to know which satellite is trying to receive the radio wave from the antenna side when the antenna is installed, whether it has been successfully received, and the like, so that the antenna can be easily attached.

Further, since a device such as a display device required only when the antenna is installed can be turned off or removed during normal use, the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of another embodiment of the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of still another embodiment of the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of details of a satellite receiving antenna system to which the present invention is applied.

5A and 5B are a chart and a waveform diagram showing a format of a control pulse.

FIG. 6 is a chart showing a code table of control pulses.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Phased array antenna (back side) 2 Down converter 3a, 3b Cable 4 Control pulse extraction circuit 5 Receiver 51 Receiver status display section 14 Microcomputer 16 Antenna status display section

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An antenna capable of selecting and receiving radio waves desired to be received among radio waves coming from a large number of satellites by changing directional characteristics, and a receiver for demodulating signals received by the antennas. In a satellite broadcasting or communication receiving system including a cable connecting the antenna and the receiver, in response to the channel selection state of the receiver, information about a desired satellite for reception is generated and the information is stored. A means for transmitting to the antenna side via the cable, a means for extracting information about the satellite from the signal transmitted via the cable on the antenna side, an interpretation result of the extracted information, and an interpretation result thereof. Means for controlling the directional characteristics of the antenna so that it can receive radio waves from the desired satellite, and an antenna for displaying information about the desired satellite. Satellite receiving antenna system characterized by comprising attached to the main body, and a display unit. 2. The satellite receiving antenna system according to claim 1, wherein the display means is composed of an LED (laser light emitting diode). 3. The satellite receiving antenna system according to claim 1, wherein the display means is a display means capable of displaying characters such as a liquid crystal display. 4. The satellite receiving antenna system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein means for interpreting the information about the satellite and controlling the directional characteristics of the antenna includes a microcomputer, and an input to the microcomputer. A satellite receiving antenna system, wherein the information about the satellite extracted by the control pulse extracting circuit is supplied, and the output from the microcomputer is supplied to the display means. 5. The satellite receiving antenna system according to claim 4, wherein the antenna is provided with a remote control light receiving section for receiving a signal from a remote controller for directly controlling the antenna and a mode changeover switch, and the switching is performed. A first contact of the switch is connected to the control pulse extraction circuit, a second contact of the changeover switch is connected to the remote control light receiving section, and an output of the changeover switch is connected to the microcomputer. Satellite receiving antenna system. 6. The satellite receiving antenna system according to claim 1, wherein the display means is provided with an on / off switch so that the display means can be turned off when display is not required. The satellite receiving antenna system characterized in that 7. The satellite receiving antenna system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the display means is detachably installed and can be detached and stored when the display is not required. Characteristic satellite receiving antenna system.