JPH08163553A - Satellite reception antenna system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a display part on an antenna side for convenience at the time of installing an antenna such as a phased array antenna or the like and to perform the display of a reception desired satellite and the display of an antenna level. CONSTITUTION: At the time of selecting a station for which reception is desired in a receiver 5, a satellite receiving the radio waves of the station is discriminated and the identification code is transmitted to the antenna side. On the antenna side, control for turning the directional characteristics of the antenna to an optimum value is performed by a microcomputer 14 and the display of the satellite during the reception is displayed in a reception desired satellite display area. Signals received by the antenna are transmitted from a down converter 2 through a cable 3b to the receiver, the level of reception signals is detected and the level is transmitted to the antenna side and displayed in an antenna level display area 22 on the antenna side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when receiving radio waves sent from a plurality of satellites, the parabolic antennas installed toward the respective satellites receive the incoming radio waves and broadcast or communication signals received by those parabolic antennas. Is sent from each antenna via a cable to the antenna input selector, where it selects one antenna (at the antenna input selector) and sends the broadcast or communication signal received by that selected antenna to the receiver. Was there.

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 inventor of the present application developed the following antenna system and applied for a separate application.
That is, the antenna system is a system using a phased array antenna capable of capturing four CS (communication satellites) (satellites 1, 2, 3, 4) as shown in FIG. 3, for example.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 indicates the radio waves from the satellites desired to be received among the 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 the directional characteristics. It is an antenna that can be selectively received 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 for each column. The block 12 includes a combiner block 13 for combining the signals whose phases are controlled.

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

The operation of this antenna system will be briefly described. First, when the user or the operator selects a channel using a button on the panel of the receiver 5 or a remote controller, the receiver is based on the operation. , Determine which satellite should receive the radio wave. The receiver has a receiver status display unit 51, and as a result of tuning, information indicating which satellite the radio wave is desired to be received is displayed.

Further, the receiver status display section 51 is used for adjusting the directivity of the antenna, and is generally referred to as the antenna level, which is information about the received signal strength measured by the receiver 5 (actually C / N (carrier to noise ratio)). Can be displayed.

By previously setting a correspondence table of control contents and control pulse patterns in the receiver 5 and the microcomputer on the antenna side, the receiver can control the control pulse corresponding to the control contents according to the correspondence table when selecting a channel. 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 to the antenna block interface circuit 15 so as to provide a control signal having an optimum directional characteristic for receiving a radio wave from the satellite. Give to.

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.

In the above satellite receiving antenna system, when the antenna is installed, the satellite from which the radio wave to be received is transmitted, that is, the desired receiving satellite is displayed on the receiver but displayed on the antenna side. Since there is no indicator, the person doing the installation work on the antenna side cannot see. Moreover, there is a problem that the microcomputer 14 cannot check whether or not the pulse sent from the receiver 5 is correctly interpreted.

With respect to such a problem, the inventor of the present application should provide an antenna status display section, such as an LED or a liquid crystal display, for displaying based on the interpretation result of the microcomputer on the antenna side to thereby display the desired receiving satellite. ,
Alternatively, an invention has been made to solve the above problems by allowing the antenna side to directly control the state of the antenna with a remote controller, and filed separately.

[0015]

According to the above satellite receiving antenna system, at the time of installing the antenna, a person who is performing installation work on the antenna side can determine which satellite the antenna is in a state of being captured by the antenna state display section. It is possible to know, but the person doing the installation work on the antenna side cannot know the information on the received signal strength measured and displayed by the receiver.

Since the antenna is usually installed at a position distant from the receiver, it is often impossible to directly see the display of the receiver. The phased array antenna, in particular, changes the beam direction due to the nature of the control, so compared to a parabolic antenna in which the beam is fixed in one direction, it must be installed if the information on the antenna state and received signal strength is unknown. It will be very difficult.

In order for the antenna installation worker to know the antenna level (information about the received signal strength), the person monitoring the display of the antenna level of the receiver and the antenna installation worker must communicate with each other by using a radio device or the like. did not become.
However, it is a complicated task to communicate with each other about the value of the antenna level which changes from moment to moment. If the antenna installer can easily know the antenna level which changes moment by moment while adjusting the direction of the antenna, the work will be easier.

The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional system, in which a phased array array controlled by a control signal sent from a receiver is used.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawback of a satellite receiving system using an antenna that a worker who does not know the antenna level measured by the receiver when first installing the antenna.

[0019]

In order to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional system, in the present invention, by changing the directional characteristics, the radio waves desired to be received among the radio waves arriving from many satellites can be changed. In a receiving system for satellite broadcasting or communication, comprising: an antenna that can be selectively received, a receiver that demodulates a signal received by the antenna, and a cable that connects the antenna and the receiver. Corresponding to the channel selection state of, the means for generating the information on the desired satellite for reception and the information on the received signal strength measured by the receiver and transmitting the information to the antenna side through the cable, and the antenna side. Means for extracting the information regarding the desired satellite for reception and the received signal strength from the signal sent through the cable, and the information regarding the extracted desired satellite for reception Interpretation, means for controlling the directional characteristics of the antenna so as to receive radio waves from the desired satellite based on the interpretation result, and display means for displaying information regarding the desired satellite and the received signal strength, There is provided a satellite receiving antenna system comprising:

In this satellite receiving antenna system, it is preferable that the display means comprises an LED (light emitting diode).

Further, in this satellite receiving antenna system, it is preferable that the display means comprises 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 desired satellite to control the directional characteristics of the antenna includes a microcomputer, and the desired satellite extracted by the extracting means is input to the microcomputer. It is preferable that the information regarding the received signal strength is supplied and the output from the microcomputer is supplied to the display means.

[0023]

As described above, the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention sends, to the antenna side, the antenna level (information on the received signal strength) which is measured by the receiver when the antenna is installed and changes from moment to moment together with the information on the desired satellite for reception.
By displaying it on the antenna side, the work of the installer can be facilitated.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is shown in 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 1, and the front surface thereof is, as shown in FIG. 3, an antenna block, an active block,
A combiner block is formed.

In FIG. 1, an antenna display section 20 is provided on the back surface of the phased array antenna 1, and the antenna display section 20 shows a desired satellite display area 21 indicating the desired receiving satellite and information on the received signal strength. Antenna level display area 2 that displays the antenna level
Divided into two. These display units are controlled by the microcomputer 14.

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 station. By this channel selection, the satellite transmitting the broadcast or communication can be known. Therefore, the status display section 5 provided in the receiver
Display the desired satellite for reception in 1. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, 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. Since satellite 1 is currently selected, codeword 00000001
Will be sent. As shown in FIG. 5, the signal actually transmitted has a carrier frequency of about 40 kHz, and first transmits a guide pulse, followed by a pulse of an 8-bit code. This 8-bit signal has 2 ⁰ digits first, then 2 ¹ digits ...
The last is 2 ⁷ digits. If each digit is a logic "1", it is a wide pulse, and if it is a logic "0", it is a narrow pulse.

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 the control pulse, identifies that the radio wave to be received is the radio wave sent from the satellite 1, and directs it to the active block 12 (see FIG. 3) of the antenna. A control command is issued so that the characteristics are optimal for receiving the radio wave from the satellite 1, and the reception of the satellite 1 is sent to the desired satellite display area 21 of the antenna display unit 20 and the LED is used there. indicate.

Radio waves from the desired satellite for reception are received by the antenna block 11 shown in FIG. 3, supplied to the down converter 2 via the active block 12 and the combiner block 13, and are lowered to an intermediate frequency of about 1 GHz there.
Then, this received signal is sent to the receiver 5 via the cables 3a and 3b, and the antenna level is measured in the receiver 5. This antenna level is specifically obtained by the processing shown in FIG.

The circuit shown in FIG. 4 is a circuit for measuring the antenna level proportional to the strength of the signal received from the antenna 1, and shows a part of the internal circuit of the receiver 5 in FIG. In FIG. 4, AGC (Auto Gain C
The controller 500 adjusts the level of the received signal from the antenna 1 to keep the signal supplied to the detector 501 at an appropriate constant level. This control is performed by raising and lowering the AGC control voltage described later.

The detector 501 detects the received signal and sends the output to the video / audio signal processing side in the subsequent stage. On the other hand, the carrier component of the received signal is extracted from the output of the detector 501 via the BPF1 502, amplified by an amplifier, and then input to the microcomputer 504. The microcomputer detects the level of the received signal, and if it is deviated from the reference value, the AGC circuit 50
The AGC control voltage is output to 0. A due to the above negative feedback
A GC (automatic gain control) operation is performed, and the input to the detector 501 is operated to be kept constant.

Further, the detection output is input to the microcomputer via BPF2 503 which allows the noise band to pass therethrough, and the noise level is measured by the microcomputer. Since the strength of the carrier (carrier component) of the received signal is constant by AGC, the fluctuation of the noise level is proportional to the fluctuation of C / N (carrier / noise). The value measured here is called an antenna level and is taken out at the output of the microcomputer as shown in FIG. 4 and displayed as a digital value on the panel of the receiver 5 or on the TV display.

The antenna level measured on the receiver side by the circuit described above with reference to FIG. 4 is converted into the code word of the control pulse as in the case of the desired satellite for reception. Since the antenna level is a decimal two-digit positive integer value, the value itself can be sent with one codeword of 8 bits. A code for transmitting an antenna level to be distinguished from the code word of the satellite desired to receive, for example, 00001111 is sent in advance, and then the antenna level is converted into binary 8 bits (for example, 000010011 for 25). ) By sending, the antenna level can be sent to the antenna side with two code words.

This control pulse is also supplied to the microcomputer 14 on the antenna side in the same manner as in the case of the desired satellite for reception. The microcomputer 14 receives this control pulse, recognizes that it is an antenna-level code word that does not correspond to any of the code words of the desired satellite, and converts the value of the following code word from binary to decimal. It is interpreted as an antenna level value and displayed in the antenna level display area 22 of the antenna display unit 20. 7 in the antenna level display area
The segment LED indicates the antenna level.

In the above embodiment, one example of the control pulse format is shown, but it is a pulse that does not interfere with the intermediate frequency signal received by the antenna transmitted through the same cable, and corresponds to the code word. If the table is matched on the receiver side and the antenna side, the same effect can be obtained with other formats and pulse signals.

Next, a second embodiment 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 display section 20 can display characters by using a liquid crystal display. With the display of "SAT-1", the channel of satellite 1 is selected by the receiver and the antenna actually interprets the control pulse as "satellite 1" correctly, and the direction of the beam of the antenna is in a state of capturing satellite 1 as well. You can see that

Further, the liquid crystal display having the same antenna level is displayed. The display contents and format of the liquid crystal display can be changed by a program of the microcomputer 14, as shown in FIG.
The example of shows the example.

Although the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.

[0041]

According to the satellite receiving antenna system of the present invention,
By providing the above-mentioned configuration, the antenna level (information regarding the received signal strength), which changes with time when the antenna is installed and is measured by the receiver, is sent to the antenna together with the information regarding the desired satellite for reception, and is displayed. The work of the installer will be easier.

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

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an antenna level detecting portion.

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

FIG. 6 is a chart showing an example of codes of control pulses.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Phased Array Antenna 2 Down Converter 20 Antenna Display Area 21 Reception Desired Satellite Display Area 22 Antenna Level Display Area 3a, 3b Cable 4 Control Pulse Extraction Circuit 5 Receiver 51 Receiver Status Display Area

Claims (4)

[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 equipped with the antenna and a cable connecting the receiver, information on a desired satellite to be received and reception measured by the receiver in accordance with a tuning state of the receiver. A means for generating information on signal strength and transmitting the information to the antenna side via the cable, and information on the desired satellite to be received and received signal strength from the signal sent on the antenna side via the cable. A means for extracting and interpreting the extracted information regarding the desired satellite for reception, so that the radio wave from the desired satellite for reception can be received based on the interpretation result. A satellite receiving antenna system comprising: a means for controlling the directional characteristics of the tenor; and a display means for displaying information regarding the desired satellite and the received signal strength. 2. The satellite receiving antenna system according to claim 1, wherein the display means is an LED. 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 the means for interpreting the information regarding the desired satellite for reception and controlling the directional characteristics of the antenna includes a microcomputer. A satellite receiving antenna system characterized in that the input is supplied with information on a desired satellite extracted by the extracting means and information on the received signal strength, and an output from the microcomputer is supplied to the display means.