RU2803200C2 - Tracking previous event signal - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: communication equipment.

SUBSTANCE: antenna systems with beamforming, and more specifically to tracking a signal about a previous event. In some examples, the system may receive feed element signals corresponding to a set of antenna feed elements. To support the primary or real-time task, the system may process feed element signals in accordance with the first beamforming configuration to generate narrow beam signals that may include communications scheduled for respective narrow beams. To support a retroactive acquisition or search mission or task, the system may also store feed element signals over a period of time. Based on determining the target signal from the target location within the antenna coverage area, the system can process the stored feed element signals in accordance with the second beamforming configuration to generate a narrow beam target signal corresponding to the target location, and evaluate the narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal.

EFFECT: support for performing retroactive or iterative evaluations of stored signals, such as signals from feed elements, to identify various signal sources.

43 cl, 14 dwg

Description

Cross reference

This patent application claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/834,912 by Hancharik, entitled PAST EVENT SIGNAL TRACKER (PEST), filed April 16, 2019, which has been assigned to the assignee hereof, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Prerequisites for creating the invention

The following applies to beamforming antenna systems, and more specifically to signal tracking of a previous event. In some beamforming antenna systems, such as a satellite communications system, the receiving device may include an antenna configured to receive signals at each of the sets of feed elements on the feed array. A set of feed element signals may be processed in accordance with a receive beamforming configuration, which may include applying phase shift or amplitude scaling to the corresponding feed element signals. The processing may involve generating narrow beam signals corresponding to different narrow beam coverage areas, which in some examples may support different communications resource allocations throughout the antenna coverage area.

Summary of the invention

The technologies described relate to improved methods, systems, devices and apparatus that support tracking of a signal of a previous event. In some examples, the antenna may be included in a vehicle, such as a satellite, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle, or some other type of device that supports communications services or other reception capabilities within the coverage area. The antenna may include a feed array having a plurality of feed elements, and each of the feed elements may be associated with a feed element signal corresponding to received energy at the corresponding feed element. The receive processing system may receive feed element signals or other associated signals and use various beamforming techniques to support directional reception.

To support a main mission or task, or a real-time mission or task (e.g., real-time communications), a reception processing system may process received signals, such as feed element signals, in accordance with a first beamforming configuration to create one or more narrow beam signals. beam. Each of the narrow beam signals may correspond to a corresponding antenna narrow beam and, in some examples, may include communications scheduled for corresponding beams from a plurality of narrow beams (eg, narrow beam coverage areas).

To support detection or retrieval of a mission or task, such as tracking a signal of a previous event, the reception processing system may additionally or alternatively store received signals, such as feed element signals, for a period of time (eg, in a ring buffer). The reception processing system may process the stored signals in accordance with the second beamforming configuration to obtain a target narrow beam signal corresponding to the target location based on determining the target signal within the service coverage area and at some point in time within the signal storage time of the feed elements. The reception processing system may evaluate the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal. Generating a target narrow beam and assessing the presence of a target signal can be repeated in examples such as: iteratively searching at different locations for the same duration; a trajectory formed after a signal passes in different locations and with different durations; or spectral estimation according to various signal characteristics hypotheses. Thus, the receive processing system in accordance with the examples described herein can support performing retroactive or iterative evaluations of stored signals, such as feed element signals, to identify different signal sources, which may be useful in applications such as search and rescue operations, asset recovery, video surveillance, crime investigation, search for a downed aircraft pilot, Internet of Things applications, etc.

Brief description of graphic materials

In fig. 1A shows a diagram of a communication system that supports tracking a signal of a previous event in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 1B illustrates a satellite antenna assembly that supports tracking a signal of a previous event, in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 1C illustrates a feed array assembly of an antenna assembly that supports previous event signal tracking, in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 2A through 2D show examples of antenna performance for an antenna assembly having a feed array that supports previous event signal tracking, in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 3A and 3B show an example of beamforming for forming narrow beam coverage areas in the antenna's own coverage area in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 4 depicts an example of a receive processing system that supports tracking of a previous event signal, in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 5 depicts an example of a search process supporting tracking of a previous event signal, in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 6 illustrates an example of tracking a previous event signal in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 7 is a functional diagram of a receive processing system that supports tracking of a previous event signal, in accordance with the examples described herein.

In fig. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method that supports tracking a previous event signal, in accordance with the examples described herein.

Detailed description

A system in accordance with the techniques described herein may support various examples of previous event signal tracking. For example, the feed array antenna may be included in a vehicle such as a satellite, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle, or some other type of device that supports communications services or other reception capabilities within the coverage area. The antenna may include a feed array having a set of feed elements, and to support signal reception, each of the feed elements may be associated with a feed element signal corresponding to received energy at the corresponding feed element. The receive processing system may receive feed element signals or other associated signals and use various beamforming techniques to support directional reception. The receive processing system components may be included in one or more ground stations or may be included in a satellite or other vehicle, which may or may not include an antenna coupled to feed elements of the signals being processed. In some examples, components of a reception processing system may be distributed across multiple devices, including components distributed between the vehicle and the ground segment.

To support a main mission or task, or a real-time mission or task (e.g., real-time communications), a reception processing system may process received signals, such as feed element signals, in accordance with a first beamforming configuration to create one or more narrow beam signals. beam. Each of the narrow beam signals may correspond to a corresponding antenna narrow beam and, in some examples, may include communications scheduled for corresponding beams of a plurality of narrow beams (eg, scheduled for respective narrow beam coverage areas).

To support a retroactive detection or retrieval mission or task, such as tracking a signal of a previous event, the reception processing system may additionally or alternatively store received signals, such as feed element signals, for a period of time (eg, in a ring buffer). The reception processing system may process the stored signals in accordance with the second beamforming configuration to obtain a target narrow beam signal corresponding to the target location, and evaluate the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal based on determining the target signal within the service coverage area and at some time. storage time of signals from irradiator elements. Thus, the receive processing system in accordance with the examples described herein can support performing retroactive evaluations of stored signals to identify various signal sources, which may be useful in applications such as search and rescue, recovery of valuable assets, video surveillance , crime investigation, locating the pilot of a downed aircraft, Internet of Things applications, etc. In some examples, such techniques may be performed in parallel or otherwise concurrent with the main task or real-time task.

The present disclosure provides various examples of pre-event tracking technologies enabling remote sensing, and such examples are not intended to be limiting as to the scope, applicability, or configuration of the examples in accordance with the principles described herein. Rather, the following description provides those skilled in the art with a detailed description of the implementation of embodiments of the principles described herein. Various changes may be made to the functions and designs of elements.

Thus, in various embodiments according to the examples described herein, various procedures or components may be omitted, replaced, or added depending on the situation. For example, it should be understood that the methods may be performed in a different order from that described above, and that various steps thereof may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, aspects and elements described in connection with some examples may be combined in various other examples. It should also be understood that the following systems, methods, devices and software may, individually or collectively, be components of a larger system, and other procedures may take precedence over them or otherwise modify their use.

In fig. 1A shows a diagram of a communication system 100 that supports tracking of a previous event signal in accordance with the examples described herein. Communications system 100 may utilize a number of network architectures, including space segment 101 and ground segment 102. Space segment 101 may include one or more satellites 120. Ground segment 102 may include one or more access node terminals 130 (e.g., gateway terminals , ground stations), as well as network devices 141, such as network operation centers (NOCs) or other processing centers or devices, as well as satellite and gateway terminal command centers. In some examples, ground segment 102 may also include user terminals 150 providing communications services via satellite 120.

In various examples, the satellite 120 may be configured to support wireless communications between one or more access node terminals 130 and/or various user terminals 150 located within the service coverage area, which in some examples may be the primary task or mission of the satellite 120. In some In examples, satellite 120 may be configured to collect information and may include various sensors for detecting the geographic distribution of electromagnetic, optical, temperature, or other data (eg, when transmitting while collecting or receiving data). In some examples, satellite 120 may be deployed in a geostationary orbit such that its orbital position relative to ground devices is fixed relative to or fixed within an operational tolerance or other orbital window (eg, within an orbital position). In other examples, satellite 120 may operate in any suitable orbit (eg, low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), etc.).

Satellite 120 may utilize an antenna assembly 121, such as a phased array antenna assembly (e.g., a Direct Radiation Array (DRA)), a phased array feeder reflector (PAPR) antenna, or any other mechanism known in the art to receive or signaling (for example, communication services, broadcast services, or data collection services). In support of a communications service, satellite 120 may receive forward uplink signals 132 from one or more access node terminals 130 and provide corresponding forward downlink signals 172 to one or more user terminals 150. Satellite 120 may also receive reverse uplink signals 173 from one or more user terminals 150 and forward the corresponding reverse downlink signals 133 to one or more access node terminals 130. To exchange signals between access node terminals 130 or user terminals 150, satellite 120 may use various physical layer modulation and coding techniques (eg, adaptive coding and modulation (ACM)).

Antenna assembly 121 may communicate or receive another signal through one or more configured spot beams 125, which may also be referred to as service beams, satellite beams, or any other suitable term. The signals may pass through the antenna assembly 121 in accordance with the electromagnetic radiation spatial pattern of the narrow beams 125. When supporting a communication service, the narrow beam 125 may use a single carrier, such as a single frequency or a continuous range of frequencies, which may also be associated with a single polarization. In some examples, narrow beam 125 may be configured to support only user terminals 150, in which case narrow beam 125 may be referred to as a user narrow beam or user beam (eg, user narrow beam 125-a). For example, user narrow beam 125-a may be configured to support one or more forward downlink signals 172 and/or one or more reverse uplink signals 173 between satellite 120 and user terminals 150. In some examples, narrow beam 125 may be is configured to support only access node terminals 130, in which case the narrow beam 125 may be referred to as an access node narrow beam, an access node beam, or an internetwork beam (eg, access node narrow beam 125-b). For example, access node narrow beam 125-b may be configured to support one or more forward uplink signals 132 and/or one or more reverse downlink signals 133 between satellite 120 and access node terminals 130. In other examples, narrow beam 125 may be configured to serve both user terminals 150 and access node terminals 130, and thus narrow beam 125 may support any combination of forward downlink signals 172, reverse uplink signals 173, forward uplink signals 132 and/or return downlink signals 133 between satellite 120, user terminals 150, and access node terminals 130.

Narrow beam 125 may support communication service between target devices (eg, user terminals 150 and/or access node terminals 130) or other signal reception within narrow beam coverage area 126. The narrow beam coverage area 126 may be defined by an area of the electromagnetic radiation pattern of the associated narrow beam 125 projected onto the ground or some other reference surface and having signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and signal-to-interference-noise ratio (SINR). narrow beam 125 above threshold. The narrow beam coverage area 126 may cover any suitable service area (eg, circular, elliptical, hexagonal, local, regional, national) and can support communication service with any number of target devices located within the narrow beam coverage area 126. In various examples, target devices, such as those located in the air or underwater, may be placed in the narrow beam 125, but not on the support surface of the narrow beam coverage area 126 (e.g., support surface 160, which may be a ground surface, a land surface, water surface, such as the surface of a lake or ocean, or a supporting surface located on a hill or at a height).

Beamforming for a communication link can be accomplished by adjusting the signal phase (or time delay) and sometimes the signal amplitude for signals transmitted and/or received by a plurality of feed elements of one or more antenna assemblies 121 with overlapping individual feed element radiation patterns. In some examples, some or all of the feed elements may be arranged as an aggregate array of receive and/or transmit feed elements that operate together to provide various examples of on-board beamforming (OBBF), ground-based beamforming (GBBF), end-to-end beamforming, or other types of beam formation.

Satellite 120 may support a plurality of configured spot beams 125 covering respective coverage areas of spot beams 126, each of which may or may not overlap with adjacent coverage areas of spot beams 126. For example, satellite 120 may support a service coverage area (e.g., regional coverage area, national coverage area, hemispherical coverage area) formed by a combination of any number (eg, tens, hundreds, thousands) of spot beam coverage areas 126. Satellite 120 may support a communications service using one or more frequency bands and any number of sub-bands. For example, satellite 120 may support operation in the standard Ku, K, or Ka bands, as well as International Telecommunications Union (ITU) C, X, S, L, V, and other similar bands.

In some examples, a service coverage area may be defined as a coverage area in which a terrestrial transmission source or terrestrial receiver can transmit or receive related data when providing communication services via satellite 120; in these cases, the coverage area can be defined as a plurality of narrow beam coverage areas 126. In some systems, service coverage areas for each link (eg, forward uplink coverage area, forward downlink coverage area, reverse uplink coverage area, and reverse downlink coverage area) may vary. Although the service coverage area may only be active when the satellite 120 is in operation (e.g., in a production orbit), the satellite 120 may have its own antenna pattern that is based on the physical components of the antenna assembly 121 and their relative locations (e.g., the satellite can be designed or configured accordingly). The inherent radiation pattern of the satellite antenna 120 may refer to the distribution of energy relative to the satellite antenna node 121 (eg, the energy transmitted and/or received by the antenna node 121).

In some service coverage areas, adjacent coverage areas of narrow beams 126 may have some degree of overlap. In some examples, a multi-color configuration (eg, a reuse pattern with two, three, or four colors) may be used, with the term "color" referring to the combination of orthogonal communication resources (eg, frequency resources, polarization, etc.). In an example four-color pattern, each overlapping coverage area of spot beams 126 may be assigned one of four colors, and each color may be assigned a unique combination of frequencies (e.g., frequency range or ranges, one or more channels) and/or signal polarization (e.g., right-handed circular polarization (RHCP), left circular polarization (LHCP), etc.) or other orthogonal resources. Assigning different colors to respective coverage areas of spot beams 126 that have overlapping areas may reduce or eliminate interference between spot beams 125 associated with those overlapping coverage areas of spot beams 126 (e.g., by scheduling or filtering transmissions corresponding to specific spot beams in accordance with specific colors). These frequency and antenna polarization combinations can then be reused appropriately in a repeatable, non-overlapping, reusable "four-color" radiation pattern. In some examples, communication service may be provided by using more or fewer colors. In other cases, temporal separation of narrow beams 125 and/or other interference suppression techniques may be used. For example, narrow beams 125 may simultaneously use the same resources (the same polarization values and frequency ranges) with interference suppressed using techniques such as adaptive coding and modulation, interference cancellation, space-time coding, and the like.

In some examples, satellite 120 may be configured as a point-to-point satellite. In a direct relay configuration, satellite 120 may perform frequency and polarization conversion on received carrier signals before retransmitting the signals to their destination. In some examples, satellite 120 may support a direct relay architecture without processing with phased array antennas used to create relatively small narrow beams 125 (eg, using terrestrial beamforming). Satellite 120 may support K common routes, each of which may be allocated as a forward route or a return route at any given time. Relatively large reflectors can be irradiated by a phase array of antenna feed elements allowing for the creation of a variety of narrow beam patterns 125 within the constraints of reflector size and the number and placement of antenna feed elements. The phased array reflectors can be used to either receive uplink signals 132, 173, or both simultaneously, or transmit downlink signals 133, 172, or both simultaneously.

Satellite 120 may operate in multiple beam mode, receiving or transmitting in accordance with a number of relatively narrow beams 125 directed at different areas of the earth. This may allow user terminals 150 to be divided into various narrower beams 125 or otherwise maintain spatial separation of transmitted and received signals. In some examples, beamforming networks (BFNs) associated with receive (Rx) or transmit (Tx) phased arrays may be dynamic, allowing the locations of transmitted spot beams 125 (e.g., downlink spot beams 125) and received spot beams to move. 125 (eg, uplink narrow beams 125).

User terminals 150 may include various devices configured to communicate with satellite 120, which may include fixed terminals (e.g., fixed terminals on the ground) or mobile terminals such as terminals on boats, airplanes, land vehicles, etc. .P. User terminal 150 may transmit data and information via satellite 120, which may include communication through access node terminal 130 with a destination device, such as network device 141 or some other device or distributed server associated with network 140. User terminal 150 150 may exchange signals in accordance with various physical layer transmission modulation and encoding techniques, including, for example, those defined by DVB-S2, WiMAX, mobile communications protocols such as LTE or 5G, or DOCSIS standards.

Access node terminal 130 may serve forward uplink signals 132 and reverse downlink signals 133 to and from satellite 120. The access node terminals 130 may also be referred to as ground stations, gateways, gateways, or hubs. Access node terminal 130 may include an access node terminal antenna system 131 and an access node receiver 135. The access node terminal antenna system 131 may be capable of two-way communication and have sufficient transmit power and receive sensitivity to reliably communicate with satellite 120. In some In examples, the access point terminal antenna system 131 may include a reflector with high directivity in the direction of satellite 120 and low directivity in other directions. The access point terminal antenna system 131 may include many different configurations and have performance characteristics such as high isolation between orthogonal polarizations, high bandwidth efficiency, low noise, and the like.

In support of a communications service, access node terminal 130 may schedule traffic to user terminals 150. Alternatively, such scheduling may occur in other components of communications system 100 (e.g., one or more network devices 141, which may include network operations centers (NOCs) ) and/or command centers of gateway terminals). Although in FIG. 1A shows a single access node terminal 130, examples according to the present description may be implemented in communication systems having multiple access node terminals 130, each of which may be connected to another terminal and/or to one or more networks 140.

Satellite 120 may communicate with access node terminal 130 by transmitting reverse downlink signals 133 and/or receiving forward uplink signals 132 via one or more narrow beams 125 (e.g., access node narrow beam 125-b, which may be associated with the corresponding narrow beam coverage area of the access node 126-b). For example, access node narrow beam 125-b may support a communications service for one or more user terminals 150 (eg, a communications service relayed by satellite 120) or any other communication between satellite 120 and access node terminal 130.

Access node terminal 130 may provide an interface between network 140 and satellite 120 and, in some examples, may be configured to receive data and information directed between network 140 and one or more user terminals 150. Access node terminal 130 may format data and information for delivery to corresponding user terminals 150. Similarly, access node terminal 130 may be configured to receive signals from satellite 120 (e.g., one or more user terminals 150) directed to a destination accessible through network 140. Access node terminal 130 may also format received signals for transmission over network 140.

Networks 140 may be of any type and may include, for example, the Internet, an IP network, an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a local area network (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN), a virtual local area network (VLAN), fiber optic network, hybrid fiber/coaxial network, cable network, public switched telephone network (PSTN), public switched data network (PSDN), public land mobile network and/ or any other type of network that supports data transfer between devices, as described in this document. Networks 140 may include both wired and wireless connections, as well as optical communications links. Networks 140 may connect access node terminal 130 to other access node terminals, which may communicate with the same satellite 120, with different satellites 120, or with other vehicles.

One or more network devices 141 may be connected to the access node terminal 130 and may control aspects of the communications system 100. In various examples, network device 141 may be co-located or otherwise located adjacent to access node terminal 130, or may be a remote installation that communicates with access node terminal 130 and/or networks 140 over wired and/or wireless links.

The communication system 100 may be configured in accordance with various techniques that support tracking of a signal of a previous event that may be separate from the primary task or mission of the communication system 100 or the real-time task or mission of the communication system. For example, one or more components of the communications system 100 may be configured to store received feed element signals or other signals that support the formation of narrow beams 125 or narrow beam signals for a period of time (e.g., in a ring buffer) and to process the stored signals in accordance with a search or detection beamforming configuration to obtain a target narrow beam signal corresponding to a target location associated with any previous event or potential previous event. The communications system component 100 may evaluate the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal in accordance with various signal characteristics hypotheses.

Generating a search or detection of the narrow beam 125 and assessing the presence of a target signal may be repeated in examples such as: iteratively searching at different locations for the same duration; a trajectory formed after a signal passes through different potential locations and with different durations; or spectral estimation according to various signal characteristics hypotheses. The communications system 100 may support performing retroactive or iterative evaluations of stored signals to identify various signal sources, which may be useful in applications such as search and rescue, asset recovery, video surveillance, crime investigation, downed pilot search, and Internet of Things applications. and etc.

In fig. 1B illustrates an antenna assembly 121 of a satellite 120 that supports tracking a signal of a previous event, in accordance with the examples described herein. As shown in FIG. 1B, antenna assembly 121 may include a feed array assembly 127 and a reflector 122 shaped to provide a focal region 123 in which electromagnetic signals (eg, unrelated electromagnetic signals 180) are concentrated when received from a remote source. Likewise, a signal emitted by the feed array node 127 located at the focal region 123 will be reflected by the reflector 122 into an outgoing plane wave (eg, outgoing electromagnetic signals 180). Feed array assembly 127 and reflector 122 may be coupled to an individual antenna pattern formed by combining the individual antenna patterns for each of a plurality of feed elements 128 of feed array assembly 127.

The satellite 120 may operate in accordance with its own antenna pattern for the antenna node 121 when the satellite 120 is in an operational orbit, as described herein. The antenna's own radiation pattern may be based at least in part on the pattern of the feed elements 128 of the feed array assembly 127, the relative position of the feed array assembly 127 relative to the reflector 122 (e.g., the offset of the focal length 129 or lack thereof in a focused position), etc. d. The antenna's own radiation pattern can be related to the antenna's own radiation pattern coverage area. The antenna nodes 121 described herein may be configured to support a specific service coverage area with its own radiation pattern coverage area of the antenna node 121, and various design characteristics may be determined computationally (e.g., by analysis or simulation) and/or measured experimentally (for example, during the antenna test interval or during actual use).

As shown in FIG. 1B, the feed array assembly 127 of the antenna assembly 121 is positioned between the reflector 122 and the focal region 123 of the reflector 122. Specifically, the feed array assembly 127 is located at a focal distance offset 129 from the focal region 123. Thus, the feed array assembly 127 of the antenna assembly 121 may be placed in a defocused position relative to the reflector 122. Although in FIG. 1B shows a forward biased feed array assembly 127, a forward biased feed array assembly 127 may be used, as well as other types of configurations including the use of a secondary reflector (e.g., Cassegrain antenna, etc.) or a configuration without reflector 122 (e.g., a forward biased array). radiation).

In fig. 1C depicts a feed array node 127 of an antenna node 121 that supports previous event signal tracking, in accordance with the examples described herein. As shown in FIG. 1C, feed array assembly 127 may have a plurality of feed elements 128 for transmitting signals (eg, signals associated with a communications service, signals associated with tuning or controlling satellite 120, or received data acquisition or sensor arrangement signals).

As used herein, the term “feed element 128” may refer to a receive antenna element, a transmit antenna element, or an antenna element configured to support both transmission and reception (eg, a transmit-receive element). The receiving antenna element may include a physical transducer (eg, a radio frequency (RF) transducer) that converts an electromagnetic signal into an electrical signal, and the transmitting antenna element may include a physical transducer that emits an electromagnetic signal when excited by an electrical signal. In some cases, the same physical converter may be used for transmission and reception.

Feed elements 128 may include, for example, feed horns, polarization transmitters (e.g., baffled polarization horn transmitters, each of which can function as two combined elements with different polarizations), multiport multiband horn transmitters (e.g., 20 GHz/30 GHz dual-band transmitters dual polarized LHCP/RHCP), resonator slot antennas, inverted F-type antennas, slot waveguides, planar traveling wave antennas, helical, loop, rectangular microstrip antennas, antenna elements of any other configuration or combination of interconnected subelements. Each of the feed elements 128 may also include an RF signal converter, a low noise amplifier (LNA), or a power amplifier (PA), or may be coupled to transceivers on the satellite 120 that may perform other signal processing such as frequency conversion, beamforming processing, etc.

The reflector 122 may be configured to reflect signals between the feed array node 127 and one or more target devices (eg, user terminals 150 or access node terminals 130). Each element of the feed element 128 of the feed array node 127 can be associated with a corresponding own radiation pattern of the feed elements, which can be associated with a projection of the own coverage area of the feed elements (for example, which is projected onto a ground surface, onto a plane, or onto a volume after reflection from the reflector 122) . The set of coverage areas of the feed element's own radiation pattern for an antenna with multiple feeds can be called the antenna's own radiation pattern. Feed array assembly 127 may include any number of feed elements 128 (e.g., tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.), which may be arranged in any suitable arrangement (e.g., linear array, arc-shaped array, flat array, honeycomb array , polyhedral lattice, spherical lattice, ellipsoidal lattice or combinations thereof). The feed elements 128 may have ports or openings having various shapes, such as round, elliptical, square, rectangular, hexagonal, etc.

In fig. 2A through 2D show examples of antenna performance for antenna node 121-a having a feed array 127-a that supports previous event signal tracking, in accordance with the examples described herein. Antenna assembly 121-a may operate by distributing received transmissions from a predetermined location to a plurality of feed elements 128-a or distributing transmitted energy from feed element 128-a over a relatively large area (or both).

In fig. 2A shows a diagram 201 of the intrinsic radiation patterns of feed elements 210-a associated with feed elements 128 of feed array-a assembly 127. In particular, diagram 201 shows the intrinsic radiation patterns of feed elements 210-a-1, 210-a-2 and 210-a-3 associated with elements 128-a-1, 128-a-2 and 128-a-3 respectively. The intrinsic radiation patterns of the feed elements 210-a may represent a spatial radiation pattern associated with each of the respective feed elements 128. For example, when feed element 128-a-2 transmits data, the transmitted electromagnetic signals may be reflected from reflector 122-a and propagate with a radiation pattern of feed elements 210-a-2 that is substantially conical (although other pattern shapes are possible depending on on the characteristics of the feed element 128 and/or reflector 122). Although three intrinsic radiation patterns 210-a are shown for antenna assembly 121, each of the feed elements 128 of antenna assembly 121 is associated with a corresponding intrinsic radiation pattern of feed elements 210. The combination of intrinsic radiation patterns of feed elements 210-a associated with antenna assembly 121 a (e.g., the intrinsic radiation patterns of the feed elements 210-a-1, 210-a-2, 210-a-2 and other intrinsic radiation patterns of the feed elements 210-a that are not shown in the figure) may be referred to as the intrinsic radiation pattern of the antenna 220 -a.

Each of the feed elements 128-a may also be associated with the own radiation pattern coverage area of the feed elements 211-a (for example, with the own radiation pattern coverage areas of the feed elements 211-a-1, 211-a-2 and 211-a-3 , associated with the elements 128 of the feed elements-a-1, 128-a-2 and 128-a-3, respectively), representing the projection of the own radiation patterns of the elements of the feed elements 210-a onto the supporting surface (for example, the surface of the earth or water, the supporting surface located on an elevation, or some other supporting plane or surface). The feed element self-beam coverage area 211 may be an area in which various devices (eg, access node terminals 130 and/or user terminals 150) can receive signals transmitted by the corresponding feed element 128. In another embodiment, the feed element self-beam coverage area 211 a feed element may be an area in which a corresponding feed element 128 can receive transmissions from various devices. For example, a device located in the area of interest 230-a located within the feed element's own radiation pattern coverage areas 211-a-1, 211-a-2 and 211-a-3 may receive signals transmitted by the feed elements 128-a -1, 128-a-2 and 128-a-3 and may activate reception of transmissions by feed elements 128-a-1, 128-a-2 and 128-a-3. A combination of feed element self-pattern coverage areas 211 associated with antenna node 121-a (e.g., feed element self-pattern coverage areas 211-a-1, 211-a-2, 211-a-2 and other self-pattern coverage areas directivity of feed elements that are not shown in the figure) may be referred to as the antenna's own radiation pattern coverage area 221-a.

Feed array assembly 127-a may operate in a defocused position relative to reflector 122-a such that the self-patterns of feed elements 210-a, and hence the coverage areas of the self-patterns of feed elements 211-a, substantially overlap. Thus, each position within the coverage area of antenna 221-a's own radiation pattern may be associated with a plurality of feed elements 128 such that a plurality of feed elements 128 may be used when transmitting to or receiving from a point of interest. It should be understood that diagram 201 is not drawn to scale and that each of the coverage areas of the feed elements 211's own radiation patterns is typically much larger than reflector 122-a.

In fig. 2B is a diagram 202 illustrating signal reception by antenna assembly 121 for transmission signals 240-a from point of interest 230-a. Transmissions 240-a from point of interest 230-a may irradiate all of reflector 122-a or some portion of reflector 122-a and then be focused and directed to irradiation array node 127-a according to the shape of reflector 122-a and the angle of incidence of the transmission. signal 240 to reflector 122-a. Feed array assembly 127-a may be operated in a defocused position relative to reflector 122-a such that transmission of signal 240-a may be focused on a plurality of feed elements 128 (e.g., elements 128-a-1, 128-a-2, and 128-a-3 associated with coverage areas 211-a-1, 211-a-2 and 211-a-3 of the feed elements' own radiation patterns, each of which contains a point of interest 230-b).

In fig. 2C shows a diagram 203 of the gain profiles of the intrinsic radiation patterns of the feed elements 250-a associated with the three feed elements 128 of the feed array-a assembly 127, relative to angles measured from the zero offset angle 235-a. For example, the gain profiles of the intrinsic radiation patterns of feed elements 250-a-1, 250-a-2, and 250-a-3 may be associated with feed elements 128-a-1, 128-a-2, and 128-a-3, respectively. and therefore may represent gain profiles for the feed elements' own radiation patterns 210-a-1, 210-a-2 and 210-a-3. As shown in diagram 203, the gain of each individual gain profile of the feed element 250's own radiation pattern may be attenuated at angles offset in any direction from the maximum gain. In diagram 203, the beam contour level 255-a may represent the required gain level (eg, to provide a required information rate) to support a communications service or other receive or transmit service by antenna node 121-a, so it may be used to define zone boundaries covering the own radiation patterns of the elements of the feed elements 211-a (for example, zones 211-a-1, 211-a-2 and 211-a-3 covering the own radiation patterns of the elements of the feed elements). The beam contour level 255-a may be, for example, -1 dB, -2 dB, or -3 dB attenuation from maximum gain, or may be determined by absolute signal power, SNR level, or SINR level. Although three self-pattern gain profiles of feed elements 250-a are shown, other self-pattern gain profiles of feed elements 250-a may be associated with other feed elements 128-a.

As shown in diagram 203, each of the original self-gain profiles of the feed elements 250-a may intersect with another self-gain profile of the feed elements 250-a for a significant portion of the gain profile above the level of the beam contour 255-a. Accordingly, diagram 203 illustrates the arrangement of gain profiles of the self-patterns of feed elements 250, in which a plurality of feed elements 128 of feed array assembly 127 can support transmission of signals at a particular angle (eg, in a particular direction of the self-pattern of antenna 220-a). In some examples, this condition may be characterized as the presence of feed elements 128 of feed array assembly 127 with coverage areas of the feed elements 211's own radiation patterns having a high degree of overlap.

In fig. 2D is a diagram 204 illustrating a two-dimensional array of idealized coverage areas of the intrinsic radiation patterns of feed elements 211 for multiple feed elements 128 of a feed array assembly 127 (e.g., including feed elements 128-a-1, 128-a-2, and 128-a-3) . The coverage areas of the intrinsic radiation patterns of the feed elements 211 may be illustrated with respect to a reference surface (e.g., a plane at a distance from a communications satellite, a plane at some distance from the ground, a spherical surface at some height, the surface of the earth, etc.) and may additionally include a volume adjacent to the support surface (eg, a substantially conical volume between the support surface and the communications satellite, a volume beneath the support surface, etc.). The plurality of self-pattern coverage areas of the feed elements 211-a may collectively form the self-pattern coverage area of antenna 221-a. Although eight feed element self-pattern coverage areas 211-a are shown, the feed array assembly 127 may have any number of feed elements 128 (e.g., more or less than eight), each of which is associated with a feed element self-pattern coverage area 211.

The boundaries of each feed element self-pattern coverage zone 211 may correspond to the feed element beam pattern 210 at the beam contour level 255-a, and the maximum gain for each feed element self-pattern coverage zone 211 may have a location designated "x" (e.g. , the nominal alignment or axis of the corresponding feed element 210's own radiation pattern or the feed element's own radiation pattern coverage area 211). The coverage areas of the own radiation patterns of the feed elements 211 a-1, 211-a-2 and 211-a-3 may correspond to the projection of the own radiation patterns of the feed elements 250-a-1, 250-a-2 and 250-a-3, respectively; diagram 203 shows the gain profiles of the own radiation patterns of the elements of the feed 250 in the plane of section 260-a of the scheme 204.

The coverage areas of the intrinsic radiation patterns of the feed elements 211 are referred to herein as “idealized” because their contours are shown as circular for simplicity. However, in various examples, the feed element's own beam pattern coverage area 211 may have a shape other than a circle (eg, an ellipse, hexagon, rectangle, etc.). Thus, the end-to-end self-pattern coverage areas of the feed elements 211 may have greater overlap with each other (e.g., in some cases, more than three self-pattern coverage areas of the feed elements 211 may overlap) than shown in diagram 204.

In diagram 204, which may represent a condition in which the feed array assembly-a 127 is placed in a defocused position relative to the reflector 122-a, a significant portion (e.g., the majority) of each individual feed element coverage area 211 overlaps with the adjacent area 211 coverage of the feed element's own radiation pattern. Locations within a service coverage area (eg, the overall coverage area of multiple narrow beams of an antenna assembly 121) may be placed within the feed element's own radiation pattern coverage area 211 of two or more feed elements 128. For example, antenna assembly 121-a may be configured such that the area in which more than two separate coverage areas 211 of the feed element's own radiation pattern overlap is maximized. In some examples, this condition may also be characterized as the presence of feed elements 128 of feed array assembly 127 with coverage areas of the feed elements 211's own radiation patterns having a high degree of overlap. Although the figure shows eight self-pattern coverage areas of the feed elements 211, the feed array assembly 127 may include any number of feed elements 128 associated with the self-pattern coverage areas 211 of the feed element in a similar manner.

In some cases, a single antenna node 121 may be used to transmit and receive signals between user terminals 150 or access node terminals 130. In other examples, satellite 120 may include separate antenna assemblies 121 for receiving signals and transmitting signals. The receiving antenna node 121 of the satellite 120 may be directed to the same or similar service coverage area as the transmitting antenna node 121 of the satellite 120. Thus, some coverage areas of the own radiation patterns of the feed elements 211 for the feed elements 128 configured for reception may naturally correspond in a manner to the coverage areas of the own radiation patterns of the feed elements 211 for the feed elements 128 configured for transmission. In these cases, the receiving elements of the feed elements 128 may be located and configured similarly to the transmitting elements of the feed elements 128 (e.g., with similar radiation patterns of different nodes of the feed arrays 127, with similar wiring connections and/or circuits for signal processing equipment, with similar software configurations and/or or algorithms, etc.), forming similar signal paths for transmission and reception in the coverage areas of the feed elements' own radiation patterns 211. However, in some cases it may be advantageous to position and configure the receiving feeds 128 and transmitting feeds 128 differently.

Multiple intrinsic radiation patterns of highly overlapping feed elements 210 can be combined through beamforming to produce one or more narrow beams 125. Beam shaping for narrow beam 125 can be accomplished by adjusting the signal phase or signal time delay and/or amplitude for signals transmitted and/or received by a plurality of feed elements 128 of one or more feed arrays 127 with overlapping coverage areas of the feed elements' own radiation patterns 211. This adjustment of phase and/or amplitude is referred to as applying beam weights (e.g., beamforming coefficients) to the element signals irradiators. For transmissions (e.g., from the feed elements 128 of the antenna array assembly 127), the relative phases and sometimes amplitudes of the transmitted signals are adjusted so that the energy transmitted by the feed elements 128 is constructively summed at the desired location (e.g., the location of the narrow beam coverage area 126). . For reception (e.g., receiver elements 128 of antenna array assembly 127 feeds, etc.), the relative phases and sometimes amplitudes of the received signals are adjusted (e.g., by applying the same or different beam weights) so that the energy received from the desired location (eg, at the location of the narrow beam coverage zone 126) the feed elements 128 are constructively summed up for a given narrow beam coverage zone 126.

The term "beamforming" can be used to refer to the application of beam weights to either transmit or receive, or both simultaneously. Calculating beam weights or coefficients may require direct or indirect determination of the communication channel characteristics. The processes of calculating beam weights and applying beam weights can be performed in the same or different components of the system. Adaptive beamformers can support dynamic calculation of beam weights or coefficients.

The narrow beams 125 can be controlled, selectively shaped and/or otherwise reconfigured by applying different beam weights. For example, the number of active self-patterns of feed elements 210 or spot beams 126 coverage areas, the size of the shape of beams 125, the relative gain of self-patterns of feed elements 210 and/or spot beams 125, and other parameters may change over time. The antenna assemblies 121 may employ beamforming to produce relatively narrow beams 125 and may form narrow beams 125 having improved gain characteristics. Narrower beams 125 may allow signals transmitted on one beam to be distinguished from signals transmitted on other narrow beams 125 to avoid interference between transmitted or received signals or, for example, to spatially separate received signals.

In some examples, narrower beams 125 may allow frequency and polarization reuse to a greater extent than when forming wider narrow beams 125. For example, narrow beams 125 that are configured as narrower beams can support communications to transmit signals across non-contiguous coverage areas of narrow beams. beams 126 that do not overlap, while overlapping narrow beams 125 may be orthogonal in frequency, polarization, or time. In some examples, greater reuse for smaller narrow beams 125 may result in more data being transmitted and/or received. In other or alternative embodiments, beamforming may be used to provide sharper gain at the edge of the beam, which may allow higher beam gain to be provided over a larger portion of the narrow beam 125. Thus, beamforming techniques may provide higher frequency reuse and/or more high system throughput for a given system bandwidth.

Some satellites 120 may use OBBF to electronically control signals transmitted and/or received through the feed element array 128 (eg, by applying beam weights to the feed element signals on the satellite 120). For example, satellite 120 may have a multiple feed element per beam (MFPB) phased array for beamforming on board. In some examples, beam weights may be calculated at a ground computing center (e.g., access node terminal 130, network device 141, communications service manager) and then transmitted to satellite 120. In some examples, beam weights may be pre-configured or otherwise defined on satellite 120 for onboard use.

In some cases, satellite 120 may employ significant processing resources to control the phase and gain of each element of feed 128 used to form narrow beams 125. The use of such processing power may increase the level of complexity of satellite 120. Therefore, in some cases, satellites 120 may operate with ground beamforming (GBBF) to reduce the complexity of satellite 120 while maintaining the benefit of electronic beamforming of narrower beams 125. In some examples, beam weights or coefficients may be applied to ground segment 102 (e.g., at one or more ground stations) before transmitting appropriate signals to satellite 120, which may include multiplexing signals from feed elements on ground segment 102 in accordance with various time, frequency, or spatial multiplexing techniques and other signal processing techniques. Satellite 120 may accordingly receive and in some cases demultiplex such signals and transmit associated feed element signals via corresponding feed elements of antenna 128 to form transmit beams 125 that are based at least in part on beam weights applied to ground segment 102. In some In examples, satellite 120 may receive feed element signals through respective feed element antennas 128 and transmit the received feed element signals to a ground segment 102 (e.g., one or more ground stations), which may include multiplexing the feed element signals on the satellite 120 in accordance with various methods of time, frequency or spatial multiplexing and other signal processing methods. Ground segment 102 may accordingly receive and in some cases demultiplex such signals and apply weights to the received feed element signals to generate narrow beam signals corresponding to narrow beams 125.

In another example, the communications system 100 as described herein may support various end-to-end beamforming technologies, which may be coupled to the formation of end-to-end spot beams 125 by a satellite 120 or other vehicle operating as an end-to-end relay. For example, in an end-to-end beamforming system, the beam weights may be calculated at the central processing system (CPS) of ground segment 102, and the end-to-end beam weights may be applied within the ground segment 102 rather than at the satellite 120. Signals in end-to-end narrow beams 125 may be transmitted and received in an array of access node terminals 130, which may be satellite access nodes (SAN). The end-to-end beamforming system may use any suitable type of end-to-end repeater, and different types of access node terminals 130 may be used to communicate with different types of end-to-end repeaters.

The end-to-end beamformer within the CPS may compute one set of end-to-end beam weights that takes into account: (1) uplink wireless signal paths to the end-to-end repeater; (2) signal reception/transmission paths through an end-to-end repeater; and (3) downlink wireless signal paths from the end-to-end repeater. The beam weights can be represented mathematically as a matrix. In some examples, OBBF and GBBF satellite systems may have beam weight vector sizes determined by the number of feed elements 128 on antenna assembly 121. In contrast, the end-to-end beam weight vectors may have dimensions determined by the number of access node terminals 130 rather than the number of feed elements 128 on the end-to-end repeater. In general, the number of access node terminals 130 does not coincide with the number of feed elements 128 on the end-to-end repeater. In addition, the formed end-to-end narrow beams 125 do not end at either the transmitting or receiving elements 128 of the end-to-end repeater feeds. In contrast, the generated end-to-end spot beams 125 can be efficiently relayed because the end-to-end spot beam generation systems 125 may comprise uplink signal paths, relay signal paths (via satellite 120 or other suitable end-to-end relay) and downlink signal paths.

Because the end-to-end beamforming system can consider both the user link and the feeder link (as well as the end-to-end repeater), only one is needed to form the desired end-to-end spot beams 125 in a particular direction (e.g., forward spot beams 125 or return spot beams 125). set of ray weights. Thus, one set of end-to-end forward beam weights is used to form signals transmitted from the access node terminals 130 on the end-to-end uplink through the end-to-end repeater, as well as through the forward downlink to combine and form the end-to-end forward narrow beams 125. And vice versa. , for signals transmitted back from users via the reverse uplink, end-to-end repeater, and reverse downlink, end-to-end return beam weights are applied to form end-to-end return spot beams 125. In some environments, it may be difficult or impossible to distinguish between uplink characteristics uplink and downlink. Accordingly, the generated narrow beams of the feeder link 125, the directivity of the generated narrow beam, and the intrinsic carrier-to-interference (C/I) ratio for the uplink and downlink may no longer have their traditional role in system design, but the concepts signal-to-noise ratios (Es/No) and end-to-end C/I for uplink and downlink may still be relevant.

A communication system in accordance with the examples described herein may use various beamforming technologies to support a primary or real-time task, such as data exchange or real-time data collection, and to support a secondary or retroactive task, such as tracking a signal about a previous event or other data transmission. In some examples, satellite 120 may include a beamformer on board configured to support real-time transmission, and the same or a different beamformer on board satellite 120 may be configured to support signal tracking of a previous event (e.g., based on element signals irradiators stored in the satellite 120). In some examples, ground segment ground station 102 may include a ground beamformer configured to support real-time transmission, and the same or a different ground segment beamformer 102 may be configured to track a signal of a previous event (e.g., based on signals elements of irradiators stored in the ground segment 102). In some examples, satellite 120 may include an on-board beamformer configured to support real-time transmission, and the ground station may include a ground beamformer configured to support signal tracking of a previous event (e.g., based on feed element signals, stored in satellite 120 or in the ground segment). In some examples, the communications system may employ end-to-end beamforming for both the primary or real-time task and to track a signal of a previous event or other search task. Accordingly, these and other configurations can be used to support various examples of the described technical solutions for tracking a signal about a previous event. These techniques may include storing various received signals to support retroactive or iterative generation of target spot beams 125 or spot beam signals for the purpose of searching for a signal or associated device of interest.

In fig. 3A and 3B show an example of beamforming for forming coverage areas of narrow beams 126 in the native coverage area of antenna 221-b in accordance with the examples described herein. In fig. 3A, diagram 300 illustrates the self-pattern coverage area of antenna 221-b, which includes a plurality of self-pattern coverage areas of feed elements 211 that may be formed by a defocused antenna assembly with multiple feed links 121. Each of the self-pattern coverage areas of feed elements 211 feeds 211 may be coupled to a corresponding feed element 128 of the feed array assembly 127 of the antenna assembly 121. In fig. 3B, diagram 350 shows a pattern of coverage areas of narrow beams 126 in continental US service coverage area 310. The coverage areas of the narrow beams 126 can be obtained by applying beamforming coefficients to the signals carried by the feed elements 128 associated with the multiple coverage areas of the feed elements' own radiation patterns 211 in FIG. 3A.

Each of the spot beam coverage areas 126 may have an associated spot beam 125, which in some examples may be based on a predefined beamforming configuration configured to support a communications service or other primary or real-time mission within the respective spot beam coverage areas. 126. Each of the spot beams 125 may be formed from a combination of signals carried by a plurality of feed elements 128 for those coverage areas of the feed elements' own radiation patterns 211 that include the corresponding coverage area of the spot beams 126. For example, the spot beam 125 associated with narrow beam coverage area 126-c shown in FIG. 3B may be a combination of signals from eight feed elements 128 associated with the coverage areas of the feed elements' own radiation patterns 211-b, shown as dark solid lines in FIG. 3A. In various examples, spot beams 125 with overlapping coverage areas of spot beams 126 may be orthogonal in frequency, polarization, and/or time, while non-overlapping spot beams 125 may not be orthogonal to each other (e.g., a frequency reuse scheme with areas located butt). In other examples, non-orthogonal spot beams 125 may have varying degrees of overlap using interference cancellation techniques to control interbeam interference, such as adaptive coding and modulation, interference cancellation, and space-time coding.

Beamforming can be applied to signals transmitted or received via satellite using OBBF, GBBF, or end-to-end beamforming signal paths. Thus, the service provided in the coverage areas of the spot beams 126 shown in FIG. 3B may be based on the inherent coverage area of the antenna pattern 221-b of the antenna node 121, as well as the application of beam weights. Although the illustrated service coverage area 310 is provided by a substantially uniform pattern of spot beam coverage areas 126 (e.g., with the same or nearly identical beam coverage sizes and amount of overlap), in some examples the spot beam coverage areas 126 for the service coverage area 310 may be heterogeneous. For example, higher density areas may receive communication service using relatively small narrow beams 125, and lower density areas may receive communication service using relatively large narrow beams 125.

The communication system may also be configured to support tracking of a signal of a previous event over its own radiation pattern coverage area of the antenna 221-b of the antenna node 121, which can be separated from the primary task/mission or the task/mission in real time over its own radiation pattern coverage area. antennas 221-b. For example, one or more components of the receive processing system may be configured to store received feed element signals for a period of time (e.g., in a ring buffer corresponding to each of the feed element's own beam pattern coverage areas 211), or in a system in which end-to-end beamforming is used, one or more components of the reception processing system may be configured to store signals received at a plurality of access node terminals 130 (eg, relayed by satellite 120 or other vehicle). The reception processing system may process stored feed element signals or access node terminal signals in accordance with a search or detection beamforming configuration to generate a target narrow beam signal corresponding to a target location associated with any previous event or potential previous event. The receive processing component of the system may evaluate the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal in accordance with various signal characteristics hypotheses. Generating a search or detection of narrow beam 125 and assessing the presence of a target signal may be repeated in examples such as: iteratively searching at different locations of the antenna 221-b's own coverage area for the same duration; the trajectory formed after the signal has passed through various locations of the antenna 221-b's own coverage area and with different durations; or spectral estimation according to various signal characteristics hypotheses.

In fig. 4 depicts an example of a reception processing system 400 that supports tracking of a previous event signal, in accordance with the examples described herein. The reception processing system 400 includes a feed element signal receiver 410, a real-time processing component 420, a feed element signal storage component 430, and a post-processing component 440.

The feed element signal receiver 410 may be configured to receive signals from the feed elements 405 associated with an antenna assembly 121 having a feed array assembly 127. In some examples, the term “feed element 410 signal receiver” may refer to a satellite component 120 or other vehicle including such an antenna assembly 121 that is coupled to the antenna assembly. In some examples, the term "feed element 410 signal receiver" may refer to a component of the ground segment 102 that is separate from, but is in communication with, such device (e.g., via a wireless link such as a reverse link). line 133) to support reception of feed element signals 405. For example, the term “feed element signal receiver 410” may refer to reverse link feeder link downconverter 102, which may be a component configured to receive feed element signals 405 or other signals to create receive spot beams 125 from one or more satellites 120. In some examples, feed element signal receiver 410 may receive feed element signals via reverse links 133 through one or more ground stations, and feed element signals 405 may be multiplexed according to various techniques, such as frequency division multiplexing, time division, polarization multiplexing, spatial multiplexing, etc. Accordingly, the feed element signal receiver 410 may be configured to demultiplex or demodulate various signals to receive or process the feed element signals 405.

In some examples, the feed element signals 405 may be received as source signals from the transducers of the corresponding feed elements 128. In some examples, feed element signals 405 may be received as filtered or otherwise processed signals, which may include filtering, combining, or other processing at satellite 120 or ground segment component 102. Feed element signal receiver 410 may transmit signals 415-a feed element to real-time processing component 420 and feed element signals 415-b to feed element signal storage component 430. In some examples, feed element signals 415-a and feed element signals 415-b may be identical to each other and may or may not be the same coincide with the signals 405 of the feed element. In some examples, to generate feed element signals 415-a, feed element signals 405 may be filtered or otherwise processed in real time, which may include filtering or other processing to support frequency bands associated with a primary task, such as a communications service ( e.g. filtering according to communication frequency bands). In some examples, to generate feed element signals 415-b, feed element signals 405 may be filtered or otherwise processed in subsequent processing, which may include filtering or other processing that is different from the primary task. For example, to generate feed element signals 415-b, the feed element signal receiver 410 may be configured to filter the feed element signals 405 according to a wider bandwidth to support a wider signal detection range, or the feed element signal receiver 410 may be configured to oversampling the feed element signals 405 compared to the sampling used to generate the feed element signals 415-a.

In some examples, subsequent search may not be configured for signals according to different polarizations, so feed element signals 415-b may be generated by combining certain feed element signals 405 corresponding to the same feed element 128 or two or more feed elements 128, which have a common port or hole associated with different polarizations. In such examples, feed element signals 415-a may support polarization separation, which may support, for example, multiplexing of a communication signal used by real-time processing component 420.

The real-time processing component 420 may be configured to support a primary or real-time task for the reception processing system 400, such as a communications service or a data collection service. In the example receive processing system 400, the real-time processing component 420 includes a return beamforming network 421, a channel receiver 422, and a modem termination system 423, which together may be configured to support communication with a satellite 120 or other vehicle. , which includes an antenna assembly 121 coupled to feed element signals 405.

In some examples, the term “real-time processing component 420” may refer to a component of ground segment 102 separate from satellite 120 that includes antenna assembly 121 and receives feed element signals 415-a from feed element signal receiver 410 of ground segment 102 or signal receiver of the satellite feed element 410. For example, the return beamformer network 421 may be an example of a ground-based or end-to-end beamformer. In some examples, the term “real-time processing component 420” may refer to a satellite component 120 or other vehicle including such an antenna assembly 121 that is coupled to the antenna assembly 121. For example, the return beamforming network may be an example of an on-board beamformer coupled to a feed element signal receiver 410 of satellite 120 and configured to receive feed element signals 415-a via the signal path for satellite 120.

The return beamforming network 421 may be configured to process the feed element signals 415-a by applying weights or beam coefficients to generate narrow beam signals. The spot beams 125 formed by the return beamforming network 421 may be predefined beams having substantially non-overlapping coverage areas of the spot beams 126 and/or using different frequency bands and polarizations for a particular location. The generated narrow beam signals may be processed by channel receiver 422 and modem termination system 423 to support various reverse link communications.

In addition to supporting the real-time operations of the processing component 420 (e.g., the main task), the receive processing system 400 may also be configured to sample and store 405 feed element signals or other associated signals for later processing (e.g., search beam reconstruction previous event). For example, the feed element signal storage component 430 may be configured to receive the feed element signals 415-b, possibly process the received signals using a quantizer 431, and store the feed element signals 415-b in a FIFO 432. The FIFO 432 may include a physical storage component configured to store feed element signals 415-b for a period of time that supports a desired search window or desired storage duration. The feed element signal storage component 430 may be configured to provide the stored feed element signals 435 to a post-processing component 440, which may support various operations performed in parallel or concurrently with the operations performed by the real-time processing component 420 (e.g., without interrupting the component processing in real time 420).

In one example, the FIFO 432 may be configured to support a search window of 30 days for feed element signals 405 sampled at a 34.0 MHz bandwidth. By applying an oversampling factor of 6 (eg, at feed element receiver 410 or quantizer 431), the sampling rate of the data stored in FIFO 432 can be 204,000,000 samples per second. If the feed element signals 405 correspond to a feed array node 127 containing one hundred and forty-five feed elements 128, and 4 bps per sample quantization is used, then the FIFO component 432 can support an input rate of 118.32 Gbps. To support a search window of 30 days, the FIFO component 432 may accordingly include a storage capacity of at least 35.56 TB.

The post-processing component 440 may be configured to support the search or detection of the reception processing system 400, for example, iteratively searching for a signal of interest within the service coverage area 310 or the coverage area of the antenna's own radiation pattern 221 corresponding to the feed element signals 405, signals 415-b feed element, or stored feed element signals 435. In accordance with various techniques, post-processing component 440 may support iterative processing to perform a spatial search of any signal element given the corresponding antenna node 121. With the support of the feed element signal storage component 430, detected signals (eg, those stored in the feed element signal storage component 430 and located in the cache 441) can be iteratively demodulated and decoded. In the example receive processing system 400, the post-processing component 440 includes a cache 441, a beamforming network 442, and a search component 443.

In some examples, the term “post-processing component 440” may refer to a ground segment component 102 separate from a satellite 120 that includes an antenna assembly 121 and receives stored feed element signals 435 from the same ground segment component 102 or from one or more others. components of ground segment 102. For example, beamforming network 442 may be an example of a ground or end-to-end beamformer (eg, a hub ground station or feeder station). In some examples, the term “post-processing component 440” may refer to a component of a satellite 120 or other vehicle that includes an antenna assembly 121 coupled to feed element signals 415-b. For example, beamforming network 442 may be an example of an airborne beamformer.

Beamforming network 442 may be configured to process stored feed element signals 435 (eg, transmitted to and stored in cache 441) by applying beam weights or coefficients to generate target spot beam signals associated with iterative search or signal detection. The spot beams 125 generated by the beamforming network 442 may refer to spectral or hypothetical spot beams 125 and may be based on the predicted location or trajectory of the device associated with the signal of interest, or may be based on a random or iterative search for the location (e.g., if the information location or trajectory is unknown). The generated narrow beam signals can be processed using a search component 443, which can be configured to perform various checks for the presence or absence of the signal of interest.

The beamforming network 442 can support the formation of any possible spot beam 125 with the stored feed element signals 435, and therefore may not be limited to the spot beam configurations of the return beamforming network 421. For example, beamforming network 442 may be configured to generate smaller narrow beams 125 for greater directionality or location resolution, or narrow beams 125 with higher gains to support different signals. The operations of the beamforming network 442 can be performed without affecting the primary task (eg, without interrupting the operations of the backbeamforming network 421) and can support subsequent searches at different locations and granularities. In some examples, the spot beam 125 generated by the beamforming network 442 may have a different location or shape than the spot beams 125 generated by the return beamforming network 421, and the beamforming network 442 may be configured to support searching the spot beam 125 at specified locations. in the specified time interval of stored signals there are 435 feed elements. Search component 443 may support various functionality for detecting, characterizing, demodulating, and decoding spot beam signals generated by beamforming network 442 during a subsequent search interval.

Although certain techniques for tracking a signal about a previous event are described in the context of storing and processing feed element signals, the described techniques can be applied to any signals that support recovery of target spot beams 125 or corresponding spot beam signals after an event. For example, in an end-to-end beamforming configuration, return uplink signals associated with a number of spot beam coverage areas 126 may be received in accordance with an array of transmit/receive signal paths, each of which may be associated with a corresponding feed receiver element 128 and a corresponding transmitting element of the feed 128 of the relay device. Return uplink signals may be transmitted by feed element transmitters 128 of the relay device, and transmitted signals from at least a subset of feed element transmitters 128 may be received at each of a plurality of access node terminals 130. The corresponding return uplink signals received at a plurality of access node terminals 130 may be forwarded to central end-to-end beamforming processing systems and processed (e.g., by applying a beam weight matrix to the received signals) to generate spot beam signals corresponding to spot beam coverage areas 126. Thus, the corresponding uplink feedback signals of the end-to-end beamforming system received at the respective access node terminals 130 or at the central processing system may support both the main task and the real-time task, as well as the post-event task or other task. search even when such signals are not separated and multiplexed in accordance with the individual feed elements 128. In other words, the described post-event signal tracking techniques are not limited to receiving and storing signals each corresponding to one element of the feed element 128. Instead, the described post-event signal tracking techniques can use any signal processing that can be stored and processed to create a narrow beam 125 or corresponding narrow beam signal.

In fig. 5 depicts an example of a search process 500 supporting tracking of a previous event signal, in accordance with the examples described herein. Search process 500 may be performed by one or more post-processing components, such as post-processing component 440, which is described with reference to FIG. 4. Search process 500 illustrates an example of iterative processing that supports a spatial search of any signal element within a service coverage area for one or more antenna nodes 121.

At block 505, the search process 500 may begin. In various examples, the search process 500 may be initiated by the user, following user intervention, or by an event (eg, loss of an expected signal, movement of a target device outside a threshold range, location or path, triggered by signaling). In some examples, the search process 500 may begin as part of a search and rescue operation, a recovery operation, a surveillance operation, or a critical investigation operation, among other things.

At step 510, the search process 500 may include determining a signal of interest. In some examples, the characteristics of the signal of interest may be known to the user and provided as input to the search process 500. In some examples, aspects of the signal of interest may be known to the component of the reception processing system performing the lookup process 500, including information that may be stored in and retrieved from a lookup table or other reference resource. The signal of interest may have characteristics such as modulation scheme, symbol rate, identifier, and others, and such characteristics may be known before the search process 500 begins or may be known or expected as one of the options before the search process 500 begins.

At step 520, the search process 500 may include beamforming (e.g., receive beamforming) for a set of stored feed element signals at a hypothetical location that may be associated with generating a target narrow beam signal based on the beamforming, at least in part . The stored feed element signals could be received from a single antenna node 121 or from multiple antenna nodes 121 (eg, from a set of satellites 120). In some examples, the initial hypothetical location may be based at least in part on the predicted location of the device associated with the signal of interest. For example, the initial hypothetical location may be based on the last known location of a device associated with a signal of interest, or on the known or predicted trajectory of a device associated with a signal of interest. The beamforming at step 520 may be performed by a beamforming network, such as the beamforming network 442 of the post-processing component 440, which may be the same or different from the beamforming network used in the main task (for example, the back-beamforming network 421 of the processing component in real time 420). In addition, the beamforming at step 520 may include a narrow beam 125 having the same or different characteristics as the narrow beam 125 associated with a real-time task. For example, beamforming at step 520 may include a narrow beam 125 having a wider or narrower narrow beam coverage area 126, or a narrow beam 125 having a target location (e.g., the center or axis of the narrow beam, which may or may not be aligned). aligned with a hypothetical location) that differs from the target location of narrow beams 125 for the real-time task.

At step 521, search process 500 may include estimating the presence of signal energy for a narrow beam signal associated with a hypothetical location. The estimation at step 521 may include estimating signal energy for a frequency or frequency range that is expected for the target signal, based on the polarization expected for the target signal, or based on various combinations of frequency and polarization. If signal energy is present, search process 500 may proceed to step 530, and if signal energy is not present, search process 500 may proceed to step 522; wherein the search process 500 may include assessing whether all locations of interest within the service's coverage area have been checked. If not all locations have been tested, the search process 500 may return to step 520 to form a beam at the next hypothetical location (eg, to generate a new target narrow beam signal for the next hypothetical location), and if all locations of interest have been checked, the search process 500 may proceed to step 570 to complete the search process.

At step 530, the search process 500 may include testing a modulation hypothesis. In some examples, the initial modulation hypothesis may include a modulation scheme expected for the signal of interest, such as binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), or some other modulation scheme. In some examples, the particular modulation scheme may be unknown or expected, and the initial modulation hypothesis may be chosen randomly or according to a specific iteration sequence. Testing the modulation hypothesis may include various estimates of the target spot beam signal (eg, the signal generated at step 520), such as estimating the frequency, amplitude, or phase characteristics of the target spot beam signal relative to the characteristics that would be expected for a hypothetical modulation scheme. In some examples, such an estimate may be made based on a pilot identified in the target spot signal.

At step 531, search process 500 may include assessing whether a hypothetical modulation scheme is present in the target narrow beam signal. The evaluation at step 531 may include judging whether the frequency, amplitude, and/or phase of the narrow beam signal matches one or more modulation symbol constellation points or patterns associated with a hypothetical modulation scheme. If a modulation scheme is present, the search process 500 may proceed to step 540, and if a modulation scheme is not present, the search process 500 may proceed to step 532; wherein the search process 500 may include assessing whether all modulation schemes in the capability set have been checked. At step 532, if not all modulation schemes are tested, the search process 500 may return to step 530 to evaluate the next modulation scheme, and if all modulation schemes are tested, the search process 500 may return to step 522 to evaluate the feasibility of beamforming at the next hypothetical location ( for example, to generate a new target narrow beam signal for the next hypothetical location).

At step 540, the search process 500 may include testing a hypothesis about the symbol rate. In some examples, the initial symbol rate hypothesis may include the symbol rate expected for the signal of interest, which may be related to the data or signaling bandwidth that is supported by the device associated with the signal of interest. In some examples, the particular symbol rate may be unknown or expected, and the initial symbol rate hypothesis may be chosen randomly or according to a specific iteration sequence. Testing the symbol rate hypothesis may include various estimates of the target spot beam signal (eg, the signal generated at step 520), such as estimating the frequency of changes in the amplitude or phase characteristics of the target spot beam signal (eg, how often a new modulation symbol is presented) relative to characteristics that might be expected for a hypothetical symbol rate, or otherwise tuning the signal performance to obtain a hypothetical symbol rate.

At step 541, search process 500 may include assessing whether a hypothetical symbol rate is present in the target narrow beam signal. The evaluation at step 541 may include judging whether the rate of phase and/or amplitude changes or transitions matches the hypothetical symbol rate, or judging the success of decoding at the hypothetical symbol rate. If the symbol rate is present, the search process 500 may proceed to step 550, and if the symbol rate is not present, the search process 500 may proceed to step 542; wherein the search process 500 may include assessing whether all symbol rates in the capability set have been tested. At step 542, if not all symbol rates are tested, search process 500 may return to step 540 to evaluate the next symbol rate, and if all symbol rates are tested, search process 500 may return to step 532 to evaluate whether the next modulation hypothesis can be tested. .

At step 550, the search process 500 may include setting up according to a hypothetical identifier. In some examples, the hypothetical initial identifier may include an expected identifier for a signal of interest, which may be associated with an identifier of a device that is associated with the signal of interest. The hypothetical initial identifier may include a device identifier, a vehicle identifier, a device signature, a device address, and other identifiers. For example, a target narrow beam signal may be evaluated to confirm that the received signals include transmissions performed by a target device associated with the signal of interest. In some examples, the particular identifier may be unknown or expected, and the starting identifier may be chosen randomly or according to a specific iteration sequence. The identifier check may include various evaluations of the target narrow beam signal (eg, generated at step 520), such as evaluation of pilots or symbols, demodulation or decoding of the target narrow beam signal for signals with control information or with other information, as well as others. estimates of identifier characteristics that might be expected for a hypothetical identifier.

At step 551, the search process 500 may include assessing whether the identifier is present in the target narrow beam signal. The evaluation at step 551 may include evaluating whether the detected identifier matches the hypothetical identifier. If the identifier is present, the search process 500 may proceed to step 560, and if the identifier is not present, the search process 500 may proceed to step 552; wherein the search process 500 may include assessing whether all identifiers in the capability set have been checked. If not all identifiers are tested, the search process 500 may return to step 550 to evaluate the next identifier, and if all identifiers are verified, the search process 500 may return to step 542 to evaluate the feasibility of testing the next hypothetical symbol rate.

At step 560, search process 500 may include demodulating and/or decoding the processed signals (eg, the target spot beam signal generated at step 520). Demodulation and/or decoding may support extracting information from the target narrow beam signal, which may include various information related to the target device associated with the signal of interest. For example, operations at block 560 may include demodulating or decoding data associated with location, operational, diagnostic, and other information. After steps 560, the search process may proceed to step 570 and terminate. In some examples, operations 560 may be omitted and search process 500 may proceed from operations 550 to operations 570 without demodulating or decoding the processed signals.

At step 570, the search process 500 may end. In some examples, termination of the search process 500 may include an indication that the signal of interest was not found, and the search process 500 may or may not be re-executed with a modified definition of the signal of interest. In some examples, completion of the search process 500 may include confirming that the signal of interest or a device associated with the signal of interest has been located at the hypothetical location. In some examples, completion of search process 500 may include outputting information demodulated or decoded at step 560, which may be relevant to various search operations, such as search and rescue operations, asset recovery operations, surveillance operations, or critical investigation operations, as well as other operations.

In fig. 6 depicts an example of a previous event signal tracking 600 in accordance with the examples described herein. The signal tracking 600 of a previous event may be illustrated by an example in which it is assumed that the aircraft was following a hypothetical trajectory 605 but lost contact. To determine the possible location of a downed aircraft, the previous event signal tracking 600 may be a post-event analysis that includes aspects of the search process 500 with a set of target spot beam coverage areas 126-d.

The coverage areas of the target spot beams 126-d may be corresponding areas in which received signal energy can be isolated from other areas by post-event received beam shaping (eg, using beamforming network 442). For example, each of the target spot beam coverage areas 126-d may be associated with a corresponding spot beam 125 formed from stored feed element signals 435, which may correspond to a plurality of feed element self-patterns 210 of the feed element's own beam pattern coverage area 221, which includes including the areas illustrated by the target coverage areas of narrow beams 126-d. Stored feed element signals 435 may be associated with feed element signals (eg, feed element signals 405) that also support real-time tasks, such as providing Internet connectivity within a service coverage area 310. In some examples, the target coverage areas of spot beams 126-d may be the same as or similar to the coverage areas of spot beams 126 associated with a real-time task. In some examples, the target coverage areas of spot beams 126-d may be different from the coverage areas of spot beams 126 associated with a real-time task, which may include target coverage areas of spot beams 126-d having a smaller or larger size (e.g. diameter), as well as locations, number of beams or gains that differ from the corresponding characteristics of the coverage areas of narrow beams 126 of the main task.

A subsequent task request in such a scenario may include a request to detect the aircraft in question or identify information signals from the aircraft in question. To support such a task, search process 500 may be used to generate target spot beams 125 (e.g., beams each corresponding to a corresponding coverage area of target spot beam 126-d) from stored feed element signals 435 that have been stored in a storage component (e.g., in the signal storage component of the feed element 430) for later analysis. In various examples, the aircraft in question may or may not participate in data exchange with the associated satellite communications system. Instead, a process such as search process 500 may be performed without the aircraft in question communicating through feed elements associated with feed element signals used in the search process as part of the previous event signal tracking 600.

Performing a search process in the previous event signal tracking 600, for example, within the search process 500, may be based on a hypothetical trajectory 605 (for example, including target coverage areas of narrow beams 126-d that overlap the hypothetical trajectory 605), but may also include including the surrounding target coverage areas of the spot beams 126-d to assess whether the aircraft has deviated from the hypothetical path 605. For example, the search process may begin with the initial spot beam 126-d-1 (e.g., a hypothetical target location or the last known location) and the first time window. If the target signal is detected in the stored signals (eg, feed element signals, access node terminal signals) for the first time window using beamforming weights corresponding to the initial spot beam 126-d-1, then the search process may continue by searching for the target signal in adjacent narrow beams (eg, including narrow beams 126-d-2 and 126-d-3) in a second time window following the first time window. For example, narrow beams 126-d-2 and 126-d-3 may each correspond to a different set of beamforming weights applied to the stored signals. In the example shown, the target signal is in narrow beam 126-d-3 for the second time window.

The search process may continue and result in the determination of a detected path 610 (eg, based on the detection of signals in the target spot beam coverage areas 126-d, which are shown as solid lines from among the search spot beam coverage areas 126-d, including the spot beam coverage areas 126- d, shown with dotted lines). The detected trajectory may estimate the location over time for the aircraft in question or identify the last target spot beam coverage area 126-d in which signals were detected (e.g., determine the location of a possible downed aircraft within the target spot beam coverage area 126-d-n ). In some examples, the results of the search process (e.g., based on demodulation or decoding of the target narrow beam signals or search process) may include identifying the aircraft's propulsion telemetry, determining the actual path of the aircraft, demodulating the telemetry information, and possibly identifying the cause of the aircraft's failure. . During the search process for tracking the previous event signal 600, the real-time task that is supported by the feed elements providing the stored information may remain unaffected and recording of the feed element signals can continue.

Although the described techniques for tracking a signal about a previous event may be applied to electromagnetic signals via antenna assembly 121, in some examples, the described techniques for searching for previous events can be applied to optical signals. For example, imaging information from multiple cameras or optical sensors can be stored separately, but combined with different optical focusing methods or other processing methods. In one example, phased array optical sensors may be used that store individual element data and are subsequently used to focus an image using post-processing techniques similar to those described herein for antennas and electromagnetic signal processing.

In fig. 7 shows a functional diagram 700 of a reception processing system 705 that supports tracking of a previous event signal, in accordance with the examples described herein. Reception processing system 705 may be an example of aspects of a communications system or reception processing system that are described with reference to FIG. 1A–5. The reception processing system 705 may include a feed element signal receiver 710, a real-time beamforming processor 715, a storage component 720, a prior event lookup manager 725, a prior event beamforming processor 730, and a prior event evaluation component 735. Each of these modules can directly or indirectly communicate with each other (for example, through one or more buses or other communication lines). In some examples, the reception processing system 705 may relate to or otherwise include components of the ground segment 102 of the communications system 100, or may relate to or otherwise include components of a satellite 120 of the communications system 100. In some examples, components of the receive processing system 705 may be distributed between the ground segment 102 and the space segment 101 or other antenna system (e.g., an overhead antenna system such as an aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicle antenna system) supporting beamforming reception and signal storage. irradiator elements.

The feed element signal receiver 710 may be configured to receive a set of feed element signals. In some examples, each feed element signal in the set may correspond to one of the feed elements 128 of the feed array assembly 127 of the antenna assembly 121, which may be associated with a service coverage area 310 or its own coverage area of the antenna pattern 221. In some examples, the feed element signal receiver 710 may be configured to receive a second set of feed element signals, wherein each feed element signal of the second set corresponds to one of the signals of the second set of feed elements 128 of the feed array assembly 127 of the second antenna assembly 121 (e.g., another antenna) that may be associated with the second zone 310 service coverage or with a second native coverage area of the antenna pattern 221. In various examples, the first antenna node 121 and the second antenna node 121 may be components of the same device or components of different devices (e.g., different satellites 120, different vehicles) .

In some examples, the feed element signal receiver 710 may be a component of a ground station of ground segment 102, or the components of the feed element signal receiver 710 may be distributed among multiple ground stations of the ground segment 102. For example, the reception processing system 705 may be configured to receive a set feed element signals at a set of ground stations on ground segment 102 or otherwise using those ground stations. In some examples, feed element receiver 710 may include a network device component 141 or other centralized ground segment processing component 102. In some examples, feed element receiver 710 may be on or otherwise associated with components of one or more satellites 120.

The real-time beamforming processor 715 may be configured to process a set of feed element signals in accordance with a first beamforming configuration (e.g., a main beamforming configuration associated with the narrow beam set 125, a real-time beamforming configuration associated with a set of narrow beams 125) to generate one or more narrow beam signals. Each of the narrow beam signals may correspond to a corresponding narrow beam 125 (e.g., for antenna node 121) and may include communications scheduled for transmission or reception via corresponding beams from the set of narrow beams 125. In various examples, real-time beamforming processor 715 may include a ground segment component 102 (e.g., access node terminal 130 or network device 141 to support ground beamforming for a primary mission or task or for a real-time mission or task), or a real-time beamforming processor 715 may include a satellite component 120 (e.g., to support on-board beamforming for a primary mission or task or for a real-time mission or task), which satellite may or may not be the same satellite 120 that includes an antenna assembly 121 coupled to feed elements 128 for feed element signals.

Storage component 720 may store feed element signals for a period of time. In some examples, storage component 720 may include a FIFO buffer that stores feed element signals over a moving time window (eg, a period of hours, days, weeks, months, etc.). In some examples, storage component 720 may oversample the received set of feed element signals relative to the bandwidth of the received set of feed element signals. In some examples, storage component 720 may include a ground station component of ground segment 102, or components included in storage component 720 may be distributed across multiple ground stations of ground segment 102. For example, reception processing system 705 may be configured to store signals feed elements on a set of ground stations of the ground segment 102 or otherwise using these ground stations. In some examples, storage component 720 may be a component of network device 141 or other centralized processing component of ground segment 102. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, storage component 720 may be components of one or more satellites 120 or other vehicles that locally store signals of irradiator elements.

The previous event search manager 725 may be configured to search for a target signal from a location within the service coverage area 310 or the antenna 221's own coverage area and within a first time window within a time period (e.g., associated with the duration of the stored feed element signals ). In various examples, such determination may be made by the previous event search manager 725 based on triggering or input from a user or operator triggering or activating an event or operating condition or operating mode.

In some examples, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to perform an iterative search, such as the search process 500 described with reference to FIG. 5. For example, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to determine, based on the signal estimate, a target spot beam indicative of the absence of a target signal, to search for a target signal from another location within the service coverage area (e.g., in the same or another time window within the duration of the stored signals of the feed elements). In some examples, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to determine or receive (eg, from a user, from a search resource, from a trajectory prediction model) a hypothetical trajectory for a device associated with a target signal. In some examples, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to determine one or more search locations in different time windows based on a hypothetical device trajectory.

In some examples, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to determine or receive (eg, from a user, from a search resource, from a frequency prediction model) a hypothetical target frequency for a target signal. To evaluate the target narrow beam signal for the presence of a target signal, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to evaluate the target narrow beam signal in accordance with such a hypothetical target frequency.

In some examples, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to determine or receive (eg, from a user, from a search resource, from a modulation prediction model) a hypothetical target modulation scheme for a target signal. To evaluate the target narrow beam signal for the presence of a target signal, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to evaluate the target narrow beam signal in accordance with such a hypothetical target modulation scheme.

In some examples, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to determine or receive (eg, from a user, from a search resource, from a symbol rate prediction model) a hypothetical target symbol rate for a target signal. To evaluate the target narrow beam signal for the presence of a target signal, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to evaluate the target narrow beam signal in accordance with such a hypothetical target symbol rate.

In some examples, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to determine or receive (eg, from a user, from a search resource, from a symbol rate prediction model) a hypothetical target identifier for a target signal. To evaluate the target narrow beam signal for the presence of a target signal, the previous event search manager 725 may be configured to evaluate the target narrow beam signal according to such a hypothetical target identifier.

Previous event beamforming processor 730 may be configured to process a stored set of feed element signals for a first time window in accordance with a second beamforming configuration (e.g., different from a main beamforming configuration or a real-time beamforming configuration) to generate a target narrow signal beam corresponding to the location. In some examples, the previous event beamforming processor 730 may be configured to process a stored set of feed element signals in accordance with a target narrow beam 125 that is different from each beam of the set of narrow beams 125 associated with the first beamforming configuration (e.g., has a different location, different size or different reinforcement). In some examples, generating a target narrow beam signal corresponding to a location includes processing a stored second set of feed element signals (e.g., from an antenna assembly 121 other than the antenna assembly associated with the first set of feed element signals) for a first time window in accordance with third beamforming configuration.

In some examples, historical beamforming processor 730 may be configured to process a stored set of feed element signals for a first time window in accordance with a third beamforming configuration to generate a second target narrow beam signal corresponding to the second location. In some examples, historical beamforming processor 730 may be configured to process a stored set of feed element signals for a second time window in accordance with a fourth beamforming configuration to generate a third target narrow beam signal corresponding to the second location.

In various examples, historical beamforming processor 730 may include a ground segment component 102 (e.g., access node terminal 130 or network device 141 to support ground beamforming for a mission or historical tracking task), or historical beamforming processor 730 may include a satellite component 120 (e.g., to support on-board beamforming for a mission or legacy tracking task), which satellite may or may not be the same satellite 120 that includes an antenna assembly 121 associated with elements 128 feeders for signals from feed elements. In various examples, the historical beamforming processor 730 may or may not be associated with the same device as the real-time beamforming processor 715. In some examples, the historical beamforming processor 730 may be the same processor as the real-time beamforming processor 715, or share one or more components with the real-time beamforming processor 715.

Previous event estimation component 735 may be configured to evaluate narrow beam target signals for the presence of a target signal. In various examples, such an estimate may be based at least in part on hypotheses such as a target frequency hypothesis, a target modulation scheme hypothesis, a target symbol rate hypothesis, a target identifier hypothesis, and others. In various examples, the antecedent estimation component 735 may include a component of the ground segment 102 (e.g., access node terminal 130 or network device 141 to support terrestrial estimation of narrow beam signals), or the antecedent estimation component 735 may include a satellite component 120 ( for example to support on-board evaluation of narrow beam signals). In various examples, the antecedent estimation component 735 may or may not be included in the same device, or may or may not be associated with the same device as the antecedent beamforming processor 730.

In fig. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 800 that supports tracking a previous event signal, in accordance with the examples described herein. The operations of method 800 may be implemented by a receive processing system or components thereof, as described herein. For example, the operations of method 800 may be performed by a receive processing system, as described with reference to FIG. 4 and 7. In some examples, the receiving processing system is configured to execute a set of instructions to control functional elements of the receiving processing system to perform the described functions. In an additional or alternative embodiment, the reception processing system may perform aspects of the described functions using specialized equipment.

At block 805, the receive processing system may receive a set of feed element signals. Each signal of a feed element from the set can correspond to one of the feed elements of the feed antenna array having a service coverage area. Operations 805 may be performed in accordance with the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of step 805 may be performed by a feed element signal receiver, as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At step 810, the receive processing system may process the received set of feed element signals in accordance with a first beamforming configuration (eg, associated with a set of antenna spot beams) to generate one or more spot beam signals, each associated with a corresponding spot beam. In some examples, one or more narrow beam signals may include communications scheduled to be transmitted or received via corresponding signals from a set of narrow beams. In some examples, the processing at block 810 may be associated with a primary or real-time task supported by the ingestion processing system. Operations 810 may be performed in accordance with the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of block 810 may be performed by a beamforming processor in real time, as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At step 815, the reception processing system may store the received set of feed element signals for a period of time. Operations 815 may be performed in accordance with the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of step 815 may be performed by a storage component, as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At step 820, the reception signal processing system may make a determination to search for a target signal from a location within the service coverage area and in a first time window within the duration. In some examples, the processing at block 820 may be associated with a secondary task, searching for previous events or tracking previous events that are supported by an on-receive processing system that may be activated or initiated by a user command or instructions, a triggering event, or an operating mode. Operations 820 may be performed in accordance with the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of step 820 may be performed using a previous event search manager, as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At step 825, the reception processing system may process the stored set of feed element signals for the first time window in accordance with a second beamforming configuration (eg, associated with antenna spot beam searching) to generate a target spot beam signal corresponding to the location. Operations 825 may be performed in accordance with the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of block 825 may be performed by a previous event beamforming processor, as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At step 830, the reception processing system may evaluate the target spot beam signal for the presence of the target signal. Operations 830 may be performed in accordance with the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of step 830 may be performed using a previous events evaluation component, as described with reference to FIG. 7.

In some examples, a device described herein may use one or more methods, such as method 800. The device may include elements, components, means, or instructions (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor) for receiving a set feed element signals (e.g., corresponding to the feed elements of a feed array antenna having a service coverage area), processing the received set of feed element signals in accordance with a first beamforming configuration to generate one or more narrow beam signals, each of which is associated with a corresponding narrow beam, storing a received set of feed element signals for a specified period of time, determining to search for a target signal from a location within the service coverage area and in a first time window within a duration, processing the stored set of feed element signals for the first time window in accordance with a second beamforming configuration for generating a target narrow beam signal corresponding to the location, and evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal.

Some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein may further include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for determining, based on an evaluation of a signal of a target narrow beam indicative of the absence of a target signal, searching for a target signal from a second location within service coverage area and in a first time window within the duration, processing the stored set of feed element signals for the first time window in accordance with a third beamforming configuration (eg, associated with another antenna narrow beam search) to generate a second target narrow beam corresponding to the second location , and evaluating the second narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal.

Some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein may further include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for determining a hypothetical trajectory for a device associated with a target signal, and determining a location based on the hypothetical trajectory for the device.

Some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein may further include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for determining, based on a hypothetical trajectory for the apparatus, searching for a target signal from a second location within the service's coverage area and in a second time frame. window within the duration, processing the stored set of feed element signals for a second time window in accordance with a fourth beamforming configuration (eg, associated with another antenna narrow beam search) to generate a third target narrow beam corresponding to the second location, and estimating a third target narrow beam signal beam for the presence of a target signal.

In some examples of method 800 and devices described herein, processing in accordance with a second beamforming configuration may include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for processing stored sets of feed element signals in accordance with a target narrow beam that is different from each beams in sets of narrow beams associated with the first beamforming configuration. For example, the target spot beam may have a different size, a different orientation, a different coverage area size or location, a different set of gains or phase or amplitude, or other differences compared to the spot beams in the first beamforming configuration. For example, the target narrow beam for a spectral or hypothetical signal search may be different from the narrow beams used for the main task or for a real-time task.

Certain examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein may further include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for receiving a second set of feed element signals, wherein each feed element signal from the second set corresponds to a signal from the second set of feed element signals. a second antenna feed array (eg, having a second service coverage area), and for storing the received second set of feed element signals for a second period of time. In some examples, generating a target narrow beam signal corresponding to a location may include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for processing a stored second set of feed element signals for a first time window in accordance with a fifth beamforming configuration (e.g., associated with a search narrow beam of the second antenna).

In some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein, storing the received set of feed element signals may include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for performing oversampling of the received set of feed element signals relative to the bandwidth of the received set of feed element signals.

Some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein may further include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for determining a target hypothetical frequency for a target signal, and assessing a target spot beam signal for the presence of a target signal may include assessing target narrow beam signal according to a certain target hypothetical frequency.

Some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein may further include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for determining a target hypothetical modulation scheme for a target signal, and evaluating a target spot beam signal for the presence of a target signal may include estimating the target spot beam signal according to the determined target hypothetical modulation scheme.

Some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein may further include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for determining a target hypothetical symbol rate for a target signal, and evaluating a target spot beam signal for the presence of a target signal may include itself estimating the target spot beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical symbol rate.

Some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein may further include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for determining a target hypothetical identifier for a target signal, and assessing a target spot beam signal for the presence of a target signal may include assessing target narrow beam signal according to a specific target hypothetical identifier.

In some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein, processing a received set of feed element signals in accordance with a first beamforming configuration may include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for processing in the ground segment.

In some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein, processing a received set of feed element signals in accordance with a first beamforming configuration may include operations, elements, components, means, or commands for processing on a satellite, including an antenna.

In some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein, obtaining a set of feed element signals may include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for obtaining a set of feed element signals in a set of ground segment ground stations.

In some examples of method 800 and apparatus described herein, processing a stored set of feed element signals in accordance with a second beamforming configuration may include operations, elements, components, means, or instructions for processing in the ground segment.

It should be noted that the methods described herein are exemplary embodiments, that operations or components may be rearranged or otherwise modified, and that other embodiments are possible. In addition, it is possible to combine segments or equipment for two or more methods.

The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols and chips that may be mentioned in the description may be voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules presented herein may be implemented or implemented using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array ( field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete or transistor logic circuit, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured to perform the functions described herein. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or alternatively the processor may be a standard processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (eg, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in combination with a DSP core, or any other similar configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in the form of hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and embodiments are included within the scope of the description and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Elements implementing functions may also be physically located in different locations, including a distributed arrangement such that portions of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.

Machine-readable media includes both physical computer storage media and communications media, which includes any media that allows a computer program to be transferred from one location to another. The physical storage medium can be any existing medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or dedicated computer. By way of non-limiting example, the computer-readable physical medium may be a random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash ROM, compact disc ROM (CD), or other optical disk drive, magnetic disk drive or other magnetic storage devices, or any other physical medium that can be used to carry or store the required program code facilities in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed using a universal or a specialized computer or a general-purpose or specialized processor. In addition, any connection, strictly speaking, is called a machine-readable medium. For example, when transmitting software from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave signals, Media definitions included coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave signals. As used herein, the term "disc" includes compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disc, and Blu-ray disc, with one type of disc typically reproducing data magnetically, while discs Another type reproduces data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of the term "machine readable medium".

As used herein, the term “or” as used in a list of items (eg, in a list of items preceded by an expression such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example , a list of at least one of A, B or C means A, or B, or C, or AB, or AC, or BC, or ABC (ie, A, and B, and C). In addition, as used herein, the expression “based on” should not be construed as a reference to a limited set of conditions. For example, an illustrative step described as “based on condition A” may be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of the present description. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” should be interpreted in the same way as the phrase “based on at least in part.”

In the accompanying figures, similar components or elements may have the same reference numerals. In addition, different components of the same type can be distinguished by a reference designation in the form of a dotted line and a second designation that differs from similar components. If simply the first reference numeral is used in the description, the description is applicable to any of like components having the same reference numeral, regardless of the second reference numeral.

The description set forth herein in connection with the accompanying drawings describes exemplary configurations and does not represent all examples that may be implemented or that fall within the scope of the claims. As used herein, the term “example” means “exemplifying, exemplary, or illustrative” and not “preferred” or “overriding other embodiments.” The detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the techniques described. However, these techniques can be implemented without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to better illustrate the ideas of the described examples.

The description herein is provided to enable one skilled in the art to recreate or use the description. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the description is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be considered to the broadest extent in accordance with the principles and novel features described herein.

Claims (118)

1. A method for tracking a signal about a previous event, including: receiving multiple signals (405) of feed elements, each signal of a feed element from said set corresponds to one of the plurality of feed elements (128) of the feed array (127) of the antenna (121) having a service coverage area (310); processing the received plurality of feed element signals (405) in accordance with a first beamforming configuration associated with the plurality of narrow beams (125) to generate one or more narrow beam signals, each associated with a corresponding narrow beam (125) of the antenna (121) , and the one or more narrow beam signals contain messages scheduled for transmission using corresponding beams from a plurality of narrow beams (125); storing the received plurality of signals (405) of the feed elements for a certain period of time; determining to search for a target signal from a location within the service coverage area (310) and in a first time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the second beamforming configuration to generate a target narrow beam signal corresponding to that arrangement; And assessing the narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal. 2. The method according to claim 1, additionally including: determining a hypothetical trajectory for the device associated with the target signal; And determining the location at least in part based on a hypothetical trajectory for the device. 3. The method according to claim 2, additionally including: determining, based at least in part on a hypothetical trajectory of the device, to search for a target signal from a second location within the service coverage area (310) and in a second time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the second time window in accordance with the fourth beamforming configuration to generate a third target narrow beam signal corresponding to the second arrangement; And evaluating the third narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal. 4. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–3, additionally including: receiving a second set of feed element signals (405), wherein each feed element signal from the second set corresponds to one of the second set of feed elements (128) of the feed array (127) of the second antenna (121) having a second service coverage area (310); And storing the received second set of signals (405) of the feed elements for a second period of time, wherein generating a target narrow beam signal corresponding to the location includes processing the stored second plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the third beamforming configuration. 5. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–4, in which the storage of the received plurality of signals (405) of the feed elements includes: redundant sampling of the received plurality of feed element signals (405) relative to the bandwidth of the received plurality of feed element signals (405). 6. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–5, additionally including: determining a target hypothetical frequency for the target signal, wherein assessing the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal includes assessing the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical frequency. 7. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–6, additionally including: determining a target hypothetical modulation scheme for the target signal, wherein assessing the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal includes assessing the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical modulation scheme. 8. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–7, additionally including: determining a target hypothetical symbol rate for the target signal, wherein evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal includes evaluating the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical symbol rate. 9. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–8, additionally including: determining a target hypothetical identifier for the target signal, wherein assessing the narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal includes assessing the target beam target signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical identifier. 10. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–9, additionally including: determining, based at least in part on an assessment of a narrow beam target signal indicating the absence of a target signal, to search for a target signal from a second location within the service coverage area (310) and in a first time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the third beamforming configuration to generate a second target narrow beam signal corresponding to the second arrangement; And evaluating the second narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal. 11. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-10, wherein the processing in accordance with the second beamforming configuration includes: processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) in accordance with a target narrow beam (125) that is different from each narrow beam of the plurality of narrow beams (125) associated with the first beamforming configuration. 12. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–11, in which: processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) in accordance with the second beamforming configuration includes processing at the ground segment (102). 13. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–12, in which: receiving a plurality of feed element signals (405) includes receiving a plurality of feed element signals (435) at a plurality of ground segment ground stations (102). 14. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–13, in which: processing the received plurality of feed element signals (405) in accordance with the first beamforming configuration includes processing at the ground segment (102). 15. Method according to any one of paragraphs. 1–13, in which: processing the received plurality of feed element signals (405) in accordance with the first beamforming configuration includes processing at a satellite (120) including said antenna (121). 16. A device for tracking a signal about a previous event, containing: CPU; a storage device that is in electronic communication with the processor and stores commands executed by the processor, and when the commands are executed, the processor initiates the device to execute: receiving a plurality of signals (405) of feed elements, each signal of a feed element from said set corresponds to one of the plurality of feed elements (128) of the feed array (127) of the antenna (121) having a service coverage area (310); processing the received plurality of feed element signals (405) in accordance with a first beamforming configuration associated with the plurality of narrow beams (125) to generate one or more narrow beam signals, each associated with a corresponding narrow beam (125) of the antenna (121) wherein said one or more narrow beam signals comprise messages scheduled for transmission via corresponding beams from a plurality of narrow beams (125); storing the received plurality of signals from the feed elements for a period of time; determining to search for a target signal from a location within the service coverage area (310) and in a first time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the second beamforming configuration to generate a target narrow beam signal corresponding to the specified location; And assessing the narrow beam target signal for the presence of a target signal. 17. The device according to claim 16, in which the commands are executed by the processor so that the device does: determining a hypothetical trajectory for the device associated with the target signal; And determining the location at least in part based on a hypothetical trajectory for the device. 18. The device according to claim 17, in which the commands are executed by the processor so that the device does: determining, based at least in part on a hypothetical trajectory of the device, to search for a target signal from a second location within the service coverage area (310) and in a second time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the second time window in accordance with the fourth beamforming configuration to generate a third target narrow beam signal corresponding to the second arrangement; And evaluating the third narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal. 19. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16–18, in which the instructions are executed by the processor so that the device does: receiving a second set of feed element signals (405), wherein each feed element signal from the second set corresponds to one of the second set of feed elements (128) of the feed array (127) of the second antenna (121) having a second service coverage area (310); And storing the received second set of signals (405) of the feed elements for a second period of time, wherein instructions to generate a target narrow beam signal corresponding to the specified location are executed by the processor so that the device processes the stored second plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the third beamforming configuration. 20. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16–19, in which commands for storing the received plurality of feed element signals (405) are executed by the processor so that the device does: redundant sampling of the received plurality of feed element signals (405) relative to the bandwidth of the received plurality of feed element signals (405). 21. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16–20, in which the instructions are executed by the processor so that the device does: determining a target hypothetical frequency for the target signal, wherein instructions for evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal are executed by the processor so that the device evaluates the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical frequency. 22. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16–21, in which the instructions are executed by the processor so that the device does: determining a target hypothetical modulation scheme for the target signal, wherein instructions for evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal are executed by the processor so that the device evaluates the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical modulation scheme. 23. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16–22, in which the instructions are executed by the processor so that the device does: determining a target hypothetical symbol rate for the target signal, wherein instructions for evaluating the target beam signal for the presence of the target signal are executed by the processor so that the device evaluates the target beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical symbol rate. 24. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16–23, in which the instructions are executed by the processor so that the device does: determining a target hypothetical identifier for the target signal, wherein instructions for evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal are executed by the processor so that the device evaluates the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical identifier. 25. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16–24, in which the instructions are executed by the processor so that the device does: determining, based at least in part on an assessment of a narrow beam target signal indicating the absence of a target signal, to search for a target signal from a second location within the service coverage area (310) and in a first time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the third beamforming configuration to generate a second target narrow beam signal corresponding to the second arrangement; And evaluating the second narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal. 26. Device according to one of paragraphs. 16-25, wherein processing instructions in accordance with the second beamforming configuration are executed by the processor so that the device does: processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) in accordance with a target narrow beam (125) that is different from each narrow beam of the plurality of narrow beams (125) associated with the first beamforming configuration. 27. Device according to one of paragraphs. 16-26, in which instructions for processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) in accordance with the second beamforming configuration are executed by the processor so that the device performs processing in the ground segment (102). 28. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16-27, in which commands to receive a plurality of feed element signals (405) are executed by the processor so that the device receives a plurality of feed element signals (405) at a plurality of ground segment stations (102). 29. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16-28, in which the device is a component of the terrestrial segment of a satellite communications system (100). 30. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 16-26, in which the device is a satellite (120) of a satellite communications system (100). 31. Non-volatile machine-readable media on which code is stored containing commands executed by the processor for: receiving a plurality of signals (405) of feed elements, each signal of a feed element from said set corresponds to one of the plurality of feed elements (128) of the feed array (127) of the antenna (121) having a service coverage area (310); processing the received plurality of feed element signals (405) in accordance with a first beamforming configuration associated with the plurality of narrow beams (125) to generate one or more narrow beam signals, each associated with a corresponding narrow beam (125) of the antenna (121) wherein said one or more narrow beam signals comprise messages scheduled for transmission via corresponding beams from a plurality of narrow beams (125); storing the received plurality of signals (405) of the feed elements for a period of time; determining to search for a target signal from a location within the service coverage area (310) and in a first time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the second beamforming configuration to generate a target narrow beam signal corresponding to the specified location; And assessing the narrow beam target signal for the presence of a target signal. 32. Non-volatile computer-readable media according to claim 31, containing commands that are additionally executed by the processor for: determining a hypothetical trajectory for the device associated with the target signal; And determining a location based at least in part on a hypothetical trajectory for the device. 33. Non-volatile computer-readable media according to claim 32, containing commands that are additionally executed by the processor for: determining, based at least in part on a hypothetical trajectory of the device, to search for a target signal from a second location within the service coverage area (310) and in a second time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the second time window in accordance with the fourth beamforming configuration to generate a third target narrow beam signal corresponding to the second arrangement; And evaluating the third narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal. 34. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31–33, containing instructions that are additionally executed by the processor for: receiving a second set of feed element signals (405), wherein each feed element signal from the second set corresponds to one of the second set of feed elements (128) of the feed array (127) of the antenna (121) having a second service coverage area (310); And storing the received second set of signals (405) of the feed elements for a second period of time, wherein instructions to generate a target narrow beam signal corresponding to the location are executed by the processor to process the stored second plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the third beamforming configuration. 35. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31–34, containing commands for storing the received set of signals of the feed elements, which are executed by the processor for: redundant sampling of the received set of feed element signals (405) relative to the bandwidth of the received set of feed element signals (405). 36. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31–35, containing instructions that are additionally executed by the processor for: determining a target hypothetical frequency for the target signal, wherein instructions for evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal are executed by the processor to evaluate the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical frequency. 37. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31–36, containing instructions that are additionally executed by the processor for: determining a target hypothetical modulation scheme for the target signal, wherein instructions for evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal are executed by the processor to evaluate the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical modulation scheme. 38. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31–37, containing instructions that are additionally executed by the processor for: determining a target hypothetical symbol rate for the target signal, wherein instructions for evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal are executed by the processor to evaluate the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical symbol rate. 39. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31–38, containing instructions that are additionally executed by the processor for: determining a target hypothetical identifier for the target signal, wherein instructions for evaluating the target narrow beam signal for the presence of the target signal are executed by the processor to evaluate the target narrow beam signal in accordance with the determined target hypothetical identifier. 40. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31–39, containing instructions that are additionally executed by the processor for: determining, based at least in part on an assessment of a narrow beam target signal indicating the absence of a target signal, to search for a target signal from a second location within the service coverage area (310) and in a first time window within a specified period of time; processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) for the first time window in accordance with the third beamforming configuration to generate a second target narrow beam signal corresponding to the second arrangement; And evaluating the second narrow beam target signal for the presence of the target signal. 41. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31-40 containing instructions for processing in accordance with the second beamforming configuration, which are executed by the processor to: processing the stored plurality of feed element signals (435) in accordance with a target narrow beam (125) that is different from each narrow beam of the plurality of narrow beams (125) associated with the first beamforming configuration. 42. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31-41, containing instructions that are executed by the processor of the ground segment (102) of the satellite communication system (100). 43. Non-volatile machine-readable media according to any one of paragraphs. 31-41, containing instructions that are executed by the processor of the satellite (120) of the satellite communication system (100).