Phased array antennas for high altitude platforms

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10249948-B2
Application number	US-201615374808-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 9, 2016
Priority date	Dec 9, 2016
Publication date	Apr 2, 2019
Grant date	Apr 2, 2019

Abstract

An aircraft includes a fuselage, wings coupled to the fuselage, and a transceiver. The aircraft further includes a plurality of planar phased array antennas coupled to the transceiver and fixedly attached to the fuselage or to at least one of the wings. The plurality of planar phased array antennas include a first planar phased array antenna having a first normal vector and a second planar phased array antenna having a second normal vector. The first normal vector is not parallel to the second normal vector.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aircraft comprising:
a fuselage ( 230 );
wings ( 232 , 234 ) coupled to the fuselage;
a plurality of planar phased array antennas ( 106 , 132 , 134 , 210 - 218 , 260 ) coupled to a transceiver ( 104 ) and fixedly attached to the fuselage or at least one of the wings, the plurality of planar phased array antennas including a first planar phased array antenna ( 132 , 210 - 218 ) having a first normal vector ( 220 - 228 , 262 , 264 ) and a second planar phased array antenna ( 134 , 210 - 218 ) having a second normal vector ( 220 - 228 , 262 , 264 ), wherein the first normal vector is not parallel to the second normal vector, wherein the first planar phased array antenna ( 132 ) is configured to receive ( 702 ) a first signal corresponding to a communication link ( 336 ), and wherein the second planar phased array antenna ( 134 ) is configured to transmit ( 704 ) a second signal corresponding to the communication link; and
the transceiver, the transceiver configured to couple to a feeder link antenna ( 110 ), the feeder link antenna configured to receive ( 952 ) flight path data associated with a flight path via a communication uplink, wherein a flight controller ( 112 ) is configured to operate the aircraft based on the flight path data.

2. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of planar phased array antennas are fixedly attached to at least one of a fuselage lower portion ( 124 , 248 ) and an under wing portion ( 250 ), wherein two or more of the plurality of planar phased array antennas have mutually non-parallel normal vectors, and wherein the first planar phased array antenna has a first aspect ratio ( 272 ) that is different from a second aspect ratio ( 274 ) of the second planar phased array antenna.

3. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of planar phased array antennas further includes:
a third planar phased array antenna ( 210 ) fixedly attached to a first portion ( 240 ) of the fuselage;
a fourth planar phased array antenna ( 212 ) fixedly attached to a second portion ( 242 ) of the fuselage; and
a fifth planar phased array antenna ( 214 ) fixedly attached to a third portion ( 244 ) of the fuselage of the aircraft, wherein the first planar phased array antenna is fixedly attached to a starboard wing ( 232 ) of the wings and the second planar phased array antenna is fixedly attached to a port wing ( 234 ) of the wings.

4. The aircraft of claim 3 , wherein the fuselage, the wings, the transceiver, and the plurality of planar phased array antennas comprise an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the first normal vector is orientated in a starboard direction ( 252 ) relative to the unmanned aerial vehicle, and wherein the second normal vector is orientated in a port direction ( 254 ) relative to the unmanned aerial vehicle.

5. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first planar phased array antenna has a first maximum scan angle ( 256 ) that is different than a second maximum scan angle ( 258 ) of the second planar phased array antenna, and wherein a first potential ground coverage area ( 612 ) associated with the first planar phased array antenna partially overlaps with a second potential ground coverage area ( 614 ) associated with the second planar phased array antenna.

6. The aircraft of claim 5 , wherein the first planar phased array antenna is configured to generate multiple first beams ( 412 ) and the second planar phased array antenna is configured to generate multiple second beams ( 414 ), and wherein the multiple first beams do not overlap the multiple second beams.

7. The aircraft of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of sensors ( 114 ) configured to generate sensor data ( 1214 ), wherein the sensor data indicates an altitude, an attitude, a position, or a combination thereof; and
a communication controller ( 108 ) coupled to the transceiver and configured to determine and adjust beamforming weights ( 1252 ) based on the altitude, the attitude, and a location of a service coverage area relative to the position.

8. The aircraft of claim 7 , wherein the communication controller is further configured to cause a particular planar phased array antenna of the plurality of planar phased array antennas to generate a first set of beams ( 522 ) having a first frequency ( 532 ) and a second set of beams ( 524 ) having a second frequency ( 534 ).

9. The aircraft of claim 8 , wherein each beam of the first set of beams supports transmission and reception of signals corresponding to a communication link ( 332 - 338 ), and wherein the first set of beams are interspersed among the second set of beams to enable frequency reuse of the first frequency.

10. The aircraft of claim 7 , wherein the communication controller is further configured to provide a control signal to the transceiver, and wherein the control signal indicates a hand-off from the first planar phased array antenna to the second planar phased array antenna.

11. The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein the control signal is generated based on an expected flight path, and wherein the hand-off from the first planar phased array antenna to the second planar phased array antenna comprises a make-before-break hand-off.

12. The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein the control signal is generated based on an expected flight path, and wherein the hand-off from the first planar phased array antenna to the second planar phased array antenna comprises a break-before-make hand-off using packet boundaries.

13. The aircraft of claim 7 , wherein the communication controller is further configured to cause an active channel of the first planar phased array antenna to transmit a message to a user device associated with the active channel indicating an upcoming loss of connection in response to determining that no alternative active channel is available on the second planar phased array antenna.

14. The aircraft of claim 1 , further comprising:
a memory ( 116 ) configured to store flight path data;
the flight controller, the flight controller configured to control the wings based on a flight path ( 342 ) indicated by the flight path data, wherein the flight path comprises a loop, a circle, an ellipse, a figure eight, or a combination thereof; and
the feeder link antenna, the feeder link antenna configured to receive beamforming weights, wherein the first planar phased array antenna and the second planar phased array antenna generate a plurality of beams based on the received beamforming weights.

15. A method ( 700 ) for communicating via a phased array antenna system, the method comprising:
receiving ( 702 ), via a first planar phased array antenna ( 132 ) fixedly attached to an aircraft ( 1202 ), a first signal corresponding to a communication link ( 336 ); and
transmitting ( 704 ), via a second planar phased array antenna ( 134 ) fixedly attached to the aircraft, a second signal corresponding to the communication link, wherein a first normal vector ( 220 ) of the first planar phased array antenna is not parallel to a second normal vector ( 222 ) of the second planar phased array antenna;
receiving ( 952 ), by a feeder link antenna ( 110 ), flight path data associated with a flight path via a communication uplink;
operating ( 954 ), by a flight controller ( 112 ), the aircraft based on the flight path data; and
receiving ( 956 ) service coverage data associated with the flight path via the communication uplink.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein at least one of:
the first signal corresponding to the communication link is received from a first user device ( 322 - 328 ) or a first ground stat

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Feria Ying J
• Whelan David A
• Grajek Phillip R

Classifications

• H01Q3/24 Primary

  varying the orientation by switching energy from one active radiating element to another, e.g. for beam switching · CPC title

• H01Q21/22

  Antenna units of the array energised non-uniformly in amplitude or phase, e.g. tapered array or binomial array · CPC title

• H04B7/18513

  Transmission in a satellite or space-based system · CPC title

• H01Q1/286 Primary

  substantially flush mounted with the skin of the craft · CPC title

• H01Q1/287

  integrated in a wing or a stabiliser · CPC title