Direction-determining system

US4719469A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG · DE

Inventors

• Wolfgang Beier · Weil der Stadt, DE
• Helmut Graf · Regensburg, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 12, 1986
• Grant date: Jan 12, 1988
• Expiry date: Nov 12, 2006

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01S3/48
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A direction determining system having a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a linear antenna array and a fast switching facility, the linear antenna array comprised of at least two antenna elements and the GPS receiver including two Costas Loops. The fast switching facility permits an input signal received by the two antenna elements to be processed and alternately supplied to the Costas Loops in synchronism for measuring the phases of the input signals received nearly simultaneously. The phase difference between the output signals of the two Costas Loops is measured in a phase meter and the pointing angle of the linear antenna array relative to the direction of a GPS satellite is determined by interferometry.