Narrow beamwidth communication link with alignment camera
US6587699B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 11, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jul 1, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 11, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04B7/0408
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Equipment and methods for aligning the antennas of two transceivers of a point-to-point wireless millimeter wave communications link and keeping them aligned. Each of two communicating antennas is equipped with a telescopic camera connected to a processor programmed to recognize landscape images. The processors are programmed to remember the pattern of the landscape as it appears when the antennas are aligned. Each of the cameras then view the landscape periodically or continuously and if the landscape in view changes by more than a predetermined amount a signal is provided to indicate a misalignment. An operator can then take corrective action or alternatively the antenna system can be configured for remote or automatic realignment based of feedback from the camera. In a preferred embodiment, the antennas are initially aligned by substituting a narrow band oscillator power source for the signal transmitting electronics associated with a first antenna and a power detector is substituted for the signal receiving electronics of associated with a second antenna.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.