Aircraft in-flight entertainment system having enhanced antenna steering and associated methods
US6751801B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 7, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jun 15, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 7, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N7/20
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An aircraft in-flight entertainment system includes a satellite TV receiver, at least one video display connected to the receiver, and a multi-beam antenna on the aircraft for receiving signals from a plurality of satellite TV transponders. The multi-beam antenna may have right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) and left-hand circularly polarized (LHCP) beams offset from one another by a beam offset angle. The beam offset angle may be less than an angle defined by the spacing of the DBS transponders. The system may also include an antenna steering positioner connected to the multi-beam antenna, and an antenna steering controller for steering the multi-beam antenna based upon received signals from at least one of the RHCP and LHCP beams. The antenna steering controller may comprise a processor for steering the multi-beam antenna based on a selected master one of the RHCP and LHCP beams and slaving the other beam therefrom. Alternately, the processor may steer the multi-beam antenna based on a predetermined contribution from each of the RHCP and LHCP beams.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.