US 11,943,042 B2
Apparatuses and methods for facilitating satellite visibility for earth-based antenna systems
Thomas Laurance Robinson, San Francisco, CA (US); Calder Christiansen Foster Coalson, Seattle, WA (US); Jared Michael Greene, Seattle, WA (US); Steven Douglas Gregory, Hermosa Beach, CA (US); Elliott Macdonald Schwartz, Fall City, WA (US); and Aidan Bauer, Newton, MA (US)
Assigned to Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, CA (US)
Filed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 12, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/499,421.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/244,603, filed on Sep. 15, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/179,110, filed on Apr. 23, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/091,254, filed on Oct. 13, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0116105 A1, Apr. 14, 2022
Int. Cl. H04B 7/185 (2006.01)
CPC H04B 7/18513 (2013.01) [H04B 7/18517 (2013.01); H04B 7/18558 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A device for detecting a zone of communication between a phased array antenna and a satellite constellation including a plurality of satellites in non-geosynchronous (non-GEO) orbit, the device comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing thereon instructions that, as a result of being executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to:
determine a location of the device;
determine an original field of regard corresponding to an antenna aperture of the phased array antenna, wherein the original field of regard is associated with a level of communication between the phased array antenna and the satellite constellation;
output, to a user of the device, a graphical representation of the original field of regard, wherein the graphical representation of the original field of regard includes an indication of image data required to determine an actual level of communication between the phased array antenna and the satellite constellation;
obtain new image data corresponding to one or more scans of the original field of regard using the device, wherein the indication of the image data required to determine the actual level of communication is updated in real-time as the new image data is obtained;
modify the original field of regard for detecting the zone of communication between the phased array antenna and the satellite constellation to generate a modified field of regard, wherein the original field of regard is modified based on the new image data and one or more factors; and
output, to the user of the device, an indication of a modified level of communication between the phased array antenna and the satellite constellation associated with the modified field of regard.