US 11,677,436 B1
Antenna optimization for SATCOM waveforms
Jeffrey Grundmeyer, Walker, IA (US); and John V. Thommana, Cedar Rapids, IA (US)
Assigned to Rockwell Collins, Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA (US)
Filed by Rockwell Collins, Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA (US)
Filed on Dec. 1, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/539,708.
Int. Cl. H04B 1/71 (2011.01); H04B 1/7113 (2011.01); H04B 1/7073 (2011.01)
CPC H04B 1/7113 (2013.01) [H04B 1/7073 (2013.01); H04B 1/71 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A platform comprising:
a node comprising:
a satellite communication (SATCOM) antenna configured to transmit and receive communications using a beyond line of sight (BLOS) waveform, the SATCOM antenna including a first antenna element and a second antenna element;
a software-defined radio (SDR) configured to support transmit and receive communications using the BLOS waveform, wherein the BLOS waveform is in an ultra-high frequency (UHF) band and is a code-division multiple access (CDMA) direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) waveform;
a SATCOM radio frequency (RF) amplifier; and
a UHF diversity combiner including:
a radio frequency (RF) transfer switch;
a first receive path for analog signals from the first antenna element, the first receive path including a first analog band-pass filter, a first low-noise amplifier (LNA), and a first analog-to-digital converter (ADC);
a second receive path for analog signals from the second antenna element, the second receive path including a second analog band-pass filter, a second LNA, and a second ADC;
a processor configured to generate a combined digital signal by applying a phase offset and a weight factor to digital signals from the first receive path and the second receive path;
a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) coupled to the processor;
a transmit path for analog signals from the SATCOM RF amplifier, the transmit path including a third analog band-pass filter; and
a fourth analog band-pass filter communicatively coupled between the DAC and the SDR.