CA2251320C - Non-uniform multi-beam satellite communications system and method - Google Patents
Non-uniform multi-beam satellite communications system and method Download PDFInfo
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- CA2251320C CA2251320C CA002251320A CA2251320A CA2251320C CA 2251320 C CA2251320 C CA 2251320C CA 002251320 A CA002251320 A CA 002251320A CA 2251320 A CA2251320 A CA 2251320A CA 2251320 C CA2251320 C CA 2251320C
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
- H04B7/14—Relay systems
- H04B7/15—Active relay systems
- H04B7/204—Multiple access
- H04B7/2041—Spot beam multiple access
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
- H04B7/14—Relay systems
- H04B7/15—Active relay systems
- H04B7/185—Space-based or airborne stations; Stations for satellite systems
- H04B7/18523—Satellite systems for providing broadcast service to terrestrial stations, i.e. broadcast satellite service
Abstract
A satellite broadcast system and method, particularly useful for television signals, allows for local as well as nationwide broadcast service by allocating greater satellite resources to the more important local service areas. This is accomplished by broadcasting a non-uniform pattern of local service beams and designing the system to establish different service area priorities through factors such as the individual beam powers, sizes, roll-off characteristics and peak-to-edge power differentials. Frequency reuse is en-hanced by permitting a certain degree of cross-beam interfer-ence, with lower levels of interference established for the more important service areas.
Description
NON-UNIFORM MULTI-BEAM SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
SYSTEM AND METHOD
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention This invention relates to satellite communication systems and methods, and more particular:Ly to the broadcast of signals on a local area basis with some of the signal frequency bands repeated :Eor different areas.
Description of the ~~elated Art Cable tel.evi.sion systems have been used to provide local television service, with the programming content differing from one :service area to the next,, in addition to nation-wide program d_Lstribution in which all areas receive the same national programmin<~. While sate7_lite broadcasting has also been successfully u:~ed for nation-wide broadcasts, local area service has proven more difficult. to achieve because of interference between signals intended for different service areas that. have different program content. In the past, satellite broadcast: have been limited to a generally uniform large regional coverage, such as the entire United States, without the inclusion of local service broadcasts.
"Spot" broadcast beams, which are smaller than regional beams, have been used previously for non-television satellite broadcasting, such as telephone applications. Two types of spot beam broadcast~~lzave been employed. In one, illustrated in FIG. 1, a desired _region 10 such as a country is covered by a uniform grid of evenly spaced spot beams 12 having equal sizes and output pov~e_= levels. To assure complete area coverage adjacent beam spots are overlapped. Different and non-overlapping frequency bands are assigned to the signals within each pair of adjacent beams to prevent cross-beam signal interference. In the simplified illustration of FIG. 1, four different frequency bands are employed (designated #1, #2, #3 and #4), with each beam separated from the next closest beam with the same frequency band by at least one other beam having a different frequency band.
The uniform spot beams 12 provide a complete coverage of the desired larger regional area 10, without significant interference between beams. However, a distinct disadvant age of this approach is that the satellite's resources are evenly divided among target areas of key importance, such as high density population centers, and target areas of much lesser importance such as mountainous and other less developed areas. This can result in either an overly com-plex satellite system, or a system that does not provide adequate capacity to the most important target areas.
A second approach has been to broadcast different beams having signals within a common frequency band to sep arate target areas that are spaced far enough apart from each other to avoid significant cross-beam interference, thus allowing for a higher signal capacity to those~areas that are covered. The different beams can be broadcast with different output powers, thus providing the greatest capacity for the most important target areas. However, the requirement that the beam target areas be spaced well apart from each other can result, in an inadequate overall cover age area, and the broadcast signals are limited to only a single frequency band.
Other U.S. Patents to Acampora, No. 4,315,262, and to Assai, No. 4,868,886, describe spot beam satellite arrange-ments for use with point-to-point communication such as telephony. Acampora describes scanning spot beams over 3.5 different parallel strip zones having similar traffic de-mands. Assai describes a system that can provide either a global beam or simultaneous global and spot beams. Neither one appears to be appl.:icable to a high speed digital system which is required fo~~ digital television transmission to multiple population centers of various size by using non-uniform sized spot beams.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invE>_ntion provides a new and improved, highly efficient system and method for satellite broadcast of local television and other types of service, either independently or together with larger regional broadcasts. Both bandwidth efficienc~~ and communication link performance are significantly improved, with interference levels reduced for the most _Lmportant ;servi.ce areas, It allows for a higher overall system throughput to a given geographic region, and is economica=Lly viable because of its increased capacity and accommodation of marketplace realities in those areas.
These advantage: are achieved by broadcasting multiple spot beams from a spacecraft, such as a satellite, to dif-ferent target areas in a non-uniform beam pattern, and pro-viding at least some of the beams with different respective signal frequency bands. However, at least some of the beams have a common frequency band, and such beams are directed to non-overlapping target area locations to avoid excessive interference. Priorities are established among different target areas by assigning different sizes and powers to different beams, with the higher power beams accommodating larger signal capacit~~ and also resulting in a lower interference level from other beams. The priorities among different target area: can also be set by the selection of antenna reflector si.zc>s to produce different roll-off characteristics for different beams, and by varying the illumination tapers of different antenna feed horns to es-tablish different pe~a~~~-to-edge power differentials for different beams.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
3a broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area locations in a non-uniform beam pattern, and providing diff:e:rent respective signal frequency spectrums for at le~~st some of said beams .
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is ~~rovided a spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area locations so that at if=_ast some of said beams have different sizes at their respectivE~ target locations, and providing different respective signal frequency-spectrum for at least some o:E said beams.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting m.ul.t:iple communication signal beams from a spacecraft: to different respective target area locations with at least Nome of said beams having different beam powers at their respective target area locations, and providing different respective signal frequency spectrum for at least some oi= said beams.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft. to respective non-overlapping target area locations so that at least some of said beams have different sizes at their respective taz-gE~t area locations, and providing a common signal frequency spectrum for each of said beams.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is ~~rovided a spacecraft antenna array for multi-beam broadcasts to earth, comprising:
a plurality of antenna reflectors, and at least one r.=spective feed horn associated with each reflector, said antenna reflectors and their respective feed horns configured. to broadc~a:~t= a plurality of communication signal 3b beams in a non-uniform beam pattern with at least some of said beams having different sizes According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ~:pacecraft broadcast system for multi-beam broadcasts to earth, comprising:
a spacecraft, a plurality of: <antenna reflectors with respective feed horns carried by saio. spacecraft, and a power suppler and radio frequency (RF) signal circuitry carried b:y said spacecraft for energizing said feed horns to broadcast respective communication signal beams to respective target area locations on earth v=is their respective ref lector; , said antenna rej=lectors and their respective feed horns configured to :broad~~ast said bearns in a non-uniform beam pattern with at learnt some of said beams having different sizes.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to chose skilled in the art from the ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1, discussed above, is a conceptual diagram of a prior regional satellite broadcast coverage with a uniforni pattern of overlapping beams;
FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating possible interference between two separate beams carrying signals within a common frequency band ;
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a non-uniform spot beam pattern used to enhance broadcast efficiency in accor-dance with the invention;
FIGS. .4a, 4b, 4c and 4d are diagrams. of right and left hand circular polarized spot beam patterns for four differ ent broadcast frequency bands in accordance with the inven tion, while FIG. 4e is a diagram of the overall beam cover age produced by the spot beam patterns of FIGS. 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d, all superimposed on a map of the United States;
FIGS. 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d are diagrams of antenna feed horn layouts that can produce the spot beam patterns of FIGs. 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d, respectively;
FIG. 6 is an elevation view of a satellite with dif ferent sized antenna reflectors for generating different sized spot beams;
FIG. 7 is a simplified sectional view of one of the reflectors shown in FIG. 6, together with feed horns having different sizes and illumination tapers to produce dif~er-ent beam characteristics;
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of satellite circuitry that can be used to produce beams with different power levels from different antennas; and FIGS. 9a and 9b are frequency diagrams illustrating two possible frequency polarization-segmentation schemes that can be employed for four antenna reflectors broadcast ing two channels per reflector.
' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 QETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A basic problem in providing local television service from satellite broadcasts is the possibility of interfer-ence between different beams that are directed to different service areas, but carry signals within the same frequency band. This problem is illustrated in FIG. 2, which depicts the signal gain as a function of location along the earth s surface for two beams 14a and 14b (see looking down from above) that are nominally spaced apart from each other at the earth s surface. Assuming an equal gain for each beam, their respective gain characteristics 16a and 16b follow generally parabolic lobes, extending down to the first nulls before sidelobe energy is created, well below the levels of concern. However, the signal gain within the useful portion of each beam as a practical matter must ex-ceed a specific threshold level, designated Th in the draw-ing. The generally circular beam patterns 14a and 14b en-compass the central portions of the overall beams, where the signal gain equals or exceeds Th. Thus, even though .the useful beam contours 14a and 14b are shown as being separated from each other, lower gain peripheral rolloff portions of each beam may overlap into the other beam's target area. This is illustrated as occurring at signal gain level I, at which a .lower gain portion of each beam crosses over into the target area. of the other beam.
The effect of increasing the signal gain (power) for one of the beams, such as the right hand beam 14b, is also illustrated in FIG. 2. Assume for example that the peak power for the beam s original gain characteristic 16b is 40 dBi, but that the signal gain is then increased to gain characteristic 16c, with a peak gain of 43 dBi (which dou-bles its power). This increases the interference level of beam 14b crossing over into beam 14a by DI, but does not increase the interference level of beam 14a crossing over into beam 14b. Thus, increasing the carrier power C for the first beam degrades the carrier-to-interference (C/I) level for the second beam, whose power level remains con-' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 stant but which suffers greater interference, but improves the C/I ratio for the first beam whose power has been in-creased because the interference it receives from the second beam remains constant.
Another important contributor to signal degradation is thermal noise N. Increasing a beam s power also increases the C/N ratio, since the thermal noise remains constant.
Thus, increasing the power of one of the beams increases both the C/I and C/N ratios for that beam, while C/N for the other beam remains the same but its C/I ratio goes down because of increased interference from the first beam.
For satellite signal transmissions that are performed digitally, such as digital television, reductions in the C/N and C/I ratios are not perceived as a gradual degrada-tion in the signal quality. Rather, because the system is received above a given threshold, higher relative noise and interference levels can increase the duration and frequency of total signal outages during rain, thunder storms or other bad weather conditions . The problem is not one of signal quality, which is always high for a digital system when the signal is received, but of the number and duration of outages. In the past this has been addressed by spacing beams with different signals in the same frequency band so far apart that there is essentially no overlap between the beams, even in their peripheral areas.
The present invention takes a more flexible approach that allows for a much more efficient utilization of satel-lite capacity, and makes possible both high quality local and regional broadcast service. Rather than attempting to totally eliminate any degradation in signal quality at all, a non-uniformity is introduced into factors such as the beam sizes, distribution and powers, cross-beam~interfer-ence levels, roll-off characteristics and peak-to-edge power differentials to allow the service to the most impor-tart areas to be optimized. While this can involve some sacrifice of service levels to marginal areas, the net re-sult is to provide a higher degree of service (including ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 local service) to a greater portion of the population.
Efficiency is further improved by providing a high degree of frequency reuse, in which the same frequency bands can be used repeatedly for different local target areas. For purposes of this application the term "frequency band" is not limited to any particular governmentally pre-assigned frequency band, and refers more generally to any desired continuous frequency spectrum, not all of which must be occupied at any given time. , . .
The non-uniform beam size and distribution aspects of the invention are illustrated in FIG. 3, in which target areas for signals within four different frequency bands are again designated by numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. However, in contrast to the prior uniform pattern of FIG. 1, the inven-tion concentrates the beams on the areas of highest popula-tion, with the highest density of local service areas gen-erally having the highest density of beams. The beam sizes are tailored to each service area, with the regions~of highest population density generally assigned more but smaller beams to allow for a greater number of different local service areas with relatively high power levels for each local area.
The right hand side 18 of FIG. 3 illustrates a region of closely spaced and high density population centers, with a separate local~service beam 20. for each local service area. Beams with different frequency bands can overlap in this region to assure that each local service area is fully covered. Different beams can also vary in ~ize,~with the smaller beams generally serving local services areas with higher population densities. As with the prior uniform beam pattern illustrated in FIG. 1, beams which operate at the same frequency band are preferably spaced apart from each other. However, they do not have to be spaced so far apart that cross-beam interference is totally eliminated.
Rather, to increase the satellite s frequency reuse and broadcast to a greater number of local service areas, some overlap of a peripheral portion of one beam into the in-' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 tended target area for another beam with the same frequency band is permissible. In this situation the beam power for the target area having the higher priority, which will gen-erally be the area with the larger number of customers, can S be set higher than the power level of the beam which it overlaps.
The left hand region 21 of FIG. 3 illustrates a possi-ble beam distribution for a region with fewer population centers that are more widely spaced and have lower popula-tion densities. The beam sizes are generally large than in the higher density region 18, and there are fewer beams for the same area. Note, however, that the new system can ac-commodate local variations within an overall region, such as the higher population density center 22.at the upper left hand corner of the figure, which is served by a great-er density of beams having somewhat smaller average sizes than for the remainder of the overall region 20.
Gaps can be left between the beam coverage areas, and no local service provided at all, in a region 24 of low population density without significant population centers.
While the idea of leaving some regions without any local service at all clay be counter-intuitive, the actual result is to provide high quality local service to a large major-ity of the overall population because of the more efficient 2.~~ use of the satellite s resources,. and is a great improve-ment over the prior inability to provide local satellite television service anywhere.
Fibs. 4a-4d illustrate how local television service can be provided to the United States through the reuse of four different frequency bands, while FIGS. Sa-5d illus trate antenna feed horn layouts that can be used to produce the spot beam patterns of FIGS. 4a-4d, respectively. Both left and right hand circular polarization patterns are shown, and indicated respectively by dashed and solid lines. FIG. 4a illustrates seven beam target areas 26a, all with the same frequency band and distributed over dif-ferent portions of the country, while FIG. 5a illustrates a pattern of feed horns 27a that can be used to produce the desired beam pattern from an antenna. Some cross-beam interference can be expected between such areas, as ex-plained previously. The relative beam powers are designed to produce an optimum tradeoff between the number and dura-tions of outages and the number of customers served in each area.
Target areas for the three other frequency bands, des-ignated 26b, 26c and 26d in FIGS. 4b, 4c and 4d, respec-tively, are assigned in a similar manner, with correspond-ing patterns of feed horns 27b, 27c and 27d shown respec-tively in FIGs. 5b, Sc and 5d. The cumulative beam pattern produced on the ground by all four sets of beam target ar-eas is illustrated in FIG. 4e. The target area for one frequency band can overlap with target areas for one or more different frequency bands; a target area for one band can encompass one or more smaller areas of different bands, or can be included within a larger area of a different band. Cross-beam interference is not a concern in this case because the different frequency bands do not overlap.
The beams illustrated in FIG. 4e all have circular cross-sections. While this would be most typical, shaped beams can also be produced by using a shaped antenna re flector on the satellite with a single antenna feed horn, 25~ or less desirably by providing the same signal to multiple feed horns for the same reflector with proper amplitude and phase relationships to achieve the desired shape. Shaped beams may be useful in ertain situations, such as broad-casting to a non-circular target area that is quite distant from the other beams. For example, Hawaii and Alaska could be good candidates for elliptical beams.
FIG. 6 illustrates in simplified form a satellite 28 with an array of antennas designed to implement the inven-tion. The satellite is shown carrying four different broadcast antenna reflectors 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d, with solar cells mounted on panels 32a and 32b providing a power supply for the system. Reflectors 30a and 30b are larger ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 1~
than reflectors 30c and 30d and, with appropriate feed horns, can produce the beam distributions shown in FIGS. 4b and 4c, respectively; with appropriate feed horns reflec tors 30c and 30d can produce the beam distributions respec tively shown in FIGS. 4a and 4d.
FIG. 7 gives a simplified view of a reflector 34 which reflects feed beams from a number of feed horns 36a, 36b and 36c; all of the feed horns for a single reflector would normally be operated within the same frequency band for a given signal polarization. The size of each beam is pri-marily a function of the reflector and horn dimensions, while the beam direction is a function of the reflector orientation relative to ground and the feed horn orienta-tions relative to the reflector. However, given a fixed common reflector size for several feed horns, differences in horn sizes can be used to produce spot beams which have corresponding differences in size. Once a particular pat-tern of beam sizes and spatial distribution has been estab-lished, a specific reflector and feed horn design to imple-ment the pattern involves merely an application of conven-tional antenna design principals.
The size of each reflector also determines the roll-off characteristics of its beams, which is an important factor in deter-mining the C/I ratio for beams broadcast with the same frequency band. In. general, larger reflec-tore will produce better roll-off characteristics but will not be as easy to fit on the satellite, whereas smaller reflectors allow for a greater total number of reflectors for a given satellite and a potentially closer spacing be-tween beams with the same frequency band, but will produce a degraded roll-off for a given feed horn type. The use of different size reflectors as illustrated in FIG. 6 thus results in different beams having different roll-off char-acteristics and adds another variable to the tradeoffs in-volved in providing the highest quality service to the greatest number of customers. In general, larger reflec-tors can be assigned to the more important local service ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 areas to provide better beam roll-off characteristics in those areas.
The use of .different feed horn sizes to produce dif-ferent beam sizes from the same reflector is illustrated by S feed horns 36a and 36b, which have different schematic rep- -resentations. Because of their different positions rela-tive to the reflector 34, feed horns 36a and 36b will also result in beams that are directed to different local target areas. .
Another factor that affects service quality is the beam's peak-.to-edge gain differential between the center and edge of the service area. The smaller the differen-tial, the higher will be the signal quality towards the edges of the service area, but the overall power consump-tion will also increase. On the other hand, a higher dif-ferential means that the beam power is falling more rapidly at the edge of its target area, and is thus less likely to interfere with nearby beams. This is another way in which the different service areas can be prioritize, with the more important areas served by feed horns with illumination tapers that produce the lowest peak-to-edge gain different-ials.
Another reason for assigning higher power levels to the beams that are broadcast to the more important service areas is that it allows for a larger number of station sig-pals to be included within the frequency bands broadcast to those areas. To the first order, increasing the number of station signals reduces the power per signal, thus increas-ing both relative thezmal noise and cross-beam interference levels; an increase in total beam power can be used to com-pensate for these signal degradations.
FIG. 8 illustrates the satellite circuitry used to generate the different beams, with the circuitry for two channels 38a and 38b shown. Channel 38a receives a ground signal via uplink antenna 40a. The signal is delivered to a receiver 44a, which includes a low noise amplifier and a frequency converter that converts the uplink frequency band UL1 to a desired dowr.:link frequency band DLl. An input channel filter 46,~ passes the desired channel, rejecting other channels. The resulting downlink channel signal is routed through a:z automatic level control (ALC) pre-amplifier 48a and a high power non-linear amplifier (typically a travelling wave tube or a solid state device) 50a. The amplified output is filtered by an output channel filter 52a, which passes the amplified channel band and blocks other unwanted frequencies, and then delivered to t:he feed horn of a downlink antenna 54a.
Power is :supplied to the channel circuitry from an on-board power supply 56, conventionally solar cells on the satellite panels 32a and 32b :illustrated in FIG. 6.
The second channel has a similar configuration, with its own uplin~c antenna 40b, receiver 44b which performs an uplink (UL2)-to-downlink (DL2) frequency conversion, input channel filter 46b which passes the desired second channel and rejects other channels, ALC 48b, power amplifier 50b, output channel filter 52b which passes the amplified channel downlink frequency band and rejects other channels, and another antenna feed horn 54b. To reduce the total number of power amplifiers required, the signa~_s for multiple lower power beams can be processed by a common power amplifier as described in U.S.
patent No. 6,173,155, filed September 25, 1998 to John L.
Norin and entitled "Mc=_thod and Apparatus for Spacecraft Amplification of Mult:i-Channel Signals", the contents of which applicatic>n is incorpc~.rated herein by reference. To compensate for variances between actual and designed beam power profiles, changes in the relat:i~se importance of different service areas over time, and changes in the number of station signals broadcast to a giver~.t=arget area, the amplifier drives can be adjusted from the ground as described in Canadian patent application Serial 1\10. 2,250,650 filed on October 19, 1998 to John L. Ncrin and emit:led "Dynamic Interference Optimization Method for Satellites Transmitting Multiple Beams With a Common Fre-quency Channel", the contents of which application are also incorporated herein by reference.
Assuming that channel 38a is allocated to a more im portant local service area than channel 38b, its high power amplifier 50a will normally be selected to produce a great er power output than amplifier 50b in channel 38b. This is indicated in FIG. 8 by a larger amplifier symbol for 50a than f or 5 Ob .
At present, 32 transponder channels are typical for satellite television broadcasts in a given service, repre senting 16 different channels 24 MHz wide and separated by approximately 5 MHz, and two orthogonal polarizations (ei ther left and right hand circular or vertical and horizon tal) for each frequency.band. In the preferred system the majority of the available channels are used for nationwide broadcasts, with the remaining channels reserved for local service beams. FIGs. 9a and 9b illustrate two possible schemes for dividing eight channels among four different reflectors, with the four different frequency bands indi-Gated respectively by S1, S2, S3 and S4. In FIG. 9a each reflector broadcasts two signals of opposite polarization (POL1 and POL2) but within the same frequency band. In FIG. 9b each reflector broadcasts a signal within one fre-quency band at the first polarization, and another signal within a different frequency band. at the second polariza-tion.
While all of the beams would typically be broadcast from a single satellite,, situations may arise that could lead to a distribution of the beams among multiple satel-lites. For example, where the desired feed size does not allow adjacent beams to use the same reflector surface to feed packaging interference, the greater antenna-to-antenna and satellite-to-satellite pointing differences normally associated With a multiple satellite system might be justi fied.
While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, numerous variations and alternate ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. Ac-cordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only in terms of the appended claims.
SYSTEM AND METHOD
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention This invention relates to satellite communication systems and methods, and more particular:Ly to the broadcast of signals on a local area basis with some of the signal frequency bands repeated :Eor different areas.
Description of the ~~elated Art Cable tel.evi.sion systems have been used to provide local television service, with the programming content differing from one :service area to the next,, in addition to nation-wide program d_Lstribution in which all areas receive the same national programmin<~. While sate7_lite broadcasting has also been successfully u:~ed for nation-wide broadcasts, local area service has proven more difficult. to achieve because of interference between signals intended for different service areas that. have different program content. In the past, satellite broadcast: have been limited to a generally uniform large regional coverage, such as the entire United States, without the inclusion of local service broadcasts.
"Spot" broadcast beams, which are smaller than regional beams, have been used previously for non-television satellite broadcasting, such as telephone applications. Two types of spot beam broadcast~~lzave been employed. In one, illustrated in FIG. 1, a desired _region 10 such as a country is covered by a uniform grid of evenly spaced spot beams 12 having equal sizes and output pov~e_= levels. To assure complete area coverage adjacent beam spots are overlapped. Different and non-overlapping frequency bands are assigned to the signals within each pair of adjacent beams to prevent cross-beam signal interference. In the simplified illustration of FIG. 1, four different frequency bands are employed (designated #1, #2, #3 and #4), with each beam separated from the next closest beam with the same frequency band by at least one other beam having a different frequency band.
The uniform spot beams 12 provide a complete coverage of the desired larger regional area 10, without significant interference between beams. However, a distinct disadvant age of this approach is that the satellite's resources are evenly divided among target areas of key importance, such as high density population centers, and target areas of much lesser importance such as mountainous and other less developed areas. This can result in either an overly com-plex satellite system, or a system that does not provide adequate capacity to the most important target areas.
A second approach has been to broadcast different beams having signals within a common frequency band to sep arate target areas that are spaced far enough apart from each other to avoid significant cross-beam interference, thus allowing for a higher signal capacity to those~areas that are covered. The different beams can be broadcast with different output powers, thus providing the greatest capacity for the most important target areas. However, the requirement that the beam target areas be spaced well apart from each other can result, in an inadequate overall cover age area, and the broadcast signals are limited to only a single frequency band.
Other U.S. Patents to Acampora, No. 4,315,262, and to Assai, No. 4,868,886, describe spot beam satellite arrange-ments for use with point-to-point communication such as telephony. Acampora describes scanning spot beams over 3.5 different parallel strip zones having similar traffic de-mands. Assai describes a system that can provide either a global beam or simultaneous global and spot beams. Neither one appears to be appl.:icable to a high speed digital system which is required fo~~ digital television transmission to multiple population centers of various size by using non-uniform sized spot beams.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invE>_ntion provides a new and improved, highly efficient system and method for satellite broadcast of local television and other types of service, either independently or together with larger regional broadcasts. Both bandwidth efficienc~~ and communication link performance are significantly improved, with interference levels reduced for the most _Lmportant ;servi.ce areas, It allows for a higher overall system throughput to a given geographic region, and is economica=Lly viable because of its increased capacity and accommodation of marketplace realities in those areas.
These advantage: are achieved by broadcasting multiple spot beams from a spacecraft, such as a satellite, to dif-ferent target areas in a non-uniform beam pattern, and pro-viding at least some of the beams with different respective signal frequency bands. However, at least some of the beams have a common frequency band, and such beams are directed to non-overlapping target area locations to avoid excessive interference. Priorities are established among different target areas by assigning different sizes and powers to different beams, with the higher power beams accommodating larger signal capacit~~ and also resulting in a lower interference level from other beams. The priorities among different target area: can also be set by the selection of antenna reflector si.zc>s to produce different roll-off characteristics for different beams, and by varying the illumination tapers of different antenna feed horns to es-tablish different pe~a~~~-to-edge power differentials for different beams.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
3a broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area locations in a non-uniform beam pattern, and providing diff:e:rent respective signal frequency spectrums for at le~~st some of said beams .
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is ~~rovided a spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area locations so that at if=_ast some of said beams have different sizes at their respectivE~ target locations, and providing different respective signal frequency-spectrum for at least some o:E said beams.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting m.ul.t:iple communication signal beams from a spacecraft: to different respective target area locations with at least Nome of said beams having different beam powers at their respective target area locations, and providing different respective signal frequency spectrum for at least some oi= said beams.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft. to respective non-overlapping target area locations so that at least some of said beams have different sizes at their respective taz-gE~t area locations, and providing a common signal frequency spectrum for each of said beams.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is ~~rovided a spacecraft antenna array for multi-beam broadcasts to earth, comprising:
a plurality of antenna reflectors, and at least one r.=spective feed horn associated with each reflector, said antenna reflectors and their respective feed horns configured. to broadc~a:~t= a plurality of communication signal 3b beams in a non-uniform beam pattern with at least some of said beams having different sizes According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ~:pacecraft broadcast system for multi-beam broadcasts to earth, comprising:
a spacecraft, a plurality of: <antenna reflectors with respective feed horns carried by saio. spacecraft, and a power suppler and radio frequency (RF) signal circuitry carried b:y said spacecraft for energizing said feed horns to broadcast respective communication signal beams to respective target area locations on earth v=is their respective ref lector; , said antenna rej=lectors and their respective feed horns configured to :broad~~ast said bearns in a non-uniform beam pattern with at learnt some of said beams having different sizes.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to chose skilled in the art from the ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1, discussed above, is a conceptual diagram of a prior regional satellite broadcast coverage with a uniforni pattern of overlapping beams;
FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating possible interference between two separate beams carrying signals within a common frequency band ;
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a non-uniform spot beam pattern used to enhance broadcast efficiency in accor-dance with the invention;
FIGS. .4a, 4b, 4c and 4d are diagrams. of right and left hand circular polarized spot beam patterns for four differ ent broadcast frequency bands in accordance with the inven tion, while FIG. 4e is a diagram of the overall beam cover age produced by the spot beam patterns of FIGS. 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d, all superimposed on a map of the United States;
FIGS. 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d are diagrams of antenna feed horn layouts that can produce the spot beam patterns of FIGs. 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d, respectively;
FIG. 6 is an elevation view of a satellite with dif ferent sized antenna reflectors for generating different sized spot beams;
FIG. 7 is a simplified sectional view of one of the reflectors shown in FIG. 6, together with feed horns having different sizes and illumination tapers to produce dif~er-ent beam characteristics;
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of satellite circuitry that can be used to produce beams with different power levels from different antennas; and FIGS. 9a and 9b are frequency diagrams illustrating two possible frequency polarization-segmentation schemes that can be employed for four antenna reflectors broadcast ing two channels per reflector.
' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 QETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A basic problem in providing local television service from satellite broadcasts is the possibility of interfer-ence between different beams that are directed to different service areas, but carry signals within the same frequency band. This problem is illustrated in FIG. 2, which depicts the signal gain as a function of location along the earth s surface for two beams 14a and 14b (see looking down from above) that are nominally spaced apart from each other at the earth s surface. Assuming an equal gain for each beam, their respective gain characteristics 16a and 16b follow generally parabolic lobes, extending down to the first nulls before sidelobe energy is created, well below the levels of concern. However, the signal gain within the useful portion of each beam as a practical matter must ex-ceed a specific threshold level, designated Th in the draw-ing. The generally circular beam patterns 14a and 14b en-compass the central portions of the overall beams, where the signal gain equals or exceeds Th. Thus, even though .the useful beam contours 14a and 14b are shown as being separated from each other, lower gain peripheral rolloff portions of each beam may overlap into the other beam's target area. This is illustrated as occurring at signal gain level I, at which a .lower gain portion of each beam crosses over into the target area. of the other beam.
The effect of increasing the signal gain (power) for one of the beams, such as the right hand beam 14b, is also illustrated in FIG. 2. Assume for example that the peak power for the beam s original gain characteristic 16b is 40 dBi, but that the signal gain is then increased to gain characteristic 16c, with a peak gain of 43 dBi (which dou-bles its power). This increases the interference level of beam 14b crossing over into beam 14a by DI, but does not increase the interference level of beam 14a crossing over into beam 14b. Thus, increasing the carrier power C for the first beam degrades the carrier-to-interference (C/I) level for the second beam, whose power level remains con-' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 stant but which suffers greater interference, but improves the C/I ratio for the first beam whose power has been in-creased because the interference it receives from the second beam remains constant.
Another important contributor to signal degradation is thermal noise N. Increasing a beam s power also increases the C/N ratio, since the thermal noise remains constant.
Thus, increasing the power of one of the beams increases both the C/I and C/N ratios for that beam, while C/N for the other beam remains the same but its C/I ratio goes down because of increased interference from the first beam.
For satellite signal transmissions that are performed digitally, such as digital television, reductions in the C/N and C/I ratios are not perceived as a gradual degrada-tion in the signal quality. Rather, because the system is received above a given threshold, higher relative noise and interference levels can increase the duration and frequency of total signal outages during rain, thunder storms or other bad weather conditions . The problem is not one of signal quality, which is always high for a digital system when the signal is received, but of the number and duration of outages. In the past this has been addressed by spacing beams with different signals in the same frequency band so far apart that there is essentially no overlap between the beams, even in their peripheral areas.
The present invention takes a more flexible approach that allows for a much more efficient utilization of satel-lite capacity, and makes possible both high quality local and regional broadcast service. Rather than attempting to totally eliminate any degradation in signal quality at all, a non-uniformity is introduced into factors such as the beam sizes, distribution and powers, cross-beam~interfer-ence levels, roll-off characteristics and peak-to-edge power differentials to allow the service to the most impor-tart areas to be optimized. While this can involve some sacrifice of service levels to marginal areas, the net re-sult is to provide a higher degree of service (including ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 local service) to a greater portion of the population.
Efficiency is further improved by providing a high degree of frequency reuse, in which the same frequency bands can be used repeatedly for different local target areas. For purposes of this application the term "frequency band" is not limited to any particular governmentally pre-assigned frequency band, and refers more generally to any desired continuous frequency spectrum, not all of which must be occupied at any given time. , . .
The non-uniform beam size and distribution aspects of the invention are illustrated in FIG. 3, in which target areas for signals within four different frequency bands are again designated by numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. However, in contrast to the prior uniform pattern of FIG. 1, the inven-tion concentrates the beams on the areas of highest popula-tion, with the highest density of local service areas gen-erally having the highest density of beams. The beam sizes are tailored to each service area, with the regions~of highest population density generally assigned more but smaller beams to allow for a greater number of different local service areas with relatively high power levels for each local area.
The right hand side 18 of FIG. 3 illustrates a region of closely spaced and high density population centers, with a separate local~service beam 20. for each local service area. Beams with different frequency bands can overlap in this region to assure that each local service area is fully covered. Different beams can also vary in ~ize,~with the smaller beams generally serving local services areas with higher population densities. As with the prior uniform beam pattern illustrated in FIG. 1, beams which operate at the same frequency band are preferably spaced apart from each other. However, they do not have to be spaced so far apart that cross-beam interference is totally eliminated.
Rather, to increase the satellite s frequency reuse and broadcast to a greater number of local service areas, some overlap of a peripheral portion of one beam into the in-' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 tended target area for another beam with the same frequency band is permissible. In this situation the beam power for the target area having the higher priority, which will gen-erally be the area with the larger number of customers, can S be set higher than the power level of the beam which it overlaps.
The left hand region 21 of FIG. 3 illustrates a possi-ble beam distribution for a region with fewer population centers that are more widely spaced and have lower popula-tion densities. The beam sizes are generally large than in the higher density region 18, and there are fewer beams for the same area. Note, however, that the new system can ac-commodate local variations within an overall region, such as the higher population density center 22.at the upper left hand corner of the figure, which is served by a great-er density of beams having somewhat smaller average sizes than for the remainder of the overall region 20.
Gaps can be left between the beam coverage areas, and no local service provided at all, in a region 24 of low population density without significant population centers.
While the idea of leaving some regions without any local service at all clay be counter-intuitive, the actual result is to provide high quality local service to a large major-ity of the overall population because of the more efficient 2.~~ use of the satellite s resources,. and is a great improve-ment over the prior inability to provide local satellite television service anywhere.
Fibs. 4a-4d illustrate how local television service can be provided to the United States through the reuse of four different frequency bands, while FIGS. Sa-5d illus trate antenna feed horn layouts that can be used to produce the spot beam patterns of FIGS. 4a-4d, respectively. Both left and right hand circular polarization patterns are shown, and indicated respectively by dashed and solid lines. FIG. 4a illustrates seven beam target areas 26a, all with the same frequency band and distributed over dif-ferent portions of the country, while FIG. 5a illustrates a pattern of feed horns 27a that can be used to produce the desired beam pattern from an antenna. Some cross-beam interference can be expected between such areas, as ex-plained previously. The relative beam powers are designed to produce an optimum tradeoff between the number and dura-tions of outages and the number of customers served in each area.
Target areas for the three other frequency bands, des-ignated 26b, 26c and 26d in FIGS. 4b, 4c and 4d, respec-tively, are assigned in a similar manner, with correspond-ing patterns of feed horns 27b, 27c and 27d shown respec-tively in FIGs. 5b, Sc and 5d. The cumulative beam pattern produced on the ground by all four sets of beam target ar-eas is illustrated in FIG. 4e. The target area for one frequency band can overlap with target areas for one or more different frequency bands; a target area for one band can encompass one or more smaller areas of different bands, or can be included within a larger area of a different band. Cross-beam interference is not a concern in this case because the different frequency bands do not overlap.
The beams illustrated in FIG. 4e all have circular cross-sections. While this would be most typical, shaped beams can also be produced by using a shaped antenna re flector on the satellite with a single antenna feed horn, 25~ or less desirably by providing the same signal to multiple feed horns for the same reflector with proper amplitude and phase relationships to achieve the desired shape. Shaped beams may be useful in ertain situations, such as broad-casting to a non-circular target area that is quite distant from the other beams. For example, Hawaii and Alaska could be good candidates for elliptical beams.
FIG. 6 illustrates in simplified form a satellite 28 with an array of antennas designed to implement the inven-tion. The satellite is shown carrying four different broadcast antenna reflectors 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d, with solar cells mounted on panels 32a and 32b providing a power supply for the system. Reflectors 30a and 30b are larger ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 1~
than reflectors 30c and 30d and, with appropriate feed horns, can produce the beam distributions shown in FIGS. 4b and 4c, respectively; with appropriate feed horns reflec tors 30c and 30d can produce the beam distributions respec tively shown in FIGS. 4a and 4d.
FIG. 7 gives a simplified view of a reflector 34 which reflects feed beams from a number of feed horns 36a, 36b and 36c; all of the feed horns for a single reflector would normally be operated within the same frequency band for a given signal polarization. The size of each beam is pri-marily a function of the reflector and horn dimensions, while the beam direction is a function of the reflector orientation relative to ground and the feed horn orienta-tions relative to the reflector. However, given a fixed common reflector size for several feed horns, differences in horn sizes can be used to produce spot beams which have corresponding differences in size. Once a particular pat-tern of beam sizes and spatial distribution has been estab-lished, a specific reflector and feed horn design to imple-ment the pattern involves merely an application of conven-tional antenna design principals.
The size of each reflector also determines the roll-off characteristics of its beams, which is an important factor in deter-mining the C/I ratio for beams broadcast with the same frequency band. In. general, larger reflec-tore will produce better roll-off characteristics but will not be as easy to fit on the satellite, whereas smaller reflectors allow for a greater total number of reflectors for a given satellite and a potentially closer spacing be-tween beams with the same frequency band, but will produce a degraded roll-off for a given feed horn type. The use of different size reflectors as illustrated in FIG. 6 thus results in different beams having different roll-off char-acteristics and adds another variable to the tradeoffs in-volved in providing the highest quality service to the greatest number of customers. In general, larger reflec-tors can be assigned to the more important local service ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 areas to provide better beam roll-off characteristics in those areas.
The use of .different feed horn sizes to produce dif-ferent beam sizes from the same reflector is illustrated by S feed horns 36a and 36b, which have different schematic rep- -resentations. Because of their different positions rela-tive to the reflector 34, feed horns 36a and 36b will also result in beams that are directed to different local target areas. .
Another factor that affects service quality is the beam's peak-.to-edge gain differential between the center and edge of the service area. The smaller the differen-tial, the higher will be the signal quality towards the edges of the service area, but the overall power consump-tion will also increase. On the other hand, a higher dif-ferential means that the beam power is falling more rapidly at the edge of its target area, and is thus less likely to interfere with nearby beams. This is another way in which the different service areas can be prioritize, with the more important areas served by feed horns with illumination tapers that produce the lowest peak-to-edge gain different-ials.
Another reason for assigning higher power levels to the beams that are broadcast to the more important service areas is that it allows for a larger number of station sig-pals to be included within the frequency bands broadcast to those areas. To the first order, increasing the number of station signals reduces the power per signal, thus increas-ing both relative thezmal noise and cross-beam interference levels; an increase in total beam power can be used to com-pensate for these signal degradations.
FIG. 8 illustrates the satellite circuitry used to generate the different beams, with the circuitry for two channels 38a and 38b shown. Channel 38a receives a ground signal via uplink antenna 40a. The signal is delivered to a receiver 44a, which includes a low noise amplifier and a frequency converter that converts the uplink frequency band UL1 to a desired dowr.:link frequency band DLl. An input channel filter 46,~ passes the desired channel, rejecting other channels. The resulting downlink channel signal is routed through a:z automatic level control (ALC) pre-amplifier 48a and a high power non-linear amplifier (typically a travelling wave tube or a solid state device) 50a. The amplified output is filtered by an output channel filter 52a, which passes the amplified channel band and blocks other unwanted frequencies, and then delivered to t:he feed horn of a downlink antenna 54a.
Power is :supplied to the channel circuitry from an on-board power supply 56, conventionally solar cells on the satellite panels 32a and 32b :illustrated in FIG. 6.
The second channel has a similar configuration, with its own uplin~c antenna 40b, receiver 44b which performs an uplink (UL2)-to-downlink (DL2) frequency conversion, input channel filter 46b which passes the desired second channel and rejects other channels, ALC 48b, power amplifier 50b, output channel filter 52b which passes the amplified channel downlink frequency band and rejects other channels, and another antenna feed horn 54b. To reduce the total number of power amplifiers required, the signa~_s for multiple lower power beams can be processed by a common power amplifier as described in U.S.
patent No. 6,173,155, filed September 25, 1998 to John L.
Norin and entitled "Mc=_thod and Apparatus for Spacecraft Amplification of Mult:i-Channel Signals", the contents of which applicatic>n is incorpc~.rated herein by reference. To compensate for variances between actual and designed beam power profiles, changes in the relat:i~se importance of different service areas over time, and changes in the number of station signals broadcast to a giver~.t=arget area, the amplifier drives can be adjusted from the ground as described in Canadian patent application Serial 1\10. 2,250,650 filed on October 19, 1998 to John L. Ncrin and emit:led "Dynamic Interference Optimization Method for Satellites Transmitting Multiple Beams With a Common Fre-quency Channel", the contents of which application are also incorporated herein by reference.
Assuming that channel 38a is allocated to a more im portant local service area than channel 38b, its high power amplifier 50a will normally be selected to produce a great er power output than amplifier 50b in channel 38b. This is indicated in FIG. 8 by a larger amplifier symbol for 50a than f or 5 Ob .
At present, 32 transponder channels are typical for satellite television broadcasts in a given service, repre senting 16 different channels 24 MHz wide and separated by approximately 5 MHz, and two orthogonal polarizations (ei ther left and right hand circular or vertical and horizon tal) for each frequency.band. In the preferred system the majority of the available channels are used for nationwide broadcasts, with the remaining channels reserved for local service beams. FIGs. 9a and 9b illustrate two possible schemes for dividing eight channels among four different reflectors, with the four different frequency bands indi-Gated respectively by S1, S2, S3 and S4. In FIG. 9a each reflector broadcasts two signals of opposite polarization (POL1 and POL2) but within the same frequency band. In FIG. 9b each reflector broadcasts a signal within one fre-quency band at the first polarization, and another signal within a different frequency band. at the second polariza-tion.
While all of the beams would typically be broadcast from a single satellite,, situations may arise that could lead to a distribution of the beams among multiple satel-lites. For example, where the desired feed size does not allow adjacent beams to use the same reflector surface to feed packaging interference, the greater antenna-to-antenna and satellite-to-satellite pointing differences normally associated With a multiple satellite system might be justi fied.
While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, numerous variations and alternate ' CA 02251320 1999-O1-11 embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. Ac-cordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only in terms of the appended claims.
Claims (45)
1. A spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area loca-tions in a non-uniform beam pattern, and providing different respective signal frequency spectrums for at least some of said beams.
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area loca-tions in a non-uniform beam pattern, and providing different respective signal frequency spectrums for at least some of said beams.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of said beams have a common signal frequency spectrum, and all of the beams with the same common frequency spectrum are directed to non-overlapping target area locations.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of said beams have different sizes at their respective target area locations.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast to produce different beam powers at their respective target area locations.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein said at least some beams are broadcast from the spacecraft with different re-spective beam powers.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of said beams with different signal frequency spectrums are broadcast to overlapping target area locations.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different respective signal bandwidths.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different beam roll-off char-acteristics.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different peak-to-edge power differentials.
10. A spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area loca-tions so that at least some of said beams have different sizes at their respective target locations, and providing different respective signal frequency -spectrums for at least some of said beams.
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area loca-tions so that at least some of said beams have different sizes at their respective target locations, and providing different respective signal frequency -spectrums for at least some of said beams.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least some of said beams have a common signal frequency spectrum, and all of the beams with the same common frequency spectrum are directed to non-overlapping target locations.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast to produce different beam powers at their respective target area locations.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein said at least some beams are braodcast from the spacecraft with different re-spective beam powers.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein at least some of said beams with different signal frequency spectrums are broadcast to overlapping target area locations.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different respective signal bandwidths.
16. The method of claim 10, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different beam roll-off char-acteristics.
17 17. The method of claim 10, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different peak-to-edge power differentials .
18. A spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area loca-tions with at least some of said beams having different beam powers at their respective target area locations, and providing different respective signal frequency spectrums for at least some of said beams.
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to different respective target area loca-tions with at least some of said beams having different beam powers at their respective target area locations, and providing different respective signal frequency spectrums for at least some of said beams.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein said at least some beams are broadcast from the spacecraft with different re-spective beam powers.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein at least some of said beams have a common signal frequency spectrum, and all of the beams with the same common frequency spectrum are directed to non-overlapping target area locations.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein at least some of said beams with different frequency bands are broadcast to overlapping target area locations.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different respective signal bandwidths.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different beam roll-off char-acteristics.
24. The method of claim 18, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different peak-to-edge power differentials.
25. A spacecraft broadcast method, comprising:
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to respective non-overlapping target area locations so that at least some of said beams have different sizes at their respective target area locations, and providing a common signal frequency spectrum for each of said beams.
broadcasting multiple communication signal beams from a spacecraft to respective non-overlapping target area locations so that at least some of said beams have different sizes at their respective target area locations, and providing a common signal frequency spectrum for each of said beams.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast to produce different beam powers at their respective target area locations.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein said at least some beams are broadcast from the spacecraft with different re-spective beam powers.
28. The method of claim 25, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different respective signal bandwidths.
29. The method of claim 25, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different beam roll-off char-acteristics.
30. The method of claim 25, wherein at least some of said beams are broadcast with different peak-to-edge power differentials.
31. A spacecraft antenna array for multi-beam broad-casts to earth, comprising:
a plurality of antenna reflectors, and at least one respective feed horn associated with each reflector, said antenna reflectors and their respective feed horns configured to broadcast a plurality of communication signal beams in a non-uniform beam pattern with at least some of said beams having different sizes.
a plurality of antenna reflectors, and at least one respective feed horn associated with each reflector, said antenna reflectors and their respective feed horns configured to broadcast a plurality of communication signal beams in a non-uniform beam pattern with at least some of said beams having different sizes.
32. The spacecraft antenna array of claim 31, at least some of said reflectors having different sizes to produce respective beams with different roll-off characteristics.
33. The spacecraft antenna array of claim 31, at least some of said feed horns having different respective illumi-nation tapers to produce respective beams with different peak-to-edge power differentials.
34. A spacecraft broadcast system for multi-beam broadcasts to earth, comprising:
a spacecraft, a plurality of antenna reflectors with respective feed horns carried by said spacecraft, and a power supply and radio frequency (RF) signal circuitry carried by said spacecraft for energizing said feed horns to broadcast respective communication signal beams to respective target area locations on earth via their respective reflectors, said antenna reflectors and their respective feed horns configured to broadcast said beams in a non-uniform beam pattern with at least some of said beams having differ-ent sizes.
a spacecraft, a plurality of antenna reflectors with respective feed horns carried by said spacecraft, and a power supply and radio frequency (RF) signal circuitry carried by said spacecraft for energizing said feed horns to broadcast respective communication signal beams to respective target area locations on earth via their respective reflectors, said antenna reflectors and their respective feed horns configured to broadcast said beams in a non-uniform beam pattern with at least some of said beams having differ-ent sizes.
35. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 34, wherein said power supply and RF signal circuitry energize said feed horns to broadcast at least some of said beams within different respective signal frequency spectrums.
36. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 35, wherein said power supply and RF signal circuitry energize said feed horns to broadcast at least some of said beams to produce different respective beam powers at their respective target area locations.
37. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 35, where-in said reflectors and feed horns are configured to broadcast at least some of said beams with different signal frequency spectrums to overlapping target area locations.
38. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 35, where-in said power supply and RF signal circuitry energize at least two of said beams with a common frequency spectrum.
39. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 38, where-in said reflectors and feed horns are configured to broadcast said common frequency spectrum beams to non-overlapping tar-get area locations.
40. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 34, where-in said power supply and RF signal circuitry energize said feed horns to broadcast at least some of said beams to pro-duce different respective beam powers at their respective target locations.
41. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 40, where-in said power supply and RF signal circuitry energize said feed horns to broadcast said at least some beams from the spacecraft with different respective beam powers.
42. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 34, where-in said power supply and RF signal circuitry energize at least two of said beams with a common signal frequency spec-trum.
43. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 42, where-in said reflectors and feed horns are configured to broadcast said common frequency spectrum beams to non-overlapping tar-get area locations.
44. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 34, at least some of said reflectors having different sizes to pro-duce respective beams with different roll-off characteris-tics.
45. The spacecraft broadcast system of claim 34, at least some of said feed horns having different respective illumination tapers to produce respective beams with differ-ent peak-to-edge power differentials.
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| US09/160,681 US6434384B1 (en) | 1997-10-17 | 1998-09-25 | Non-uniform multi-beam satellite communications system and method |
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- 1998-10-19 CA CA002251320A patent/CA2251320C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
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| US6434384B1 (en) | 2002-08-13 |
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