Patent ID: 11909468
Assignee: VIASAT INC.
Field: Telecommunications (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 12:
13. A system, comprising:
an antenna mounted on a pedestal;
a modem coupled to the antenna operable to process signals communicated via the antenna;
a positioner coupled between the antenna and a vehicle, the positioner causing the pedestal to position the antenna based on a control signal; and
an antenna control unit (ACU) operable to cause the positioner to point a beam of the antenna towards a target satellite, wherein, for an initial satellite signal tracking mode during travel segments of the vehicle, the ACU:
commands the positioner to set the beam of the antenna to an initial angular position towards the target satellite based on an initial pointing direction for the antenna, the initial pointing direction being defined in a fixed reference plane to enable communication of a signal between the antenna and the target satellite;
the ACU is operable to execute an offset compensation operation during travel segments of the vehicle, wherein during the offset compensation operation, the ACU:
commands the positioner to adjust a pointing direction of the antenna from the initial angular position to a plurality of angular positions, measures a signal metric of the communicated signal at the plurality of angular positions and selects a scan offset angle based on the measured signal metric for the plurality of angular positions, the scan offset angle being defined in a local coordinate system for the pedestal of the antenna;
calculates a yaw compensation of the antenna based on the initial pointing direction and on a yaw pointing direction in the fixed reference plane;
rotates the initial pointing direction in the fixed reference plane with a platform orientation matrix that includes the yaw compensation and an attitude of the vehicle measured by an inertial navigation system (INS) into the local coordinate system for the pedestal of the antenna to provide pedestal orientation coordinates;
determines an azimuth and elevation for the antenna based on the pedestal orientation coordinates; and
generates the control signal characterizing the azimuth and elevation for the positioner that causes the positioner to adjust the pointing direction of the antenna corresponding to the azimuth and elevation for the antenna.