Patent ID: 6163679
Filing Date: 2000-12-19
Classification: H04B,Y02D

Abstract:
A method for system acquisition for a subscriber unit in a satellite communication system, the method comprising the steps of:(a) in a first scan window, activating a receiver of the subscriber unit long enough to detect a ring burst transmitted on a beam from a satellite, the beam comprising and indicator of beam quality and one of either beam coordinates or satellite coordinates;(b) storing the indicator of beam quality and one of either beam coordinates or satellite coordinates;(c) deactivating the receiver until a predetermined scan time;(d) repeating steps (a) through (c) until all possible beams in the first scan window have been scanned;(e) in a second scan window, activating the receiver to detect a ring burst transmitted on a beam from a satellite, the beam comprising an indicator of beam quality and an opposite of the one of either beam coordinates or satellite coordinates detected in step (a);(f) storing the indicator of beam quality and the opposite of the one of either beam coordinates or satellite coordinates;(g) deactivating the receiver until a predetermined scan time;(h) for each ring burst detected during the first window scan that was transmitted from a different satellite, repeating steps (e) through (f);(i) identifying a best beam; and(j) thereafter, intermittently activating the receiver to monitor only the best beam for a ring alert targeted for the subscriber unit.