Patent ID: 8200150

Claim:
A method of determining a peak polarization of a communication signal comprising: a) making a first group of signal strength measurements, wherein said first group of signal strength measurements includes a pair of measurements at each frequency in a first group of frequencies in a receive band of said signal, wherein each said pair of measurements includes a first signal strength measurement at a polarization angle corresponding to a home polarization and a second signal strength measurement at a polarization opposite to said home polarization; b) selecting at least one frequency from said first group of frequencies for which a corresponding one of said pairs of signal strength measurements has a greater difference between said first signal strength measurement and said second signal strength measurement than the non-selected frequencies from said first group of frequencies; c) making a second group of signal strength measurements, wherein said second group of signal strength measurements includes a plurality of pairs of measurements at each one of said selected frequencies, wherein each said pair of measurements in said second group includes a first signal strength measurement at said home polarization and a second signal strength measurement at said polarization opposite to said home polarization; d) identifying a frequency for which said differences in said pairs of measurements in said second group of signal strength measurements display the lowest variability; e) making a third group of signal strength measurements at said identified frequency, wherein said third group of signal strength measurements includes a plurality of signal strength measurements at each one of a plurality of signal polarization angles, and wherein said plurality of signal polarization angles represents a range of polarization angles about said home polarization; f) for each one of said plurality of signal polarization angles determining an average signal strength measurement; g) approximating said average signal strength measurements for each of said plurality of signal polarization angles with a mathematical function adjusting parameters of said mathematical function to yield a lowest sum-of-squares difference between said mathematical function and said average signal strength measurements; h) determining a peak of said mathematical function for determining a peak polarization angle of the communication signal.