Telecommunications – Carrier wave repeater or relay system – Portable or mobile repeater
Reexamination Certificate
1997-06-27
2001-02-13
Eisenzopf, Reinhard J. (Department: 2745)
Telecommunications
Carrier wave repeater or relay system
Portable or mobile repeater
C455S008000, C700S079000, C700S084000, C244S158700
Reexamination Certificate
active
06188874
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved control and telemetry signal communication system for satellites, and more particularly to a communications system between a central on-board computer and nodes located throughout the satellite.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In geostationary satellites, a central, on-board command and data handling computer in the satellite communicates with more than 1000 nodes physically located throughout the satellite in order to adequately control and monitor its operation.
FIG. 1
is a functional block diagram of a typical prior art satellite telemetry and control system, but showing only six nodes in order to simplify the drawing. Here, each telemetry analog node (here nodes
2
and
5
) (e.g. a thermistor monitoring the temperature at a region of the satellite) is connected by a separate pair of wires
12
to provide an analog input to an intermediate control processor
14
. Similarly, each digital node
13
(nodes
1
,
3
,
4
and
6
) is connected to the control processor
14
by a separate, dedicated data bus
17
. Each data bus may be comprised of a number of parallel wires for parallel data transmission or may comprise a serial data channel for serial data transmission depending upon the node requirements. A redundant digital data bus
19
connects the control processor
14
to a central command and data handling processor
16
. The system includes a communications channel
18
for sending and receiving data to and from ground stations while the satellite is in orbit. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the hardware, software, and cabling of the prior art system used to monitor and control the operation of the satellite is expensive, heavy, requires considerable power to operate, and is difficult to integrate into and test as part of the overall satellite system.
An object of this invention is the provision of an analog telemetry and digital command communications system for satellites which provides a uniform interface between the nodes and the central computer and significantly reduces the amount of cabling needed between the nodes and the central computer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, this invention contemplates the provision of a geosynchronous satellite control and telemetry communication system in which branch modules distributed throughout the satellite serially interface clusters of control and/or analog nodes to the central command and data handling processor. Each branch module is connected to the central command and data handling processor by a serial data channel; in a preferred embodiment of the invention the serial data channel is a lightweight, shielded, twisted wire pair. The branch modules are physically located close to the control/telemetry nodes for which they serve as interfaces to the central command and data handling processor and where appropriate are integrated into the satellite subsystems themselves. Each branch module responds to data commands issued by the central command and data handling processor over the twisted wire pair connected to the module. The central command and data handling processor is programmed to implement a system time line, issuing a recurring series of commands to the branch modules. Upon receipt of a command from the central command and data handling processor, the branch module decodes the command, carries out the commanded action by generating, or sampling, one or more signals at its node interface, and responds back to the central command and data handling processor with the node status. The central command and data handling processor then issues additional commands to the same branch module or moves on to another branch module so that the central flight computer addresses all critical control points and telemetry points during one system cycle.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the branch module includes a dual sided, hybrid assembly, with digital and analog integrated circuits mounted on one side of a wiring substrate and oscillator and passive components mounted on the other side. The module has a single d.c. power input, and additional voltages needed to process analog signal inputs are generated by the module. This assembly is mounted in a hermetically sealed housing.
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Burri Joe
Cady Anne M.
Cronauer Thomas D.
Schulz Kenneth R.
Yra Pablito B.
Albrecht Ralph P.
Eisenzopf Reinhard J.
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Nguyen Duc
Venable
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