Patents by Inventor Arlin L. Pierce

Arlin L. Pierce has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method of tracking steerable antennas on platforms to form an RF communication link
    Patent number: 10833405
    Abstract: Steerable antenna on platforms, fixed or mobile, are tracked to form an RF communication link by setting the width of the main lobe of the antenna beam pattern to be greater than the initial pointing uncertainty region and then concurrently scanning and progressively reducing the widths of the main lobes as the pointing uncertainty region is reduced to first acquire and then track the opposing antenna. The width of the main lobe is reduced such that the width of the main lobe is approximately fixed for each block. The antennas at opposite ends of the communication link may be scanned with scan patterns that are orthogonal to each other such that the demodulation of the received signal levels to signal direction of arrival at each platform is solely a function of the scan pattern of the receive antenna.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Kenneth W. Brown, Alan Rattray, Travis B. Feenstra, Samuel De La Torre, Johan A. Kullstam, Arlin L. Pierce
  • Method of Tracking Steerable Antennas on Platforms to Form an RF Communication Link
    Publication number: 20180277948
    Abstract: Steerable antenna on platforms, fixed or mobile, are tracked to form an RF communication link by setting the width of the main lobe of the antenna beam pattern to be greater than the initial pointing uncertainty region and then concurrently scanning and progressively reducing the widths of the main lobes as the pointing uncertainty region is reduced to first acquire and then track the opposing antenna. The width of the main lobe is reduced such that the width of the main lobe is approximately fixed for each block. The antennas at opposite ends of the communication link may be scanned with scan patterns that are orthogonal to each other such that the demodulation of the received signal levels to signal direction of arrival at each platform is solely a function of the scan pattern of the receive antenna.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2016
    Publication date: September 27, 2018
    Inventors: Kenneth W. Brown, Alan Rattray, Travis B. Feenstra, Samuel De La Torre, Johan A. Kullstam, Arlin L. Pierce