Patents by Inventor C. Web Westerman

C. Web Westerman 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).

  • Patent number: 5218361
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods of achieving accurate, unambiguous angle information with a minimum number of antenna elements. The present invention resolves the ambiguities inherent in a long baseline phase interferometer by employing a minimum number of antennas to form shorter baselines. The present invention employs roll motion (antenna rotation) to reorient interferometer baselines and a signal processor to measure the roll angle. Taking interferometer phase data with at least two orientations of the interferometer baselines permits resolution of the ambiguities. This also allows the use of long antenna baselines thereby achieving high angular accuracy with angle ambiguities resolved using only two antenna elements per spatial angle. This reduces system complexity and reduces the required clear aperture area, factors of great significance in missile systems. The invention takes phase data at two or more interferometer baseline orientations and forms a set of simultaneous equations involving the phase ambiguities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 1991
    Date of Patent: June 8, 1993
    Assignee: Loral Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Louis J. Avila, Joseph S. Kaufmann, C. Web Westerman