Method and apparatus for reducing jamming by beam forming using navigational data

Claim 1

A method of nulling jamming signals in a receiving system adapted to receive signals from a plurality of transmitting sources and to provide weighted signals in response, the receiving system having an antenna array with a plurality of antenna elements with a weight adjustment for each element, the method comprising the steps of: a) determining the value of weights corresponding to each antenna element; b) obtaining navigational data representing the orientation of the antenna array; c) estimating a signal to noise ratio for each of the plurality of transmitting sources using the navigational data; d) iteratively and continuously adjusting the weights to obtain a greatest average value of all of the signal to noise ratios estimated for all of the plurality of transmitting sources; and e) continuously repeating steps (a) through (d).

Claim 2

A method of nulling jamming signals in a receiving system adapted to receive signals from a plurality of transmitting sources and to provide weighted signals in response, the receiving system having an antenna array with a plurality of antenna elements with a weight adjustment for each element, the method comprising the steps of: a) determining the value of weights corresponding to each antenna element; b) obtaining navigational data representing the orientation of the antenna array; c) estimating a signal to noise ratio for each of the plurality of transmitting sources using the navigational data; d) iteratively and continuously adjusting the weights to obtain a greatest average value of all of the signal to noise ratios estimated for all of the plurality of transmitting sources; and e) continuously repeating steps (a) through (d).

Claim 12

A method of reducing jamming in a global positioning system (GPS) satellite receiving system, the receiving system having an antenna array with a plurality of antenna elements with a weighted adjustment for each element, the method comprising the steps of: a) selecting an initial weight value corresponding to each antenna element; b) providing a weight adjustment scheme for adjusting the weights; c) measuring a power output of the antenna array; d) obtaining navigational data representing the orientation of the array; e) estimating a gain of the antenna array for each of a plurality of tracked GPS satellites, basing the estimations on the navigational data to provide an indication of the orientation of the array relative to each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; f) estimating power levels of received signals corresponding to each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; g) solving for an average signal to noise ratio for all of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites, using the estimated power level corresponding to each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites and the estimated gain of the antenna array for each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; h) iteratively and continuously adjusting the weights to obtain a greatest value of the average signal to noise ratio; and i) continuously repeating steps (c) through (h).

Claim 13

A method of reducing jamming in a global positioning system (GPS) satellite receiving system, the receiving system having an antenna array with a plurality of antenna elements with a weighted adjustment for each element, the method comprising the steps of: a) selecting an initial weight value corresponding to each antenna element; b) providing a weight adjustment scheme for adjusting the weights; c) measuring a power output of the antenna array; d) obtaining navigational data representing the orientation of the array; e) estimating a gain of the antenna array for each of a plurality of tracked GPS satellites, basing the estimations on the navigational data to provide an indication of the orientation of the array relative to each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; f) estimating power levels of received signals corresponding to each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; g) solving for an average signal to noise ratio for all of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites, using the estimated power level corresponding to each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites and the estimated gain of the antenna array for each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; h) iteratively and continuously adjusting the weights to obtain a greatest value of the average signal to noise ratio; and i) continuously repeating steps (c) through (h).

Claim 23

An apparatus for reducing jamming in a global positioning system (GPS) satellite receiving system, the apparatus comprising: an antenna array having a plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element having a weight associated with it; means for adjusting a set of weights such that each weight in the set of weights corresponds to one antenna element weight; means for obtaining navigational data representing the orientation of the array; means for measuring a power output from the antenna array; means for estimating an average gain of the antenna array for each of a plurality of tracked GPS satellites, basing the estimation on the navigational data to provide an indication of the orientation of the array relative to each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; means for estimating power levels of received signals corresponding to each of the plurality of GPS satellites; means for calculating a signal to noise ratio for each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites, using the estimated power levels and the estimated average gain of the antenna array corresponding to the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; and means for iteratively adjusting the weights to obtain a greatest value of an average of the signal to noise ratios of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites.

Claim 24

An apparatus for reducing jamming in a global positioning system (GPS) satellite receiving system, the apparatus comprising: an antenna array having a plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element having a weight associated with it; means for adjusting a set of weights such that each weight in the set of weights corresponds to one antenna element weight; means for obtaining navigational data representing the orientation of the array; means for measuring a power output from the antenna array; means for estimating an average gain of the antenna array for each of a plurality of tracked GPS satellites, basing the estimation on the navigational data to provide an indication of the orientation of the array relative to each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; means for estimating power levels of received signals corresponding to each of the plurality of GPS satellites; means for calculating a signal to noise ratio for each of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites, using the estimated power levels and the estimated average gain of the antenna array corresponding to the plurality of tracked GPS satellites; and means for iteratively adjusting the weights to obtain a greatest value of an average of the signal to noise ratios of the plurality of tracked GPS satellites.

Claim 25

An apparatus for receiving satellite signals and reducing jamming signals comprising: a global positioning system (GPS) satellite receiver configured to receive signals from a plurality of satellites; an antenna array having a plurality of antenna elements, the array operatively coupled to the receiver; a plurality of weight values, each value corresponding to an antenna element; a processor configured to adjust the weight values; a power detector operatively coupled between the antenna array and the processor configured to measure an average power output of the antenna array; a navigational system coupled to the processor configured to supply navigational data representing an orientation of the array; the processor configured to calculate a gain of the antenna array for each of the plurality of satellites using the navigational data to provide an indication of the orientation of the array relative to each of the plurality of satellites, the processor estimating a signal to noise ratio for each of the plurality of satellites using estimated power levels corresponding to each of the plurality of satellites such that the value of the weights are adjusted to obtain a greatest value of an average of the signal to noise ratios for all of the plurality of satellites.

Claim 26

An apparatus for receiving satellite signals and reducing jamming signals comprising: a global positioning system (GPS) satellite receiver configured to receive signals from a plurality of satellites; an antenna array having a plurality of antenna elements, the array operatively coupled to the receiver; a plurality of weight values, each value corresponding to an antenna element; a processor configured to adjust the weight values; a power detector operatively coupled between the antenna array and the processor configured to measure an average power output of the antenna array; a navigational system coupled to the processor configured to supply navigational data representing an orientation of the array; the processor configured to calculate a gain of the antenna array for each of the plurality of satellites using the navigational data to provide an indication of the orientation of the array relative to each of the plurality of satellites, the processor estimating a signal to noise ratio for each of the plurality of satellites using estimated power levels corresponding to each of the plurality of satellites such that the value of the weights are adjusted to obtain a greatest value of an average of the signal to noise ratios for all of the plurality of satellites.