초록 ▼

A transceiver for facilitating two-way wireless communication between a baseband application and other nodes in a wireless network, wherein the transceiver provides baseband communication networking and necessary configuration and control functions along with transmitter, receiver, and antenna funct

A transceiver for facilitating two-way wireless communication between a baseband application and other nodes in a wireless network, wherein the transceiver provides baseband communication networking and necessary configuration and control functions along with transmitter, receiver, and antenna functions to enable the wireless communication. More specifically, the transceiver provides a long-range wireless duplex communication node or channel between the baseband application, which is associated with a mobile or fixed space, air, water, or ground vehicle or other platform, and other nodes in the wireless network or grid. The transceiver broadly comprises a communication processor; a flexible telemetry transceiver including a receiver and a transmitter; a power conversion and regulation mechanism; a diplexer; and a phased array antenna system, wherein these various components and certain subcomponents thereof may be separately enclosed and distributable relative to the other components and subcomponents.

대표청구항 ▼

I claim: 1. A receiver for amplifying a received RF signal, extracting data from a modulating signal component of the received RF signal, and converting the data to a serial data stream with a corresponding synchronous clock, the receiver comprising: a control and configuration interface for contro

I claim: 1. A receiver for amplifying a received RF signal, extracting data from a modulating signal component of the received RF signal, and converting the data to a serial data stream with a corresponding synchronous clock, the receiver comprising: a control and configuration interface for controlling operation and configuration of the receiver; a low noise amplifier for amplifying the received RF signal while minimizing any noise effects, thereby producing a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio so that the modulating signal component can be extracted from the received RF signal; a frequency downconverter for translating the modulating signal component down to a standard first intermediate frequency; a demodulator for digitizing, filtering, and processing the intermediate frequency signal to extract the data therefrom; and a mass storage unit for digitizing at a particular sample rate the intermediate frequency signal from the frequency downconverter to produce a sample, and for storing the sample for subsequent analysis. 2. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein receiver supports a data rate approximately between 2 Mbps and 40 Mbps and can demodulate a PCM data stream in this range; provides a data clock that is synchronous with the PCM data stream; and supports demodulation of FSK modulation and SOQPSK modulation and can be adapted to support CPM modulation. 3. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the received RF signal is a low level RF signal in the L, S, or C band. 4. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the low noise amplifier, frequency downconverter, demodulator, and mass storage unit are made modular in order to facilitate substitution. 5. The receiver as set forth in 4, wherein the low noise amplifier, frequency downconverter, demodulator, and mass storage unit are each provided with a modular mechanical enclosure so as to be separately distributable relative to the other modular mechanical enclosures. 6. The receiver as set forth in 5, wherein the modular mechanical enclosures-support isolated and non-isolated mounting configurations. 7. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the configuration interface allows for adaptability in real-time so that the receiver is dynamically configurable for changing data rates, modulation types, selectivity, intermediate frequency signal gain and bandwidth, intermediate frequency signal frequency, sample rate, video bandwidth, and video gain, and to configure RF gain and manage noise performance. 8. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the low noise amplifier includes a plurality of gain and filter stages, with each such gain and filter stage including a low noise fixed gain amplifier and a fixed bandpass filter. 9. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the frequency downconverter includes a fixed frequency downconverter having three independent output channels, with each output channel having an output frequency and being associated with a frequency synthesizer so that the output frequency can be independently managed. 10. The receiver as set forth in 9, wherein, the frequency downconverter includes a translation and gain stage providing frequency translation and adaptable gain for each output channel. 11. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the demodulator includes a switchable variable filtering/gain section, an I/Q analog-to-digital converter, and a real-time demodulation processor. 12. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the demodulator uses reconfigurable CPLD technology adaptable to support a plurality of advanced modulation types. 13. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the sample rate of the mass storage unit can be configured to cover a range of intermediate frequency signal rates. 14. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the mass storage unit includes a deep-flash memory subsystem which enables storage of time records approximately between 10 minutes and 30 minutes long depending on the sample rate. 15. The receiver as set forth in 1, wherein the mass storage unit includes a standard USB interface for transferring data to a personal computer. 16. A receiver for use in a data link transceiver having a communication processor, wherein the receiver is a data communication RF/microwave receiver able to convert a received RF signal to a baseband digital signal useable by the communication processor, the receiver comprising: a control and configuration interface for controlling operation and configuration of the receiver; a low noise amplifier for amplifying the received RF signal while minimizing any noise effects, thereby producing a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio so that a modulating signal component can be extracted from the received RF signal; a frequency downconverter for translating the modulating signal component down to a standard first intermediate frequency; a demodulator for digitizing, filtering, and processing the intermediate frequency signal to create the baseband digital signal for the communication processor; and a mass storage unit for digitizing at a particular sample rate the intermediate frequency signal from the frequency downconverter to produce a sample, and for storing the sample for subsequent digital signal analysis. 17. A transceiver for allowing two-way wireless communication between a baseband application and one or more other nodes of a wireless network, the transceiver comprising: a communication processor for managing a communication process between the baseband application and the wireless network; a receiver for amplifying a RF signal received on a receive channel from the wireless network, extracting data from a modulating signal component of the RF signal, and converting the data to a serial data stream with a corresponding synchronous clock; a transmitter for providing an transmit channel from the communication processor and for providing a wireless network channel, and for converting a digital output of the communication processor to RF signals compatible with the wireless network channel; a power conversion and regulation mechanism for providing power regulation and voltage conversion between a power source and the transceiver; a diplexer for isolating the receive and transmit channels; and a phased array antenna system including a beam forming/pointing network and a phased array antenna for beam-steering a receive radiation pattern associated with the receive channel and an transmit radiation pattern associated with the transmit channel. 18. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the baseband application is associated with a mobile platform. 19. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the transceiver supports a plurality of network protocols, communication data rates, data rates, modulation types, and link margins, and also supports L or S band frequencies. 20. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the receiver, transmitter, and phased array antenna system are each provided in at least one modular enclosure that is separately distributable relative to the other modular enclosures. 21. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the communication processor translates data from the baseband application to have appropriate embedded control characters, addresses, and encryption so that the baseband application is made compatible with a particular wireless network protocol. 22. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the communication processor includes--a network communication stack including--a media access control manager and a physical layer service manager that cooperate to form a wireless network station, and an application service manager for supporting a bidirectional baseband analog or digital signal interface for data acquisition, and for supporting a data port so that the communication processor can serve as a gateway access point for long-haul Internet services, thereby enabling the nodes of the wireless network to distribute data across a wide area network; and a communication manager for enabling an external control and configuration interface for the communication processor. 23. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the communication processor makes the wireless network transparent to higher level protocols and user applications. 24. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the transmitter includes--a digital modulator adapted to receive a single-ended data input and a differential data input, thereby allowing the transmitter to be physically distributed while still routing high-speed signals from a remote source and the digital modulator; a variable gain power driver amplifier; and a final power amplifier. 25. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the power conversion and regulation mechanism provides a power management function enabling the transceiver to be put into a sleep mode in order to conserve power. 26. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the diplexer includes separate bandpass filter networks for the receive and transmit channels, thereby enabling both the receive and transmit channels to coexist on the phased array antenna system. 27. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the phased array antenna system is capable of beam-steering the receive and transmit channels independent of each other. 28. The transceiver as set forth in 17, wherein the receive and transmit radiation patterns can be electronically steered in azimuth only.