A mechanically steered, horizontally polarized, directional antennae for aerial vehicles, such as UAVs. The antenna system can include a planar substrate with a horizontally polarized antenna embedded therein. A rotation member, on one end, can be attached to the planar substrate, and can extend from an external surface of the aerial vehicle. An actuator can be coupled to the rotation member to rotate the rotation member. A communication controller of the aerial vehicle can control the actuator to beam horizontally polarized radiofrequency (RF) waves to a target receiver or receive a wave front from a target transmitter.

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include a system configured for receiving sensing data from a orientation detector coupled to an antenna, determining, according to the sensing data, that an aperture of the antenna has shifted from a first orientation to a second orientation, and configuring a transmitter to generate an adjusted electromagnetic wave that is supplied to a feed point of the antenna for offsetting the shift in orientation of the antenna. Other embodiments are disclosed.

A method, wireless communication device (WCD), and computer program product deploys an additional, retractable antenna to enhance signal communication within an identified network. A processor executes an antenna deployment module (ADM) in order to determine a link status based on a quality and/or a strength of communication signals propagated via at least one stationary antenna. In response to the link status indicating that coverage of a second/target network is available or that a quality of a signal propagated within a first network is less than a threshold level, the ADM provides a deployment signal to a deployment component. In response to receiving the deployment signal, the deployment component deploys the retractable antenna by extending the retractable antenna from a stowed position to a deployed position. The ADM enables the WCD to communicate within the selected network via the deployed retractable antenna using a higher quality communication signal.

Various arrangements for aligning a satellite antenna is presented. An expected date and an expected time for an expected conjunction of the satellite antenna, a satellite that transmits data to a remote terminal and the sun may be determined using positional data. A signal may be received by the antenna that comprises a data transmission from the satellite and interference from the sun. Based on the received signal, a date and time during which an interference level is at a peak interference level can be determined. An azimuthal or elevational alignment for the satellite antenna to be aligned with the satellite based on the time during which the interference level is at the peak interference level may be determined. An alignment of the satellite antenna may be performed based on the determined azimuthal or elevational alignment.

Determining movement for alignment of a satellite antenna using accelerometer data and gyroscope data of the satellite antenna. Described techniques include receiving accelerometer data for a first time period from an accelerometer mounted on the antenna and analyzing the accelerometer data to determine a movement time window for a movement event of the antenna. The techniques may include receiving gyroscope data for the first time period from a gyroscope mounted on the antenna and analyzing the gyroscope data during the movement time window to determine an amount of movement of the antenna due to the movement event.

A method (400) for positioning a first and a second radio antenna comprising the steps of configuring (SI) the first antenna to have a main lobe L1 and configuring (52) the second antenna to be a directive antenna having a main lobe L2. The method also comprising the steps of transmitting (S3) a first alignment signal from the first antenna to the second antenna and positioning (S4) the second antenna based on the received first alignment signal, as well as reconfiguring (S5) the first antenna to be a directive antenna having an antenna main lobe L3, the antenna main lobe L3 having a more narrow main lobe width than the antenna main lobe L1. The method provides a systematic approach to finding optimum antenna positions and corresponding main lobe directions which is especially suited for aligning directive radio antennas in NLOS communication scenarios.

A method includes determining, based on a satellite longitude of stored parameters of a target channel, that a current channel and the target channel correspond to satellites of different longitudes, controlling a power supply for a motor based on a power supply voltage for an antenna having a second polarization in response to determining, based on a channel polarization of the stored parameters of the target channel, that a polarization of a satellite-transmitted radio wave of the target channel is a first polarization, sending a rotation instruction to the motor, determining that the motor rotates to a preset position, and controlling the antenna to receive a signal having the first polarization in response to determining that the motor rotates to the preset position. The power supply voltage for the antenna having the second polarization is larger than a power supply voltage for the antenna having the first polarization.

A high-frequency antenna, such as may be implemented in a mobile computing device, is sensitive to obstructions that interfere with, and attenuate, a signal emanating therefrom. In fact, in mobile communication devices, such as cellular telephones, a user's hand, or even clothing, can attenuate the signal to cause a noticeable degradation in the quality of service of the device. To alleviate this, a mobile computing device is configured to detect the attenuation and provide a notification to a user to alleviate the situation. In some cases, the user is prompted to hold the mobile computing device in a different orientation in order to remove the obstruction. The prompting may be provided through visual, audio, haptic, or other types of feedback, including dispersing heat generated by the mobile computing device near the antenna location so it become uncomfortable for the user to hold the device in a way that interferes with the antenna system.

A method of receiving a satellite signal using a satellite dish connected to a receiver, the method includes a peak identification stage including automatically sweeping the satellite dish to identify peaks of satellite signals received by the receiver having a center frequency matching the center frequency of the satellite signal, a peak evaluation stage including automatically evaluating one or more said peaks by determining the bandwidth thereof and choosing the peak having a bandwidth matching the bandwidth of the satellite signal, and a signal strength maximizing stage including automatically sweeping the satellite dish until the signal strength of a satellite signal having said bandwidth is maximized.

System and method for determining a position of an antenna array for optimal wireless communication. The system includes a spatially adaptive and beam-steering antenna array configured to control a wireless communications path between a first element and a second element based on a determination of wireless channel gain.