Method and system for estimating a path-length difference of a target signal transmitted by a spacecraft or aircraft

1. A method for estimating a path-length difference between two paths followed by a target signal transmitted by a spacecraft or aircraft respectively to a first receiving antenna and a second receiving antenna of a receiving base, the method comprising the steps of:

measuring a useful phase difference between signals corresponding to the target signal received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna, each of the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna of the receiving base exhibits a main radiation lobe of a width equal to or greater than 20°;

estimating the path-length difference as a function of useful phase difference measurements to perform an orbit or path recovery of said spacecraft or said aircraft;

measuring the useful phase difference comprising either a correlation of the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna with a reference target signal, or the analysis of the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) or Phase-Locked Loop (PLL);

transmitting a calibration signal to the receiving base via a transmitting antenna;

measuring a calibration phase difference between signals corresponding to the calibration signal received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna; and

compensating variations of the calibration phase difference measurements on the useful phase difference measurements.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving the reference target signal by a directional antenna exhibiting, in a direction of the craft, an antenna gain greater than those of the first receiving antenna and of the second receiving antenna of the receiving base.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step of measuring calibration phase difference comprises the step of either correlating the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna with the transmitted calibration signal, or analyzing the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna using the FFT or PLL.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step of transmitting the calibration signal and the target signal in at least partially overlapping respective frequency bands.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the step of transmitting the calibration signal at the same time as the target signal.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising the step of transmitting the calibration signal continuously.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the calibration signal is a substantially sinusoidal signal or a signal of a type with spectrum spread by a spectrum spreading code.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of digitizing the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna by asynchronous analog/digital converters; transmitting the digitized signals to a processing device via a communication network; and re-synchronizing the digitized signals by the processing device by correlation with the transmitted calibration signal.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable code for estimating a path-length difference between two paths followed by a target signal transmitted by a spacecraft or aircraft respectively to a first receiving antenna and a second receiving antenna of a receiving base, the code comprising instructions for a processing device to:

measure a useful phase difference between signals corresponding to the target signal received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna, each of the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna of the receiving base exhibits a main radiation lobe of a width equal to or greater than 20°;

estimating the path-length difference as a function of useful phase difference measurements to perform an orbit or path recovery of said spacecraft or said aircraft;

measure the useful phase difference comprising either a correlation of the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna with a reference target signal, or the analysis of the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) or Phase-Locked Loop (PLL);

transmit a calibration signal to the receiving base via a transmitting antenna;

measuring a calibration phase difference between signals corresponding to the calibration signal received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna; and

compensate variations of the calibration phase difference measurements on the useful phase difference measurements.

10. A system for estimating a path-length difference between two paths followed by a target signal transmitted by a spacecraft or aircraft respectively to a first receiving antenna and a second receiving antenna of a receiving base of the system, comprising

a transmitter to transmit a calibration signal to the receiving base via a transmitting antenna,

a processing device configured to:

measure a useful phase difference between signals corresponding to the target signal received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna by performing either a correlation of the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna with a reference target signal, or an analysis of the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) or Phase-Locked Loop (PLL);

estimating the path-length difference as a function of useful phase difference measurements to perform an orbit or path recovery of said spacecraft or said aircraft;

measure a calibration phase difference between signals corresponding to the calibration signal received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna;

compensate variations of the calibration phase difference measurements on the useful phase difference measurements; and

wherein each of the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna of the receiving base exhibits a main radiation lobe of a width equal to or greater than 20°.

11. The system as claimed in claim 10 , comprising a directional antenna, exhibiting, in a direction of the craft, an antenna gain greater than those of the first receiving antenna and of the second receiving antenna of the receiving base; and wherein the reference target signal is a signal corresponding to the target signal received on the directional antenna.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the directional antenna is an antenna of a geolocation system or an antenna of a telemetry/remote control and ranging system.

13. The system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna of the receiving base are horn antennas.

14. The system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the craft is a satellite in a geostationary orbit; and wherein the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna are directed to have, in their main radiation lobe, several satellites in the geostationary orbit.

15. The system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the processing device is configured to measure the calibration phase difference by performing either a correlation of the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna with the transmitted calibration signal, or an analysis of the signals received respectively on the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna using the FFT or PLL.

16. The system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein a distance, between the transmitting antenna of the transmitter and at least one of the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna, is less than a distance between the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna.