Appeal No. 2002-1146
Application No. 09/160,634
desired satellite is steered to an offset position from the
center of the beam but places the undesired satellite as close to
a null as possible (specification, page 2).
Representative independent claim 1 is reproduced below:
1. A satellite communication system, comprising:
a ground station, having a main antenna which is
movable, said main antenna of a type which produces a
central beam and side lobe beam with null portions between
at least two of said beams, said ground station also
including a controller which can determine interference
between a satellite being monitored and another satellite,
wherein said controller also controls a pointing position of
the main antenna, and said controller is operative to
normally point a center of the antenna directly at said
satellite being monitored, and responsive to determining a
likelihood of interference, moves a center line of the
antenna away from the satellite being monitored, and toward
said null portion.
The Examiner relies on the following references in rejecting
the claims:
Kurby et al. (Kurby) 5,559,806 Sep. 24, 1996
Gagnon et al. (Gagnon) 5,983,071 Nov. 9, 1999
(filed Jul. 22, 1997)
Lusignan 6,075,969 Jun. 13, 2000
(filed Jan. 9, 1997)
Claims 1, 2 and 4-8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as being unpatentable over Kurby in view of Lusignan and Gagnon.
2
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