Microwave antenna self-directing system

The article describes the synthesis and development of adequate hardware and software for automatic microwave link connection between mobile reporter vehicle and the radio centre. The whole device is built from five components micro-controller system, communication-navigation unit, device driver unit, power supply unit, and user interface. The core of the device is micro-controller system, which is providing all the needed intelligence. The communication-navigation unit is compound from the GSM modem with integrated GPS navigation system and electronic compass. GPS is the source for the vehicle position data, which is not enough for automatic microwave link establishment. Because of that the electronic compass is added. The GSM modem has also a role of communication backup in case when microwave link is not possible to restore. Another important unit is user interface, which is enabling a manipulation with the device. The device has three important operation modes, which are self-testing, microwave link and GSM link mode. Itch operation mode is described with the state-diagrams. By the software design a special care was taken on device reliability. So with the goal to get a reliable device, the algorithms and software for self-testing and error discovering have been developed and implemented. Finally, the functional value of the device has been proven with the laboratory tests.