Methods, devices and systems for increasing wireless communication range

• US 10,720,983 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2016
• Issued: 07/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cassia Networks Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cassia Networks Inc.
• Inventors: Zhang, Kunpeng, Zhao, Fuyong
• Primary Examiner(s): Dean, Raymond S
• Application Number:
  US15/276,424
• Publication Number:
  US 20170013399A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,394 Days
• Field of Search: 370252, 455 16, 455 131, 455 111, 4555521-5531, 343861
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/44 Transmit/receive switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15507 Relay station based processing for cell extension or control of coverage area, network planning with network coordinated processing with regard to cell extension H04W16/26; network topologies using dedicated repeater stations H04W84/047; terminal devices adapted for relaying to or from an other terminal H04W88/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/10 using broadcasted information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/383 power control in peer-to-peer links
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

A device for supporting wireless communication is provided. The device includes a transceiver, an antenna, and a radio frequency (RF) front end system communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the antenna. The RF front end system may include: a RF sampling block coupled to the transceiver and configured to sample signals received from the transceiver and output voltage signals; a RF switching logic coupled to the RF sampling block to receive the voltage signals and configured to switch the front end RF system between a transmitting mode and a receiving mode; a RF transmission gain block coupled to the RF switching logic and configured to increase a transmission power of the signals received from the transceiver; and a RF receiving gain block coupled to the RF switching logic and configured to remove noise signals contained in radio frequency signals received from the antenna.

Claims

1. A device for supporting wireless communication with a client device, comprising:

a configurable antenna system including a plurality of antenna elements, wherein each of the antenna elements is configured to radiate in a different direction and is capable of being turned on or off to produce different antenna configurations, the antenna configurations comprising the radiating direction of each turned-on antenna element;

a transceiver configured to generate a plurality of sets of received signal strength indicators (RSSI), wherein each set of RSSI is generated for each of the antenna configurations based on signals received from a respective one of a plurality of the client devices; and

an antenna logic system communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the configurable antenna system, the antenna logic system configured to, for each client device;

receive, from the transceiver, the respective set of RSSI for each of the antenna configurations;

select an antenna configuration among the antenna configurations based on the respective set of RSSI;

configure the antenna elements of the configurable antenna system with the selected antenna configuration; and

use the selected antenna configuration to communicate with the client device within a timeout period;

wherein the device further comprises an energy splitter coupled to the transceiver and the configurable antenna system, the energy splitter configured to divide energy received by the transceiver into a plurality of energy parts and feed the divided energy parts to the plurality of antenna elements respectively;

wherein the plurality of antenna elements, as combined, cover all radiation directions; and

wherein after the timeout period, the antenna logic system is configured to update the RSSI for each of the antenna configurations, select an updated antenna configuration based on the updated RSSI, and configure the configurable antenna system with the updated antenna configuration.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the timeout period is less than one second.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the antenna logic system identifies a highest RSSI among the RSSIs for each of the antenna configurations, and selects the antenna configuration corresponding to highest RSSI as the selected antenna configuration.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a radio frequency (RF) front end system configured to increase a transmission power of signals received from the transceiver and remove noise signals contained in radio frequency signals received from the configurable antenna system.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver and the signals are Bluetooth signals.

6. A method for transmitting wireless signals to a client device, comprising:

scanning through a set of antenna configurations, each antenna configuration comprising turning on or off each of a plurality of antenna elements and comprising the radiating direction of each turned-on antenna element, and the each antenna element is configured to radiate in a different direction;

generating a plurality of sets of received signal strength indicators (RSSI), wherein each set of RSSI is generated for each of the antenna configurations based on signals received from a respective one of the client devices; and

for each client device;

selecting an antenna configuration based on the respective set of RSSIs;

using the selected antenna configuration to configure the antenna elements;

communicating with the client device using the selected antenna configuration to transmit wireless signals within a timeout period;

dividing received energy into a plurality of energy parts; and

feeding the divided energy parts to the plurality of antenna elements respectively;

updating the RSSI for each of the antenna configurations after the timeout period; and

selecting an antenna configuration based on the updated RSSI.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the timeout period is less than one second.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein selecting the antenna configuration based on the RSSIs comprises selecting the antenna configuration corresponding to a highest RSSI.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein using the selected antenna configuration to transmit wireless signals comprises using the selected antenna configuration to transmit Bluetooth signals.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the set of antenna configurations are configurations of the plurality of antenna elements, each of the antenna elements being capable of being turned on or off to produce different antenna configurations.