Increased wireless coverage patterns

• US 20070218953A1
• Filed: 03/05/2007
• Published: 09/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ruckus IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shtrom, Victor, Kish, William, Milton, Darin
• Granted Patent: US 7,525,486 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/562.100
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/38 formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support patch antennas H01Q9/0407; microstrip dipole antennas H01Q9/065; microstrip slot antennas H01Q13/106; transmission line microstrip antennas H01Q13/206; manufacturing reflecting surfaces using insulating material for supporting the reflecting surface H01Q15/142
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/20 the units being spaced along or adjacent to a curvilinear path slotted waveguide arrays H01Q21/005; circularly or helically slotted waveguides H01Q21/0062
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/29 Combinations of different interacting antenna units for giving a desired directional characteristic H01Q25/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 25/00 Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern H01Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/24 varying the orientation by switching energy from one active radiating element to another, e.g. for beam switching
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/04 Resonant antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/16 with feed intermediate between the extremities of the antenna, e.g. centre-fed dipole H01Q9/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/28 Conical, cylindrical, cage, strip, gauze, or like elements having an extended radiating surface; Elements comprising two conical surfaces having collinear axes and adjacent apices and fed by two-conductor transmission lines waveguide horns or mouths H01Q13/00; slot antennas H01Q13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/285 Planar dipole H01Q9/065 takes precedence; patch antenna H01Q9/0407
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/16 incorporating printed electric components, e.g. printed resistor, capacitor, inductor

Abstract

A circuit board for wireless communications includes communication circuitry for modulating and/or demodulating a radio frequency (RF) signal and an antenna apparatus for transmitting and receiving the RF signal, the antenna apparatus having selectable antenna elements located near one or more peripheries of the circuit board. A first antenna element produces a first directional radiation pattern; a second antenna element produces a second directional radiation pattern offset from the first radiation pattern. The antenna elements may include one or more reflectors configured to provide gain and broaden the frequency response of the antenna element. A switching network couples one or more of the selectable elements to the communication circuitry and provides impedance matching regardless of which or how many of the antenna elements are selected. Selecting different combinations of antenna elements results in a configurable radiation pattern; alternatively, selecting several elements may result in an omnidirectional radiation pattern.

Claims

1. An antenna array for increasing wireless coverage, comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) signal modulator configured to generate a modulated RF signal;

a plurality of access points arranged in a substantially circular pattern around the periphery of the antenna array; and

a switching network configured to control a modulated RF signal radiation pattern emitted by each of the plurality of access points, wherein each of the plurality of access points emits a directional radiation pattern offset from the directional radiation pattern of each of the other access points, the directional radiation patterns emitted by the plurality of access points collectively generating a substantially 360-degree coverage pattern.

2. The antenna array of claim 1, wherein the modulated RF signal includes an 802.11 compliant signal.

3. The antenna array of claim 1, wherein the RF signal modulator is intermediately coupled to a local area network by a router.

4. The antenna array of claim 3, wherein the local area network is further coupled to the Internet.

5. The antenna array of claim 1, wherein the coverage pattern generated by the antenna array is communicatively coupled to a coverage pattern generated by another antenna array in a wireless local area network.

6. The antenna array of claim 5, wherein the RF signal modulator is further configured to receive RF-modulated data from the other antenna array in the wireless local area network.

7. The antenna array of claim 1, wherein the coverage pattern is substantially horizontally polarized.

8. A method for reducing interference in a wirelessly-linked communications network, comprising:

providing a plurality of antenna elements at a local wireless device, wherein the local wireless device is communicatively coupled to the wirelessly-linked communications network and the plurality of antenna elements are selectively coupled to a radio frequency (RF) signal modulator by a switching network;

receiving a first RF-modulated signal at one of the plurality of antenna elements provided at the local wireless device, the first RF-modulated signal having been received from a desired remote wireless device over the wirelessly-linked communications network;

receiving a second RF-modulated signal at a second of the plurality of antenna elements provided at the local wireless device, the second RF-modulated signal having been received from an undesired wireless source over the wirelessly-linked communications network, wherein the second RF-modulated signal interferes with the receipt of the first RF-modulated signal; and

decoupling the second of the plurality of antenna elements from the RF-signal modulator via the switching network, wherein the decoupling of the second of the plurality of antenna elements from the RF-signal modulator prevents the local wireless device from receiving the interfering second RF-modulated signal from the undesired wireless source.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the interference caused by the second RF-modulated signal causes communication of the first RF-modulated signal over the wirelessly-linked communications network at a lower data rate than intended for the first RF-modulated signal.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the interference caused by the second RF-modulated signal causes complete disruption of the first RF-modulated signal over the wirelessly-linked communications network.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising selecting a configuration of the antenna element receiving the first RF-modulated signal to correspond to a maximum gain between the local wireless device and the desired receiving node, wherein the configuration is controlled by the switching network.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising selecting a configuration of a second antenna element also receiving the first RF-modulated signal to form a combined omnidirectional radiation pattern with the first antenna element receiving the first RF-modulated signal and wherein the first and second antenna elements receiving the first RF-modulated signal individually generate a directional radiation pattern.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the undesired wireless source includes an access point.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the undesired wireless source includes a radio transmitting device.

15. A method for creating a 360-degree wireless coverage pattern, comprising:

generating a radio frequency (RF) modulated signal at a radio modulator;

routing the RF modulated signal from the radio modulator to a distribution point at a wireless device;

selectively coupling a plurality of antenna elements to the distribution point, wherein each of the plurality of antenna elements emit a directional radiation pattern and wherein the selective coupling of the plurality of antenna elements collectively generates a substantially 360-degree coverage pattern, each of the plurality of antenna elements being configured in a circular pattern around the periphery of a circuit board in the wireless device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the substantially 360-degree coverage pattern is a horizontally polarized radiation pattern substantially in the plane of the circuit board in the wireless device.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the directional radiation pattern of each of the selectively coupled plurality of antenna elements is offset from one another.