Apparatus For And Method of Selecting Between Antennas For Wireless Communication

• US 20080182512A1
• Filed: 01/25/2008
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Waters, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,838,027 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/41.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0608 Antenna selection according to transmission parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0805 with single receiver and antenna switching H04B7/0822 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0817 with multiple receivers and antenna path selection

Abstract

A communication device comprising at least first and second antennas wherein a quality of communication between the communication device 2 and a further device 20 is assessed when using the at least first and second antennas 8, 10, 12 so as to select one of the at least first and second antennas for further communications between the communication device and the further device.

Claims

1. A near-field communication device comprising at least first and second antennas wherein a quality of near-field communication between the near-field communication device and a further device is assessed when using the at least first and second antennas so as to select one of the at least first and second antennas for further communications between the near-field communication device and the further device.

2. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a transmit-receive device which comprises at least one transceiver and a controller wherein the controller assesses the quality of near-field communication when using the at least first and second antennas and selects one of the at least first and second antennas for further communications based on the results of the assessments.

3. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the at least one transceiver is connected sequentially to the at least first and second antennas.

4. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 2 wherein there is a plurality of transceivers and each transceiver is connected to one of the at least first and second antennas.

5. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 1 comprising a plurality of transceivers, each transceiver having a different frequency.

6. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein an electromagnetic coupling between the first antenna and a further antenna of a further device is substantially different to the electromagnetic coupling between the second antenna and the further antenna of the further device.

7. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least first and second antennas are of a different physical size.

8. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least first and second antennas are of a different physical shape.

9. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least first and second antennas are formed on at least one planar substrate.

10. The near-field communication device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least first and second antennas are spatially non-overlapping.

11. A method of selecting between a plurality of antennas in a near-field communication device wherein a quality of near-field communication between the near-field communication device and a further device is assessed when using at least first and second antennas so as to select one of the at least first and second antennas for further communications between the near-field communication device and the further device.

12. The method of selecting between a plurality of antennas in a near-field communication device as claimed in claim 11 wherein the near-field communication device comprises a transmit-receive device comprising at least one transceiver and a controller wherein the controller assesses the quality of near-field communication when using the at least first and second antennas and selects one of the at least first and second antennas for further communications based on the results of the assessments.

13. The method of selecting between a plurality of antennas in a near-field communication device as claimed in claim 12 wherein the at least one transceiver is connected sequentially to the at least first and second antennas.

14. The method of selecting between a plurality of antennas in a near-field communication device as claimed in claim 11 wherein the near-field communication device comprises a plurality of transceivers and each transceiver is connected to one of the at least first and second antennas.

15. The method of selecting between a plurality of antennas in a near-field communication device as claimed in claim 11 wherein the near-field communication device comprises a plurality of transceivers, each transceiver having a different frequency.

16. The method of selecting between a plurality of antennas in a near-field communication device as claimed in claim 11 wherein the electromagnetic coupling between a first one of the at least first and second antennas and a further antenna of the further device is substantially different to the electromagnetic coupling between a second one of the at least first and second antennas and the further antenna of the further device.

17. A near-field communication system comprising:

a near-field communication device having at least first and second antennas, and a transmit-receive device; and

a further device having a further antenna;

wherein a quality of near-field communication between the transmit-receive device and the further device is assessed when using the at least first and second antennas so as to select one of the at least first and second antennas for further communications between the transmit-receive device and the further device.

18. The near-field communication system as claimed in claim 17 wherein the transmit-receive device comprises at least one transceiver and a controller wherein the controller assesses the quality of near-field communication when using the at least first and second antennas and selects one of the at least first and second antennas for further communications based on the results of the assessments.

19. The near-field communication system as claimed in claim 17 wherein the at least one transceiver is connected sequentially to the at least first and second antennas.

20. The near-field communication system as claimed in claim 17 wherein the at least first and second antennas are spatially non-overlapping when viewed along the direction of the principal axes of the antennas.