Smart Antenna Apparatus and Method with Automatic Gain Control
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A smart antenna apparatus including a receiving system, one or more beam analysis modules, a control channel monitoring module, a processing system, and a receiving beam switch is provided. The receiving system is operable to receive a plurality of uplink beams, each including traffic signals transmitted by a mobile station. The beam analysis modules are operable to analyze the uplink beams to determine one or more characteristics of each uplink beam. The control channel monitoring module is operable to monitor control channel signals being communicated from a base station transceiver. The control channel signals include synchronization signals. The processing system is operable to synchronize the smart antenna apparatus with the base station transceiver using the synchronization signals received by the control channel monitoring module. The processing system is further operable to determine a selected beam from the plurality of uplink beams based at least in part on the one or more characteristics determined by the beam analysis modules. The receiving beam switch is operable to switch to the selected beam to allow the selected beam to be communicated to the base station transceiver.
63 Citations
43 Claims
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1-23. -23. (canceled)
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24. A smart antenna apparatus comprising:
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a receiving system having a plurality of beam receivers configured to receive beam-formed signals; a beam selection module coupled to the receiving system and configured to select at least one beam-formed signal to communicate with a mobile device; and a processing module configured to generate commands comprising; an unlock command to permit adjustment of a gain of at least one of the plurality of beam receivers, and a lock command to maintain the gain of the at least one beam receiver at a constant value. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method, comprising:
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selecting a beam by executing one or more beam-selection algorithms on a processing system of a smart antenna circuit, wherein the selected beam comprises an uplink beam for uplink signals, a downlink beam for downlink signals, or a combination thereof; sending an unlock command from a gain control module; responsive to receiving the unlock command at an AGC device, controlling input power of the uplink beam to be similar to output power for the downlink beam; and receiving and transmitting signals along the selected beam. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method, comprising:
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coupling an antenna array to a smart antenna circuit, wherein the smart antenna circuit is configured for coupling with an existing base station; selecting a beam by executing one or more beam-selection algorithms on a processing system of the smart antenna circuit, wherein the selected beam comprises an uplink beam for uplink signals, a downlink beam for downlink signals, or a combination thereof; receiving a lock command; responsive to receiving the lock command, maintaining a gain of the selected beam at a constant value; and receiving and transmitting signals along the selected beam. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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Specification