COMPACT SMART ANTENNA FOR MOBILE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a uniform circular array having a plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element configured to receive a signal from a target and to transmit an output towards the target; and
electronic circuitry having a plurality of components having an interconnectivity, the electronic circuitry configured to generate the output transmitted towards the target via each antenna element, the interconnectivity of the plurality of components of the electronic circuitry being reconfigurable via a field programmable gate array (FPGA).
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Accused Products
Abstract
A compact, high gain 8-element circular smart antenna is able to scan a beam azimuthally through 360°. The 8-element array is placed on a ground skirt and connected to an 8-channel beamforning board via a transfer plate. Each channel has two T/R switches, one band pass filer, one power amplifier, two low noise amplifiers, one phase shifter, and one attenuator. The 8-channel-signal is combined through power splitters/combiners and then sent to a connected radio. An FPGA chip controls the digital phase shifters, attenuators and switches for signal searching, beamforming and tracking. The smart antenna can be operated as a compact switched beam system or with an additional processor as an adaptive array system. The smart antenna is capable of tracking mobile targets, directionally communicating with desired users, suppressing interference and jamming, and enabling long range communications with high throughput and reliable connection because of its high antenna gain.
58 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a uniform circular array having a plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element configured to receive a signal from a target and to transmit an output towards the target; and electronic circuitry having a plurality of components having an interconnectivity, the electronic circuitry configured to generate the output transmitted towards the target via each antenna element, the interconnectivity of the plurality of components of the electronic circuitry being reconfigurable via a field programmable gate array (FPGA). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method, comprising:
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receiving a first signal from a target via a uniform circular array of a smart antenna, the smart antenna configured to transmit a second signal towards the target via the uniform circular array after the first signal is received, the smart antenna configured to define a lobe having a gain and a width; selecting a beamforming algorithm from a plurality of beamforming algorithms based on criteria associated with at least one of the first signal, the second signal or the lobe, the criteria includes at least one of a strength of the first signal, a strength of the second signal, a plurality of interference signals associated with a location of the target, the gain of the lobe, the width of the lobe, a direction of the first signal, or a direction of the second signal; and reconfiguring electronic circuitry of the smart antenna based on the selected beamforming algorithm, the reconfigured electronic circuitry configured to generate the second signal to be transmitted towards the target via the uniform circular array. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method, comprising:
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selecting a first beamforming algorithm from a plurality of beamforming algorithms based on a received signal from a target, the plurality of beamforming algorithms including at least the first beamforming algorithm and a second beamforming algorithm, the first beamforming algorithm configured to determine an output to transmit to the target via a uniform circular array of a smart antenna, the first beamforming algorithm having a performance better than a performance of at least the second beamforming algorithm, the smart antenna having electronic circuitry configured to generate an output, the electronic circuitry of the smart antenna being in a first configuration before the selecting; and after the selecting, reconfiguring the electronic circuitry of the smart antenna such that the electronic circuitry is in a second configuration associated with the first beamforming algorithm, the smart antenna configured to generate the output when the electronic circuitry is in the second configuration. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification