REPEATER DEVICE FOR REDUCING THE ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION TRANSMITTED FROM CELLULAR PHONE ANTENNAS AND EXTENDING PHONE BATTERY LIFE

• US 20130035090A1
• Filed: 08/01/2012
• Published: 02/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Golba LLC
• Original Assignee: Golba LLC
• Inventors: Moshfeghi, Mehran
• Granted Patent: US 9,313,733 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/422.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15528 Control of operation parameters of a relay station to exploit the physical medium
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0203 in the radio access network or backbone network of wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0206 in access points, e.g. base stations access point devices per se H04W88/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/288 taking into account the usage mode, e.g. hands-free, data transmission, telephone
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/46 in multi hop networks, e.g. wireless relay networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A cellular communication system and method is described where a low-cost repeater is used to reduce the transmit power of a cell phone. The cell phone transmits a low-power modulated carrier signal to a nearby repeater. The repeater amplifies the signal and transmits it to a cellular base-station. The reduction of cell phone transmit power lowers the exposure of humans to RF radiation and increases the battery life of the cell phone.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

a cellular phone comprising;

a transmitter to transmit low power short-range signals; and

a repeater comprising;

a receive antenna to receive low power short-range signals from the cellular phone;

a power amplifier to amplify signals received from the cellular phone; and

a transmit antenna to transmit high power long-range signals to cellular base stations.

2. The communication system of claim 1, the repeater further comprising a power switch to turn on and off power to the repeater.

3. The communication system of claim 2, wherein the power switch is a manually operated switch.

4. The communication system of claim 2, wherein the cell phone sends signals to electronic devices to turn their power on or off.

5. The communication system of claim 4, wherein the power switch automatically turns power to the repeater on or off based on signals received from the cellular phone to turn the repeater power on or off.

6. The communication system of claim 5, wherein the repeater further comprises a power-control tag and a set of logic circuits to control the power switch, wherein the cellular phone interrogates the power-control tag prior to transmitting signals to the repeater and the power-control tag and the set of logic circuits generate a signal to turn the power switch on.

7. The communication system of claim 6, wherein the cellular phone sends a control signal to the repeater to turn the power switch off.

8. The communication system of claim 6, wherein the power-control tag is one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and a near field communication (NFC) tag.

9. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the repeater does not perform down-conversion or up-conversion on the received signal.

10. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the repeater comprises a battery.

11. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the repeater comprises connector to connect to an AC power source.

12. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising a mobile electronic device other than the cellular phone, wherein the repeater is integrated into the mobile device.

13. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the mobile electronic device comprises a battery, wherein the mobile electronic device is one of a digital watch, a digital tablet, a laptop, a portable handheld computer, a game controller, a digital camera, a digital audio player, a pager, a laptop computer, and a personal digital assistant (PDA).

14. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the mobile electronic device utilizes an alternating current (AC) power source, wherein the mobile electronic device is one of a wireless access point, a router, a television, a cable and satellite set-top box, a personal computer (PC), a display monitor, a stereo system, a fax, a printer, a scanner, a hard disk, a flash drive, and a consumer electronic device.

15. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the mobile electronic device utilizes an alternating current (AC) power source, wherein the mobile electronic device is a consumer electronic device.

16. The communication system of claim 1, the repeater further comprising an adjustable clip to attach to body or clothing of a person.

17. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the cellular phone receives voice calls and data from the cellular base stations without using the repeater.

18. The communication system of claim 1, the cellular phone further comprising:

a battery; and

a power amplifier to control transmission power of the cellular phone and to send one of (i) high power long-range signals to the cellular base stations and (ii) low power short-range signals to the repeater;

the cellular phone to monitor a power level of the battery and switch from sending the high power signals to sending the low power signals when the power level of the battery is below a pre-determined threshold.

19. The communication system of claim 1, the repeater further comprising a battery, the cellular phone further to monitor a power level of the repeater battery and switch from sending the high power signals to sending the low power signals based on the power level of the repeater battery as well as the power level of the cellular phone battery.

20. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the signals transmitted from the cellular phone to the repeater comprise at least one of voice and data, the cellular phone further comprising a processor to determine whether voice, data, or both are transmitted from the cellular phone to the repeater.

21. The communication system of claim 1, the cellular phone further comprising a processor to determine whether to transmit said low power short-range signals to the repeater or to transmit long-range high-power signals to the cellular base station based on a quality of service requirement for the transmission to the cellular base station.

22. The communication system of claim 21, wherein the signals received and transmitted form the repeater comprise voice and data signals.

23. A method of reducing a transmission power of a cellular phone, the method comprising:

receiving analog voice signals at the cellular phone audio input;

converting the analog sound signals to modulated radio frequency (RF) signals;

transmitting the modulated RF signals from the cellular phone using low power short-range signals;

receiving the low power short-range signals at a repeater;

amplifying the received signals at the repeater; and

transmitting the amplified signals from the repeater to a cellular base station.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the cellular phone comprises a transmitter gain control, wherein transmitting the modulated RF signals from the cellular phone using low power short-range signals comprises adjusting the transmitter gain control to transmit signals with a power level at least 10 times lower than a power level used to transmit signals directly from the cellular phone to the cellular base station.

25. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

determining that the cellular base station has not received the amplified signals from the repeater; and

transmitting the modulated RF signals directly from the cellular phone to the cellular base station using high power long-range signals.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the cellular phone comprises a transmitter gain control, wherein transmitting the modulated RF signals from the cellular phone using high power long-range signals comprises adjusting the transmitter gain control to transmit signals with a power level required to directly transmit signals from the cellular phone to the cellular base station.

27. The method of claim 25 further comprising sending a control signal from the cellular phone to the repeater to turn the repeater power off.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein the repeater does not up-convert or down-convert signals received from the cellular phone.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein the repeater further comprises a power switch to turn on and off power to the repeater, the method further comprising sending a signal from the cellular phone to the repeater to turn the repeater power on prior to transmitting the modulated RF signals from the cellular phone using low power short-range signals

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the repeater further comprises a power-control tag, wherein sending a signal to turn the repeater power on comprises interrogating the power-control tag by the cellular phone.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the power-control tag generates a signal to turn the power switch on.

32. The communication system of claim 30, wherein the power-control tag is one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and a near field communication (NFC) tag.

33. The method of claim 23, wherein the cellular phone comprises a user interface, the method further comprising:

receiving a set of criteria through the user interface to use the repeater,

wherein transmitting the modulated RF signals from the cellular phone using low power short-range signals comprises determining whether a criteria in the set of criteria to use the repeater is met.

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising determining a location of the cellular phone, wherein the set of criteria to use the repeater comprises a criteria to use the repeater based on the location of the cellular phone.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the set of criteria to use the repeater comprises a criteria to use the repeater at a certain time of a day or certain dates.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the repeater is a repeater in a plurality of repeaters, each repeater in the plurality of repeaters comprising an identification, wherein the cellular phone maintains a list of authorized repeaters, wherein the set of criteria to use the repeater comprises a criteria to only use repeaters in the list of authorized repeaters.

37. The method of claim 23, wherein the repeater comprises a battery, the method further comprising:

monitoring a power level of the repeater battery; and

transmitting the modulated RF signals from the cellular phone using high power long-range signals when the power level of the repeater battery is below a threshold.

38. The method of claim 23, wherein the repeater and the cellular phone each comprises a battery, the method further comprising:

monitoring power levels of the repeater and the cellular phone batteries; and

determining whether to transmit said modulated RF signals from the cellular phone using low power short-range signals or high power long-range signals based on the monitored power levels of the repeater and the cellular phone batteries.

39. The method of claim 23 further comprising determining whether to transmit said modulated RF signals from the cellular phone using low power short-range signals or high power long-range signals based on a quality of service required for transmitting signals to the cellular base station.

40. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

receiving data that does not comprise voice at the cellular phone; and

converting the received data to modulated radio frequency (RF) signals comprising the data;

transmitting the modulated RF signals comprising the data from the cellular to the cellular base station phone using high power long-range signals.