Antenna pattern selection for optimized communications
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A remote communications device capable of RF communication with a node comprising:
- means coupled to said remote device for selecting an antenna pattern from a plurality of directional antenna patterns that cover different geographic areas relative to the remote device;
means for determining the quality (Q) of signals received from the node on each of said antenna patterns;
means for determining the signal strength of (S) of signals received from the node on each of said antenna patterns;
means for ranking each of said antenna patterns according to R=(q*Q)+(s*S), where R is the rank, q and s are numerical weighting factors, wherein q>
0 and s>
0 and q>
10*S, whereby the quality of the received signal is given greater weight than the signal strength; and
means for generating a historical average rank for each of said antenna patterns according to HRnew=(k*HRold)+((1-k)*R), where HRnew is the new historical average rank, HRold is the last calculated historical rank, and R is the rank for the antenna pattern, and 1>
k>
0;
said selecting means selecting the antenna pattern for use in communicating with the node based upon said historical average rankings.
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Abstract
An antenna selection technique is used in an RF communication system in which user modules (UM) communicate with at least one node. The UM'"'"'s and nodes each have multiple antennae. The combination of each UM and node antenna is evaluated at the UM. Based on both signal quality and strength, the UM selects its antenna and the best node antenna for use.
83 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A remote communications device capable of RF communication with a node comprising:
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means coupled to said remote device for selecting an antenna pattern from a plurality of directional antenna patterns that cover different geographic areas relative to the remote device; means for determining the quality (Q) of signals received from the node on each of said antenna patterns; means for determining the signal strength of (S) of signals received from the node on each of said antenna patterns; means for ranking each of said antenna patterns according to R=(q*Q)+(s*S), where R is the rank, q and s are numerical weighting factors, wherein q>
0 and s>
0 and q>
10*S, whereby the quality of the received signal is given greater weight than the signal strength; andmeans for generating a historical average rank for each of said antenna patterns according to HRnew=(k*HRold)+((1-k)*R), where HRnew is the new historical average rank, HRold is the last calculated historical rank, and R is the rank for the antenna pattern, and 1>
k>
0;said selecting means selecting the antenna pattern for use in communicating with the node based upon said historical average rankings. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A radio frequency (RF) communications system including a node and at least one remote device capable of RF communication with the node comprising:
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means coupled to the remote device (RM) for selecting an RM antenna pattern from a plurality of directional antenna patterns that cover different geographic areas relative to the RM; means coupled to the node for selecting a node antenna pattern from a plurality of directional antenna patterns that cover different geographic areas relative to the node; means for generating a matrix of rankings of each remote device antenna pattern for each node antenna pattern based on signals communicated between the remote device and node, said rankings of remote device and node antenna patterns constituting rows and columns, respectively, in said matrix; means for summing the rankings in each column in said matrix to generate column summations; said node antenna pattern selecting means selecting the node antenna pattern corresponding to the larges column summation for use in communications with said remote device. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for choosing one antenna pattern from among a plurality of antenna patterns coupled to a remote communications device capable of RF communication with a node comprising:
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selecting an antenna pattern from a plurality of directional antenna patterns that cover different geographic areas relative to the remote device; determining the quality (Q) of the signals received from the node on each of said antenna patterns; determining the signal strength (S) of the signals received from the node on each of said antenna patterns; ranking each of said antenna patterns according to R=(q*Q)+(s*S), where R is the rank, q and s are numerical weighting factors, wherein q>
0 and s>
0 and q>
10*S, whereby the quality of the received signal is given greater weight than the signal strength;generating a historical average rank for each of said antenna patterns according to HRnew=(k*HRold)+((1-k)*R), where HRnew is the new historical average rank, HRold is the last calculated historical rank, and R is the rank for the antenna pattern, and k is a weighting factor where 1>
k>
0; andselecting the antenna pattern for use in communicating with the node based on the highest historical average rankings. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification