Directionally-adjustable antenna system using an outside mirror for automotive applications
First Claim
1. A vehicle antenna system, comprising:
- a first directional antenna and a second directional antenna, said first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within an exterior mirror of a vehicle and having first- and second-directional signal detection fields, respectively;
a switching network that selects one of said first- and second-directional antennas to be a selected antenna;
a receiver coupled to said switching network to receive a selected antenna signal from the selected antenna via said switching network; and
a controller coupled to the receiver to output a control signal corresponding to the antenna signal received by the receiver.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle antenna system incorporated into at least one side-view mirror of a vehicle includes a forward directed antenna and a rearward directed antenna to transmit and receive signals over corresponding forward and rearward-directed detection fields, respectively. The antennas act as directional transmitters and/or receivers, and a processing circuit discriminates between signals from different antennas without requiring any of the antennas to transmit identification signals to the processing circuit. Signal discrimination is conducted in part by sequentially selecting each antenna to obtain a corresponding antenna signal and, if required for a particular application, comparing the obtained signal with previously obtained antenna signals. The vehicle antenna system can be used, for example, in conjunction with tire pressure sensors to detect low tire pressure in a particular tire.
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Citations
75 Claims
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1. A vehicle antenna system, comprising:
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a first directional antenna and a second directional antenna, said first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within an exterior mirror of a vehicle and having first- and second-directional signal detection fields, respectively;
a switching network that selects one of said first- and second-directional antennas to be a selected antenna;
a receiver coupled to said switching network to receive a selected antenna signal from the selected antenna via said switching network; and
a controller coupled to the receiver to output a control signal corresponding to the antenna signal received by the receiver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A vehicle antenna system, comprising:
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a first directional antenna and a second directional antenna, said first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within an exterior mirror of a vehicle and having first- and second-directional signal transmission fields, respectively;
a signal generator that generates a system output signal for reception by a remote receiver outside to the vehicle; and
a transmitter for transmitting the system output signal to the remote circuit via at least one of said first- and second-directional antennas. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A vehicle antenna system, comprising:
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a first first-directional antenna and a corresponding first second-directional antenna, said first first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within a first exterior mirror of a vehicle and having first first- and second-directional signal detection fields, respectively;
a second first-directional antenna and a corresponding second second-directional antenna, said second first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within a second exterior mirror of a vehicle and having second first- and second-directional signal detection fields, respectively;
a switching network that selects one of said first and second first-directional and second-directional antennas to be a selected antenna;
a receiver coupled to said switching network to receive a selected antenna signal from the selected antenna via said switching network; and
a controller coupled to the receiver to output a control signal corresponding to the antenna signal received by the receiver. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A vehicle antenna system, comprising:
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a first first-directional antenna and a corresponding first second-directional antenna, said first first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within a first exterior mirror of a vehicle and having first first- and second-directional signal transmission fields, respectively;
a second first-directional antenna and a corresponding second second-directional antenna, said second first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within a second exterior mirror of a vehicle and having second first- and second-directional signal transmission fields, respectively;
a signal generator that generates a system output signal for reception by a remote receiver external to the vehicle; and
a transmitter for transmitting the system output signal to the remote receiver via at least one of said first and second first-directional and second-directional antennas. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A vehicle antenna system, comprising:
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a first first-directional antenna and a corresponding first second-directional antenna, said first first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within a first exterior mirror of a vehicle and having first first- and second-directional signal detection fields, respectively;
a second first-directional antenna and a corresponding second second-directional antenna, said second first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within a second exterior mirror of a vehicle and having second first- and second-directional signal detection fields, respectively;
at least one matching network corresponding to at least one of said first and second first- and second-directional antennas and said receiver;
a switching network coupled to said at least one matching network, wherein said switching network selects one of said first and second first- and second-directional antennas to be a selected antenna;
a detector connected between said receiver and said controller;
a peak detector connected between said detector and said controller;
a receiver coupled to said switching network to receive a selected antenna signal from the selected antenna via said switching network; and
a controller coupled to the receiver to output a control signal corresponding to the antenna signal received by the receiver, wherein said detector detects an amplitude of the selected antenna signal and outputs a detector signal corresponding to the selected antenna signal'"'"'s amplitude to said peak detector and said controller, wherein said peak detector compares the amplitude of the selected antenna signal'"'"'s amplitude to at least one previous peak amplitude of a previous selected antenna signal, saves a peak value and outputs a peak detector signal corresponding to the peak value to said controller, and wherein said controller compares the detector signal for each of said first and second first- and second-directional antennas with the peak detector signal to identify which of said antennas outputs the strongest antenna signal. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. A vehicle antenna system, comprising:
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a first first-directional antenna and a corresponding first second-directional antenna, said first first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within a first exterior mirror of a vehicle and having first first- and second-directional signal transmission fields, respectively;
a second first-directional antenna and a corresponding second second-directional antenna, said second first- and second-directional antennas being located on or within a second exterior mirror of a vehicle and having second first- and second-directional signal transmission fields, respectively;
a signal generator that generates a system output signal for reception by a remote circuit external to the vehicle; and
a transmitter for transmitting the system output signal to the remote circuit via at least one of said first and second first-directional and second-directional antennas. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75)
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Specification