Method and apparatus for selecting a radio channel for transmitting an audio signal to a radio local receiver
First Claim
1. A method of selecting an FM radio channel for broadcasting a signal to an FM receiver by an FM transmitter, comprising:
- initially scanning an FM band to determine signal strength in each of a plurality of FM channels, wherein the FM band is partitioned into a plurality of sub-bands;
identifying an FM channel having a lowest channel signal strength value;
selecting an initial sub-band from the plurality of sub-bands having a highest number of candidate FM channels, the candidate FM channels having a signal strength within a threshold offset of signal strength of the FM channel having the lowest channel signal strength;
selecting an initial FM channel in the initial sub-band having the lowest channel signal strength; and
transmitting an audio signal on the initial FM channel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A transmitter device (100) receives an audio signal from an audio source device (112), and transmits the audio signal at a low power over a commercial broadcast channel to a local receiver (120). The transmitter device selects an initial channel by scanning the available spectrum, partitioned into sub-bands (210-206), and measuring the received signal strength in each channel. The channel having the lowest strength is used to set a threshold. The sub-band with most channels meeting the threshold is initially selected, and the channel in the initially selected sub-band with the lowest received signal strength is selected for initial use. A context-based weighting factor may be applied in selecting the initial channel or in selecting subsequent channels when the initial channel conditions degrade.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of selecting an FM radio channel for broadcasting a signal to an FM receiver by an FM transmitter, comprising:
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initially scanning an FM band to determine signal strength in each of a plurality of FM channels, wherein the FM band is partitioned into a plurality of sub-bands; identifying an FM channel having a lowest channel signal strength value; selecting an initial sub-band from the plurality of sub-bands having a highest number of candidate FM channels, the candidate FM channels having a signal strength within a threshold offset of signal strength of the FM channel having the lowest channel signal strength; selecting an initial FM channel in the initial sub-band having the lowest channel signal strength; and transmitting an audio signal on the initial FM channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of selecting an FM radio channel for low power broadcasting from a transmitter device, comprising:
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providing in the transmitter device a channel use history, stored in a memory of the transmitter device; receiving an input to select an FM channel; scanning an FM band to identify a plurality of candidate FM channels; generating a weighting factor for each of the plurality of candidate FM channels to provide a plurality of weighted FM channels, wherein the weighting factor for each of the plurality of candidate channels is based at least in part of a present signal condition and a channel use history of the candidate FM channel; selecting from among the plurality of weighted FM channels a present channel; and transmitting an audio signal received from an audio source device over the present channel. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A transmitter device, comprising:
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a controller, an FM transmitter; an FM receiver; a memory including instruction code for configuring the controller to; scan an FM band to identify a plurality of candidate FM channels using the FM receiver, wherein the FM band is partitioned into a plurality of sub-bands; generate a weighting factor for each of the plurality of candidate FM channels to provide a plurality of weighted FM channels, wherein the weighting factor for each of the plurality of candidate channels is based at least in part of a present signal condition and a channel use history of the candidate FM channel; select from among the plurality of sub-bands, a present sub-band having the most number of weighted FM channels meeting a preselected channel criteria select a present channel in the present sub-band having the best channel criteria; and transmit an audio signal over the present channel using the FM transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification