Repeater device for reducing the electromagnetic radiation transmitted from cellular phone antennas and extending phone battery life

• US 9,313,733 B2
• Filed: 08/01/2012
• Issued: 04/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Golba LLC
• Original Assignee: Golba LLC
• Inventors: Moshfeghi, Mehran, Moshfeghi, Sina
• Primary Examiner(s): Bilgrami, Asghar
• Application Number:
  US13/564,154
• Publication Number:
  US 20130035090A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,350 Days
• Field of Search: 455/422.1, 455/11.1, 455/571
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 mobile device; and

a repeater;

the mobile device comprising;

a transmitter configured to;

transmit low power short-range modulated signals to the repeater in lieu of directly sending said high power long-range modulated signals to the cellular base station, wherein the mobile device is configured to transmit said low power short-range modulated signals to the repeater at a first power level at least 10 times lower than a second power level required to transmit said high power long-range signals directly from the mobile device to the cellular based station; and

the repeater comprising;

a receive antenna configured to receive said low power short-range modulated signals from the mobile device;

a power amplifier configured to amplify said low power short-range modulated signals received from the mobile device to said second power level;

a transmit antenna configured to transmit high power long-range modulated signals at the second power level to the cellular base station; and

an adjustable clip configured to attach to a person'"'"'s body or clothing to maintain a predetermined minimum distance between the repeater and the person'"'"'s body.

2. The communication system of claim 1, the repeater further comprising a power switch configured 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 mobile device is further configured to send signals to the repeater power switch to turn the repeater power on or off.

5. The communication system of claim 1, the repeater further comprising a power switch configured to turn on and off power to the repeater, wherein the power switch automatically turns power to the repeater on or off based on signals received from the mobile device 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 mobile device is further configured to interrogate the power-control tag prior to transmitting signals to the repeater, wherein the power-control tag and the set of logic circuits are configured to generate a signal to turn the power switch on.

7. The communication system of claim 6, wherein the mobile device is further configured to send 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 carrier frequencies of the received modulated signals.

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

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

12. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a first mobile device, the communication system further comprising a second mobile device different than the first mobile device, wherein the repeater is integrated into the second mobile device.

13. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the second mobile device comprises a battery, wherein the second mobile 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 1, wherein the mobile device is a first electronic device, the communication system further comprising a second electronic device different than the first electronic device, wherein the repeater is integrated into the second mobile device, wherein the second electronic device utilizes an alternating current (AC) power source, wherein the second 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 1, wherein the mobile device is a first electronic device, the communication system further comprising a second electronic device different than the first electronic device, wherein the repeater is integrated into the second mobile device, wherein the second electronic device is a consumer electronic device.

16. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is further configured to receive voice calls and data from the cellular base stations without using the repeater.

17. The communication system of claim 1, the mobile device further comprising:

a battery; and

a power amplifier configured to control transmission power of the mobile device and to send one of (i) said high power long-range signals to the cellular base station and (ii) said low power short-range signals to the repeater;

the mobile device further configured 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.

18. The communication system of claim 17, the repeater further comprising a battery, the mobile device further configured 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 (i) the power level of the repeater battery and (ii) the power level of the mobile device battery.

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

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

21. The communication system of claim 20, wherein the signals received and transmitted form the repeater comprise voice and data signals.

45. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a cellular phone.

46. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the repeater further comprises a radio modem configured to convert the received modulated signals from a first communication standard to a second communication standard.

47. The communication system of claim 46, wherein converting the received modulated signals from a first communication standard to a second communication standard comprises demodulating, reformatting, coding, and re-modulating said received modulated signals.

48. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the low power short-range signals comprise a first wireless standard, wherein the high power long-range signals comprises a second standard different than the first standard.

22. A method of communicating modulated radio frequency (RF) signals from a mobile device to a cellular base station using a repeater, the method comprising:

transmitting the modulated RF signals from the mobile device to the repeater using low power short-range modulated signals, the repeater comprising an adjustable clip to attach to a person'"'"'s body or clothing to maintain a predetermined minimum distance between the repeater and the person'"'"'s body, the low power short-range modulated signals transmitted at a first power level at least 10 times lower than a second power level required to transmit high power long-range signals directly from the mobile device to the cellular based station;

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

amplifying the received low power short-range modulated signals at the repeater to the second power level; and

transmitting high power long-range modulated signals at the second power level from the repeater to the cellular base station.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising:

determining that the cellular base station has not received the high power long-range modulated signals from the repeater; and

transmitting the modulated RF signals at the second power level directly from the mobile device to the cellular base station using said high power long-range signals.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the mobile device comprises a transmitter gain control, wherein transmitting the modulated RF signals from the mobile device using high power long-range signals comprises adjusting the transmitter gain control to transmit signals with said second power level required to directly transmit signals from the mobile device to the cellular base station.

25. The method of claim 23 further comprising sending a control signal from the mobile device to the repeater to turn the repeater power off.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the repeater does not up-convert or down-convert carrier frequencies of signals received from the mobile device.

27. The method of claim 22, 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 mobile device to the repeater to turn the repeater power on prior to transmitting the modulated RF signals from the mobile device using the low power short-range signals.

28. The method of claim 27, 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 mobile device.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the power-control tag generates a signal to turn the power switch on.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the power-control tag is one of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and a near field communication (NFC) tag.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein the mobile device 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 mobile device using the low power short-range signals comprises determining whether a criteria in the set of criteria to use the repeater is met.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising determining a location of the mobile device, wherein the set of criteria to use the repeater comprises a criteria to use the repeater based on the location of the mobile device.

33. The method of claim 31, 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.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the repeater is a repeater in a plurality of repeaters, each repeater in the plurality of repeaters comprising an identification, wherein the mobile device 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.

35. The method of claim 22, wherein the repeater further comprises a battery, the method further comprising:

monitoring a power level of the repeater battery; and

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

36. The method of claim 22, wherein the repeater and the mobile device each comprises a battery, the method further comprising:

monitoring power levels of the repeater and the mobile device batteries; and

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

37. The method of claim 22 further comprising determining whether to transmit said modulated RF signals from the mobile device using the low power short-range signals or the high power long-range signals based on a quality of service required for transmitting signals to the cellular base station.

38. The method of claim 22 further comprising:

receiving data that does not comprise voice at the mobile device; and

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

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

39. The method of claim 22, wherein the mobile device is a first electronic device, wherein the repeater is integrated into a second electronic device different than the first electronic device.

40. The method of claim 22, wherein the mobile device is a first mobile device, wherein the repeater is integrated into a second mobile device different than the first mobile device.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the repeater further comprises a radio modem, the method further comprising utilizing the repeater radio modem to convert the received modulated signals from a first communication standard to a second communication standard.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein converting the received modulated signals from a first communication standard to a second communication standard comprises demodulating, reformatting, coding, and re-modulating said received modulated signals.

43. The method of claim 22, wherein the low power short-range signals comprise a first wireless standard, wherein the high power long-range signals comprises a second standard different than the first standard.

44. The method of claim 22, wherein the mobile device is a cellular phone.