Adaptive antenna diversity system

• US 9,363,005 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2010
• Issued: 06/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Mahe, Isabel G., Shi, Jianxiong, Song, Kee-Bong, Hu, Ming, Burchill, William S., Mujtaba, Syed A., Sebeni, Johnson O., Zhang, Haining
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay A
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEREZ, ANGELICA
• Application Number:
  US12/941,008
• Publication Number:
  US 20120115553A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,041 Days
• Field of Search: 455/575.7, 455/132, 455/88, 455/137, 455/562.1, 455/101, 455/73, 455/78, 343/702, 370/275, 370/297, 370/334, 375/267, 375/299
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0825 with main and with auxiliary or diversity antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0874 using subgroups of receive antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Electronic devices may be provided that contain wireless communications circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry with first and second ports that are coupled by switching circuitry to first and second antennas. A first receiver in the transceiver circuitry may be associated with the first port and a second receiver in the transceiver circuitry may be associated with the second port. An electronic device may be operated in a single receiver mode in which only one of the receivers is active to conserve power or a dual receiver mode in which signals from both antennas may be received in parallel to compare antenna performance. Based on antenna performance metrics, the electronic device may adjust the switching circuitry to ensure that an optimal antenna is being used.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

first and second cellular telephone antennas;

radio-frequency transceiver circuitry that transmits and receives radio-frequency signals through the cellular telephone antennas, wherein the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry has a first receiver that is associated with a first transceiver port and a second receiver that is associated with a second transceiver port; and

switching circuitry interposed between the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and the first and second cellular telephone antennas;

control circuitry configured to change the switching circuitry from a first state, in which the first cellular telephone antenna is coupled to the first receiver and the second cellular telephone antenna is coupled to the second receiver, to a second state, in which the first cellular telephone antenna is coupled to the second receiver and the second cellular telephone antenna is coupled to the first receiver, in response to determining that the performance of the second cellular telephone antenna is superior to the performance of the first cellular telephone antenna;

wherein the determining that the performance of the second cellular telephone antenna is superior to the performance of the first cellular telephone antenna is based at least partly on, during a transmission by the radio-frequency transceiver on at least one of the antennas, detecting that power being transmitted by the radio-frequency transceiver through the first antenna during the transmission exceeds a threshold.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the determining that the performance of the second cellular telephone antenna is superior to the performance of the first cellular telephone antenna is based upon data gathered in parallel by the first and second receivers when operating the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry in a dual receiver mode.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the determining that the performance of the second cellular telephone antenna is superior to the performance of the first cellular telephone antenna is based upon data gathered in parallel by the first and second receivers when operating the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry in a dual receiver mode and wherein the data includes received signal power measurements associated with both the first and second cellular telephone antennas.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the control circuitry is configured to activate a deactivated receiver when operating in a single receiver mode in response to data received from at least one of the antennas.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the determining that the performance of the second cellular telephone antenna is superior to the performance of the first cellular telephone antenna is based upon data gathered by the first and second receivers when operating the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry in a dual receiver mode and wherein the data includes received signal power measurements associated with both the first and second cellular telephone antennas.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the control circuitry is configured to activate a deactivated receiver when operating in a single receiver mode in response to frame error rate data.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 1,

wherein in each of the first state and the second state, the first and second cellular telephone antennas each operate according to a first cellular radio access technology (RAT) on a common frequency band.

8. A method of operating an electronic device that has cellular telephone antennas and wireless circuitry that includes first and second receivers that receive radio-frequency signals from the cellular telephone antennas, comprising:

selectively configuring the wireless circuitry to operate in a single receiver mode in which the first receiver is active and is receiving the radio-frequency signals while the second receiver is inactive and a dual receiver mode in which the first and second receivers are active and are receiving the radio-frequency signals, wherein the first receiver receives radio-frequency signals from a first of the cellular telephone antennas while the second receiver receives radio-frequency signals from a second of the cellular telephone antennas when the wireless circuitry is configured to operate in the dual receiver mode;

comparing, while operating in the dual receiver mode, performance of the first antenna and performance of the second antenna; and

in response to determining that the performance of the second antenna is greater than the performance of the first antenna by more than a predetermined threshold amount, adjusting the wireless circuitry so that the first receiver receives radio-frequency signals from the second antenna while the second receiver receives radio-frequency signals from the first antenna;

wherein the determining that the performance of the second antenna is greater than the performance of the first antenna adjusting the wireless circuitry is based at least partly on, during a transmission by the radio-frequency transceiver on at least one of the antennas, detecting that power being transmitted by the radio-frequency transceiver through the first antenna during the transmission exceeds a threshold.

9. The method defined in claim 8 wherein the comparing performance of the first antenna and performance of the second antenna further comprises:

comparing received signal power data from the first receiver and received signal power data from the second receiver.

10. The method defined in claim 9, wherein the determining that the performance of the second antenna is greater than the performance of the first antenna by more than a predetermined threshold amount further comprises:

determining that received signal power data values from the second receiver are greater than received signal power data values from the first receiver by more than a predetermined threshold amount.

11. The method defined in claim 10, the wireless circuitry comprises at least one transmitter and wherein adjusting the wireless circuitry comprises adjusting the wireless circuitry so that radio-frequency signals from the transmitter are transmitted through the second of the cellular telephone antennas while the second receiver receives radio-frequency signals from the first of the cellular telephone antennas.

12. The method defined in claim 8 further comprising:

when operating in the single receiver mode, activating both the first and second receivers to place the wireless circuitry in the dual receiver mode at least partly based on a determination that received signal power data values from the first receiver are lower than a predetermined power threshold.

13. The method defined in claim 8 further comprising:

when operating in the single receiver mode, activating both the first and second receivers to place the wireless circuitry in the dual receiver mode at least partly based on a determination that frame error rate data values associated with the first receiver are lower than a predetermined frame error rate threshold.

14. The method defined in claim 8 further comprising:

when operating in the single receiver mode, activating both the first and second receivers to place the wireless circuitry in the dual receiver mode at least partly based on a determination that received signal power data values from the first receiver are lower than a predetermined power threshold and at least partly based on a determination that frame error rate data values associated with the first receiver are lower than a predetermined frame error rate threshold.

15. The method defined in claim 14 further comprising:

waiting for a timer to expire before activating the first and second receivers.

16. The method defined in claim 8 further comprising:

when operating in the dual receiver mode, deactivating the second receiver based at least partly on received signal power data gathered using the first receiver.

17. The method defined in claim 8 further comprising:

when operating in the dual receiver mode, deactivating the second receiver based at least partly on frame error rate data.

18. The method defined in claim 8 further comprising:

when operating in the dual receiver mode, comparing received signal power data obtained using the first receiver to a predetermined received power threshold.

19. The method defined in claim 18 further comprising:

when operating in the dual receiver mode, deactivating the second receiver to place the wireless circuitry in the single receiver mode based at least partly on frame error rate data gathered using the first receiver.

20. The method defined in claim 19 wherein deactivating the second receiver comprises deactivating the second receiver to place the wireless receiver in the single receiver mode based at least partly on a comparison of received signal power data obtained using the first receiver to a predetermined received power threshold and comparison of frame error rate data obtained using the first receiver to a predetermined frame error rate threshold.

21. The method defined in claim 8,

wherein during said comparing and said adjusting, the first and second cellular telephone antennas each operate according to a first cellular radio access technology (RAT) on a common frequency band.

22. A method of operating an electronic device that has antennas and that has radio-frequency transceiver circuitry with first and second receivers, comprising:

comparing, while operating the electronic device wherein the first and second receivers are active and are each receiving radio-frequency signals, performance of the first antenna and performance of the second antenna; and

in response to determining that the performance of the second antenna is greater than the performance of the first antenna by more than a predetermined threshold amount, adjusting the switching circuitry from a first state, in which a first of the antennas which serves as a primary antenna in the electronic device is coupled to the first receiver while a second of the antennas which serves as a secondary antenna in the electronic device is coupled to the second receiver, to a second state, in which the second antenna is coupled to the first receiver while the first antenna is coupled to the second receiver;

wherein the determining that the performance of the second antenna is greater than the performance of the first antenna is based at least partly on, during a transmission by the radio-frequency transceiver on at least one of the antennas, detecting that power being transmitted by the radio-frequency transceiver through the first antenna during the transmission exceeds a threshold.

23. The method defined in claim 22 wherein adjusting the switching circuitry further comprises comparing signal power measurements associated respectively with the first and second receivers and toggling the switching circuitry based on the compared signal power measurements.

24. The method defined in claim 22,

wherein the switching circuitry is adjusted between the first state and the second state based on the transmitted signal power level and at least partly on at least one additional antenna performance metric selected from the group consisting of:

received signal power level, frame error rate, information on whether responses are being received from a cellular telephone tower corresponding to requests from the electronic device, information on whether a network access procedure has succeeded, information on how many re-transmissions are being requested over a cellular link between the electronic device and a cellular tower, and information on whether a loss of signaling message has been received.

25. The method defined in claim 22,

wherein during said selectively configuring, said comparing, and said adjusting, the first and second antennas each operate according to a first cellular radio access technology (RAT) on a common frequency band.

26. An electronic device, comprising:

first and second cellular telephone antennas;

radio-frequency transceiver circuitry that transmits and receives radio-frequency signals through the cellular telephone antennas, wherein the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry has a first receiver that is associated with a first transceiver port and a second receiver that is associated with a second transceiver port; and

switching circuitry interposed between the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and the first and second cellular telephone antennas;

control circuitry configured to change the switching circuitry from a first state, in which the first cellular telephone antenna is coupled to the first receiver and the second cellular telephone antenna is coupled to the second receiver, to a second state, in which the first cellular telephone antenna is coupled to the second receiver and the second cellular telephone antenna is coupled to the first receiver, in response to determining that the performance of the second cellular telephone antenna is superior to the performance of the first cellular telephone antenna;

wherein in each of the first state and the second state, the first and second cellular telephone antennas each operate according to a first cellular radio access technology (RAT) on a common frequency band.