Apparatus and method for sensor-based wireless receive diversity

• US 9,368,868 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sheynblat, Leonid, Rowitch, Douglas N., Heshmati, Ardalan
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Wesley
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chan, Richard
• Application Number:
  US11/932,628
• Publication Number:
  US 20080112468A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,149 Days
• Field of Search: 455/101, 340/572.7, 340/572.1, 340/825.49
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/26 involving a sensor measurement for aiding acquisition or tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/36 relating to the receiver frond end
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/28 Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems multiple beam H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/24 varying the orientation by switching energy from one active radiating element to another, e.g. for beam switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0805 with single receiver and antenna switching H04B7/0822 takes precedence

Abstract

An apparatus and method are disclosed for achieving receiver diversity. A wireless unit includes a plurality of antennas, an antenna selector to select one or more antennas from the plurality of antennas, a processor with input data from an inertial sensor for monitoring the orientation of the wireless unit. Based on the input data, the processor commands the antenna selector to select one or more antennas. In one aspect, the processor is a diversity processor. Based on the input data from the inertial sensor, the diversity processor computes the combination of the received signals. In another aspect, the wireless unit further includes a baseband processor to process the output of the diversity processor for a particular unit application.

Claims

1. A wireless unit for implementing antenna selection comprising:

a plurality of antennas for receiving a signal wherein the signal comprises a GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signal and wherein the plurality of antennas comprises a combination of types of antennas comprising a directional antenna and a non-directional antenna, wherein the directional antenna and a non-directional antenna comprise a hemispheric antenna and an isotropic antenna;

an antenna selector for selecting one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna from the plurality of antennas;

an inertial sensor for sensing the orientation of the wireless unit and generating orientation information; and

a processor for processing the orientation information and commanding the antenna selector to select the one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna from the plurality of antennas based on the orientation information.

2. The wireless unit of claim 1 wherein the plurality of antennas includes one or more dual-polarized antennas.

3. The wireless unit of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of receivers for receiving the signal from the plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas is greater than the plurality of receivers.

4. The wireless unit of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of receivers for receiving the signal from the plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas is equals than the plurality of receivers.

5. The wireless unit of claim 1 wherein the inertial sensor is an accelerometer.

17. The wireless unit of claim 1 wherein the non-directional antenna comprises the isotropic antenna.

18. The wireless unit of claim 1 wherein the non-directional antenna comprises the hemispheric antenna.

24. The wireless unit of claim 1, further comprising

a plurality of receivers for receiving the signal from the plurality of antennas;

wherein the plurality of antennas is greater than or equal to the plurality of receivers; and

wherein the inertial sensor is an accelerometer.

6. A wireless unit for implementing receive diversity comprising:

a plurality of antennas for receiving a plurality of signals wherein the plurality of signals comprises GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signals and wherein the plurality of antennas comprises a combination of types of antennas comprising a directional antenna and a non-directional antenna, wherein the directional antenna and a non-directional antenna comprise a hemispheric antenna and an isotropic antenna;

at least one receiver coupled to the plurality of antennas for converting the plurality of signals from the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna into a plurality of receiver outputs;

a diversity processor coupled to the at least one receiver for performing diversity processing on the plurality of receiver outputs; and

an inertial sensor coupled to the diversity processor for generating orientation information to input to the diversity processor, wherein the orientation information affects the diversity processing on the plurality of receiver outputs.

7. The wireless unit of claim 6 wherein the diversity processor performs a weighted average processing on the plurality of receiver outputs.

8. The wireless unit of claim 6 wherein the diversity processor is in analog format and includes an analog phase rotator and diversity combiner.

9. The wireless unit of claim 8 further comprising a digital baseband processor coupled to the diversity processor for performing phase rotation and dispreading to recover a baseband signal.

10. The wireless unit of claim 9 wherein the digital baseband processor further performs coherent accumulation to recover the baseband signal.

11. The wireless unit of claim 6 further comprising a digital baseband processor coupled to the diversity processor for performing phase rotation and dispreading to recover a baseband signal, and wherein the diversity processor coherently samples and diversity combines the plurality of receiver outputs.

19. The wireless unit of claim 6 wherein the non-directional antenna comprises the isotropic antenna.

20. The wireless unit of claim 6 wherein the non-directional antenna comprises the hemispheric antenna.

12. A wireless unit for implementing receive diversity comprising:

a plurality of antennas for receiving a plurality of signals wherein the plurality of signals comprises GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signals and wherein the plurality of antennas comprises a combination of types of antennas comprising a directional antenna and a non-directional antenna, wherein the directional antenna and a non-directional antenna comprise a hemispheric antenna and an isotropic antenna;

at least one receiver coupled to the plurality of antennas for converting the plurality of signals from the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna into a plurality of receiver outputs;

a first baseband processor coupled to the at least one receiver for performing baseband processing on the plurality of receiver outputs and generating a plurality of processor outputs;

a diversity processor coupled to the first baseband processor for performing diversity processing on the plurality of processor outputs to recover a baseband signal; and

an inertial sensor coupled to the diversity processor for generating orientation information to input to the diversity processor, wherein the orientation information affects the diversity processing on the plurality of processor outputs.

13. The wireless unit of claim 12 wherein the baseband processing includes performing phase rotation and dispreading on the plurality of receiver outputs.

14. The wireless unit of claim 12 wherein the diversity processing includes performing accumulation and diversity combining on the plurality of processor outputs.

21. The wireless unit of claim 12 wherein the non-directional antenna comprises the isotropic antenna.

22. The wireless unit of claim 12 wherein the non-directional antenna comprises the hemispheric antenna.

15. A method for implementing antenna selection comprising:

sensing orientation of a wireless unit;

generating orientation information based on the orientation of the wireless unit;

processing the orientation information to command an antenna selector to select from a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas comprises an isotropic antenna and a hemispheric antenna;

selecting one of the isotropic antenna and the hemispheric antenna from the plurality of antennas based on the sensed orientation; and

using the antenna to receive a signal wherein the signal comprises a GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signal.

16. A method for implementing receive diversity comprising:

receiving a plurality of signals from a plurality of antennas wherein the plurality of signals comprises GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signals and wherein the plurality of antennas comprises an isotropic antenna and a hemispheric antenna;

converting the plurality of signals from the isotropic antenna and the hemispheric antenna into a plurality of receiver outputs;

performing diversity processing on the plurality of receiver outputs;

sensing orientation of a wireless unit; and

generating orientation information based on the orientation of the wireless unit, wherein the orientation information affects the diversity processing on the plurality of receiver outputs.

23. A method for implementing antenna selection comprising:

means for sensing orientation of a wireless unit;

means for generating orientation information based on the orientation of the wireless unit;

means for processing the orientation information to command an antenna selector to select from a plurality of antennas wherein the plurality of antennas comprises a combination of types of antennas comprising an isotropic antenna and a hemispheric antenna;

means for selecting one of the isotropic antenna and the hemispheric antenna from the plurality of antennas based on the sensed orientation; and

means for using the antenna to receive a signal wherein the signal comprises a GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signal.