Antenna sharing in mobile devices for backscatter radio
First Claim
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1. A method of wirelessly communicating data, the method comprising:
- receiving electromagnetic (“
EM”
) radiation incident upon an antenna of a mobile device from a base station, wherein the antenna is an element of the mobile device that serves an additional purpose than just as a reflective antenna for backscatter communications, wherein the additional purpose of the antenna includes one of a conductive frame of the mobile device, a lead frame of a chip package within the mobile device, or a conductive trace on a circuit board of the mobile device;
modulating a radar cross-section of the antenna between two or more states using a backscatter tag coupled to the antenna;
encoding the data onto a backscatter channel of the EM radiation via the modulation of the radar cross-section; and
transmitting the data to the base station over the backscatter channel.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for wirelessly communicating data that receives electromagnetic (“EM”) radiation incident upon an antenna of a mobile device from a base station is described. The antenna is an element of the mobile device that serves an additional purpose than just as a reflective antenna for backscatter communications. A radar cross-section of the antenna is modulated between two or more states using a backscatter tag coupled to the antenna. Data is encoded onto a backscatter channel of the EM radiation via the modulating. The data is transmitted to the base station over the backscatter channel.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of wirelessly communicating data, the method comprising:
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receiving electromagnetic (“
EM”
) radiation incident upon an antenna of a mobile device from a base station, wherein the antenna is an element of the mobile device that serves an additional purpose than just as a reflective antenna for backscatter communications, wherein the additional purpose of the antenna includes one of a conductive frame of the mobile device, a lead frame of a chip package within the mobile device, or a conductive trace on a circuit board of the mobile device;modulating a radar cross-section of the antenna between two or more states using a backscatter tag coupled to the antenna; encoding the data onto a backscatter channel of the EM radiation via the modulation of the radar cross-section; and transmitting the data to the base station over the backscatter channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. At least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that provides instructions that, when executed by a mobile device, will cause the mobile device to perform operations comprising:
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receiving electromagnetic (“
EM”
) radiation incident upon an antenna of a mobile device from a base station, wherein the antenna is an element of the mobile device that serves an additional purpose than just as a reflective antenna for backscatter communications;selecting the antenna from a plurality of antennas of the mobile device prior to modulating a radar cross-section of the antenna; modulating the radar cross-section of the antenna between two or more states; encoding data onto a backscatter channel of the EM radiation via the modulating; and transmitting the data to the base station over the backscatter channel. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A mobile device, comprising:
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an active wireless transceiver coupled to drive a first antenna to emit radiation during an active emission communication session; a backscatter tag including an adjustable load impedance module that is selectively coupled to the first antenna to modulate a radar cross-section of the first antenna between two or more states to encode data onto a backscatter channel when electromagnetic (“
EM”
) radiation is incident upon the first antenna during a backscatter communication session;control circuitry coupled to share the first antenna between the backscatter tag for backscatter communications and the active wireless transceiver for active emission communications; and an antenna multiplexor coupled between the backscatter tag and a plurality of antennas including the first antenna, the antenna multiplexor coupled to the control circuitry to selectively couple any of the plurality of antennas of the mobile device to the adjustable load impedance module of the backscatter tag for use during the backscatter communications. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A mobile device, comprising:
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an active wireless transceiver coupled to drive a first antenna to emit radiation during an active emission communication session; a backscatter tag including an adjustable load impedance module that is selectively coupled to the first antenna to modulate a radar cross-section of the first antenna between two or more states to encode data onto a backscatter channel when electromagnetic (“
EM”
) radiation is incident upon the first antenna during a backscatter communication session;control circuitry coupled to share the first antenna between the backscatter tag for backscatter communications and the active wireless transceiver for active emission communications; a plurality of antennas including the first antenna; and a plurality of backscatter tags including the backscatter tag, wherein each of the plurality of backscatter tags is coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of antennas to selectively modulate a radar cross-section of a corresponding one of the antennas for backscatter communications.
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Specification