Arbitrator for multi-radio antenna switching

• US 9,853,681 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2015
• Issued: 12/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Majjigi, Vinay R., Mujtaba, Syed Aon, Wang, Xiaowen
• Primary Examiner(s): Hanidu, Ganiyu A
• Application Number:
  US14/870,119
• Publication Number:
  US 20160127006A1
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 455 78, 455140, 4552772, 4555621, 455524, 455 9, 455 39, 455101, 455130, 370252, 370329, 370315
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/44 Transmit/receive switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0602 using antenna switching H04B7/0686 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0802 using antenna selection H04B7/0868 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A user equipment device (UE) may be configured to collect first performance information from antennas of a first plurality of antennas. The first plurality of antennas may be coupled to a first radio of the UE that may be configured to perform wireless communications according to a first RAT. The UE may determine, based on at least the first performance information, a highest performing antenna of the first plurality of antennas to use for communications according to the first RAT. Additionally, the UE may determine, also based on at least the first performance information, a first antenna of a second plurality of antennas to use for communications according to a second RAT. The second plurality of antennas may be coupled to a second radio of the UE that may be configured to perform wireless communications according to the second RAT.

Claims

1. A user equipment device (UE), comprising:

a first plurality of antennas;

a first radio, wherein the first radio is coupled to the first plurality of antennas and configured to perform wireless communication according to a first radio access technology (RAT);

a first switch coupled between the first plurality of antennas and the first radio, wherein the first switch comprises a first plurality of states;

a second plurality of antennas;

a second radio, wherein the second radio is coupled to the second plurality of antennas and configured to perform wireless communication according to a second RAT;

a second switch coupled between the second plurality of antennas and the second radio, wherein the second switch comprises a second plurality of states; and

one or more processors coupled to the first and second radios;

wherein the one or more processors and the first and second radios are configured to perform voice and/or data communications; and

wherein the UE is configured to;

collect first performance information from antennas of the first plurality of antennas;

determine, based on at least the first performance information, a highest performing antenna of the first plurality of antennas to use for communications according to the first RAT, wherein a first state of the first plurality of states corresponds to the highest performing antenna;

determine, based on at least the first performance information, a first antenna of the second plurality of antennas to use for communications according to the second RAT, wherein a second state of the second plurality of states corresponds to the first antenna; and

switch the first switch to the first state based on said determining the highest performing antenna, wherein the second switch is configured to automatically switch to the second state based on the first switch switching to the first state.

2. The UE of claim 1,

wherein the highest performing antenna is proximal to the first antenna.

3. The UE of claim 1,

wherein the first radio comprises a cellular radio and wherein the first RAT is LTE.

4. The UE of claim 1,

wherein the first radio comprises a Wi-Fi radio and wherein the first RAT is Wi-Fi.

5. The UE of claim 1,

wherein to collect first performance information, the UE is further configured to:

send the first performance information from the first radio to the one or more processors; and

collect system performance information; and

wherein said determining the highest performing antenna is further based on the system performance information.

6. The UE of claim 1,

wherein the UE is further configured to:

collect second performance information from antennas of the second plurality of antennas; and

wherein said determining the highest performing antenna is further based on the second performance information.

15. The UE of claim 5,

wherein the system performance information comprises one or more of UE battery level, UE battery charge state, radio resource control (RRC) connected-idle ratio, first radio active-inactive ratio, and second radio active-inactive ratio.

18. The UE of claim 1,

wherein the first RAT is Wi-Fi, wherein the second RAT is LTE.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory; and

a processing element in communication with the memory, wherein the processing element is configured to;

receive first performance information from a first baseband processor configured to operate according to a first radio access technology (RAT), wherein the first performance information comprises performance information from antennas of a first plurality of antennas;

receive second performance information from a second baseband processor configured to operate according to a second RAT, wherein the second performance information comprises performance information from antennas of a second plurality of antennas;

determine, based on at least the first and second performance information, a highest performing antenna from the first and second plurality of antennas; and

in response to determining that the highest performing antenna is among the first plurality of antennas;

select the highest performing antenna for communication according to the first RAT, wherein to select the highest performing antenna, the processing element is further configured to change a state of a first switch coupled between the first plurality of antennas and the first baseband processor; and

select an antenna among the second plurality of antennas proximal the highest performing antenna for communication according to the second RAT, wherein to select the antenna, a state of a second switch coupled between the second plurality of antennas and the second baseband processor is automatically switched based on the change of state of the first switch.

8. The apparatus of claim 7,

wherein the processing element is further configured to:

in response to determining that the highest performing antenna is among the second plurality of antennas;

select the highest performing antenna for communication according to the second RAT; and

select an antenna among the first plurality of antennas proximal the highest performing antenna for communication according to the first RAT.

9. The apparatus of claim 7,

wherein the first RAT is Wi-Fi, wherein the second RAT is LTE.

10. The apparatus of claim 7,

wherein the processing element is further configured to collect system information, wherein to determine the highest performing antenna the processing element is further configured to determine the highest performing antenna based on at least the first and second performance information and the system information.

11. The apparatus of claim 10,

wherein the system information comprises at least one of device orientation, battery level, or battery charging state.

20. The apparatus of claim 7,

wherein the first RAT is LTE, wherein the second RAT is Wi-Fi.

12. A non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing program instructions executable by one or more processors of a user equipment device (UE) to:

receive, from a first radio of the UE, first performance information from antennas of a first plurality of antennas coupled to the first radio, wherein the first radio is configured to perform wireless communication according to a first radio access technology (RAT);

notify the first radio of a highest performing antenna of the first plurality of antennas to use for communications according to the first RAT, wherein the highest performing antenna is determined based at least in part on the first performance information;

switch a first switch to a first state to couple the first radio to the highest performing antenna, wherein the first switch is coupled between the first plurality of antennas and the first radio, wherein the first switch comprises a first plurality of states, and wherein the first state corresponds to the highest performing antenna;

notify a second radio of the UE of a first antenna of a second plurality of antennas to use for communications according to a second RAT, wherein the second plurality of antennas are coupled to the second radio of the UE, wherein the second radio is configured to perform wireless communication according to the second RAT, and wherein the first antenna is determined based at least in part on the first performance information; and

wherein a second switch is configured to automatically switch to a second state based on the first switch switching to the first state, wherein the second switch is coupled between the second plurality of antennas and the second radio, wherein the second switch comprises a second plurality of states, wherein the second state corresponds to the first antenna.

13. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 12,

wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors of the UE to:

determine the first antenna based at least in part on proximity of the first antenna to the highest performing antenna, wherein the first antenna is proximal to the highest performing antenna.

14. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 12,

wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors of the UE to collect system performance information comprising one or more of UE battery level, UE battery charge state, radio resource control (RRC) connected-idle ratio, first radio active-inactive ratio, and second radio active-inactive ratio;

and

wherein the highest performing antenna is further determined based on the system performance information.

17. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 12,

wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors of the UE to:

collect second performance information from antennas of the second plurality of antennas; and

wherein said determining the highest performing antenna is further based on the second performance information.

19. The non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 12,

wherein the first RAT is Wi-Fi, wherein the second RAT is LTE.

16. The apparatus of 12,

wherein the system performance information comprises one or more of battery level, battery charge state, radio resource control (RRC) connected-idle ratio, first radio active-inactive ratio, and second radio active-inactive ratio.