Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080261551 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHANNEL BONDING IN MULTIPLE ANTENNA COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - Systems and methods that provide channel bonding in multiple antenna communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method for signal transmission over a plurality of antennas of a transmitter may include, for example, one or more of the following: demultiplexing an input signal into a plurality of signal components; assigning each of the signal components to one of a plurality of logical channels; weighting each of the signal components with transmit baseband weight values; combining ones of the resultant weighted signal components to form a plurality of transmit weighted signals, each of the plurality of transmit weighted signals being assigned to one of the plurality of logical channels; and combining groups of the plurality of transmit weighted signals to form a plurality of output signals capable of being used to generate a plurality RF output signals. | 10-23-2008 |
20090191832 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANTENNA SELECTION - Systems and methods that provide antenna selection in multi-antenna-element communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a system that selects N antenna elements in an M-antenna-element transmitter or an M-antenna-element receiver, in which N is less than M, may include, for example, M antenna elements in the M-antenna-element transmitter or the M-antenna-element receiver; N RF chains; and a switch coupled to the N RF chains. The M-antenna-element receiver may determine a bit error rate for each possible N antenna element subset of the M antenna elements. The M-antenna-element receiver may determine the particular N antenna element subset with a lowest bit error rate. In response to the determination of the particular N antenna element subset with the lowest bit error rate, the switch may couple the N RF chains to the particular N antenna element subset with the lowest bit error rate. | 07-30-2009 |
20090201205 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHANNEL-ADAPTIVE ANTENNA SELECTION - Systems and methods that provide channel-adaptive antenna selection in multi-antenna-element communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method that selects a subset of receive antennas of a receiver to receive a transmitted RF signal may include, for example, one or more of the following: establishing possible subsets of the receive antennas; determining sets of channel parameter statistics corresponding to the possible subsets of the receive antennas; computing output bit error rates of the receiver, each output bit error rate being computed based on at least one set of channel parameter statistics; selecting a particular possible subset of the receive antennas based upon a criterion predicated on the computed output bit error rates; and connecting one or more RF chains of the receiver to the receive antennas of the selected particular possible subset. | 08-13-2009 |
20090233567 | WEIGHT GENERATION METHOD FOR MULTI-ANTENNA COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS UTILIZING RF-BASED AND BASEBAND SIGNAL WEIGHTING AND COMBINING - A method for processing signals is disclosed and may include performing using one or more processor and/or circuits in a receiver that uses a plurality of antennas: receiving via a channel, a plurality of RF signals by one or more of the plurality of antennas. The plurality of received RF signals may be weighted utilizing one or more corresponding RF weighting values to generate a plurality of weighted RF signals. The one or more corresponding RF weighting values may include a frequency-independent weight coefficient that is constant over the channel. At least a portion of the plurality of weighted RF signals may be combined to generate one or more combined RF signals. The one or more corresponding RF weighing values may be selected to maximize an output signal-to-noise ratio of the channel. The output signal-to-noise ratio may be averaged over the channel. | 09-17-2009 |
20090238310 | WEIGHT GENERATION METHOD FOR MULTI-ANTENNA COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS UTILIZING RF-BASED AND BASEBAND SIGNAL WEIGHTING AND COMBINING BASED UPON MINIMUM BIT ERROR RATE - A method for processing communication signals is disclosed and may include, in a receiver and/or a baseband processor coupled to the receiver, the receiver comprising a plurality of antennas, generating a plurality of RF weighting values based on one or more output bit error rates of the receiver. A plurality of spatially-multiplexed RF signals, which are received by the receiver, may be weighted with the one or more of the generated plurality of RF weighting values, to form a plurality of weighted RF signals. Two or more of the generated plurality of weighted RF signals may be combined to form one or more combined RF signals. Each of the one or more combined RF signals may be processed by a different RF processing chain. The one or more output bit error rates of the receiver may be minimized by the generation of the plurality of RF weighting values. | 09-24-2009 |
20110086671 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHANNEL-ADAPTIVE ANTENNA SELECTION - Systems and methods that provide channel-adaptive antenna selection in multi-antenna-element communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method that selects a subset of receive antennas of a receiver to receive a transmitted RF signal may include, for example, one or more of the following: establishing possible subsets of the receive antennas; determining sets of channel parameter statistics corresponding to the possible subsets of the receive antennas; computing output bit error rates of the receiver, each output bit error rate being computed based on at least one set of channel parameter statistics; selecting a particular possible subset of the receive antennas based upon a criterion predicated on the computed output bit error rates; and connecting one or more RF chains of the receiver to the receive antennas of the selected particular possible subset. | 04-14-2011 |
20110090052 | WIRELESS DEVICES FOR PROCESS AUTOMATION AND VERIFICATION - The present invention provides one or more powered wireless transceivers and/or one or more passive wireless transceivers, a reader and interrogator with variable power, one or more antennas connected to a human or robotic hand and/or foot, a method for making same and the method of using these devices for process automation and verification involving one or more items in addition to locating, tracking and identifying these items in a supply chain. In one embodiment, a proximity sensing wireless system is provided which can be used to step the handler or operator through the step of a process and verify that each step in the process has been completed. | 04-21-2011 |
20110096860 | Multi-Antenna Communication Systems Utilizing RF-Based and Baseband Signal Weighting and Combining - A receiver operatively coupled to an antenna structure capable of receiving a first plurality of RF signals is disclosed herein. The receiver includes an RF processing network operative to perform weighting and combining operations within the RF domain using the first plurality of RF signals so as to produce a second plurality of RF signals. Also provided is a downconverter configured to downconvert the second plurality of RF signals into a second plurality of down-converted signals. In alternate implementations certain of the weighting and combining operations are performed at baseband and the remainder effected within the RF domain. A transmitter of corresponding architecture is also disclosed. | 04-28-2011 |
20110176464 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOW COST, LONG RANGE, POWER EFFICIENT, WIRELESS SYSTEM WITH ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY - The present invention provides a method and system for establishing a highly mobile, long range secure wireless network with dynamic topologies and near full connectivity with acceptable latency using low cost, low power, compact and lightweight devices. One aspect of the system deals with a highly mobile network with dynamic network topologies and a time varying wireless medium that has neither absolute nor readily observable boundaries outside of which radio nodes are known to be unable to receive network frames, although the desirable open field boundary is 1 mile in radius from a base station node. A synchronous frequency hopping technique is used with mobile nodes that can become slave base station nodes to a master base station node to increase the effective range of the master base station without increasing the transmit power. Furthermore, the use of adjustable sleep times for the mobile nodes, as well as a novel clock calibration method, provides a substantial range increase with acceptable battery size and system latency. | 07-21-2011 |
20110188547 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANTENNA SELECTION - Systems and methods that provide antenna selection in multi-antenna-element communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a system that selects N antenna elements in an M-antenna-element transmitter or an M-antenna-element receiver, in which N is less than M, may include, for example, M antenna elements in the M-antenna-element transmitter or the M-antenna-element receiver; N RF chains; and a switch coupled to the N RF chains. The M-antenna-element receiver may determine a bit error rate for each possible N antenna element subset of the M antenna elements. The M-antenna-element receiver may determine the particular N antenna element subset with a lowest bit error rate. In response to the determination of the particular N antenna element subset with the lowest bit error rate, the switch may couple the N RF chains to the particular N antenna element subset with the lowest bit error rate. | 08-04-2011 |
20110248834 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOW COST, POWER EFFICIENT, WIRELESS TRANSPONDER DEVICES WITH ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY - This invention provides a method and system for inventorying wireless transponders, specifically referred to as RFID transceiver devices. The RFID transceiver devices are certifiable by a recognized standards body, such as EPCglobal, or are compatible with recognized standards but have higher functionality than typical passive RFIDs, and yet are implemented with techniques that lower cost and battery requirements. Backscatter techniques of standard passive RFIDs are used to keep cost and battery requirements low. To provide higher functionality, a microcontroller is used in the RFID, along with a battery, but the clock frequency of the microcontroller is adjusted, based on external input, to minimize battery requirements. In one embodiment, the microcontroller initially has a zero or near zero clock frequency. A comparator compares the received RF energy to a threshold, and when the threshold is exceeded, indicating the presence of a probe signal from an RFID reader, the microcontroller clock frequency is immediately increased, and further adjusted based on the received data. In an alternate embodiment, the clock frequency of the microcontroller is adjusted based on data from sensors, to keep the clock speed at the proper speed to adequately process the data while minimizing the power requirement of the microcontroller, and then create an input to modulate the backscattered signal to be transmitted by the RFID. The received data can also cause the microcontroller to request the sensors to generate sensing data at a faster rate, which in turn requires the microcontroller clock to increase to handle the increased sensor data. In an additional embodiment, multiple sensors are multiplexed to provide a single input stream to the microcontroller, reducing the microcontroller clock speed required, along with the overall cost of the microcontroller and sensors. | 10-13-2011 |
20110274206 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RF SIGNAL COMBINING AND ADAPTIVE BIT LOADING FOR DATA RATE MAXIMIZATION IN MULTI-ANTENNA COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - A system and method for generating weight values based on maximum data rate for weighting elements included within signal weighting and combining arrangements used in various multi-antenna transmitter and receiver structures is disclosed herein. Weighting values for a given signal combining arrangement are set so as to maximize an output data rate of the applicable multi-antenna system in the presence of adaptive bit loading of the subcarriers of a transmitted signal. The disclosed techniques may be employed to maximize a data rate of a multi-antenna communication system by using adaptive bit loading and RF and baseband weighting schemes. In this case a search is conducted over various combinations of RF and baseband weights in order to find the weight combination which, when adaptive bit loading is also employed, maximizes the data rate. | 11-10-2011 |
20110300822 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHANNEL-ADAPTIVE ANTENNA SELECTION - Systems and methods that provide channel-adaptive antenna selection in multi-antenna-element communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method that selects a subset of receive antennas of a receiver to receive a transmitted RF signal may include, for example, one or more of the following: establishing possible subsets of the receive antennas; determining sets of channel parameter statistics corresponding to the possible subsets of the receive antennas; computing output bit error rates of the receiver, each output bit error rate being computed based on at least one set of channel parameter statistics; selecting a particular possible subset of the receive antennas based upon a criterion predicated on the computed output bit error rates; and connecting one or more RF chains of the receiver to the receive antennas of the selected particular possible subset. | 12-08-2011 |
20120076238 | FREQUENCY SELECTIVE TRANSMIT SIGNAL WEIGHTING FOR MULTIPLE ANTENNA COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - A method for communication includes performing by one or more processors and/or circuits in a communication device functions including determining transmit power weights, which are to be utilized for communicating one or more wireless signals via a wireless channel, as a function of frequency of a wireless signal communicated via the wireless channel. The determining may be based on a transmission mode of the wireless signal and a state of the wireless communication channel. Transmit antenna spatial weights may be determined for communicating the one or more wireless signals via a plurality of antennas. The one or more wireless signals may be weighted with the transmit power weights and/or one of the transmit antenna spatial weights. The weighted one or more wireless signals may be transmitted via one of a plurality of antennas in accordance with the transmission mode. | 03-29-2012 |
20120219081 | DETERMINISTIC PROCESSING FOR MIMO SYSTEMS - A system and method for a single spatial stream based multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system in wireless MIMO channels with a non-zero mean or a fixed component is provided which utilizes deterministic beamforming in the transmitter and deterministic combining at the receiver. For transmission and reception of a data over MIMO channels, the method and system avoids the requirement of knowledge of the instantaneous channel values at the transmitter and the receiver. By assuming perfect knowledge of the mean value of the channel matrix at the transmitter, a beamforming vector is obtained for the transmitter. The receiver utilizes deterministic receive weights which are chosen using the channel statistics. | 08-30-2012 |
20120329465 | Method and system for an adaptive wireless communication system optimized for economic benefit - Techniques for adapting a wireless communication device or system to support a desired functionality of the wireless communication system at an optimized performance and economic benefit are discussed. The desired functionality can be determined by defined criteria such as a maximum range of communication with the wireless communication system, quality of a transmission link in the wireless communication system, capacity of the wireless communication system, power consumption of the wireless communication system, protocols supported in the wireless communication system, modulation techniques used in the wireless communication system and processing techniques for combining signals in the wireless communication system. The system can be adapted by varying one or more of modules (e.g., components or processing techniques) used in the wireless communication system. | 12-27-2012 |
20130143506 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHANNEL-ADAPTIVE ANTENNA SELECTION - Systems and methods that provide channel-adaptive antenna selection in multi-antenna element communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method that selects a subset of receive antennas of a receiver to receive a transmitted RF signal may include, for example, one or more of the following: establishing possible subsets of the receive antennas; determining sets of channel parameter statistics corresponding to the possible subsets of the receive antennas; computing output bit error rates of the receiver, each output bit error rate being computed based on at least one set of channel parameter statistics; selecting a particular possible subset of the receive antennas based upon a criterion predicated on the computed output bit error rates; and connecting one or more RF chains of the receiver to the receive antennas of the selected particular possible subset. | 06-06-2013 |
20130242834 | Methods for selecting modules for a wireless communication device to achieve optimal performance - The present invention relates to a method and system for adapting a wireless communication system to support a desired functionality of the wireless communication system at an optimized performance and economic benefit. The desired functionality can be determined by defined criteria such as a maximum range of communication with the wireless communication system, quality of a transmission link in the wireless communication system, capacity of the wireless communication system, power consumption of the wireless communication system, protocols supported in the wireless communication system, modulation techniques used in the wireless communication system and processing techniques for combining signals in the wireless communication system. The system can be adapted by varying one or more of the number of components or processing techniques used in the wireless communication system. | 09-19-2013 |