Transmit antenna diversity in radio front end architectures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10587329-B2
Application number	US-201816138954-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2018
Priority date	Sep 22, 2017
Publication date	Mar 10, 2020
Grant date	Mar 10, 2020

Abstract

Disclosed aspects relate to methods and apparatus for controlling a wireless device having at least one radio frequency (RF) system. The methods and apparatus are configured to select an antenna for transmission of signals from radio components of the at least one RF system from between a first default antenna normally coupled to the radio components of the at least one RF system for transmission of signals and one of a plurality of other antennas in the wireless device. Further, switching is configured to couple the radio components to one of the other plurality of antennas selected as the antenna for transmission cycles when the radio components are transmitting in an antenna switch diversity (ASDIV) period. Additionally, the methods and apparatus are configured to operate a switch to couple the radio components back to at least the first default antenna during receiving cycles during the ASDIV period.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a wireless device having at least one radio frequency (RF) system, the method comprising:
selecting an antenna for transmission of signals from radio components of the at least one RF system from between a first default antenna that is normally coupled to the radio components of the at least one RF system for transmission of signals and one of a plurality of other antennas in the wireless device;
configuring one or more switches in the device to couple the radio components to the selected antenna for transmission cycles of the at least one RF system when the radio components are transmitting in an antenna switch diversity (ASDIV) period;
configuring the one or more switches to couple the radio components to at least the first default antenna for receive cycles of the at least one RF system during the ASDIV period; and
alternately switching the antenna couplings to the selected antenna during transmit cycles and to the first default antenna during receive cycles of the ASDIV period.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
configuring the one or more switches to couple the radio components in the wireless device to respective default antennas after a predetermined time or condition for providing antenna switch diversity has ended.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one RF system is operable according to a time division duplex (TDD) operation.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one RF system is operable with a Wide Area Network (WAN) according to one or more of LTE-U technology, LTE, Licensed Assist Access (LAA) technology, Ultra-high-band (UHB), enhanced LAA (eLAA) technology, E-UTRA Band 47, 5G New Radio (NR) technology, or a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) operable according to WiFi technology.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coupling of the radio components is performed with at least one switch device of the one or more switches that is coupled between an antenna and radio components of the at least one RF system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the antenna for transmission of signals in the ASDIV period includes selecting an antenna in a different physical location within the wireless device from the physical location of the first default antenna.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
switching coupling of the radio components to at least the first default antenna for full 4×4 MIMO operation of the wireless device;
switching coupling of the radio components to at least the first default antenna for 2×2 MIMO operation of the wireless device; or
switching coupling of the radio components to at least the first default antenna for High Order Receive Diversity operation.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless device includes at least first and second concurrent radio systems operable according to a time division duplex (TDD) operation.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
selectively switching coupling of transmit components of at least the first radio system during transmission cycles of the first radio system and returning the switching to the first default antenna coupling during transmission cycles of at least the second radio system.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first and second radio systems utilize frequencies in one of same or different bandwidth of frequencies.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
selectively disabling a low noise amplifier (LNA) of at least the first radio system during transmit cycles of at least the second radio system.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
sharing antennas and switching components between the first and second concurrent radio systems for at least ASDIV operation.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein switching of the coupling of one or more of the plurality of antennas during the ASDIV period includes transmission of Sounding Reference Signals (SRS).

14. A wireless device having at least one radio frequency (RF) system, the wireless device comprising:
a default antenna normally coupled to radio components of the at least one RF system for transmission and reception of signals;
a plurality of other antennas; and
one or more switches configured to couple the radio components to one of the plurality of other antennas during transmission cycles when the radio components are transmitting in an antenna switch diversity (ASDIV) period and to couple the radio components back to at least the default antenna during receiving cycles, the one or more switches configured to alternately switch the antenna couplings to the one of the plurality of other antennas during transmit cycles and to the default antenna during receive cycles of the ASDIV period.

15. The wireless device of claim 14 , further comprising:
at least one processing circuitry configured to:
cause the one or more switches to switch the coupling of radio components in the wireless device to respective default antennas after a predetermined time or condition for providing ASDIV has ended.

16. The wireless device of claim 14 , wherein the coupling of the radio components is performed with at least one switch of the one or more switches that is coupled between an antenna and radio components of the at least one RF system.

17. The wireless device of claim 14 , wherein the one of the plurality of other antennas are located in a different physical location within the wireless device from the physical location of the default antenna.

18. The wireless device of claim 15 , further comprising:
the wireless device including at least first and second concurrent radio systems utilizing similar frequency bands; and
the at least one processing circuitry configured to selectively switch coupling of transmit components of at least the first radio system during transmission cycles of the first radio system and return the ASDIV switching to a default antenna coupling during transmission cycles of at least the second radio system.

19. The wireless device of claim 18 , further comprising:
the at least one processing circuitry configured to selectively disable a low noise amplifier (LNA) of at least the first radio system during transmit cycles of at least the second radio system.

20. The wireless device of claim 18 , wherein the first and second radio systems utilize frequencies in one of same or different bandwidth of frequencies.

21. The wireless device of claim 18 , wherein the wireless device is configured to share antennas and switching components between the first and second concurrent radio systems for at least ASDIV operation.

22. The wireless device of claim 14 , wherein switching of the coupling of one or more of the plurality of antennas during the ASDIV period includes transmission of Sounding Reference Signals (SRS).

23. An apparatus operable with at least one RF radio system, the apparatus comprising:
means for selecting an antenna for transmission of signals from radio components of the at least one RF radio system from between a first default antenna that is normally coupled to the radio components of the at least one RF radio system for transmission of signals and one of a plurality of other antennas in the apparatus;
means for configuring one or more switches in the apparatus to couple the radio components to the selected antenna for transmission cycles of the at least one RF radio system when the radio components are transmitting in an antenna switch diversity (ASDIV

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Maldonado David
• See Andrew Puayhoe

Classifications

• H03F3/189

  High-frequency amplifiers, e.g. radio frequency amplifiers · CPC title

• H04B7/0602

  using antenna switching (H04B7/0686 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24) · CPC title

• H04B7/0811

  during preamble or gap period · CPC title

• H04B1/44

  Transmit/receive switching · CPC title

• H03F2200/294

  the amplifier being a low noise amplifier [LNA] · CPC title