Host-independent VHF-UHF active antenna system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11284064-B2
Application number	US-202017005811-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 28, 2020
Priority date	Jun 20, 2017
Publication date	Mar 22, 2022
Grant date	Mar 22, 2022

Abstract

An antenna system for use with a media device is provided. The antenna system includes a multi-mode active antenna configurable to operate in a plurality of modes. Each mode of the plurality of has a distinct radiation pattern. The antenna system includes a supplemental tuner that is separate from a primary tuner associated with the media device. The antenna system includes a switching device movable between at least two positions to selectively couple the active antenna to the supplemental tuner. When the switching device is in a first position, the active antenna is coupled to the supplemental tuner. When the switching device is in a second position, the active antenna is coupled to the media device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An antenna system comprising:
a multi-mode active antenna configurable to operate in a plurality of modes associated with a ultra-high frequency (UHF) band or a very-high frequency (VHF) band, each of the plurality of modes having a distinct radiation pattern;
a supplemental tuner that is separate from a primary tuner associated with a media device;
a directional coupler configured to bifurcate a signal received from the multi-mode active antenna into a first bifurcated signal provided to the primary tuner and a second bifurcated signal provided to the supplemental tuner; and
a controller configured to:
obtain the second bifurcated signal while the multi-mode active antenna is configured in each of the plurality of modes;
process the second bifurcated signal for each of the plurality of modes to determine a signal metric for each of the plurality of modes; and
determine one of the plurality of modes as a selected mode for the multi-modal active antenna based, at least in part, on the signal metric.

2. The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a low noise amplifier coupled between the multi-mode active antenna and the directional coupler.

3. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the signal metric comprises at least one of receive power (RP), signal to noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (SNIR), magnitude error ratio (MER), error vector magnitude (EVM), bit error rate (BER), or packet error rate (PER).

4. The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a demodulator coupled to the supplemental tuner, the demodulator configured to demodulate the second bifurcated signal.

5. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the multi-mode active antenna comprises a first antenna and a second antenna, the first antenna connected to the second antenna.

6. The antenna system of claim 5 , wherein the multi-mode active antenna further comprises:
a first parasitic element positioned closer to the first antenna than the second antenna; and
a second parasitic element positioned closer to the second antenna than the first antenna.

7. The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an accelerometer configured to obtain data indicative of an orientation of the multi-mode active antenna.

8. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the media device comprises a television.

9. The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising:
radio-frequency (RF) circuitry comprising at least one of switches, inductors, capacitors, tunable inductors, tunable capacitors, or solid state devices.

Assignees

• Avx Antenna Inc
• Ethertronics Inc

Inventors

• Roe Michael
• Shamblin John
• Manian Vahid
• Bhavnagari Dhaval

Classifications

• H01Q5/378 Primary

  Combination of fed elements with parasitic elements · CPC title

• H01Q21/30

  Combinations of separate antenna units operating in different wavebands and connected to a common feeder system · CPC title

• H01Q21/28

  Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems {(multiple beam H01Q25/00)} · CPC title

• H01Q1/38

  formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support {(patch antennas H01Q9/0407; microstrip dipole antennas H01Q9/065; microstrip slot antennas H01Q13/106; transmission line microstrip antennas H01Q13/206; manufacturing reflecting surfaces using insulating material for supporting the reflecting surface  H01Q15/142)} · CPC title

• H01Q1/36

  Structural form of radiating elements, e.g. cone, spiral, umbrella; {Particular materials used therewith}(H01Q1/08, H01Q1/14 take precedence) · CPC title