Dynamic antenna configuration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11996925-B2
Application number	US-202117525870-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2021
Priority date	Sep 13, 2021
Publication date	May 28, 2024
Grant date	May 28, 2024

Abstract

Techniques are described for expanding and/or improving the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 television protocol in robustly delivering the next generation broadcast television services. A receiver uses relative location and direction of motion of the receiver with respect to each broadcaster to determine which tuner/demodulator(s) to use to present a service and which to use to scan for services.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. In digital television in which at least one receiver can receive broadcast signals from at least first and second digital television broadcast transmitters, a method, comprising:
identifying respective locations of the transmitters;
identifying a location of the receiver and at least one parameter of motion of the receiver;
based at least in part on the respective locations of the transmitters, the location of the receiver, and the parameter of motion of the receiver, identifying at least a first tuner of a multi-tuner chip to provide signals to a primary demodulator or decoder;
using an output of the primary demodulator or decoder to present a demanded service on at least one display; and
based at least in part on the respective locations of the transmitters, the location of the receiver, and the parameter of motion of the receiver, identifying at least a second tuner of the multi-tuner chip to scan for a duplicate of the demanded service.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital television receiver comprises an advanced television systems committee (ATSC) 3.0 receiver.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multi-tuner chip comprises four tuners.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising, responsive to the second tuner not detecting a duplicate of the demanded service, tuning the second tuner to a frequency associated with the demanded service and providing an output of the second tuner to the primary demodulator or decoder.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
using plural tuners including the first tuner of the multi-tuner chip to provide signals to the primary demodulator or decoder; and
responsive to identifying that the first tuner provides a signal satisfying a threshold, switching others of the plural tuners from providing signals to the primary demodulator or decoder to providing signals for scanning for the duplicate of the demanded service.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameter of motion comprises direction.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameter of motion comprises speed.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising identifying at least the first tuner of the multi-tuner chip to provide signals to the primary demodulator or decoder at least in part using at least one machine learning (ML) model.

9. An apparatus comprising:
at least one receiver configured to:
identify respective locations of first and second transmitters;
identify a location of the receiver and at least one parameter of motion of the receiver;
based at least in part on the respective locations of the transmitters, the location of the receiver, and the parameter of motion of the receiver, identify at least a first tuner to provide signals to a primary demodulator or decoder;
use an output of the primary demodulator or decoder to present a demanded service on at least one display; and
based at least in part on the respective locations of the transmitters, the location of the receiver, and the parameter of motion of the receiver, identify at least a second tuner to scan for a duplicate of the demanded service.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the receiver is configured to:
scan for at least one duplicate of the demanded service using the secondary demodulator or decoder.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the receiver comprises an advanced television systems committee (ATSC) 3.0 receiver.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , comprising antennae associated with a multi-tuner chip supporting at least one of the tuners.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the receiver is configured to:
responsive to the secondary demodulator or decoder not detecting a duplicate of the demanded service, switch an output of a tuner from the secondary demodulator or decoder to the primary demodulator or decoder.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the receiver is configured to:
use plural tuners including a first tuner of a multi-tuner chip to provide signals to the primary demodulator or decoder; and
responsive to identifying that the first tuner provides a signal satisfying a threshold, switch others of the plural tuners from providing signals to the primary demodulator or decoder to providing signals for scanning for the duplicate of the demanded service.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the parameter of motion comprises direction.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the parameter of motion comprises speed.

17. A digital television apparatus comprising:
at least one receiver comprising at least one processor programmed with instructions to configure the processor to:
identify respective locations of first and second signal sources;
identify a location of the receiver and at least one parameter of motion of the receiver;
based at least in part on the respective locations of the signal sources, the location of the receiver, and the parameter of motion of the receiver, identify at least a first tuner to provide signals to a primary demodulator or decoder;
use an output of the primary demodulator or decoder to present a demanded service on at least one display; and
based at least in part on the respective locations of the signal sources, the location of the receiver, and the parameter of motion of the receiver, identify at least a second tuner to scan for a duplicate of the demanded service.

18. The digital television apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are executable to:
switch at least one of the tuners to provide input to a different demodulator or decoder at least in part based on a location of at least one transmitter of broadcast digital TV signals.

19. The digital television apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the motion parameter comprises direction.

20. The digital television apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the motion parameter comprises speed.

Assignees

• Sony Group Corp

Inventors

• Fay Luke
• Clift Graham

Classifications

• H04B7/086 Primary

  using weights depending on external parameters, e.g. direction of arrival [DOA], predetermined weights or beamforming · CPC title

• G01S3/72

  Diversity systems specially adapted for direction-finding · CPC title

• G01S3/7864

  T.V. type tracking systems · CPC title

• H04B7/0802

  using antenna selection (H04B7/0868 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24) · CPC title

• H04H40/90

  specially adapted for satellite broadcast receiving · CPC title