Method and electronic device for switching antenna

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12231915-B2
Application number	US-202217669799-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2022
Priority date	Jan 25, 2021
Publication date	Feb 18, 2025
Grant date	Feb 18, 2025

Abstract

According to various embodiments, the electronic device may include: a first antenna having a first polarization characteristic, a second antenna a having a second polarization characteristic different from the first polarization characteristic, a switch operatively connected to the first antenna and the second antenna, and a processor operatively connected to the first antenna and the second antenna through the switch. The processor may be configured to identify, based on transmitting at least one packet using the first antenna, at least one timestamp of the packet, control the electronic device to transmit a first area of the packet based on a first timestamp of the identified timestamp using the first antenna, switch the first antenna to the second antenna based on a second timestamp of the identified timestamp, and control the electronic device to transmit a second area of the packet based on the second timestamp of the packet using the second antenna.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a communication module comprising communication circuitry;
a first antenna having a first polarization characteristic;
a second antenna having a second polarization characteristic different from the first polarization characteristic;
a switch operatively connected to the communication module, the first antenna, and the second antenna;
a processor operatively connected to the first antenna and the second antenna through the switch; and
memory storing instructions,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
identify, in response to transmitting at least one packet using the first antenna, one or more timestamps of the at least one packet,
transmit, via the communication module, a first area of the at least one packet using the first antenna based on a first timestamp of the identified one or more timestamps,
switch from the first antenna to the second antenna, based on a second timestamp of the identified one or more timestamps, and
transmit, via the communication module, a second area of the at least one packet using the second antenna based on the second timestamp of the at least one packet,
wherein the second antenna is configured to support wideband communication and comprises one or more patch antennas configured to determine a position of an external electronic device with respect to the electronic device.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna and the second antenna have different characteristics, and
wherein the characteristics comprise at least one of radiation coverage, polarization performance, a radiation pattern, a radiation direction, gain, and/or a frequency channel characteristic.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
measure a first signal quality value of a wireless communication signal based on the first antenna,
measure a second signal quality value of a wireless communication signal based on the second antenna, and
determine whether to switch to select at least one of the first antenna and the second antenna based on the first signal quality value and the second signal quality value.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna has the first polarization characteristic based on a conductive member included in the first antenna.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the first antenna comprises a metal antenna at least a portion of which comprises a metal material and/or a laser direct structuring (LDS) antenna at least a portion of which has a metal pattern designed thereon.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to: measure a position with respect to the external electronic device using at least two patch antennas of the one or more patch antennas.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are configured to have characteristics complementary to each other to provide a wider communication coverage.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
transmit, via the communication module, the second area of the at least one packet using the second antenna, and
switch from the second antenna to the first antenna.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
configure, as the first timestamp, a timestamp at which a start of frame delimiter (SFD) field included in the at least one packet is ended,
wherein the start of frame delimiter (SFD) field indicates a frame start.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
configure, as the second timestamp, a timestamp at which a scrambled timestamp sequence (STS) field included in the at least one packet is ended,
wherein the scrambled timestamp sequence (STS) field includes security related information.

11. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to;
configure the second timestamp based on at least one gap area included in the STS field.

12. A method comprising:
identifying, in response to transmitting at least one packet using a first antenna having a first polarization characteristic, one or more timestamps of the at least one packet;
transmitting a first area of the at least one packet using the first antenna based on a first timestamp of the identified one or more timestamps;
switching from the first antenna to a second antenna having an second polarization characteristic different from the first polarization characteristic of the first antenna based on a second timestamp of the identified one or more timestamps; and
transmitting a second area of the at least one packet using the second antenna based on the second timestamp of the at least one packet,
wherein the second antenna supports wideband communication and comprises one or more patch antennas configured to determine a position of an external electronic device with respect to the electronic device.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first antenna and the second antenna have different characteristics, and
wherein the characteristics comprise at least one of radiation coverage, polarization performance, a radiation pattern, a radiation direction, gain, and/or a frequency channel characteristic.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the switching from the first antenna to the second antenna comprises
measuring a first signal quality value of a wireless communication signal based on the first antenna;
measuring a second signal quality value of a wireless communication signal based on the second antenna; and
determining whether to switch to select at least one of the first antenna and the second antenna based on the first signal quality value and the second signal quality value.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first antenna is implemented to have a first polarization characteristic based on a conductive member included in the first antenna and comprises a metal antenna at least a portion of which comprises a metal material and/or a laser direct structuring (LDS) antenna at least a portion of which has a metal pattern designed thereon.

16. The method of claim 12 ,
wherein the method further comprises measuring a position with respect to the external electronic device using at least two patch antennas of the one or more patch antennas.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising transmitting the second area of the at least one packet using the second antenna, and switching from the second antenna to the first antenna.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising
configuring, as the first timestamp, a timestamp at which a start of frame delimiter (SFD) field included in the at least one packet is ended; and
configuring, as the second timestamp, a timestamp at which a scrambled timestamp sequence (STS) field included in the at least one packet is ended,
wherein the start of frame delimiter (SFD) field indicates a frame start, and
wherein the scrambled timestamp sequence (STS) field includes security related information.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising configuring the second timestamp based on at least one gap area included in the STS field.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hong Sukgi
• Yoo Youngsuk
• Lee Woosup
• Kim Dongyeon

Classifications

• H04W40/06 Primary

  based on characteristics of available antennas · CPC title

• H04W40/12

  based on transmission quality or channel quality · CPC title

• H01Q21/065

  Patch antenna array · CPC title

• H04B7/10

  Polarisation diversity; Directional diversity · CPC title

• H04B7/0604

  with predefined switching scheme · CPC title