System and method for dynamic switching of antennas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016308276-A1
Application number	US-201514686482-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 14, 2015
Priority date	Apr 14, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for dynamic switching of antennas. A portable information handling system includes a housing having a plurality of edges, a first antenna and a second antenna. The first antenna is located proximate a first edge of the plurality of edges, the second antenna is located proximate a second edge of the plurality of edges. The system includes a switch communicatively coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna, and a processing resource communicatively coupled to the switch. The processing resource is configured to determine a first orientation of the portable information handling system; based on the first orientation, designate the first antenna as a primary antenna and designate the second antenna as a secondary antenna; and direct the switch to transition the primary antenna to an active state and direct the switch to transition the secondary antenna to an inactive state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A portable information handling system, comprising:
a housing having a plurality of edges; a first antenna and a second antenna, the first antenna located proximate a first edge of the plurality of edges, the second antenna located proximate a second edge of the plurality of edges; a switch communicatively coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna; and a processing resource communicatively coupled to the switch, the processing resource configured to:
determine a first orientation of the portable information handling system;
based on the first orientation, designate the first antenna as a primary antenna and designate the second antenna as a secondary antenna; and
direct the switch to transition the primary antenna to an active state and direct the switch to transition the secondary antenna to an inactive state.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the first orientation of the portable information handling system includes receiving a signal from an accelerometer communicatively coupled to the switch and the processing resource.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are separated by at least a predefined distance.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing resource is further configured to:
determine a second orientation of the portable information handling system; and based on the second orientation, designate the second antenna as the primary antenna and designate the first antenna as the secondary antenna.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the first orientation is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna comprises a pair of antennas configured to cooperatively transmit and receive information.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second antenna comprises a pair of antennas configured to cooperatively transmit and receive information.

8 . A method comprising:
determining, by a processing resource, a first orientation of a portable information handling system, the portable information handling system comprising a housing having a plurality of edges; based on the first orientation, designating a first antenna as a primary antenna and designate a second antenna as a secondary antenna, the first antenna located proximate a first edge of the plurality of edges, the second antenna located proximate a second edge of the plurality of edges; and directing, by the processing resource, a switch to transition the primary antenna to an active state and directing the switch to transition the secondary antenna to an inactive state, the switch communicatively coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the first orientation of the portable information handling system includes receiving a signal from an accelerometer communicatively coupled to the switch and the processing resource.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are separated by at least a predefined distance.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining a second orientation of the portable information handling system; and based on the second orientation, designating the second antenna as the primary antenna and designating the first antenna as the secondary antenna.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first orientation is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first antenna comprises a pair of antennas configured to cooperatively transmit and receive information.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the second antenna comprises a pair of antennas configured to cooperatively transmit and receive information.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
determine a first orientation of a portable information handling system, the portable information handling system comprising a housing having a plurality of edges; based on the first orientation, designate a first antenna as a primary antenna and designate a second antenna as a secondary antenna, the first antenna located proximate a first edge of the plurality of edges, the second antenna located proximate a second edge of the plurality of edges; and direct a switch to transition the primary antenna to an active state and direct the switch to transition the secondary antenna to an inactive state, the switch communicatively coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna.

16 . The medium of claim 15 , wherein determining the first orientation of the portable information handling system includes receiving a signal from an accelerometer communicatively coupled to the switch and the processing resource.

17 . The medium of claim 15 , wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are separated by at least a predefined distance.

18 . The medium of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further caused to:
determine a second orientation of the portable information handling system; and based on the second orientation, designate the second antenna as the primary antenna and designate the first antenna as the secondary antenna.

19 . The medium of claim 18 , wherein the first orientation is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation.

20 . The medium of claim 15 , wherein the first antenna comprises a pair of antennas configured to cooperatively transmit and receive information.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Chang Ching-Wei
• Chen I-Yu
• Wei Yung-Chang

Classifications

• H01Q3/24 Primary

  varying the orientation by switching energy from one active radiating element to another, e.g. for beam switching · CPC title

• H01Q1/243

  with built-in antennas · CPC title