Enhanced Antenna Utilization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019305831-A1
Application number	US-201916368556-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 28, 2019
Priority date	Mar 29, 2018
Publication date	Oct 3, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

In an example, an apparatus includes first and second antennas and a switched extractor coupled to the first antenna. The switched extractor includes an extractor configured to extract an extraction frequency band, a bypass line, and switching circuitry. The switching circuitry is configured to selectively establish a bypass signal path including the bypass line or a concurrent signal path including the extractor. The apparatus also includes first and second transceiver units (TRXUs) and a processor. The first TRXU is coupled to the first antenna via the switched extractor. The second TRXU is coupled to the first antenna via the switched extractor and coupled to the second antenna. The processor is configured to cause the switching circuitry to selectively connect the first TRXU to the first antenna via the bypass or the concurrent signal path based on the extraction frequency band and an operational frequency band associated with the first TRXU.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A wireless communications apparatus comprising:
multiple antennas including a first antenna and a second antenna; a switched extractor coupled to the first antenna, the switched extractor including:
an extractor having multiple filters, the extractor configured to extract an extraction frequency band using the multiple filters;
a bypass line; and
switching circuitry coupled to the extractor and the bypass line, the switching circuitry configured to selectively establish a bypass signal path including the bypass line or a concurrent signal path including the extractor;
multiple transceiver units including a first transceiver unit and a second transceiver unit, the first transceiver unit coupled to the first antenna via the switched extractor, the second transceiver unit coupled to the first antenna via the switched extractor and coupled to the second antenna; and at least one processor coupled to the switching circuitry, the at least one processor configured to cause the switching circuitry to selectively connect the first transceiver unit to the first antenna via the bypass signal path or via the concurrent signal path based on the extraction frequency band and an operational frequency band associated with the first transceiver unit.

2 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the switching circuitry to selectively connect the first transceiver unit to the first antenna via the bypass signal path or via the concurrent signal path based on a proximity of the extraction frequency band to the operational frequency band associated with the first transceiver unit.

3 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the operational frequency band corresponds to a frequency band in which the first transceiver unit is currently transmitting or receiving.

4 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the switching circuitry to selectively connect the first transceiver unit to the first antenna via the bypass signal path instead of via the concurrent signal path responsive to the extraction frequency band being adjacent to or at least partially overlapping with the operational frequency band associated with the first transceiver unit.

5 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the operational frequency band associated with the first transceiver unit comprises a band assignment that comports with a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard.

6 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switching circuitry is configured to:
connect the second transceiver unit to the first antenna via the concurrent signal path responsive to connection of the first transceiver unit to the first antenna via the concurrent signal path; and disconnect the second transceiver unit from the first antenna responsive to connection of the first transceiver unit to the first antenna via the bypass signal path.

7 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the switched extractor includes another bypass line; and the switching circuitry is coupled to the other bypass line, the switching circuitry configured to selectively establish:
another bypass signal path including the other bypass line;
the bypass signal path including the bypass line; or
the concurrent signal path including the extractor.

8 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the switching circuitry to selectively connect the second transceiver unit to the first antenna via the other bypass signal path or via the concurrent signal path.

9 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the switching circuitry is configured to:
connect the first transceiver unit to the first antenna via the concurrent signal path responsive to connection of the second transceiver unit to the first antenna via the concurrent signal path; and disconnect the first transceiver unit from the first antenna responsive to connection of the second transceiver unit to the first antenna via the other bypass signal path.

10 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the first transceiver unit is configured to communicate via a wireless wide area network (WWAN); and the second transceiver unit is configured to communicate via a wireless local area network (WLAN).

11 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:
the at least one processor is configured to cause the switching circuitry to establish a bypass mode of the switched extractor by connecting the first transceiver unit to the first antenna via the bypass signal path instead of via the concurrent signal path; the first transceiver unit is configured to be actively communicating via the WWAN using the first antenna for the bypass mode of the switched extractor; and the second transceiver unit is configured to be actively communicating via the WLAN using the second antenna for the bypass mode of the switched extractor.

12 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11 , wherein:
the first transceiver unit is configured to be actively communicating via the WWAN on a WWAN band; the second transceiver unit is configured to be actively communicating via the WLAN on a WLAN band; and the at least one processor is configured to cause the switching circuitry to establish the bypass mode of the switched extractor responsive to the WWAN band being adjacent to or at least partially overlapping with the WLAN band.

13 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:
the at least one processor is configured to cause the switching circuitry to establish a concurrent mode of the switched extractor by connecting the first transceiver unit and the second transceiver unit to the first antenna via the concurrent signal path; the first transceiver unit is configured to be actively communicating via the WWAN using the first antenna for the concurrent mode of the switched extractor; and the second transceiver unit is configured to be actively communicating via the WLAN using the first antenna for the concurrent mode of the switched extractor.

14 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 13 , wherein:
the first transceiver unit is configured to be actively communicating via the WWAN on a first portion of a WWAN band having at least the first portion and a second portion; the second transceiver unit is configured to be actively communicating via the WLAN on a WLAN band; and the at least one processor is configured to cause the switching circuitry to establish the concurrent mode of the switched extractor responsive to the second portion of the WWAN band being adjacent to or at least partially overlapping with the WLAN band.

15 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:
the at least one processor is configured to establish a concurrent mode using the concurrent signal path at a first time; a first portion of the multiple transceiver units, including the first transceiver unit, is configured to communicate via the WWAN using a first multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) configuration at the first time; and a second portion of the multiple transceiver units, including the second transceiver unit, is configured to communicate via the WLAN using a second MIMO configuration at the first time.

16 . The wireless communications apparatus of claim 15 , wherein:
the at least one processor is configured to establish a bypass mod

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Freisleben Stefan
• Heide Patric
• Chernyakov Alexander
• Shevelov Mykola
• Wong Wai San
• Gavryliuk Oleksandr
• Komakha Petro
• Sevskiy Georgiy
• Beaudin Steve Andre
• Maldonado David

Classifications

• H04B1/0057

  using diplexing or multiplexing filters for selecting the desired band · CPC title

• H04B7/0413 Primary

  MIMO systems · CPC title

• H04B1/18

  Input circuits, e.g. for coupling to an antenna or a transmission line (coupling networks between antennas or lines and receivers independent of the nature of the receiver H03H) · CPC title

• H04B1/40 Primary

  Circuits · CPC title