Access point and associated antenna selecting method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9717093-B2
Application number	US-201514856569-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 17, 2015
Priority date	Feb 16, 2015
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

An access point includes an antenna module, a wireless network module and a processor, wherein when the access point connects with an electronic device and operates in a training stage to determine at least an optimal antenna for the electronic device, the processor determines a number of a plurality of training packets, a delay time between the plurality of training packets and a length of at least one of the plurality of training packets according to a connecting status between the access point and the electronic device, and transmits the plurality of training packets to the electronic device via the wireless network module and the antenna module.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An access point, comprising:
a plurality of antennas;
a wireless network circuit, coupled to the plurality of antennas; and
a processor, coupled to the wireless network circuit;
wherein when the processor of the access point is connected with an electronic device via the plurality of antennas and operates in a training stage to determine at least an optimal antenna for the electronic device, the processor determines a number of a plurality of training packets, a delay time between the plurality of training packets, or a length of at least one of the plurality of training packets according to a connecting status between the processor of the access point and the electronic device, and transmits the plurality of training packets to the electronic device via the wireless network circuit and the plurality of antennas.

2. The access point of claim 1 , wherein each antenna comprises a plurality of directional antennas, and when the processor of the access point operates in the training stage, the processor selects one directional antenna from each antenna for determining a set of optimal antennas for the electronic device.

3. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the processor determines the number of the plurality of training packets according to a connecting strength of the connecting status between the processor of the access point and the electronic device, and the connecting strength is proportional to the number of the plurality of training packets.

4. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the processor determines the delay time between the plurality of training packets according to a connecting strength of the connecting status between the processor of the access point and the electronic device, and the connecting strength is inverse proportional to the delay time between the plurality of training packets.

5. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the processor determines the length of the at least one of the plurality of training packets according to a connecting strength of the connecting status between the processor of the access point and the electronic device, and the connecting strength is proportional to the lengths of the at least one of the plurality of training packets.

6. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the connecting status is a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) code.

7. The access point of claim 6 , wherein the processor determines a level of a connecting strength between the processor of the access point and the electronic device according to the MCS code and determines the number of the plurality of training packets, the delay time between the plurality of training packets, or the length of the at least one of the plurality of training packets according to the connecting strength of the connecting status.

8. The access point of claim 6 , wherein the connecting status is a current MCS code employed in the processor of the access point and the electronic device.

9. The access point of claim 6 , wherein, before the processor of the access point operates in the training stage, the MCS code is produced by the wireless network circuit after the processor of the access point connects with the electronic device.

10. The access point of claim 1 , wherein the processor further comprises a conversion table, wherein the conversion table records a plurality of levels of the connecting strength of the connecting status and the number of the plurality of training packets, the delay time between the plurality of training packets, or the length of the at least one of the plurality of training packets corresponds to each level of the connecting strength; and the processor determines the number of the plurality of training packets, the delay time between the plurality of training packets or the length of the at least one of the plurality of training packets according to the connecting strength from the conversion table.

11. The access point of claim 10 , wherein connecting status comprises a connecting speed between the processor of the access point and the electronic device.

12. An antenna selecting method of an access point, wherein the access point comprises an antenna module which comprising a plurality of antennas, the antenna selecting method comprising:
connecting with an electronic device and operating in a training stage;
determining a number of a plurality of training packets, a delay time between the plurality of training packets or a length of at least one of the plurality of training packets according to a connecting status between the access point and the electronic device;
transmitting the plurality of training packets to the electronic device; and
determining at least an optimal antenna for the electronic device according to a response of the electronic device corresponding to the plurality of training packets.

13. The antenna selecting method of claim 12 , wherein each antenna of the antenna module comprises a plurality of directional antennas, and when the access point operates in the training stage, the access point selects one directional antenna from each antenna for determining a set of optimal antennas for the electronic device.

14. The antenna selecting method of claim 12 , wherein the step of the access point determining the number of the plurality of training packets, the delay time between the plurality of training packets or the length of the at least one of the plurality of training packets according to the connecting status between the access point and the electronic device comprises:
determining the number of the plurality of training packets according to a connecting strength of the connecting status between the access point and the electronic device, wherein the connecting strength is proportional to the number of the plurality of training packets.

15. The antenna selecting method of claim 12 , wherein the step of the access point determining the packet quantity of the plurality of training packets, the delay time between two of the plurality of training packets or the length of packet according to the connecting status between the access point and the electronic device comprises:
determining the delay time between two of the plurality of training packets according to a connecting magnitude between the access point and the electronic device, wherein when the connecting strength of the connecting status is inverse proportional to the delay time between the plurality of training packets.

16. The antenna selecting method of claim 12 , wherein the step of the access point determining the number of the plurality of training packets, the delay time between the plurality of training packets or the length of the at least one of the plurality of training packets according to the connecting status between the access point and the electronic device comprises:
determining the length of the at least one of the plurality of training packets according to a connecting strength of the connecting status between the access point and the electronic device, wherein the connecting strength is proportional to the length of the at least one of the plurality of training packets.

17. The antenna selecting method of claim 12 , wherein the connecting status is a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) code.

18. The antenna selecting method of claim 17 , wherein the connecting status is a current employing MCS code of the access point and the electronic device.

19. The antenna selecting method of claim 17 , wherein the MCS code is produced by a wireless network circuit after the access point connects with the elect

Assignees

• Wistron Neweb Corp

Inventors

• Wei Ya-Ping
• Kang Fu-Ming

Classifications

• H04B7/0802

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

• H04B7/0608 Primary

  Antenna selection according to transmission parameters · CPC title

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W72/542 Primary

  using measured or perceived quality · CPC title

• H04W72/085 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic