Systems and methods of antenna diversity switching

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9825688-B2
Application number	US-201514633716-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2015
Priority date	Feb 27, 2015
Publication date	Nov 21, 2017
Grant date	Nov 21, 2017

Abstract

An audio device capable of intelligently switching between multiple antennas is provided. The audio device receives a wireless signal by a default receiving antenna, determines signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by various antennas, compares the signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by the various antennas, and selects a receiving antenna from the various antennas to receive the wireless signal based on the comparison of the signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by the various antennas.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An audio device comprising:
at least one speaker;
a plurality of antennas to receive a wireless signal from a source;
a controller coupled to the plurality of antennas and the at least one speaker, the controller including at least one processor coupled to a memory; and
an antenna manager component executable by the at least one processor and configured to:
receive the wireless signal by a default receiving antenna, the default receiving antenna being one antenna of the plurality of antennas;
determine one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of at least two antennas of the plurality of antennas over a period of time, wherein the one or more signal quality metrics comprise an average received signal strength and a standard deviation of received signal strength;
compare the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of the at least two antennas over the period of time;
select a receiving antenna from the at least two antennas to receive the wireless signal based on the comparison between the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of the at least two antennas, wherein in selecting the receiving antenna the antenna manager is configured to select the receiving antenna at least in part by selecting one antenna from the at least two antennas with a highest average received signal strength and a highest standard deviation of received signal strength over the period of time; and
receive the wireless signal by the selected receiving antenna.

2. The audio device of claim 1 , wherein the antenna manager is further configured to monitor a duration of time each antenna of the at least two antennas is selected to receive the wireless signal and set the default receiving antenna to one antenna from the at least two antennas with a longest duration of time selected to receive the wireless signal.

3. The audio device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one speaker, at least one antenna, and the controller are disposed within a housing.

4. The audio device of claim 3 , wherein the housing is an over-ear housing, an on-ear housing, or an in-ear housing.

5. The audio device of claim 3 , wherein the housing includes a headphone housing constructed to be worn about a head of a subject, the headphone housing having a first side including a first antenna of the at least two antennas and a second side including a second antenna of the at least two antennas.

6. The audio device of claim 5 , wherein the antenna manager is further configured to determine whether the source is on a left side of the subject or a right side of the subject based on the comparison between the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by the at least two antennas.

7. The audio device of claim 6 , wherein the antenna manager is further configured to select the receiving antenna at least in part by selecting the first antenna responsive to determining that the source is on the left side of the subject or selecting the second antenna responsive to determining that the source is on the right side of the subject.

8. The audio device of claim 1 , wherein the wireless signal includes audio information encoded in a BLUETOOTH wireless communication protocol and wherein the audio device further comprises an audio manager component executable by the at least one processor and configured to receive the audio information, generate an audio signal based on the audio information, and provide the audio signal to the at least one speaker.

9. The audio device of claim 1 , further comprising communication circuitry coupled between the controller and the at least two antennas, the communication circuitry including a receiver or a switch.

10. A method of antenna switching in an audio device comprising:
receiving a wireless signal from a source device by a default receiving antenna from a plurality of antennas;
determining one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of at least two antennas of the plurality of antennas over a period of time, wherein the one or more signal quality metrics comprise an average received signal strength and a standard deviation of received signal strength;
comparing the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of the at least two antennas;
selecting a receiving antenna from the at least two antennas to receive the wireless signal based on the comparison between the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of the at least two antennas, wherein selecting the receiving antenna comprises selecting one antenna from the at least two antennas with a highest average received signal strength and a highest standard deviation of received signal strength over the period of time; and
receiving the wireless signal by the selected receiving antenna.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein comparing the one or more signal quality metrics includes comparing the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by the default receiving antenna to a threshold and wherein selecting the receiving antenna includes selecting the default receiving antenna responsive to the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by the default receiving antenna exceeding the threshold.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising adjusting the threshold based on the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of the at least two antennas over the period of time.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining whether the source device is on the left side of a subject or the right side of the subject based on the comparison between the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of the at least two antennas over the period of time.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising monitoring a duration of time each antenna of the at least two antennas is selected to receive the wireless signal and setting the default receiving antenna to one antenna from that at least two antennas with a longest duration of time selected to receive the wireless signal.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein receiving the wireless signal includes receiving audio information encoded in a BLUETOOTH wireless communication protocol and wherein the method further comprises generating an audio signal based on the audio information and playing the audio signal by a sound transducer of the audio device.

16. An antenna switching system comprising:
a plurality of antennas to receive a wireless signal from a source;
a plurality of controllers connected in a network, each controller of the plurality of controllers being coupled to at least one antenna of the plurality of antennas and including at least one processor coupled to a memory; and
an antenna manager component, executable by the at least one processor of at least one controller of the plurality of controllers, configured to:
receive the wireless signal by a default receiving antenna, the default receiving antenna being one antenna of the plurality of antennas;
determine one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of at least two antennas of the plurality of antennas over a period of time, wherein the one or more signal quality metrics comprise an average received signal strength and a standard deviation of received signal strength;
compare the one or more signal quality metrics of the wireless signal received by each of the at least two antennas;
select a

Assignees

• Bose Corp

Inventors

• Chen Louis Gwo-Chung
• Patil Naganagouda

Classifications

• H04B7/0814 Primary

  based on current reception conditions, e.g. switching to different antenna when signal level is below threshold · CPC title

• H04R2420/07

  Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones · CPC title

• H01Q3/24

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

• H01Q21/28

  Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems {(multiple beam H01Q25/00)} · CPC title

• H04R2420/01

  Input selection or mixing for amplifiers or loudspeakers · CPC title