Combined signal produced from signal copies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9973291-B2
Application number	US-201615046542-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 18, 2016
Priority date	Feb 18, 2016
Publication date	May 15, 2018
Grant date	May 15, 2018

Abstract

Various embodiments are described that relate to a combined signal. A signal can be transmitted from a transmitter and be received by a receiver. The receiver can be an antenna array that comprises multiple individual antenna elements. At least some of these individual elements can receive the transmitted signal at different reception angles and these received signals can be considered signal copies. The reception angle can influence a power level of a signal copy. Multiple signal copies can be combined together into a combined signal that has a greater power level than the individual signal copies used in the combination.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
an obtainment component configured to obtain a first signal copy of a signal at a first power level received from a first antenna element and configured to receive a second signal copy of the signal at a second power level received from a second antenna element;
a combination component configured to combine the first signal copy with the second signal copy to produce a combined signal of a combined power level;
an evaluation component configured to evaluate the first signal copy, the second signal copy, and a third signal copy to produce an evaluation result; and
a selection component configured to select a combination group for combination by the combination component, the selection being based, at least in part, on the evaluation result,
where the combined power level is greater than the first power level,
where the combined power level is greater than the second power level,
where the first antenna element and the second antenna element are not the same antenna element,
where the third signal copy is a copy of the signal at a third power level received from a third antenna element,
where the combination group comprises the first signal copy and the second signal copy when the evaluation result suggests the first signal copy and the second signal copy should be part of the combination group,
where the combination component is configured to combine the individual signal copies of the combination group into the combined signal, and
where the obtainment component, the combination component, the evaluation component, the selection component, or a combination thereof is implemented, at least in part, by way of non-software.

2. The system of claim 1 , where the first antenna element the second antenna element are part of a polygonal-forming array.

3. The system of claim 2 , where the first antenna element and the second antenna element are adjacent to one another.

4. The system of claim 1 , where the third signal copy is not part of the combination group and is not combined into the combined signal.

5. The system of claim 1 , comprising:
a delay component configured to delay the first signal copy such that the first signal copy is closer in phase to the second signal copy than absent the delay,
where the combination component is configured to combine the first signal copy after delay with the second signal copy to produce the combined signal.

6. The system of claim 3 ,
where the third antenna element is part of a polygonal-forming array,
where the third antenna element is adjacent to the second antenna element,
where the third antenna element is not adjacent to the first antenna element, and
where the combination group does not comprise the third signal copy when the evaluation result suggests the third signal copy should not be part of the combination group.

7. The system of claim 1 ,
where the evaluation component is configured to evaluate the first signal copy, the second signal copy, and a third signal copy with regard to a reception angle to produce the evaluation result.

8. The system of claim 1 ,
where the evaluation component is configured to evaluate the first signal copy, the second signal copy, and a third signal copy with regard to a reception location to produce the evaluation result.

9. A system, comprising:
a first antenna element configured to receive a first signal copy of a signal at a first power level from a first reception angle;
a second antenna element configured to receive a second signal copy of the signal at a second power level from a second reception angle; and
a third antenna element configured to receive a third signal copy of the signal at a third power level from a third reception angle,
where a combiner collects and combines the first signal copy with the second signal copy to produce a combined signal of a combined power level,
where the combiner does not combine the third signal copy into the combined signal
where the combined power level is greater than the first power level, and
where the combined power level is greater than the second power level.

10. The system of claim 9 ,
where the first antenna element is adjacent to the second antenna element,
where the second antenna element is adjacent to the third antenna element,
where the first power level is greater than the second power level, and
where the second power level is greater than the third power level.

11. The system of claim 9 , comprising:
a transfer component configured to cause transfer of the first signal copy and second signal copy to the combiner and prevent transfer of the third signal copy to the combiner.

12. The system of claim 9 ,
where the first power level is proportional to the first reception angle,
where the second power level is proportional to the second reception angle,
where the third power level is proportional to the third reception angle, and
where the combiner does not combine the third signal copy due to the third reception angle being too small in comparison to a threshold.

13. The system of claim 9 ,
where the first antenna element, the second element, and the third antenna element are part of an enclosed polygonal array.

14. The system of claim 9 ,
where prior to being combined by the combiner, the first signal copy is subjected to phase delay to bring the first signal copy closer in phase to the second signal copy.

15. The system of claim 14 , comprising:
the combiner,
where prior to being combined by the combiner, the third signal copy is subjected to phase delay to bring the third signal copy closer in phase to the second signal copy.

16. A method, comprising:
receiving a first signal copy at a first power level intercepted by a first antenna element at a first reception angle;
receiving a second signal copy at a second power level intercepted by a second antenna element at a second reception angle;
combining the first signal copy and the second signal copy into a combined signal with a combined power; and
delaying, expressly, a phase of the first signal copy to bring the first signal copy closer in phase to the second signal copy,
where the combined power level is greater than the first power level,
where the combined power level is greater than the second power level, and
where the first antenna element and the second antenna element are not the same antenna element,
where the first antenna element and the second antenna element are part of an enclosed polygonal array,
where the first power level is proportional to the first reception angle, and where the second power level is proportional to the second reception angle,
where combining the first signal copy and the second signal copy into the combined signal with the combined power comprises combining the first signal copy after being delayed and the second signal copy into the combined signal with the combined power, and
where the second signal copy is not delayed expressly.

17. The method of claim 16 , comprising:
receiving a third signal copy at a third power level intercepted by a third antenna element at a third reception angle; and
disregarding the third signal copy such that the third signal copy is not combined into the combined signal,
where the first antenna element and the third antenna element are not the same element,
where the second antenna element and the third antenna element are not the same element,
where the third antenna element is part of the enclosed polygonal array.

18. The method of claim 17 , comprising:
evaluating the t

Assignees

• Us Army

Inventors

• Goodall Steven
• Chen Shuguang

Classifications

• H04J1/08 Primary

  Arrangements for combining channels {(branching filters H01P1/213, H03H7/46)} · CPC title

• H04L5/0058

  Allocation criteria · CPC title

• H04B7/0868 Primary

  Hybrid systems, i.e. switching and combining · CPC title

• H04Q1/00

  Details of selecting apparatus or arrangements · CPC title

• H04B1/08

  Constructional details, e.g. cabinet · CPC title