Switchable antenna elements for a wireless communications device

摘要

A wireless communications device includes multiple switchable antenna elements that may be used to improve interfacing of the wireless communications device with other devices, such as for interfacing of an RFID-equipped mobile communications device with other RFID devices (e.g., to better ensure power delivery to and/or communication with such other RFID devices) and/or may be used to characterize various aspects of the environment around the wireless communications device, such as for proximity-based functionality.

主权项

1. A wireless communications device comprising:
a housing; a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver disposed in the housing; a plurality of antennas distributed with respect to the housing; a switch fabric coupled to the RF transceiver and the plurality of antennas, wherein the switch fabric is configured to couple the RF transceiver to one or more of the plurality of antennas; and circuitry disposed in the housing and coupled to the RF transceiver and switch fabric, the circuitry configured to:
compare at least one characteristic of a reflected RF reference signal for each of the plurality of antennas with that of a transmitted RF reference signal to determine a return loss of each of the plurality of antennas;select at least two antennas of the plurality of antennas based on the at least one determined characteristic; andconfigure the switch fabric to couple the selected at least two antennas to the RF transceiver so that a signal received from the RF transceiver will be coupled to and transmitted by the at least two antennas at the same time.