US 10,219,167 B2Granted

Antenna array uplink sector level sweep to allow coexistence with other in-device radios

AssigneeApple Inc.

InventorsQiuming Li, Nicholas M. McDonnell

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Abstract

A method for operating a first radio of a number of radios within a radio frequency system may include sending a first command to the first radio of the plurality of radios to initiate an antenna sector level sweep and determining a first set of metrics associated with a first set of signals from other radios of the plurality of radios that correspond to the antenna sector level sweep. The method may also include receiving a second set of metrics associated with the first set of signals from a responder electronic device and identifying a sector of a number of sectors associated with the antenna sector level sweep based on the first set of metrics and the second set of metrics. The method may then involve sending a second command to the first radio to transmit data to the responder device via the identified sector.

Claims21

Dependent claims

An electronic device comprising a radio frequency system configured to wirelessly transmit data, wherein the radio frequency system comprises:

a plurality of radios configured to facilitate communication with one or more other electronic devices;
a processor configured to:
send a first command to a first radio of the plurality of radios to initiate an antenna sector level sweep;
determine a first set of metrics associated with a first set of signals from one or more responder electronic devices, wherein the one or more responder electronic devices correspond to other radios of the plurality of radios that correspond to the antenna sector level sweep, wherein the first set of metrics comprises an indication of interference between at least two of the other radios in response to the first set of signals being transmitted;
receive a second set of metrics associated with the first set of signals from the one or more responder electronic devices;
identify a sector as an identified sector of a plurality of sectors associated with the antenna sector level sweep based on the first set of metrics and the second set of metrics;
and
send a second command to the first radio to transmit the data to the one or more other responder electronic devices via the identified sector of the plurality of sectors.

5 more elements

A method for operating a first radio of a plurality of radios within a radio frequency system, comprising:

sending, via one or more processors, a first command to the first radio of the plurality of radios to perform an antenna sector level sweep;
determining, via the one or more processors, a first set of metrics of other radios of the plurality of radios associated with a first set of signals that correspond to the antenna sector level sweep, wherein the first set of metrics comprises an indication of interference between at least two of the other radios in response to the first set of signals being transmitted;
receiving, via the one or more processors, a second set of metrics associated with the first set of signals from a communication station;
identifying, via the one or more processors, a sector of a plurality of sectors, a channel of a plurality of channels, a sub-channel of a plurality of sub-channels, or any combination thereof associated with the antenna sector level sweep based on the first set of metrics and the second set of metrics;
and
sending, via the one or more processors, a second command to the first radio to transmit data to the communication station via the sector, the channel, the sub-channel, or any combination thereof.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.