Method and apparatus for reception of terrestrial digital television signals

A receiver for intercepting a modulated radio signal, the receiver comprising:

• a plurality of antennas having different directionality to produce a corresponding plurality of input signals;
• means for evaluating the quality of the plurality of input signals;
• a signal processor for demodulating a signal applied to its input;
• and
• means responsive to the evaluating means for connecting one of the antennas to the input of the signal processor based on the quality of the input signals

A receiver for intercepting a modulated radio signal, the receiver comprising:

• a plurality of antennas having different directionality to produce a corresponding plurality of input signals;
• means for evaluating the quality of the plurality of input signals;
• a plurality of signal processors connected to the respective antennas for demodulating the respective plurality of input signals;
• a utilization circuit;
• and
• means responsive to the evaluating means for connecting one of the signal processors to the utilization circuit based on the quality of the input signals.

A receiver for intercepting a modulated radio signal, the receiver comprising:

• a plurality of antennas having different directionality to produce a corresponding plurality of input signals;
• means for evaluating the quality of one or more criteria of the input signals;
• a plurality of signal processors connected to the respective antennas for demodulating the respective plurality of input signals;
• a utilization circuit;
• and
• means responsive to the evaluating means for connecting one of the signal processors to the utilization circuit based on the quality of the input signals.

A method for receiving a television signal arranged as video lines and the video lines are arranged as video frames, the method comprising the steps of:

• intercepting a digital television signal with a plurality of antennas having different directionality to produce a corresponding plurality of input signals;
• evaluating the quality of the input signals on a line by line or frame by frame basis;
• combining the evaluated input signals to produce a single VSB processed signal that reduces the effects of multi-path echoes;
• decoding the VSB processed signal to form a display drive signal.

A receiver for intercepting a modulated radio signal having a defined format, the receiver comprising:

• a plurality of antennas having different directionality to produce a corresponding plurality of input signals;
• means for evaluating the quality of the plurality of input signals on a line by line or frame by frame basis;
• a signal processor for demodulating a signal applied to its input;
• and
• means responsive to the evaluating means for connecting one of the antennas to the input of the signal processor based on the quality of the input signals.