# US 2019/0170847 A1 · Receiver-system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2019/0170847 A1 - Document ID: US20190170847A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/207,120 - Filed: 2018-12-01 - Published: 2019-06-06 - Earliest claimed: 2017-12-01 - Assignees: NXP B.V. - Applicants: NXP B.V. - Inventors: Olivier Jamin; Anton Salfelner - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190170847A1 ## CPC - G01S 3/043: {Receivers} - G01S 3/46: using antennas spaced apart and measuring phase or time difference between signals therefrom, i.e. path-difference systems - H04B 7/08: at the receiving station - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - H04B: TRANSMISSION ## Abstract A receiver-system comprising a path-switching-unit, a redirect-switching-unit, a plurality of receive-paths, and a processor. The path-switching-unit has a plurality of path-switch-input-terminals that are each couplable to a receive-antenna. The redirect-switching-unit has a plurality of redirect-switch-output-terminals that are each associated with one of the plurality of path-switch-input-terminals in order to define a plurality of switch-terminal-pairs. The receive-paths are connected between a path-switch-output-terminal and a redirect-switch-input-terminal. The path-switching-unit and the redirect-switching-unit are configured to selectively connect each receive-path between different ones of the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs, based on a switch-control-signal. The processor can receive first-processor-input-signals from a first configuration of the plurality of receive paths selectively connected between the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs; receive further-processor-input-signals from one or more further configurations of the plurality of receive-paths selectively connected between the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs; and determine an angle-of-arrival associated with the input-signals based on the first-processor-input-signals and further-processor-input-signals. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A receiver-system comprising: a path-switching-unit with a plurality of path-switch-input-terminals and a plurality of path-switch-output-terminals, wherein each of the plurality of path-switch-input-terminals is couplable to a receive-antenna and is configured to receive input-signals; a redirect-switching-unit with a plurality of redirect-switch-input-terminals and a plurality of redirect-switch-output-terminals, wherein each of the plurality of redirect-switch-output-terminals is associated with one of the plurality of path-switch-input-terminals in order to define a plurality of switch-terminal-pairs; a plurality of receive-paths that are connected between a path-switch-output-terminal and a redirect-switch-input-terminal, wherein each receive-path comprises one or more processing blocks; wherein the path-switching-unit and the redirect-switching-unit are configured to selectively connect each receive-path between different ones of the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs, based on a switch-control-signal; wherein the receiver-system further comprises a processor, connected to the redirect-switch-output-terminals, and configured to: receive first-processor-input-signals from a first configuration of the plurality of receive paths selectively connected between the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs; receive further-processor-input-signals from one or more further configurations of the plurality of receive-paths selectively connected between the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs; and determine an angle-of-arrival associated with the input-signals based on the first-processor-input-signals and further-processor-input-signals. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The receiver system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine the angle-of-arrival by performing an averaging operation, either directly or indirectly, on the first-processor-input-signals and further-processor-input-signals. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The receiver-system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine: a first-angle-of-arrival-measurement based on the first-processor-input-signals; one or more further-angle-of-arrival-measurements based on the further-processor-input-signals; and the angle-of-arrival associated with the input-signals based on an average of the first-angle-of-arrival-measurement and the one or more further-angle-of-arrival-measurements. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The receiver-system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine: for each switch-terminal-pair: an average-processor-input-signal by combining: (i) the first-processor-input-signal for the switch-terminal-pair; with (ii) the further-processor-input-signal for the same switch-terminal-pair received via a different receive-path; and the angle-of-arrival based on the average-processor-input-signals for each of the switch-terminal-pairs. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The receiver-system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine the angle-of-arrival using relative-phase-differences or relative-time-differences between input-signals received via different switch-terminal-pairs. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The receiver-system of claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to provide the switch-control-signal to the path-switching-unit and the redirect-switching-unit, wherein the controller is configured to provide the switch-control-signal in response to input-signals received by one or more of the plurality of path-switch-input-terminals. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The receiver-system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine: the angle-of-arrival associated with the input-signals based on differences between one first-processor-input-signal and one or more further-processor-input-signals received via the same receive-path, for one or more receive-paths. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The receiver-system of claim 1, in which the switch-control-signal is configured to control the path-switching-unit and the redirect-switching-unit such that the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs remain connected together through the receive-paths irrespective of which of the receive-paths is used to process any particular input-signal. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The receiver-system of claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to change the state of the switch-control-signal between frames of the input-signals. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The receiver-system of claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to change the state of the switch-control-signal within a single frame of the input-signals. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The receiver-system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of receive-paths comprises one or more of the following processing blocks: a low-noise-amplifier; an analog to digital converter; and a signal processing block. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The receiver-system of claim 1, wherein the receiver-system is configured to be connected to at least three receive-antennas wherein at least one of the at least three receive-antennas is not collinear with the other receive-antennas, and the processor is configured to determine an azimuthal angle-of-arrival associated with the input-signals and an elevation-angle-of-arrival associated with the input-signals. ### Claim 13 A method of determining an angle-of-arrival of input-signals received at a receiver-system, wherein the receiver-system comprises: a plurality of receive-paths that each comprise one or more processing blocks, wherein each of the plurality of receive-paths is selectively connectable between different ones of a plurality of switch-terminal-pairs; the method comprising: receiving first-processor-input-signals from a first configuration of the plurality of receive paths between the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs; receiving further-processor-input-signals from one or more further configurations of the plurality of receive-paths between the plurality of switch-terminal-pairs; and determining an angle-of-arrival associated with the input-signals based on the received first-processor-input-signals and further-processor-input-signals. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising: providing a switch-control-signal to set the configuration of the plurality of receive paths. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: providing the switch-control-signal to change the configuration of the plurality of receive paths from the first configuration to a further configuration after receiving the first-processor-input-signals.