US 7,469,152 B2 · Method and apparatus for an adaptive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications systems

Abstract

An adaptive MIMO communications system includes a multifunctional reconfigurable antenna with a selectively alterable effective physical antenna array configuration and radiation/polarization properties, which configuration and properties is a component in the optimization of the adaptive system parameters. The multifunctional reconfigurable antenna comprises a plurality of antenna components and a plurality of selectively controllable switches coupling selected ones of the plurality of antenna components together into a multifunctional reconfigurable subarray of antenna components. A processing unit coupled to the multifunctional reconfigurable antenna determines communication channel conditions for generating adaptive control signals to the plurality of selectively controllable switches to selectively apply a selected space-time coding protocol or a selected beam forming protocol together on the plurality of antenna components depending on channel conditions.

Claims56

Dependent claims

An improvement in an adaptive MIMO communications system comprising;

a multifunctional reconfigurable antenna array with a selectively alterable effective physical antenna array configuration and radiation/polarization properties, which configuration and properties is a component in the optimization of the adaptive system parameters, and
a processing unit coupled to the multifunctional reconfigurable antenna to determine communication channel conditions for generating adaptive control signals to the plurality of selectively controllable switches,
wherein the antenna communicates through a channel between a transmitter and a receiver, and where the processing unit generates adaptive control signals to the plurality of selectively controllable switches to utilize available partial channel information to dynamically change antenna behavior and provide the optimal performance in all cases to converge to space-time coding when the transmitter does not know the channel at all and to converge to beam forming when the transmitter knows the channel perfectly.

An improvement in a method of operating an adaptive MIMO communications system comprising:

providing a multifunctional reconfigurable antenna,
selectively reconfiguring the multifunctional reconfigurable antenna with a selectively alterable effective physical antenna array and selectively alterable radiation/polarization properties to optimize adaptive system parameters;
and
determining communication channel conditions, and generating adaptive control signals and communicating the control signals to the plurality of selectively controllable switches in response to the communication channel conditions,
wherein the antenna communicates through a channel between a transmitter and a receiver, and where generating adaptive control signals comprises applying adaptive control signals to the plurality of selectively controllable switches to utilize available partial channel information to dynamically change antenna behavior and provide the optimal performance in all cases to converge to space-time coding when the transmitter does not know the channel at all and to converge to beam forming when the transmitter knows the channel perfectly.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and apparatus for an adaptive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications systems

Life of this patent

Method and apparatus for an adaptive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications systems

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims56