United States Patent 7,705,779
Goldberg , et al. April 27, 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wireless communication apparatus for determining direction of arrival information to form a three-dimensional beam used by a transceiver
Abstract
A wireless communication method and antenna system for determining the direction of arrival (DOA) of received signals in azimuth and elevation, (i.e., in three dimensions), to form a beam for transmitting and receiving signals. The system includes two antenna arrays, each having a plurality of antenna elements, two first stage multi-mode-port matrices, at least one second stage multi-mode-port matrix, an azimuth phase detector, an elevation amplitude detector, a plurality of phase shifters and a transceiver. The antenna arrays and the first stage multi-mode-port matrices form a plurality of orthogonal omni-directional modes. Each of the modes has a characteristic phase set. Two of the modes' phases are used to determine DOA in azimuth. The second stage multi-mode-port matrix forms a sum-mode and a difference-mode used to determine the DOA of the received signals in elevation. A beam is formed in the direction of the received signals by adjusting the phase shifters.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Goldberg; Steven J. (Downington, PA), Lynch; Michael J. (Merritt Island, FL), Chiang; Bing A. (Melbourne, FL)
Assignee: InterDigital Technology Corporation (Wilmington, DE)
Appl. No.: 12/192,477
Filed: August 15, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related U.S. Patent Documents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application Number Filing Date Patent Number Issue Date
11285683 Nov., 2005 7427953
11025421 Jan., 2006 6992622
60619223 Oct., 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current U.S. Class: 342/373
Current International Class: H01Q 3/00 (20060101)
Field of Search: 342/373-374