The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 11, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 31, 1998
Philip Lamoureux, Succasunna, NJ (US);
Alex Matusevich, Morris Plains, NJ (US);
Myles Patrick Murphy, Annandale, NJ (US);
Max Aaron Solondz, Morris Township Morris County, NJ (US);
Norman Gerard Ziesse, Chester, NJ (US);
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
A time slotted system capable of switching between two or more antennas during the guard times of the time slots. Switching between antennas during the guard time of the time slots eliminates any disturbance to the user, since it eliminates any loud noise, or popping that can occur during the switching between antennas. The beamwidth of each of the antennas is narrower than needed to cover a sector of a cell of the system, increasing the size of the cell due to the larger gain of the narrower beamwidth antenna elements. The system also includes a scanning radio for determining the optimal signal amongst the signals received on the antennas, and a switch for coupling the antenna receiving the optimal signal to a receiver system. In one embodiment of the invention the optimal signal is based on the information content of the signal, such as the signal's bit error rate. In another embodiment of the invention, the optimal antenna is selected, and a plurality of a combined signals is obtained by combining the signal received on the optimal antenna and a signal received on one of the other antennas, until all of the antennas have been paired with the optimal antenna. The optimal combined signal is selected, and the antenna pair that received the signals that produced the optimal combined signal are coupled to the receiver system.