Patent Application
20080309555
1. Field of the Invention
The invention provides a method for setting a smart antenna and a system thereof which are applied to the wireless network and, more particularly, to a method for switching the patterns of the smart antenna dynamically to obtain the optimal communication quality and the system thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the progress of the new generation wireless network technology IEEE 802.11a/b/g, the network bandwidth provided by it meets the demand for the audio and video in the digital home. However, in the practical household environment, since the wireless network stations are provided at different positions in the home, the transmitting process of the wireless signal is easily affected by the layout, wall, furniture and moving people in the home, and then the multi-path fading occurs. In addition, microwave oven or communication equipment using the same frequency band also interferes with the receiving performance of the stations, and then the audio and video data transmitted via the wireless network cannot keep stable, which troubles users enjoying the video program.
Conventionally, household wireless network uses omni-direction antenna design. Signals are transmitted toward surrounding by 360 degree with the antenna as the center. Thus, the radiation pattern cannot be adjusted for a specific station to obtain a preferred communication quality. Therefore, when the transmitting state of the network is unstable, the conventional method is using a low connection rate to transfer data to improve the anti-interference ability of the signals. Once one station encounters serious multi-path fading, or the connection quality is un-preferred because of interference caused by household appliances, the transmission rates of all the stations are turned down (such as from 54 Mbps to 24 Mbps). In this way, the connection rate actually used by the wireless network often is 24 Mbps or lower than 24 Mbps instead of commonly recognized 54 Mbps. Thus, the network bandwidth cannot be effectively used.
The invention provides a method for setting a smart antenna and a system thereof which are applied to the wireless network. The optimal antenna configuration of the antenna is determined according to the network environment and the station. The pattern of the smart antenna is set to be the optimal antenna configuration dynamically to improve the communication quality and reduce the multi-path fading or interference caused by other communication equipment. Thus, the wireless network may maintain a high transmission rate, and the network frequency band may be effectively used.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a method for determining an objective antenna configuration of an antenna is provided. The antenna has a plurality of antenna patterns and is used to communicate with at least a wireless communication device. The method includes the following steps. The connection quality of the wireless communication device corresponding to the antenna patterns is detected periodically in turn. The corresponding connection quality test results are stored. According to the connection quality test results, an objective connection quality test result is obtained. According to the antenna pattern that the objective connection quality test result corresponds to, the objective antenna configuration of the antenna is determined.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a system for determining an objective antenna configuration of an antenna is provided. The antenna has a plurality of antenna patterns and is used to communicate with at least a wireless communication device. The system includes an antenna controller, a state detector, a storage device and a processor. The state detector is used to detect the connection quality of the wireless communication device corresponding to the antenna patterns periodically in turn when the antenna and the wireless communication device transmit signals and stores the corresponding connection quality test results. The storage device is used to store a connection quality test result corresponding to the connection quality. The processor is coupled to the antenna controller, the state detector and the storage device, and the processor is used to obtain an objective connection quality test result according to the connection quality test results and to determine the objective antenna configuration according to the antenna pattern that the objective connection quality test result corresponds to.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.
When the system 100 begins to compute the optimal antenna configuration of the antenna 110 corresponding to the wireless communication device 120, the processor 108 sets the pattern of the antenna 110 to be a first antenna pattern of a plurality of antenna patterns supported by the antenna 110 via the antenna controller 102. Then, signals are transmitted between the set antenna 110 and the wireless communication device 120. At that moment, the state detector 104 detects the connection quality between the wireless communication device 120 and the access point, reads the connection quality test result from the receiving module 122 of the wireless communication device 120 and transmits the connection quality test result to the processor 108 to do follow-up processing. In the embodiment, the connection quality test result read by the state detector 104 includes received signal strength indicator (RSSI), signal transmission rate, signal receiving rate of the data and acknowledgement received by the access point and transmitted by the wireless communication device 120 and the number of times of error re-transmission which happens when the access point transmits data to the wireless communication device 120. After the test results are transmitted to the processor 108, they are stored in the storage device 106 via the processor 108, or the processor 108 analyzes the test results (for example, compute the average RSSI) and stores the analysis result in the storage device 106.
Afterward, the processor 108 sets the pattern of the antenna 110 to be the second antenna pattern via the antenna controller 102, and then signals are transmitted between the set antenna 110 and the wireless communication device 120. The state detector 104 reads the connection quality test result again and stores the connection quality test result in the storage device 106 via the processor 108. The above steps are repeated until the connection quality test result corresponding to each antenna pattern is detected and stored. Then, the processor 108 performs an optimum calculation according to a plurality of connection quality test results stored in the storage device 106 to obtain an optimal connection quality test result. According to the antenna pattern that the optimal connection quality test result corresponds to, the optimal antenna configuration of the antenna 110 is determined. Both of the optimal antenna configuration determined at last and the corresponding optimal connection quality test result are stored in the storage device 106. For example, the processor 108 performs an optimum algorithm to obtain a convergence value of each connection quality test result. Then, the convergence values are compared to obtain an optimal connection quality test result, and the antenna pattern that the optimal connection quality test result corresponds to is the optimal antenna configuration that the antenna 110 uses to communicate with the wireless communication device 120. The algorithm that the processor 108 uses is not limited, as long as the algorithm may be used to obtain an optimal connection quality test result from the connection quality test results, the algorithm may be applied in the invention.
In the step 202, the pattern of the antenna 110 is set to be one antenna pattern of the antenna patterns.
In the step 204, signals are transmitted between the set antenna 110 and the wireless communication device 120.
In the step 206, a connection quality of the wireless communication device 120 corresponding to the antenna pattern is detected, and a connection quality test result corresponding to the connection quality is stored.
In the step 208, whether each antenna pattern has been set is determined. If yes, the step 210 follows. If no, the step 202 follows, and the antenna 110 is set to be another antenna pattern.
In the step 210, an objective connection quality test result is obtained according to a plurality of connection quality test results.
In the step 212, the objective antenna configuration of the antenna 110 is determined according to the antenna pattern that the objective connection quality test result corresponds to.
As long as the same effect may be obtained, the steps of determining the objective antenna configuration may follow the flow path described hereinbefore imcompletely or may be performed un-successively. That is, other steps may be inserted into the above steps. In the step 202 to the step 208, the connection quality of the wireless communication device 120 corresponding to the antenna patterns of the antenna 110 is detected periodically in turn, and the corresponding connection quality test results are stored.
In addition, to conveniently illustrate the steps of setting the antenna 110, only one wireless communication device 120 is shown in the embodiment and
Therefore, when a plurality of wireless communication devices exist in the covering range of the antenna 110, the antenna pattern having the optimal communication quality when the antenna 110 communicates with each wireless communication device is found out. The settings (including the optimal antenna configurations, the connection quality test results that the optimal antenna configurations correspond to, the network addresses and so on) may be stored as an antenna configuration list. After the antenna configuration list is finished, the state of system 100 transforms to an operating state from a setting state. When the access point needs to communicate with any wireless communication device of the wireless communication devices, the processor 108 selects an optimal antenna configuration corresponding to the wireless communication device from the antenna configuration list to set the pattern of the antenna 110. Thus, an optimum antenna setting may be provided for different receiving terminal to obtain optimal communication quality and decrease the multi-path fading and interference caused by other communication device. Thus, the wireless network may maintain high transmission rate to effectively utilize the network bandwidth.
When signals are transmitted between the access point and the wireless communication device 120, the state detector 104 may continuously monitor the connection quality between the wireless communication device 120 and the access point to generate a connection quality detection result. The connection quality detection result is transmitted to the processor 108 and is compared with the optimal connection quality test result. According to the comparison result, whether to re-perform the above steps to renew the optimal antenna configuration of the antenna 110 corresponding to the wireless communication device is determined. For example, when the state detector 104 detects that the transmission rate between the access point and the wireless communication device 120 is abnormal, or the number of the times of the error re-transmission greatly increases, it means that the environment of the wireless network is changed, and the previous set optimal antenna configuration is unsuitable. Therefore, the system 100 re-executes the setting program to find out the antenna configuration which is most suitable for the current network environment. The newest optimal antenna configuration renews the antenna configuration list stored in the storage device 106.
In addition, when it is detected that the location of the wireless communication device 120 is changed, another wireless communication device is provided in the covering range of the antenna 110, or a wireless communication device leaves the covering range, the system 100 also re-executes the above setting program to obtain the current optimal antenna configuration and renew the antenna configuration list. For example, by comparing the RSSI between the wireless communication device 120 and the antenna 110 with the average RSSI, whether the wireless communication device 120 is changed may be determined. If the current RSSI changes greatly relatively to the average RSSI, it means the position of the wireless communication device 120 may be changed. It is just a determining method provided by the embodiment, the methods that the people having ordinary skills may easily think of after they read the embodiment also are within the scope of the invention. In addition, the system 100 may re-execute setting program for the wireless communication devices in the covering range of the antenna 110, or the system 100 may renew the optimal antenna configuration for the moved or new added specific wireless communication device, which is determined according to the need of the user.
The system 100 may be integrated with the communication device (such as an access point) that the antenna 110 is applied to, may be integrated with the wireless communication device 120 or may be a control medium independent of the antenna 110 and the access point. The invention is not limited to be implemented by software or hardware, as long as the control for the smart antenna is provided at the back end of the network system. In addition, users further may establish a command parser to inspect the operating state of the system, or the processor 108 may be selectively switched on or switched off via the command parser according to the need. For example, if the system 100 is integrated in the wireless communication device 120 or is an independent control medium, and the antenna used by the network system is an omni-direction antenna (or not antenna having a plurality of antenna patterns), users may switched off the antenna setting. Therefore, the invention has elasticity in use.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not for limiting the scope of the invention. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 096121526 | Jun 2007 | TW | national |
