Apparatus position detection using multiple antennas

Abstract

An apparatus includes a transmitter and a receiver device, which includes a receiver section and a processing module. The transmitter transmits a high carrier frequency signal. The receiver section includes first and second antennas that have an antenna radiation relationship for receiving the high carrier frequency signal. A receiver module of the receiver section determines first and second signal properties of the received high carrier frequency signal. The processing module determines a position of the receiver device with respect to the transmitter based on the first and second signal properties and maps the position to a coordinate system.

1 . An receiver device comprises:
 a receiver section having:
 a first antenna operable to receive a high carrier frequency signal to produce a first received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 a second antenna operable to receive the high carrier frequency signal to produce a second received high carrier frequency signal; 
   a receiver module configured to:
 determine first signal properties of the first received high carrier frequency signal, the first signal properties including a first phase rotation and a first number of cycles; and 
 determine second signal properties of the second received high carrier frequency signal, the second signal properties including a second phase rotation and a second number of cycles; and 
   a processing module configured to:
 determine a position of the receiver device with respect to a source of the high carrier frequency signal based on the first and the second signal properties; and 
 map the position to a coordinate system. 
   
     
     
         2 . The receiver device of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is further configured to determine the position by:
 determining a beam angle of the high carrier frequency signal with respect to the first and second antennas; and   determining the position of the receiver device based on the beam angle and first and second distances.   
     
     
         3 . The receiver device of  claim 1 , wherein the first and the second antennas have an antenna radiation relationship comprising at least one of:
 a spatial diversity relationship,   a polarization relationship; and   a structural relationship.   
     
     
         4 . The receiver device of  claim 1  further comprises:
 the receiver section further includes:
 a third antenna operable to receive a second high carrier frequency signal to produce a third received high carrier frequency signal; 
 a fourth antenna operable to receive the second high carrier frequency signal to produce a fourth received high carrier frequency signal; 
 the receiver module is further coupled to:
 determine third signal properties of the third received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 determine fourth signal properties of the fourth received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 
 
 the processing module is further coupled to determine the position of the receiver device with respect to the source of the high carrier frequency signal based on the first, second, third, and fourth signal properties. 
 
     
     
         5 . The receiver device of  claim 1  further comprises:
 the receiver section further includes:
 a third antenna operable to receive the high carrier frequency signal to produce a third received high carrier frequency signal; 
 a fourth antenna operable to receive the high carrier frequency signal to produce a fourth received high carrier frequency signal, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth antennas have the antenna radiation relationship; 
 
 the receiver module is further configured to:
 determine third signal properties of the third received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 determine fourth signal properties of the fourth received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 
 the processing module is further configured to determine the position of the receiver device with respect to the source of the high carrier frequency signal based on the first through fourth signal properties. 
 
     
     
         6 . A receiver device comprises:
 a receiver section having:
 a first antenna operable to receive a plurality of first high carrier frequency signals to produce a first plurality of received high carrier frequency signals; and 
 a second antenna operable to receive a plurality of second high carrier frequency signals to produce a second plurality of received high carrier frequency signals; 
   a receiver module configured to:
 determine a first plurality of signal properties of the first plurality of received high carrier frequency signals, the first plurality of signal properties including a first phase rotation and a first number of cycles of the first received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 determine a second plurality of signal properties of the second plurality of received high carrier frequency signals, the second plurality of signal properties including a second phase rotation and a second number of cycles of the second received high carrier frequency signal; and 
   a processing module configured to:
 determine a plurality of distances between the receiver device and sources of the first and second plurality of signal properties, wherein a distance of the plurality of distances is between the receiver device and a source of the plurality of sources and is determined based on a corresponding one of the first plurality of signal properties and a corresponding one of the second plurality of signal properties; 
 determine a position of the receiver device with respect to a source of the plurality of sources based on the first and the second plurality of signal properties; and 
 map the position to a coordinate system. 
   
     
     
         7 . The receiver device of  claim 6 , wherein the processing module is further configured to determine the distance between the receiver device and the source of the plurality of sources by:
 determining a first receive power of a corresponding one of the plurality of the first high carrier frequency signals received via the first antenna;   determining a first path loss between the first antenna and the corresponding one of the plurality of transmitters based on the first receive power and a first transmit power;   determining a second receive power of a corresponding one of the plurality of the second high carrier frequency signals received via the second antenna;   determining a second path loss between the second antenna and the corresponding one of the plurality of transmitters based on the second receive power and a second transmit power; and   determining the distance based on the first and second path losses.   
     
     
         8 . The receiver device of  claim 6  further comprises:
 the receiver section includes a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas includes the first and second antennas, wherein each of the plurality of antennas receives a corresponding one of the plurality of high carrier frequency signals from each of the plurality of transmitters to produce a plurality of corresponding received high carrier frequency signals; 
 the receiver module determines corresponding signal properties for each of the plurality of corresponding received high carrier frequency signals to produce a plurality of corresponding signal properties; and 
 the processing module determine the plurality of distances between the receiver device and the plurality of transmitters based on the plurality of corresponding signal properties. 
 
     
     
         9 . The receiver device of  claim 6 , wherein the processing module is further configured to determine the position by:
 determining a beam angle of the high carrier frequency signal with respect to the first and second antennas; and   determine the position of the receiver device with respect to the transmitter of the plurality of transmitters based on the beam angle and the first and second distances, wherein the first and second signal properties includes the beam angle.   
     
     
         10 . The receiver device of  claim 6 , wherein the receiver section further comprises:
 a third antenna operable to receive a second high carrier frequency signal to produce a third received high carrier frequency signal;   a fourth antenna operable to receive the second high carrier frequency signal to produce a fourth received high carrier frequency signal, wherein the third and fourth antennas have a second antenna radiation relationship;   the receiver module is further coupled to:
 determine third signal properties of the third received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 determine fourth signal properties of the fourth received high carrier frequency signal; and 
   the processing module is further coupled to determine the position of the receiver device with respect to the source of the high carrier frequency signal based on the first, second, third, and fourth signal properties.   
     
     
         11 . The receiver device of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the third signal properties include a first phase rotation and a first number of cycles of the third received high carrier frequency signal; and   the fourth signal properties include a second phase rotation and a second number of cycles of the fourth received high carrier frequency signal.   
     
     
         12 . The receiver device of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the first and the second antennas have an antenna radiation relationship; and   the antenna radiation relationship includes at least one of:
 a spatial diversity relationship, 
 a polarization relationship; and 
 a structural relationship. 
   
     
     
         13 . The receiver device of  claim 6 , wherein the coordinate system includes a spherical coordinate system to a physical area. 
     
     
         14 . The receiver device of  claim 6 , wherein the coordinate system includes a Cartesian coordinate system to a physical area. 
     
     
         15 . A video game system comprises:
 a video game playing object having:
 a first antenna operable to receive a high carrier frequency signal to produce a first received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 a second antenna operable to receive the high carrier frequency signal to produce a second received high carrier frequency signal, wherein the first and second antennas have an antenna radiation relationship; 
   a receiver module configured to:
 determine first signal properties of the first received high carrier frequency signal, the first signal properties including a first phase rotation and a first number of cycles of the first received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 determine second signal properties of the second received high carrier frequency signal, the second signal properties including a second phase rotation and a second number of cycles of the second received high carrier frequency signal; and 
   a video game console device configured to:
 determine a position of the video game playing object with respect to a source of the high carrier frequency signal based on the first and second signal properties; and 
 map the position to a coordinate system. 
   
     
     
         16 . The video game system of  claim 15 , wherein the video game console device is further configured to determine the position by:
 determine a first distance between the first antenna and the source based on the first signal properties;   determine a second distance between the second antenna and the source based on the second signal properties;   determine a beam angle of the high carrier frequency signal with respect to the first and second antennas; and   determine the position of the video game playing object based on the beam angle and the first and second distances, wherein the first and second signal properties includes the beam angle.   
     
     
         17 . The video game system of  claim 16 , wherein the video game console device is further configured to:
 determine the first distance by:
 determining a first receive power of the high carrier frequency signal received via the first antenna; 
 determining a first path loss between the first antenna and the source based on the first receive power and a transmit power; and 
 determining the first distance based on the first path loss, wherein the first signal properties includes the first receive power and the first path loss; and 
   determine the second distance by:
 determining a second receive power of the high carrier frequency signal received via the second antenna; 
 determining a second path loss between the second antenna and the source based on the second receive power and the transmit power; and 
 determining the second distance based on the second path loss, wherein the second signal properties includes the second receive power and the second path loss. 
   
     
     
         18 . The video game system of  claim 15  further comprises:
 the video game playing object further includes:
 a third antenna operable to receive a second high carrier frequency signal to produce a third received high carrier frequency signal, wherein the second high carrier frequency signal has a different carrier frequency than the high carrier frequency signal; 
 a fourth antenna operable to receive the second high carrier frequency signal to produce a fourth received high carrier frequency signal, wherein the third and fourth antennas have a second antenna radiation relationship; 
 the receiver module is further coupled to: 
 determine third signal properties of the third received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 
 determine fourth signal properties of the fourth received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 the video game console device is further coupled to determine the position of the video game playing object with respect to the source based on the first, second, third, and fourth signal properties. 
 
     
     
         19 . The video game system of  claim 15  further comprises:
 the video game playing object further includes:
 a third antenna operable to receive the high carrier frequency signal to produce a third received high carrier frequency signal; 
 a fourth antenna operable to receive the high carrier frequency signal to produce a fourth received high carrier frequency signal, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth antennas have the antenna radiation relationship; 
 
 the receiver module is further configured to:
 determine third signal properties of the third received high carrier frequency signal; 
 determine fourth signal properties of the fourth received high carrier frequency signal; and 
 the video game console device is further configured to determine the position of the receiver device with respect to the source based on the first through fourth signal properties. 
 
 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the coordinate system includes a spherical coordinate system to a physical area.