Apparatus and method for gnss antenna selection

Abstract

An apparatus and method are disclosed for achieving receiver diversity. A wireless unit includes a plurality of antennas, an antenna selector to select one or more antennas from the plurality of antennas, a processor with input data from an inertial sensor for monitoring the orientation of the wireless unit. Based on the input data, the processor configures the antenna selector to select one or more antennas. In one aspect, the processor is a diversity processor. Based on the input data from the inertial sensor, the diversity processor computes the combination of the received signals. In another aspect, the wireless unit further includes a baseband processor to process the output of the diversity processor for a particular unit application.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wireless unit for implementing antenna selection comprising:
 a directional antenna for receiving GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signals;   a non-directional antenna for receiving wireless communication signals and for receiving GNSS signals;   an antenna selector for selecting one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna;   an inertial sensor for sensing an orientation of the wireless unit and generating orientation information; and   a processor for processing the orientation information and configuring the antenna selector to select between the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna for receiving the GNSS signals based on the orientation information.   
     
     
         2 . The wireless unit of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna is a dual-polarized antenna. 
     
     
         3 . The wireless unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a receiver for receiving signals from the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna. 
     
     
         4 . The wireless unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of receivers for receiving signals from the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna. 
     
     
         5 . The wireless unit of  claim 1 , wherein the inertial sensor is an accelerometer. 
     
     
         6 . The wireless unit of  claim 1 , wherein the non-directional antenna comprises an approximately isotropic antenna. 
     
     
         7 . The wireless unit of  claim 1 , wherein the directional antenna comprises a hemispherical antenna. 
     
     
         8 . The wireless unit of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication signals received by the non-directional antenna comprise signals from cell base stations, WiFi, or Bluetooth. 
     
     
         9 . The wireless unit of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to select between the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna for receiving the GNSS signals based on the orientation information by being configured to select the directional antenna when the wireless unit is oriented with the directional antenna towards GNSS satellites and to select the non-directional antenna when the wireless unit is oriented with the directional antenna away from the GNSS satellites. 
     
     
         10 . A method for implementing antenna selection comprising:
 sensing an orientation of a wireless unit;   generating orientation information based on the orientation of the wireless unit;   processing the orientation information to configure an antenna selector to select between a directional antenna and a non-directional antenna based on the orientation information, wherein the directional antenna is for receiving GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signals and the non-directional antenna is for receiving wireless communication signals and for receiving GNSS signals;   selecting one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna with the antenna selector based on the configuration; and   using the selected one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna to receives the GNSS signals.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna is a dual-polarized antenna. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the non-directional antenna comprises an approximately isotropic antenna. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the directional antenna comprises a hemispherical antenna. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the wireless communication signals received by the non-directional antenna comprise signals from cell base stations, WiFi, or Bluetooth. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein processing the orientation information to configure the antenna selector to select between the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna based on the orientation information comprises selecting the directional antenna when the wireless unit is oriented with the directional antenna towards GNSS satellites and selecting the non-directional antenna when the wireless unit is oriented with the directional antenna away from the GNSS satellites. 
     
     
         16 . A wireless unit for implementing antenna selection comprising:
 means for sensing an orientation of the wireless unit;   means for generating orientation information based on the orientation of the wireless unit;   means for processing the orientation information to configure an antenna selector to select between a directional antenna and a non-directional antenna based on the orientation information, wherein the directional antenna is for receiving GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signals and the non-directional antenna is for receiving wireless communication signals and for receiving GNSS signals;   means for selecting one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna with the antenna selector based on the configuration; and   means for using the selected one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna to receives the GNSS signals.   
     
     
         17 . The wireless unit of  claim 16 , wherein the non-directional antenna comprises an approximately isotropic antenna and the directional antenna comprises a hemispherical antenna. 
     
     
         18 . The wireless unit of  claim 16 , wherein the means for processing the orientation information to configure the antenna to select between the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna based on the orientation information comprises means for selecting the directional antenna when the wireless unit is oriented with the directional antenna towards GNSS satellites and for selecting the non-directional antenna when the wireless unit is oriented with the directional antenna away from the GNSS satellites. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium for implementing antenna selection, the non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising:
 program code to process orientation information from an inertial sensor that senses an orientation of a wireless unit and to configure an antenna selector to select between a directional antenna and a non-directional antenna of the wireless unit based on the orientation information, wherein the directional antenna is for receiving GNSS (Global Navigational Satellite System) signals and the non-directional antenna is for receiving wireless communication signals and for receiving GNSS signals;   program code to select one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna with the antenna selector based on the configuration; and   program code to use the selected one of the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna to receives the GNSS signals.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the non-directional antenna comprises an approximately isotropic antenna and the directional antenna comprises a hemispherical antenna. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the program code to process the orientation information from the inertial sensor that senses the orientation of the wireless unit and to configure the antenna to select between the directional antenna and the non-directional antenna based on the orientation information comprises program code to select the directional antenna when the wireless unit is oriented with the directional antenna towards GNSS satellites and to select the non-directional antenna when the wireless unit is oriented with the directional antenna away from the GNSS satellites.