Antenna diversity based on packet errors

Abstract

A wireless transceiver including multiple antennas, an antenna switch, and a media access controller that controls the antenna switch for determining when to switch to another antenna based on packet error rate (PER). Instead of switching the antenna on a packet-by-packet basis, antenna selection is made after one or more packets errors have been detected. The CRC is used to identify receive packet errors. A timer is used to determine each transmit packet error when an acknowledge packet is not received in time. A method of selecting from among multiple antennas including counting packet errors, comparing a packet error count with a threshold value to determine a threshold condition, switching to a different antenna if the threshold condition is met, and resetting the packet error count when the threshold condition is met.

1. A wireless transceiver, comprising:
 a plurality of antennas; 
 an antenna switch coupled to said plurality of antennas; and 
 a media access controller, coupled to control said antenna switch, that determines when to switch to another antenna based on packet error rate, wherein said media access controller comprises: CRC check logic that determines an error in a received packet; a timer that determines a predetermined amount of time after a packet is transmitted; a memory that stores at least one packet error count; and antenna select logic, coupled to said CRC check logic, said timer and said memory, that counts received packet errors using said CRC check logic, that counts transmit packet errors using said timer, and that controls switching to another antenna. 
 
     
     
       2. The wireless transceiver of  claim 1 , further comprising: said memory storing at least one antenna select value; an antenna switch controller, coupled to said memory and to control said antenna switch, that selects an antenna based on said at least one antenna select value; and said antenna select logic modifying said at least one antenna select value to control antenna switching. 
     
     
       3. An antenna diversity system for a wireless transceiver having a plurality of antennas, comprising:
 an antenna switch for selecting from among the plurality of antennas; 
 at least one counter that stores a packet error count, wherein said at least one counter comprises a transmit retry counter that stores a transmit retry count; 
 at least one packet error detector that detects a packet communication error, wherein said at least one packet error detector comprises a timer that determines whether an acknowledge packet is received within a predetermined amount of time; and 
 antenna select logic, coupled to control said antenna switch, said at least one counter and said at least one packet error detector, that increments said packet error count when a packet communication error is detected, that compares the packet error count with a threshold value to determine whether a threshold condition is met, and that switches the antenna when said threshold condition is met. 
 
     
     
       4. The antenna diversity system of  claim 3 , wherein: said at least one counter comprises a receive error counter that stores a receive error count; and wherein said at least one packet error detector comprises cyclical redundancy code (CRC) check logic. 
     
     
       5. The antenna diversity system of  claim 4 , wherein said antenna select logic resets said receive error count if a unicast packet is received without a CRC error. 
     
     
       6. The antenna diversity system of  claim 3 , wherein: said at least one counter comprises a transmit retry counter that stores a transmit retry count; and wherein said at least one packet error detector comprises a timer that determines whether an acknowledge packet is received within a predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
       7. The antenna diversity system of claim  6  3, wherein said antenna select logic resets said transmit retry count if an acknowledge packet is received within said predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
       8. The antenna diversity system of  claim 3 , wherein: said at least one packet error detector comprises cyclical redundancy code (CRC) check logic and a timer that determines whether an acknowledge packet is received within a predetermined amount of time; and wherein said antenna select logic increments said packet error count when a unicast packet is received with a CRC error or if an acknowledge packet is not received within said predetermined amount of time after transmitting a unicast packet. 
     
     
       9. The antenna diversity system of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a memory for storing a receive antenna select value and a transmit antenna select value; 
 an antenna switch controller coupled to control said antenna switch and said memory; 
 said at least one counter comprising a receive error counter that stores a receive error count and a transmit retry counter that stores a transmit retry count; 
 said at least one packet error detector comprising cyclical redundancy code (CRC) check logic and a timer that determines whether an acknowledge packet is received within a predetermined amount of time; wherein said antenna select logic increments said receive error count when a unicast packet is received with a CRC error and increments said transmit retry count if an acknowledge packet is not received within said predetermined amount of time after transmitting a unicast packet; and 
 wherein said antenna select logic modifies said receive antenna select value if said receive error count meets a first threshold and modifies said transmit antenna select value if said transmit retry count meets a second threshold. 
 
     
     
       10. The antenna diversity system of  claim 9 , wherein said antenna select logic resets said receive error count if a unicast packet is received without a CRC error and resets said transmit retry count if an acknowledge packet is received within said predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
       11. A method of selecting from among a plurality of antennas of a transceiver, comprising:
 counting packet errors, wherein counting packet errors comprises determining whether a transmitted unicast packet is acknowledged within a predetermined amount of time and incrementing a packet error count if the transmitted unicast packet is not acknowledged in time; 
 comparing a packet error count with a threshold value to determine a threshold condition; 
 switching to a different antenna if the threshold condition is met; and 
 resetting the packet error count when the threshold condition is met. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein said counting packet errors comprises:
 determining whether a received unicast packet has an error; and 
 incrementing the packet error count if the received unicast packet has an error. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising resetting the packet error count if a unicast packet is received without an error. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 12 , wherein said determining comprises determining whether the received unicast packet has a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) error. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 12 , wherein said counting packet errors comprises:
 determining whether a transmitted unicast packet is acknowledged within a predetermined amount of time; and   incrementing the packet error count if the transmitted unicast packet is not acknowledged in time.   
     
     
       16. The method of claim  15  11, further comprising resetting the packet error count if a transmitted unicast packet is acknowledged within the predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 11 , wherein said counting packet errors comprises:
 incrementing the packet error count if a received unicast packet has an error; and 
 incrementing the packet error count if a transmitted unicast packet is not acknowledged in time. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising resetting the packet error count if a unicast packet is received without an error or if a transmitted unicast packet is acknowledged within the predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 using a first selected antenna for transmitting packets; 
 using a second selected antenna for receiving packets; 
 said counting packet errors comprising: 
 incrementing a received packet error count if a unicast packet is received with an error, and incrementing a retry error count if a transmitted unicast packet is not acknowledged within a predetermined amount of time; 
 said comparing comprising: comparing the received packet error count with a first threshold value to determine a first threshold condition; and comparing the retry error count with a second threshold value to determine a second threshold condition; 
 said switching comprising: switching the first selected antenna to different antenna for receiving packets if the first threshold condition is met; and switching the second selected antenna to different antenna for transmitting packets if the second threshold condition is met; and 
 said resetting comprising: resetting the received packet error count if the first threshold condition is met; and resetting the retry error count if the second threshold condition is met. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , further comprising using the first selected antenna for detecting acknowledgment of a transmitted packet. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 resetting the received packet error count if a unicast packet is received without an error; and 
 resetting the retry error count if a transmitted unicast packet is acknowledged within the predetermined amount of time. 
 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 selecting a corresponding antenna for each of one or more remote stations for transmitting unicast packets; 
 counting unicast transmit retry errors for each of the one or more remote stations; 
 switching the selected antenna for transmitting unicast packets to a remote station if a corresponding retry error count meets a threshold condition; and 
 resetting the retry error count of a corresponding remote station if the threshold condition is met for that remote station. 
 
     
     
       23. A media access controller, comprising:
 CRC check logic that determines an error in a received packet;   a timer configured to determine a predetermined amount of time after a packet is transmitted;   a memory configured to store at least one packet error count; and   antenna select logic, coupled to said CRC check logic, said timer and said memory, configured to count received packet errors using said CRC check logic, configured to count transmit packet errors using said timer, and configured to control switching to another antenna.    
     
     
       24. The media access controller of claim 23, further comprising:
 said memory also storing at least one antenna select value;   an antenna switch controller, coupled to said memory and to control an antenna switch, that selects an antenna based on said at least one antenna select value; and   said antenna select logic modifying said at least one antenna select value to control antenna switching.    
     
     
       25. An antenna diversity system for a wireless transceiver, comprising:
 at least one counter configured to store a packet error count, wherein said at least one counter comprises a transmit retry counter that is configured to store a transmit retry count;   at least one packet error detector configured to detect a packet communication error and to increment the packet error count when a packet communication error is detected, wherein said at least one packet error detector comprises a timer that is configured to determine whether an acknowledge packet is received within a predetermined amount of time; and   antenna select logic, configured to control an antenna switch, and to compare the packet error count with a threshold value to determine whether a threshold condition is met, and to switch an antenna when said threshold condition is met.    
     
     
       26. The antenna diversity system of claim 25, wherein:
 said at least one counter comprises a receive error counter that is configured to store a receive error count; and   wherein said at least one packet error detector comprises cyclical redundancy code (CRC) check logic.    
     
     
       27. The antenna diversity system of claim 26, wherein said antenna select logic resets said receive error count if a unicast packet is received without a CRC error.  
     
     
       28. The antenna diversity system of claim 25, wherein said antenna select logic resets said transmit retry count if an acknowledge packet is received within said predetermined amount of time.  
     
     
       29. The antenna diversity system of claim 25, wherein:
 said at least one packet error detector comprises cyclical redundancy code (CRC) check logic; and   wherein said antenna select logic increments said packet error count when a unicast packet is received with a CRC error.    
     
     
       30. The antenna diversity system of claim 25, further comprising:
 a memory configured to store a receive antenna select value and a transmit antenna select value;   an antenna switch controller coupled to control an antenna switch and said memory;   said at least one counter comprising a receive error counter that is configured to store a receive error count;   said at least one packet error detector comprising cyclical redundancy code (CRC) check logic;   wherein said antenna select logic increments said receive error count when a unicast packet is received with a CRC error and increments said transmit retry count if an acknowledge packet is not received within said predetermined amount of time after transmitting a unicast packet; and   wherein said antenna select logic modifies said receive antenna select value if said receive error count meets a first threshold and modifies said transmit antenna select value if said transmit retry count meets a second threshold.    
     
     
       31. The antenna diversity system of claim 30, wherein said antenna select logic resets said receive error count if a unicast packet is received without a CRC error and resets said transmit retry count if an acknowledge packet is received within said predetermined amount of time.