Communications: radio wave antennas – Antennas – With radio cabinet
Reexamination Certificate
2003-06-18
2004-11-09
Wilmer, Michael C. (Department: 2821)
Communications: radio wave antennas
Antennas
With radio cabinet
C343S757000, C455S575700
Reexamination Certificate
active
06816121
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna for a wireless local area network (WLAN), and more specifically, to a wireless antenna that can be rotated by a motor for improving signal reception of the antenna.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, wireless communication networks have experienced great growth. In addition to mobile phone networks, wireless computer networks are now rapidly gaining in popularity. While cable has traditionally been used for wiring local area networks (LANs), the introduction of the wireless LAN (WLAN) has allowed users to freely carry computing devices around within the area of the WLAN while still being connected to the network.
Please refer to FIG.
1
.
FIG. 1
is a diagram of a host computer
10
connected to a WLAN according to the prior art. The host computer
10
may be any computing device that is able to connect to a network, such as a notebook computer, desktop computer, or a PDA. The host computer
10
is connected to a wireless communication card
20
for allowing the host computer
10
to communicate with the WLAN. The wireless communication card
20
comprises a housing
22
and an antenna
30
disposed on the housing
22
. The housing
22
may be connected to the host computer
10
through a PCMCIA slot, a USB port, etc. The antenna
30
is disposed on the housing
22
in such a way that the antenna
30
is approximately perpendicular to a surface that the host computer
10
is placed on.
Please refer to FIG.
2
.
FIG. 2
is a functional block diagram of the wireless communication card
20
connected to the host computer
10
according to the prior art. The wireless communication card
20
contains a transceiver
26
electrically connected to the antenna
30
for transmitting and receiving wireless signals through the antenna
30
. A signal sensor
28
is electrically connected to the transceiver
26
for detecting strength of wireless signals received by the wireless communication card
20
. The signal sensor
28
will output a feedback signal FD to a controller
24
for notifying the controller
24
of the strength of the received wireless signals. According to the strength of the signal detected by the signal sensor
28
, the controller
24
will vary the magnitude of a control current i
c
. For instance, if the signal sensor
28
detects a weak signal, the controller
24
will then increase the magnitude of the control current i
c
for increasing the strength of the wireless signals.
Inserting the wireless communication card
20
into the host computer
10
allows the host computer
10
to quickly connect to a WLAN. Unfortunately, the antenna
30
of the wireless communication card
20
is fixed, and cannot be repositioned for improving the strength of wireless signals transmitted and received by the wireless communication card
20
.
Please refer to FIG.
3
and FIG.
4
. FIG.
3
and
FIG. 4
are perspective diagrams of a WLAN stick
40
according to the prior art. The WLAN stick
40
comprises a housing
42
and a connector
44
formed on the housing
42
. The connector
44
, such as a USB connector, is used for connecting the WLAN stick
40
to a host computer and allowing the host computer to communicate with the WLAN through the WLAN stick
40
. The WLAN stick
40
also includes an antenna
50
connected to the housing
42
with a rotatable hinge
48
. As shown in
FIG. 3
, the antenna
50
is rotated outwards from the housing
42
of the WLAN stick
40
for improving the reception of wireless signals. The antenna
50
can also be rotated towards the housing
42
until the antenna
50
rests in a cavity
46
of the housing
42
, as shown in FIG.
4
. Rotating the antenna
50
along the hinge
48
allows the antenna
50
to positioned at an angle which provides optimum strength of signals transmitted to and received from the WLAN.
Unfortunately, the antenna
50
can only be rotated about one axis, which prevents the antenna
50
from being rotated about other axes for further improving the signal strength. Also, the antenna
50
has to be rotated manually, and a user of the WLAN stick
40
has a hard time knowing exactly what the optimum angle of the antenna
50
is. A trial and error process is usually required, with the user positioning the antenna
50
at a chosen angle, determining if the resulting signal strength is sufficient, and repositioning the antenna
50
if necessary.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a wireless communication device with a motorized rotatable wireless antenna in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.
According to the claimed invention, a wireless communication device includes a housing, an antenna, and a transceiver for transmitting and receiving wireless signals through the antenna. The wireless communication device also includes a first hinge connecting the antenna to the housing for allowing the antenna to rotate about a first axis with respect to the housing, a first motor for rotating the antenna about the first axis with respect to the housing, and a control circuit for controlling the first motor to rotate the antenna for scanning reception of wireless signals as the antenna is rotated at different angles.
It is an advantage of the claimed invention that the wireless communication device has the first motor for rotating the antenna about the first axis for automatically scanning signal strength when the antenna is positioned at different angles, and for rotating the antenna to an angle that provides best signal strength.
These and other objectives of the claimed invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5644320 (1997-07-01), Rossi
patent: 5949379 (1999-09-01), Yang
Cheng Chieh-Yuan
Lee Chang-Hung
Yao Cheng
BenQ Corporation
Wilmer Michael C.
Winston Hsu
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