Patent ID: 6961545
Filing Date: 2005-11-01
Classification: H04B,H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of providing antenna diversity in a communications system that contains a transmission device that sends and receives a plurality of transmit and receive packets, respectively, at a single location, the transmission device including at least two antennas, the method comprising: designating one antenna of the at least two antennas as a default antenna, wherein an antenna of the at least two antennas other than the antenna that is designated as the default antenna is an alternate antenna; sending each transmit packet a first time using the default antenna as a transmit antenna, wherein for any transmit packet, the transmit antenna is whichever antenna of the at least two antennas is used to send the transmit packet; listening for each receive packet that acknowledges a previously sent transmit packet using as a receive antenna the transmit antenna that was used to send the previously sent transmit packet, wherein for any receive packet, the receive antenna is whichever antenna of the at least two antennas is used to listen for the receive packet; listening for all other receive packets using the default antenna as the receive antenna; for any transmit unicast packet, sending the transmit unicast packet on the alternate antenna if the transmit unicast packet is not successfully transmitted by the default antenna after one or more attempts; changing which antenna of the at least two antennas is the default antenna in response to predetermined criteria that take into account the success of the transmit antenna in transmission of transmit packets and the success of the receive antenna in reception of receive packets; changing the transmit antenna by switching between the at least two antennas; and for any transmit unicast packet, changing the transmit antenna after every other unsuccessful resend of the transmit unicast packet.