Patent Description:
An electronic device may include multiple antennas and/or multiple antenna groups disposed in different areas of the electronic device, and use one or more of the antennas and/or antenna groups to transmit and/or receive data. However, a temperature of the one or more of the antennas and/or antenna groups may increase over time when in operation. If the temperature of the one or more antennas and/or antenna groups becomes sufficiently high, the high temperature may reduce a lifespan of components and/or circuitry of the electronic device, and/or the one or more of the antennas and/or antenna groups themselves, which may degrade communication quality.

Further background information can be found from:.

Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter.

Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings described below in which like numerals refer to like parts.

Use of the term "approximately," "near," "about", and/or "substantially" should be understood to mean including close to a target (e.g., design, value, amount), such as within a margin of any suitable or contemplatable error (e.g., within <NUM> % of a target, within <NUM>% of a target, within <NUM>% of a target, within <NUM>% of a target, within <NUM>% of a target, and so on).

This disclosure is directed to mitigating and/or preventing antennas of an electronic device from operating at high temperature to maintain or increase a lifespan of the electronic device and/or avoid degradation in communication quality when using the antennas. The electronic device may include multiple antenna groups, each of which may include one or more antennas disposed in different areas of the electronic device.

To mitigate and/or prevent an antenna group from operating at a high temperature, the electronic device (e.g., one or more processors of the electronic device) may select, prioritize, and/or use an antenna group with a lower temperature (e.g., lower than a temperature threshold) to transmit and/or receive data. In some embodiments, the electronic device may ensure sufficient or superior antenna performance by initially determining a set of antenna groups with temperatures lower than a temperature threshold when forming beams (e.g., in different directions), and then selecting an antenna group with a performance (e.g., power gain) higher than a threshold performance value (e.g., threshold gain value) and/or having the highest performance (e.g., power gain) from the set of antenna groups.

For example, the electronic device may determine a temperature of each antenna group based on receiving temperature measurements associated with each respective antenna group, and compare the temperatures to a temperature threshold to determine antenna groups with low temperatures. In certain embodiments, the electronic device may compare the temperature of each antenna group to a different, predetermined temperature threshold (e.g., based on a location of a respective antenna group in the electronic device, surrounding components with respect to the respective antenna group in the electronic device, ambient temperatures and/or other conditions near the respective antenna group, and/or empirical operating data of the respective antenna group).

To determine a performance (e.g., a power gain, signal quality, signal to noise ratio, reference signal received power, reference signal received quality, signal to interference plus noise ratio, signal to noise plus interference ratio, and so on) of each antenna group, the electronic device may configure each antenna group with multiple test beam configurations corresponding to multiple beams, and determine the power gain of each antenna group for each beam.

In some embodiments, the electronic device may prioritize selecting an antenna group disposed outside thermal hotspots of the electronic device for transmitting and/or receiving data. A thermal hotspot may include an area of the electronic device that may exhibit an increased rise in temperature due to operation of an antenna group at that location. That is, an antenna array at a thermal hotspot may see an increased rise in temperature during operation when compared to the same antenna array operating at a non-thermal hotspot location. As such, the electronic device may select the antenna group based on whether the antenna group is disposed outside of the thermal hotspots and is capable of transmitting and/or receiving data at a data rate (e.g., throughput) requested by (e.g., a software application of) the electronic device.

<FIG> is a block diagram of an electronic device <NUM>, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device <NUM> may include, among other things, one or more processors <NUM> (collectively referred to herein as a single processor for convenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), a memory <NUM>, a nonvolatile storage <NUM>, a display <NUM>, input structures <NUM>, an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, a network interface <NUM>, and a power source <NUM>. The various functional blocks shown in <FIG> may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium), or a combination of both hardware and software elements.

The processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the nonvolatile storage <NUM>, the display <NUM>, the input structures <NUM>, the input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, the network interface <NUM>, and/or the power source <NUM> may each be communicatively coupled directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, and/or a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive data between one another. It should be noted that <FIG> is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in the electronic device <NUM>.

By way of example, the electronic device <NUM> may include any suitable computing device, including a desktop or notebook computer (e.g., in the form of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or Mac Pro® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a portable electronic or handheld electronic device such as a wireless electronic device, user equipment, or smartphone (e.g., in the form of a model of an iPhone® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a tablet (e.g., in the form of a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a wearable electronic device (e.g., in the form of an Apple Watch® by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), and other similar devices. It should be noted that the processor <NUM> and other related items in <FIG> may be generally referred to herein as "data processing circuitry. " Such data processing circuitry may be embodied wholly or in part as software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof.

Furthermore, the processor <NUM> and other related items in <FIG> may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the electronic device <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may be implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machines, or any other suitable entities that may perform calculations or other manipulations of information.

The processor <NUM> may perform the various functions described herein and below. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may include an application processor and/or a baseband processor to facilitate performing various functions such as Radio Frequency (RF) operations associated with transmitting and receiving data. For example, the processor <NUM> may receive different temperature measurements associated with different antenna groups (not shown in <FIG>) to determine antenna groups with a temperature below a temperature threshold. In some embodiments, the temperature threshold may be based on a location of a respective antenna group in the electronic device <NUM>, surrounding components with respect to the respective antenna group in the electronic device <NUM>, ambient temperatures and/or other conditions near the respective antenna group, and/or empirical operating data of the respective antenna group.

Moreover, the processor <NUM> may determine a power gain of different antenna groups when forming one or more beams. Subsequently, the processor <NUM> may select an antenna group with low temperature and high power gain when forming a beam in a target direction. In specific embodiments, the processor <NUM> may select the antenna group based at least in part on a position of the antenna group with respect to one or more thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM>.

In the electronic device <NUM> of <FIG>, the processor <NUM> may be operably coupled with a memory <NUM> and a nonvolatile storage <NUM> to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor <NUM> may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media. The tangible, computer-readable media may include the memory <NUM> and/or the nonvolatile storage <NUM>, individually or collectively, to store the instructions or routines. The memory <NUM> and the nonvolatile storage <NUM> may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. In addition, programs (e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that may be executed by the processor <NUM> to enable the electronic device <NUM> to provide various functionalities.

In certain embodiments, the display <NUM> may facilitate users to view images generated on the electronic device <NUM>. In some embodiments, the display <NUM> may include a touch screen, which may facilitate user interaction with a user interface of the electronic device <NUM>. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display <NUM> may include one or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light-emitting diode (LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, or some combination of these and/or other display technologies.

The input structures <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may enable a user to interact with the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface <NUM> may enable electronic device <NUM> to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interface <NUM>. The network interface <NUM> may include, for example, one or more interfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as a BLUETOOTH® network, for a local area network (LAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN), such as a network employing one of the IEEE <NUM>. 11x family of protocols (e.g., WI-FI®), and/or for a wide area network (WAN), such as any standards related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including, for example, a <NUM>rd generation (<NUM>) cellular network, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), <NUM>th generation (<NUM>) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE®) cellular network, long term evolution license assisted access (LTE-LAA) cellular network, <NUM>th generation (<NUM>) cellular network, and/or New Radio (NR) cellular network. In particular, the network interface <NUM> may include, for example, one or more interfaces for using a Release-<NUM> cellular communication standard of the <NUM> specifications that include the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency range (e.g., <NUM>-<NUM> gigahertz (GHz)). The network interface <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may allow communication over the aforementioned networks (e.g., <NUM>, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, and so forth).

The network interface <NUM> may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (e.g., WIMAX®), mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WIMAX®), asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T®) network and its extension DVB Handheld (DVB-H®) network, ultra-wideband (UWB) network, alternating current (AC) power lines, and so forth.

As illustrated, the network interface <NUM> may include a transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> may support transmission and receipt of various wireless signals via one or more antennas (not shown in <FIG>). In some embodiments, all or portions of the transceiver <NUM> may be disposed within the processor <NUM>. For example, the application processor and/or the baseband processor may facilitate transmission and receipt of the wireless signals using the transceiver <NUM> and via the one or more antennas.

The power source <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter. In certain embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may take the form of a computer, a portable electronic device, a wearable electronic device, or other type of electronic device.

<FIG> is a functional block diagram of the electronic device <NUM> that may implement the components shown in <FIG> and/or circuitry and/or components described in the following figures, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the transceiver <NUM>, a transmitter <NUM>, a receiver <NUM>, antenna groups <NUM> (illustrated as 53A-53N) each made up of one or more antennas <NUM> (illustrated as 54A-54N), external temperature sensors <NUM>, and/or internal temperature sensors <NUM> may be communicatively coupled directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to one another to facilitate transmitting and/or receiving data between one another.

The electronic device <NUM> may include the transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> that may respectively enable transmission and reception of data between the electronic device <NUM> and a remote location. For example, the transmitter <NUM> and/or the receiver <NUM> may transmit data to and/or receive data from an external transceiver (e.g., in the form of a cell, eNB (E-UTRAN Node B or Evolved Node B), base stations, and the like, using a network in a direction of the electronic device <NUM>. As illustrated, the transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> may be combined into the transceiver <NUM>.

One or more antennas 54A through 54N may be electrically coupled to the transceiver <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>. The antennas 54A-54N may be configured in an omnidirectional or directional configuration, in a single-beam, dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangement, and so on. Each antenna <NUM> may be associated with one or more beams, various beam configurations, and/or one or more antenna groups <NUM>. Moreover, each antenna 54A-54N of a respective antenna group <NUM> may emit a radio frequency signal that may be constructively and/or destructively combined with radio frequency signals emitted by other antennas <NUM>-54N of the respective antenna group <NUM> to form a beam (e.g., that may enable mmWave and/or <NUM> communication). That is, each antenna group <NUM> may communicate data in a target direction based on individual signals emitted by the constituent antennas <NUM>. In some embodiments, each antenna group <NUM> may be coupled to a designated transceiver <NUM> (e.g., separate from other designated transceivers coupled to other antenna groups <NUM>). Accordingly, the electronic device <NUM> may include multiple transmitters <NUM>, multiple receivers <NUM>, multiple transceivers <NUM>, and/or multiple antennas <NUM> for communication per various communication standards.

The transmitter <NUM> may wirelessly transmit packets having different packet types or functions. For example, the transmitter <NUM> may transmit packets of different types generated by the processor <NUM>. The receiver <NUM> may wirelessly receive packets having different packet types. In some examples, the receiver <NUM> may detect a type of a packet used and process the received packets accordingly. In some embodiments, the transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> may transmit and receive information via other wired and/or wireless systems or devices. Moreover, in some embodiments, the transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> may be isolated by any viable devices to reduce interference when transmitting data and/or receiving data between the respective circuitry.

The external temperature sensors <NUM> and the internal temperature sensors <NUM> may each include one or multiple temperature sensors to measure and provide external and internal temperatures of the electronic device <NUM>, respectively. Moreover, each of the external temperature sensors <NUM> and the internal temperature sensors <NUM> may provide an updated temperature measurement according to a respective temperature measurement time cycle. Accordingly, the electronic device <NUM> may use the latest temperature measurements for selecting an antenna group <NUM> to form a beam in a target direction, as will be appreciated.

In some embodiments, the external temperature sensors <NUM> may be disposed proximal to a surface of the electronic device <NUM> to measure an external temperature of the electronic device <NUM>. For example, each of the external temperature sensors <NUM> may measure a temperature of the surface of the electronic device <NUM>. In some embodiments, the external temperature sensors <NUM> may include skin temperature sensors, ambient air temperatures, and so on. The internal temperature sensors <NUM> may be disposed proximal to one or more components of the electronic device <NUM>. That is, the internal temperature sensors <NUM> may be disposed proximal to the antennas <NUM>, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the non-volatile storage <NUM>, the display <NUM>, the input structures <NUM>, the I/O interface <NUM>, the network interface <NUM>, the power source <NUM>, the transceiver <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM>, the receiver <NUM>, and/or other components. The internal temperature sensors <NUM> may include circuit junction temperature sensors, pixel temperature sensors, display temperature sensors, processor temperature sensors, memory temperature sensors, and so on. Accordingly, each of the internal temperature sensors <NUM> may measure a temperature of one or more components of the electronic device <NUM>.

Moreover, each antenna group <NUM> may be disposed proximal to an internal temperature sensor <NUM> or external temperature sensor <NUM>. Accordingly, the internal temperature sensor <NUM> or external temperature sensor <NUM> disposed proximal to (e.g., closest to) each respective antenna group <NUM> may provide an estimation or determination of the temperature of the respective antenna group <NUM>. Thus, the processor <NUM> may receive the internal or external temperature measurements from the internal temperature sensor <NUM> or the external temperature sensor <NUM> to determine or estimate a temperature of each antenna group <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>.

However, in some cases, the processor <NUM> may perform processing and/or normalization on a temperature to more accurately reflect the temperature at the antenna group <NUM>. That is, an internal temperature sensor <NUM> may be disposed proximal to an antenna group <NUM> (e.g., be the nearest temperature sensor <NUM>, <NUM> to the antenna group <NUM>), as well as proximal to another heat-generating component of the electronic device <NUM> that may cause the internal temperature measurement to not accurately reflect the temperature at the proximal antenna group <NUM>. Moreover, as mentioned above, the external temperature sensors <NUM> may measure an external temperature of the electronic device. Such temperature sensors may provide indirect temperature measurements of the antennas <NUM> of different antenna groups <NUM>. Accordingly, the processor <NUM> may perform processing and/or normalization of a received temperature measurement to realize a more accurate temperature at an antenna group <NUM>.

In any case, using the external and internal temperature sensors <NUM>, <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may determine "hot" antenna groups <NUM> with a temperature exceeding a temperature threshold. That said, in some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may use different temperature thresholds for the external temperature sensors <NUM> and the internal temperature sensors <NUM>. Indeed, in specific embodiments, the processor <NUM> may use different temperature thresholds for each temperature sensor that corresponds to an antenna group <NUM> (e.g., the nearest antenna group <NUM>). In specific embodiments, the external temperature threshold may be in the range of <NUM>-<NUM> degrees Celsius (e.g., <NUM>-<NUM> degrees Celsius, <NUM>-<NUM> degrees Celsius, and so on) and the internal temperature threshold may be in the range of <NUM>-<NUM> degrees Celsius (e.g., <NUM>-<NUM> degrees Celsius, <NUM>-<NUM> degrees Celsius, <NUM>-<NUM> degrees Celsius, and so on).

In this manner, the processor <NUM> may determine and select between antenna groups <NUM> with power gains exceeding a gain threshold (e.g., when forming a beam in a target direction) that have temperatures below a corresponding temperature threshold. Moreover, when a temperature of a previously selected (e.g., currently operative) antenna group <NUM> forming a beam in a target direction exceeds a corresponding temperature threshold, the processor <NUM> may switch to another antenna group <NUM> with high power gain and low temperature to form a beam in the target direction, if available.

In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may switch to another antenna group <NUM> without delay when the high temperature of a currently operative antenna group <NUM> may reduce a lifespan of the electronic device <NUM>. As mentioned above, the internal temperature measurements received from the internal temperature sensors <NUM> may be associated with one or more components disposed inside the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., the antennas <NUM>). Accordingly, a high temperature measurement of the internal temperature measurements may imminently result in decreased lifespan of the one or more components of the electronic device <NUM>. For example, the processor <NUM> may switch antenna groups <NUM> without a delay when the temperature is rising faster than a threshold, a temperature reading of temperature sensors is higher than a threshold, a temperature of the selected antenna group <NUM> is determined to be higher than a threshold, among other scenarios.

Accordingly, the processor <NUM> may switch antenna groups <NUM> to prevent a reduction of lifespan of the electronic device <NUM>. In such embodiments, to proceed without delay, the processor <NUM> may skip acquiring (e.g., requesting and receiving, searching for) a new beam configuration (e.g., from a base station and/or a cellular network) for the antenna group <NUM> with lower temperature. As such, the processor <NUM> may operate the antenna group <NUM> with lower temperature with the same beam configuration used by the currently operating antenna group <NUM> (e.g., the hot antenna group) for transmitting and/or receiving data. For example, the processor <NUM> may transmit and receive data with a communication hub (e.g., a base station and/or a cellular network operator) using the antenna group <NUM> with lower temperature using the beam configuration of the currently operating antenna group <NUM>. That said, using the same beam configuration of the currently operating antenna group <NUM> with the antenna group <NUM> with lower temperature (e.g., not requesting and receiving a new beam configuration specifically configured for the antenna group <NUM> with lower temperature) may reduce communication performance (e.g., power gain) of the antenna group <NUM> with lower temperature.

In additional or alternative embodiments, the processor <NUM> may switch the antenna groups <NUM> after requesting and receiving the new beam configuration for the antenna group <NUM> with lower temperature (e.g., from a communication hub). For example, the processor <NUM> may delay switching between the antenna groups <NUM> based on a time (e.g., a threshold time period) for requesting and receiving the new beam configuration elapsing and/or an indication of receiving the new beam configuration associated with the antenna group <NUM> with lower temperature. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may delay switching when the high temperature is determined based on temperature measurements of the external temperature sensors <NUM>. That is, the processor <NUM> may switch antenna groups <NUM> after a delay when a temperature of currently operative antenna group <NUM> exceeds the temperature threshold based on temperature measurements of the external temperature sensors <NUM>. In specific embodiments, the processor <NUM> may also or alternatively switch antenna groups <NUM> after a delay based on high internal temperature measurements of specific internal temperature sensors <NUM>.

In yet another embodiment, the processor <NUM> may use the temperature measurements from the external temperature sensors <NUM> and/or internal temperature sensors <NUM> to dynamically determine thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM>. A thermal hotspot may include an area of the electronic device that may exhibit an increased rise in temperature due to operation of an antenna group at that location. That is, an antenna array at a thermal hotspot may see an increased rise in temperature during operation when compared to the same antenna array operating at a non-thermal hotspot location. Moreover, in certain embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may store (e.g., in the memory <NUM>) predetermined thermal hotspots (e.g., static thermal hotspots) where the temperature of such thermal hotspots is likely to elevate faster than other areas of the electronic device <NUM>. Accordingly, the processor <NUM> may determine or select antenna groups <NUM> disposed outside the thermal hotspots (e.g., dynamic or static) of the electronic device <NUM> for forming a beam.

The various components of the electronic device <NUM> may be coupled together by a bus system <NUM>, as illustrated in <FIG>. The bus system <NUM> may include a data bus, for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus, in addition to the data bus. The components of the electronic device <NUM> may be coupled together to accept and/or provide inputs from/to each other using some other mechanism.

<FIG> are perspective diagrams of antenna groups <NUM> (e.g., antenna arrays) of the electronic device <NUM>, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> depicts a perspective view of the electronic device <NUM> from a front side. As illustrated, the electronic device <NUM> includes a frontside antenna group <NUM>, a side antenna group <NUM>, and a backside antenna group <NUM>. It should be appreciated that in different embodiments, the frontside antenna group <NUM>, the side antenna group <NUM>, and the backside antenna group <NUM> may be positioned differently in the electronic device <NUM>. Moreover, in different embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may include different antenna groups and/or a different number of antenna groups.

<FIG> depicts a perspective view of the electronic device <NUM> from a top side. As illustrated, the frontside antenna group <NUM> forms a frontside beam <NUM>, the side antenna group <NUM> forms a side beam <NUM>, and the backside antenna group <NUM> forms a backside beam <NUM>. However, it should be appreciated that the frontside beam <NUM>, the side beam <NUM>, and the backside beam <NUM> are formed based on the positions of the antenna groups <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, and may take different forms or positions based on the implementation of antenna groups in the electronic device <NUM> in different embodiments. With the foregoing in mind, each of the frontside antenna group <NUM>, the side antenna group <NUM>, and the backside antenna group <NUM> may transmit and/or receive data by forming respective beams in a respective target direction. However, a power gain of each of the antenna groups <NUM>, including the antenna groups <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM>, may be different when forming different beams. For example, the electronic device <NUM> may communicate with a communication hub (e.g., a base station) using the beam <NUM> with the frontside antenna group <NUM> and the backside antenna group <NUM>. However, when forming the beam <NUM>, the side antenna group <NUM> may include a higher power gain. Accordingly, the electronic device <NUM> may prioritize using the side antenna group <NUM> to form the beam <NUM>. That is, the electronic device <NUM> may factor in power gain when selecting an antenna group (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) to communicate with.

Moreover, as mentioned above and discussed in further detail below, the electronic device <NUM> may select and use an antenna group <NUM> having a temperature less than a threshold temperature. Accordingly, to transmit and/or receive data with a communication hub, the electronic device <NUM> may select and use the antenna groups <NUM> with temperatures below a temperature threshold and a power gain greater than a gain threshold, when available. That is, the electronic device <NUM> may additionally or alternatively factor in temperature when selecting an antenna group (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) to communicate with.

With the foregoing in mind, <FIG> is a perspective diagram of the electronic device <NUM> forming the beam <NUM> to communicate with a base station <NUM>, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, a directional axis <NUM> indicates an azimuth <NUM> and an elevation <NUM> of a beam (e.g., the beam <NUM>) formed by the antenna groups <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>. For example, the frontside antenna group <NUM>, the side antenna group <NUM>, and/or the backside antenna group <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may form the beam <NUM> having an azimuth of <NUM> degrees and an elevation of <NUM> degrees with respect to the respective antenna group.

Although <FIG> depicts data communication between the electronic device <NUM> and the base station <NUM>, it should be appreciated that the electronic device <NUM> may communicate with additional and/or alternate communication hubs in different embodiments using the techniques discussed herein. For example, the electronic device <NUM> may use similar systems and methods to transmit data to and/or receive data from another electronic device, a router device, among other things.

As previously mentioned, power gains of different antenna groups <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may be different when forming different beams. In some embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may determine antenna performance (e.g., power gain, signal quality, and so on) of each antenna group <NUM> when forming different beams (e.g., in different directions) and store the antenna performance (e.g., in the memory <NUM>). <FIG> is a power gain chart <NUM> indicating the antenna groups <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> having high power gains for each beam (e.g., each having a different direction), according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

As mentioned above, the processor <NUM> may determine an antenna group <NUM> as having high power gain when the power gain exceeds a gain threshold. The gain threshold may be a fixed value and/or be relative with respect to power gains of other antenna groups <NUM>. For example, the gain threshold may be <NUM> decibels less than the highest measured power gain among the antenna groups <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>. The power gain chart <NUM> identifies antenna groups <NUM> having power gains within <NUM> decibels of the highest measured power gain among the antenna groups <NUM> for each beam. That said, in different embodiments, the gain threshold may be selected differently (e.g., the antenna group <NUM> having the highest gain, the antenna group <NUM> having gains above a fixed gain value, and so on).

Using the beam <NUM> (e.g., having an azimuth of <NUM> degrees and an elevation of <NUM> degrees) illustrated in <FIG> as an example, the power gain chart <NUM> indicates that the side antenna group <NUM> has high power gain when forming the beam <NUM>. In the depicted example, the frontside antenna group <NUM> and the backside antenna group <NUM> have low power gains less than <NUM> decibels below the highest measured power gain among the antenna groups <NUM>. Accordingly, the electronic device <NUM> may prioritize selecting the side antenna group <NUM> to form the beam <NUM> when power gain is a factor.

Referring now to <FIG>, a process <NUM> is depicted for selecting an antenna group <NUM> for transmitting and/or receiving data based on temperature and power gain, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may perform the process <NUM>. For example, the application processor and/or the baseband processor of the processor <NUM>, described above with respect to <FIG>, may perform all or a portion of the process <NUM>. While the blocks of the process <NUM> below are provided in a sequence, it should be understood that the blocks may be performed in different orders, and in some cases, blocks may be skipped entirely.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines a temperature of each antenna group <NUM>. In particular, the processor <NUM> may receive temperature measurements from the external temperature sensors <NUM> and/or the internal temperature sensors <NUM> to determine the temperature of each antenna group <NUM>. For example, the processor <NUM> may receive a temperature measurement from a closest external temperature sensor <NUM> and/or the internal temperature sensor <NUM> to each antenna group <NUM> to determine the temperature at that antenna group <NUM>.

Subsequently, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines power gain (and/or another measure of antenna performance, such as signal quality) of the antenna groups <NUM>. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may determine the antenna groups <NUM> with high power gains when forming different beams. For example, the processor <NUM> may determine the antenna groups <NUM> having power gains within <NUM> decibels of the highest measured power gain for one or more beams, as reflected in the power gain chart <NUM> of <FIG> described above. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may store and/or update the power gains for the antenna groups <NUM> when forming each beam. That is, for each beam, the processor <NUM> may store a power gain for each antenna group <NUM> when forming the respective beam.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> selects an antenna group <NUM> based on the determined temperature and power gains of the antenna groups <NUM> in blocks <NUM> and <NUM>. For example, the processor <NUM> may select the antenna group <NUM> with highest power gain and a temperature below a temperature threshold. As another example, the processor <NUM> may select the antenna group <NUM> with the lowest temperature and a power gain above a gain threshold. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may assign weights to the temperature and to the power gain, and select the antenna group <NUM> based on applying the weights to the temperatures and power gains of each antenna group <NUM>. Additionally or alternatively, the processor <NUM> may select the antenna group <NUM> with antennas <NUM> disposed outside thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM>. As mentioned above, the processor <NUM> may determine the thermal hotspots based on receiving temperature measurements of different temperature sensors (e.g., based on operations of block <NUM>) or predetermine the thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> sends or receives data using the selected antenna group <NUM>. In this manner, the process <NUM> enables the processor <NUM> to select an antenna group <NUM> for transmitting and/or receiving data based on temperature and power gain.

Referring now to <FIG>, a process <NUM> is depicted for selecting an antenna group <NUM> for transmitting and/or receiving data by grouping the antenna groups <NUM> based on high power gains and low temperatures, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Similar to the process <NUM> of <FIG>, the processor <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may perform the process <NUM>. For example, the application processor and/or the baseband processor of the processor <NUM>, described above with respect to <FIG>, may perform all or a portion of the process <NUM>. While the blocks of the process <NUM> below are provided in a sequence, it should be understood that the blocks may be performed in different orders, and in some cases, blocks may be skipped entirely.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may determine a set of antenna groups <NUM> having temperature less than a temperature threshold. As mentioned above, the temperature threshold may be based on a location of an antenna group <NUM> in the electronic device <NUM>, surrounding components with respect to the antenna group <NUM> in the electronic device <NUM>, ambient temperatures and/or other conditions near the antenna group <NUM>, empirical operating data of the respective antenna group <NUM>, the type of sensor detecting the temperature (e.g., the external temperature sensor <NUM> or the internal temperature sensor <NUM>), and so on. In any case, the processor <NUM> may exclude antenna groups <NUM> with temperatures above the temperature threshold from the set of antenna groups <NUM> to ensure that antenna arrays <NUM> that have excessive temperature may not be used.

Subsequently, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may also exclude antenna groups <NUM> having a power gain less than a gain threshold from the set of antenna groups <NUM>. For example, the processor <NUM> may receive or determine an uplink power gain, a downlink power gain, or both, of each antenna group <NUM> when forming one or more beams for transmitting or receiving data. Accordingly, the processor <NUM> may determine the antenna groups <NUM> with power gain greater than the gain threshold when forming a target or desired beam (e.g., directed at a communication node or base station). This enables selection of an antenna group <NUM> for transmitting or receiving data that has a power gain that is close to the performance of the antenna group <NUM> having the best power gain. Moreover, as discussed above, the gain threshold may be different in different embodiments. In one embodiment, the gain threshold may be based on the highest power gain determined among the antenna groups <NUM>. In a different embodiment, the gain threshold may be a predetermined value stored in the memory <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> excludes antenna groups <NUM> having a lower power gain compared to other antenna groups <NUM> with a temperature within a threshold temperature range from the set of antenna groups. That is, the processor <NUM> may determine antenna groups <NUM> that have similar temperatures by determining sets of antenna groups <NUM> that are within the threshold temperature range from one another. For each set of antenna groups <NUM> that are within the threshold temperature range from one another, the processor <NUM> may exclude those antenna groups <NUM> having lower power gain. The threshold temperature range may be predetermined or determined by the processor <NUM> during runtime, and include any suitable range of temperatures that indicate similar temperature (e.g., <NUM>-<NUM> degrees Celsius, <NUM> degrees Celsius increments, <NUM> degrees Celsius increments, and so on). The lower power gain may be defined as below a threshold power gain, such as the threshold power gain discussed above (e.g., <NUM> decibels less than the highest measured power gain among the set of antenna groups <NUM>). As such, selection of an antenna group <NUM> that has lower power gain with no or an insignificant temperature advantage may be avoided.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may select an antenna group <NUM> from the set of antenna groups <NUM> having the lowest temperature. As such, the process <NUM> prioritizes temperature. In alternative embodiments, the process <NUM> may prioritize power gain, and select an antenna group <NUM> from the set of antenna groups <NUM> having the highest power gain.

In alternative or additional embodiments, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may determine whether a beam formed using the antenna groups <NUM> of the set of antenna groups <NUM> enables an estimated throughput, an estimated latency, or both to execute one or more software applications. In such embodiments, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may select an antenna group <NUM> of the set of antenna groups <NUM> based on determining that the selected antenna group <NUM> is capable of forming the beam using the estimated throughput, the estimated latency, or both.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may send and/or receive data using the selected antenna group <NUM>. In this manner, the process <NUM> may enable processor <NUM> to send and/or receive data using an antenna group <NUM> from a set of antenna groups <NUM> with a high power gain and a low temperature.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a beam configuration management system <NUM> that facilitates selecting an antenna group <NUM> based on temperature and power gain when forming a beam, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device <NUM> may use the beam configuration management system <NUM> for selecting an antenna group <NUM> and/or updating the selected antenna group <NUM> for communicating data using one or multiple beams. Each of the depicted components may be implemented using hardware (e.g., circuitry), software (e.g., machine-executable instructions), or both (e.g., logic). As illustrated, the beam configuration management system <NUM> may include a beam database <NUM>, temperature sensors <NUM>, antenna and beam selection logic <NUM>, a metric buffer <NUM>, and a payload beam buffer <NUM>. However, it should be appreciated that in different embodiments, the beam configuration management system <NUM> may use different, additional, or less components to perform similar or different functions to facilitate selecting an antenna group <NUM> based on temperature and power gain for transmitting and/or receiving data.

By way of example, the beam database <NUM> may receive power gain measurements of multiple antenna groups <NUM> when forming beams. For example, the electronic device <NUM> may determine signal quality (e.g., power gain) of each antenna group <NUM> (e.g., antenna groups 53A-<NUM> of <FIG>) when forming one or more beams and store the power gains corresponding to each beam using the beam database <NUM>. Moreover, the electronic device <NUM> may query the beam database <NUM> with one or more beams and may receive the power gains for each antenna group <NUM> to provide to the metric buffer <NUM> for reporting to one or more communication hubs (e.g., base stations).

The temperature sensors <NUM> may include the external temperature sensors <NUM> and/or the internal temperature sensors <NUM>, determine temperature measurements associated with the antenna groups <NUM>, and send the temperature measurements to the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM>. As mentioned above, each of the temperature sensors <NUM> may provide updated temperature data according to a respective time interval. Accordingly, the temperature sensors <NUM> may provide updated temperature data, which the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may use to overwrite previous temperature data.

Accordingly, the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may facilitate selecting an antenna group <NUM> for data communication based on determining and/or receiving the temperature measurement and power gain for each antenna group <NUM> when forming a beam. That is, the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may receive and analyze the power gains of antenna groups <NUM> when forming a beam in a target direction that is stored on the beam database <NUM>, and the temperature data provided by the temperature sensors <NUM>. Based on the temperature data and the power gains, the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may determine and select the antenna group <NUM> with low temperature and high power gain. The antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may also select a beam configuration for the selected antenna group <NUM> to transmit and/or receive data forming the beam in the target direction.

In some embodiments, the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may select the beam configuration based on requesting and receiving beam configuration information from a communication hub (e.g., after a delay corresponding to sending the request and receiving the beam configuration information). However, in additional or alternative embodiments, the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may apply a beam configuration used by a currently operating antenna group <NUM> to the selected antenna group <NUM> to facilitate switching antenna groups <NUM> without delay. The antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may provide indications of the selected antenna group <NUM> and the beam configuration to the metric buffer <NUM> and/or the payload beam buffer <NUM>. In some embodiments, the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may include processing circuitry such as the processor <NUM>. Moreover, as mentioned above, the processor <NUM> may include application processor circuitry and baseband processing circuitry to perform radio frequency functions. As such, the antenna and beam selection logic <NUM> may be associated with the application processor circuitry, the baseband processor circuitry, or both.

The beam metric buffer <NUM> may store signal quality characteristics (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), RSRP when sending or receiving data over a certain frequency band, such as the L1 band (centered at <NUM> megahertz (MHz)) (L1-RSRP), signal-to-interference-noise ratio (SINR), SINR when sending or receiving data over a certain frequency band, such as the L1 band (L1-SINR), and so on) for beam reporting to a communication hub. In particular, the electronic device <NUM> may report the signal quality characteristics (e.g., beam reporting metrics) that reflect the highest quality as part of a beam reporting process, as specified in the 3GPP <NUM> specification. The electronic device <NUM> may update the beam reporting metrics when the same antenna group <NUM> forming the same beam has been selected by the processor <NUM> based on its quasi co-location (QCL) configuration, and/or the signal quality characteristics are higher quality than a past version stored in the beam metric buffer <NUM>. The payload beam buffer <NUM> may store beams (e.g., transmit or receive spatial filters) for each active transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state. In <NUM> New Radio (NR), a TCI state is used to establish the QCL connection between the target reference signals (RS) and source RS. Two antenna ports are quasi co-located if properties of the channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on the other antenna port is conveyed.

With the foregoing in mind, <FIG> is a flowchart of a process <NUM> for beam configuration management, not according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, the processor <NUM> may perform the process <NUM> to switch to another antenna group <NUM> when a temperature of currently operating antenna group <NUM> is at a high temperature (e.g., exceeds a temperature threshold). Similar to the processes <NUM> and <NUM> described above, the processor <NUM>, in the form of the application processor and/or the baseband processor, may perform all or a portion of the process <NUM>. While the blocks of the process <NUM> below are provided in a sequence, it should be understood that the blocks may be performed in different orders, and in some cases, blocks may be skipped entirely.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines to switch operation from a first antenna group <NUM> (e.g., a currently operating antenna group <NUM>) to a second antenna group <NUM>. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may determine to switch operation from the first antenna group <NUM> because that the first antenna group <NUM> exceeds a temperature threshold, and/or to mitigate a temperature of the first antenna group <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may determine the second antenna group <NUM> using the process <NUM> of <FIG>, the process <NUM> of <FIG>, or both.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> reports to a base station that the second antenna group <NUM> has been selected for operation. In response, the base station may change an active TCI state. Moreover, the base station may select an appropriate beam for the second antenna group <NUM> to form. It should be understood that the base station is used herein as an example communication hub, such as a <NUM> Next Generation NodeB (gNB) or an LTE Evolved NodeB (eNB), and in different embodiments, different communication hubs may be used.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines whether the switching occurs with or without a delay. As mentioned above, the processor <NUM> may switch antenna groups <NUM> without delay when delayed switching may result in reduced lifespan of the electronic device <NUM>. For example, the processor <NUM> may determine to switch without delay when the temperature of the first antenna group <NUM> is provided by an internal temperature sensor <NUM>. Because the internal temperature sensor <NUM> may be located at critical areas of the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., circuit junctions, display components, radio frequency communication components, and so on), allowing high temperatures to continue at the internal temperature sensor <NUM> may shorten the lifespan of the electronic device. As another example, the processor <NUM> may switch antenna groups <NUM> without delay when a temperature of the first antenna group <NUM> is increasing at rate higher than a threshold, when a temperature of the first antenna group <NUM> increases above a threshold, and so on. In different embodiments, the processor <NUM> may switch antenna groups <NUM> without delay based on any other suitable criteria.

When switching antenna groups <NUM> without delay, the processor <NUM> operates the second antenna group <NUM> with a current beam configuration at block <NUM>. That is, the processor <NUM> may operate the second antenna group <NUM> with a beam configuration used by the (currently operating) first antenna group <NUM> for transmitting and/or receiving data. In some embodiments, the transmission and/or reception efficiency of the processor <NUM> may reduce when using the beam configuration of the first antenna group <NUM> with the second antenna group <NUM>, as it was not configured for the second antenna group <NUM>. Accordingly, the processor <NUM> may use a new beam configuration configured for the second antenna group <NUM> when the new beam configuration is received from the base station. For example, the base station may send the new beam configuration to the electronic device <NUM> in response to receiving the report from the electronic device <NUM> that the second antenna group <NUM> has been selected for operation at block <NUM>. In some embodiments, the base station may send the new beam configuration to the electronic device <NUM> in response to receiving a new beam report (e.g., as provided by the metric buffer <NUM>).

However, at block <NUM>, when the switching does not need to occur without delay, the processor <NUM> proceeds to block <NUM>. For example, the high temperature may be based on temperature measurements of the external temperature sensors <NUM> (e.g., such that the temperature measurements are likely not to reduce the lifespan of the electronic device <NUM>), the high temperature may not exceed a threshold for switching without delay, or the like. At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines whether a new beam configuration for the second antenna group <NUM> has been received. As noted above, the base station may send the new beam configuration to the electronic device <NUM> in response to receiving the report from the electronic device <NUM> that the second antenna group <NUM> has been selected for operation at block <NUM>, or in response to receiving a new beam report (e.g., as provided by the metric buffer <NUM>).

If the new beam configuration has not been received, the processor <NUM> determines whether a threshold amount of time has elapsed, at block <NUM>. In some embodiments, the threshold amount of time may correspond to a synchronization time (e.g., adaptation time, predetermined adaptation time) between the base station and the processor <NUM> based on transmitting the request for the new beam configuration (e.g., synchronous switching time). In additional or alternative embodiments, the threshold amount of time may correspond to a maximum time that may ensure receiving the new beam configuration based on transmitting the request for the new beam configuration. The threshold amount of time may be on the order of a few Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) burst periods (e.g., <NUM> milliseconds (ms) each). That is, the threshold amount of time may include <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, and so on.

If the threshold amount of time has elapsed at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> operates the second antenna group <NUM> with the current beam configuration at block <NUM>. That is, the processor <NUM> may operate the second antenna group <NUM> with a beam configuration used by the (currently operating) first antenna group <NUM> for transmitting and/or receiving data. As previously mentioned, the transmission and/or reception efficiency of the processor <NUM> may reduce when using the beam configuration of the first antenna group <NUM> with the second antenna group <NUM>, as it was not configured for the second antenna group <NUM>. Accordingly, the processor <NUM> may use a new beam configuration configured for the second antenna group <NUM> when the new beam configuration is received from the base station.

On the other hand, if the new beam configuration has been received at block <NUM>, then the processor <NUM> proceeds to block <NUM> to operate the second antenna group <NUM> with the new beam configuration. Subsequently, after operating the second antenna group <NUM> with the current beam configuration at block <NUM> or with the new beam configuration at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> deactivates the first antenna group <NUM> at block <NUM>. Accordingly, the method <NUM> enables beam configuration management, and more specifically, enables switching to another antenna group <NUM> when a temperature of currently operating antenna group <NUM> is at a high temperature. It should be appreciated that a high temperature of the processor <NUM> may change during the delayed switching of the antenna groups <NUM>. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may periodically determine the temperature of the antenna groups <NUM> at any point in the process <NUM>, and, for example, restart the process <NUM>, cancel certain blocks of the process <NUM> to continue using the first antenna group <NUM>, and so on.

Turning now to <FIG>, a system <NUM> is depicted for determining antenna groups <NUM> (e.g., antennas <NUM>) for data transmission and/or reception based on link preferences and thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM>. In some embodiments, multiple antenna groups <NUM> may include similar temperature and power gains when forming a beam. However, data transmission and/or reception using such antenna groups <NUM> may have different impacts on link characteristics and/or thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM>. The link preferences may include a data rate or throughput as specified by or estimated to execute one or more software applications (e.g., stored in the memory <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>) by the processor <NUM>. In some embodiments, the link preferences may include a latency executing the one or more software applications. A thermal hotspot may include an area of the electronic device that may exhibit an increased rise in temperature due to operation of an antenna group at that location. That is, an antenna array at a thermal hotspot may see an increased rise in temperature during operation when compared to the same antenna array operating at a non-thermal hotspot location.

For example, data transmission and/or reception using an antenna group <NUM> disposed in the thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM> may result in high rate of temperature increase in the antenna group <NUM> and components at or near the thermal hotspots. Moreover, a signal quality (e.g., power gain) of the antenna group <NUM> may also be reduced due to the placement of the antennas <NUM> of the selected antenna group <NUM> in the thermal hotspot. Accordingly, the electronic device <NUM> may prioritize using antenna groups <NUM> disposed outside of any thermal hotspots to prevent reduction of lifespan of the electronic device <NUM> based on rapid temperature increase in the thermal hotspot areas.

An application processor <NUM> and a baseband processor <NUM> (e.g., which may both or each be representative of the processor <NUM>) may prioritize selection of antenna groups <NUM> that fulfill the link preferences and/or are disposed outside the hotspots. In the depicted embodiment, the application processor <NUM> may communicate the link preferences <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> to the baseband processor <NUM>. In particular, the application processor <NUM> may determine the link preferences <NUM> using link preference logic <NUM>. For example, the link preference logic <NUM> may include dedicated circuitry, software, or both, for determining the link preferences <NUM>. In some embodiments, the link preference logic <NUM> may determine the data rate, throughput, and/or the latency preferences (e.g., estimated usage, specification, requirements, and so on) based on an application (e.g., software) running on the electronic device <NUM> and/or the processor <NUM>. For example, the link preference logic <NUM> may determine the link preferences <NUM> based on a current use case of the electronic device <NUM> for transmitting and/or receiving data, including whether a user is placing a phone call, browsing the Internet, streaming a video, and so on.

Moreover, the application processor <NUM> may use a thermal hotspot mapper <NUM> to determine the thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM>. The thermal hotspot mapper <NUM> may include dedicated circuitry, software, or both, for determining the thermal hotspots of the electronic device <NUM>. Subsequently, the application processor <NUM> may determine antenna groups <NUM> disposed outside the determined thermal hotspots. The application processor <NUM> may then transmit antenna group and hotspot information <NUM> to the baseband processor <NUM> indicative of whether each antenna group <NUM> is disposed in a thermal hotspot.

With that in mind, the baseband processor <NUM> may determine an antenna group <NUM> for transmitting and/or receiving data when forming a beam based on the link preferences <NUM> and the antenna group and hotspot information <NUM>. That is, the baseband processor <NUM> may select the antenna group <NUM> capable of data communication according to the link preferences <NUM> and/or disposed outside the hotspots. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may also use the determined temperatures and power gains described above for selecting the antenna group <NUM>. Accordingly, the selected antenna group <NUM> may include data communication capability based on the link preferences <NUM>, antennas <NUM> disposed outside thermal hotspots, temperature less than the threshold temperature, and/or power gain above the gain threshold.

In additional or alternative embodiments, the baseband processor <NUM> may apply weights to antenna groups <NUM> satisfying the link preferences <NUM>, antenna groups <NUM> disposed outside thermal hotspots, antenna groups <NUM> having temperatures below the temperature threshold, and antenna groups <NUM> having power gains above the gain threshold. That is, the baseband processor <NUM> may weigh some of these antenna groups <NUM> heavier than others based on the weights applied. In another example, the baseband processor <NUM> may neglect one or more of the factors discussed when selecting the antenna group <NUM>, for example, when no antenna group <NUM> satisfies all the antenna selection factors and/or criteria.

Referring now to <FIG>, a process <NUM> for selecting an antenna group <NUM> based on the link preferences <NUM> and the antenna group and hotspot information <NUM> described above is illustrated, not according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The application processor <NUM> and/or the baseband processor <NUM> of the processor <NUM> described above with respect to <FIG> may perform all or a portion of the process <NUM>. While the blocks of the process <NUM> below are provided in a sequence, it should be understood that the blocks may be performed in different orders, and in some cases, blocks may be skipped entirely.

At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> receives an indication to establish a wireless connection for data transmission and/or reception. Subsequently, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines whether there is an indication of link preferences <NUM>. For example, as discussed above with respect to the system <NUM> of <FIG>, the link preference logic <NUM> may determine data rate, throughput, and/or the latency preferences of one or more software application executing on the electronic device <NUM>, and send one or more of the preferences <NUM> to the baseband processor <NUM>. Accordingly, the processor <NUM> may determine there is an indication of the link preferences <NUM>. However, in some instances, the link preference logic <NUM> may not generate any link preferences <NUM>, and, as such, no link preferences <NUM> are received by the baseband processor <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, when the processor <NUM> determines that there is no indication of link preferences <NUM>, the processor <NUM> proceeds to block <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> forms a beam with an antenna group <NUM> with the highest power gain to transmit and/or receive data. In additional or alternative embodiments, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> proceeds to select an antenna group <NUM> for data transmission and/or reception using the processes <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM> to select an antenna group <NUM> with low temperature and high power gain at a respective switching (or selection/activation) time. Accordingly, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may select the antenna group <NUM> with highest power gain (e.g., highest bandwidth, highest data rate, highest throughput, lowest latency) that may not cause reduced data communication quality and/or reduced lifespan of the electronic device <NUM> due to high temperature. In another embodiment, the processor <NUM> may form a beam with an antenna group <NUM> with the lowest temperature.

However, when the processor <NUM> determines an indication of link preference at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may proceed to block <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines whether one or more antenna groups <NUM> are disposed outside of a thermal hotspot are available for data communication. In some embodiments, the processor <NUM> may determine antenna groups <NUM> that are at least partially (e.g., have at least some antennas <NUM>) disposed outside of thermal hotspots. As mentioned above, the thermal hotspot mapper <NUM> of the application processor <NUM> may provide such information to the baseband processor <NUM>. When no antenna group <NUM> is available outside of thermal hotspots at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> proceeds to block <NUM> to form a beam with the antenna group <NUM> with highest power gain to transmit and/or receive data.

When an antenna group <NUM> is determined to be is available outside of a thermal hotspot at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> proceeds to block <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> receives a beam for the antenna group <NUM> disposed outside of the thermal hotspot from a base station. For example, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may request a beam configuration from base station, report a selection of the antenna group <NUM>, and so on, and receive the beam configuration in return.

Subsequently, at block <NUM>, the processor <NUM> determines whether the beam satisfies the link preferences <NUM> (as referenced at block <NUM>). In particular, the processor <NUM> may determine whether the beam configuration received from the base station in block <NUM> may enable data communication using the antenna group <NUM> that satisfies an estimated (or required) throughput, latency, or both, indicated by the link preferences <NUM>. When the beam does not satisfy the link preferences <NUM>, the processor <NUM> proceeds to block <NUM> to form a beam with the antenna group <NUM> with highest power gain to transmit and/or receive data. That is, when the beam does not satisfy the link preferences <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may not use the antenna group <NUM> determined at block <NUM>. However, when the beam satisfies the link preferences <NUM>, the processor <NUM> proceeds to block <NUM> to form the beam with the antenna group <NUM> to transmit and/or receive data.

Accordingly, the process <NUM> may select an antenna group <NUM> based on the link preferences <NUM> and antenna group and hotspot information <NUM>. Moreover, the processor <NUM> may perform the process <NUM> repeatedly, upon receiving a triggering event, or may iterate through portions of the process, for example, upon receiving updated temperature measurements, gain measurements, requests for establishing wireless connections, time periods, and so on.

Claim 1:
An electronic device (<NUM>) comprising:
a plurality of antenna groups (<NUM>);
transmit circuitry (<NUM>) communicatively coupled to the plurality of antenna groups;
receive circuitry (<NUM>) communicatively coupled to the plurality of antenna groups; and
processing circuitry (<NUM>) configured to
communicate with a communication hub using a first antenna group of the plurality of antenna groups;
determine a temperature of the first antenna group;
determine a set of antenna groups of the plurality of antenna groups that each have a temperature that is less than or equal to a temperature threshold;
exclude antenna groups from the set of antenna groups that have a power gain less than or equal to a gain threshold;
exclude antenna groups from the set of antenna groups with a lower power gain that have a temperature within a threshold temperature range of another antenna group of the set of antenna groups;
select a second antenna group from the set of antenna groups as having a lowest temperature; and
cause the transmit circuitry to communicate with the communication hub using the second antenna group in response to determining that the temperature of the first antenna group exceeds the temperature threshold.