Patent ID: 7636593

Claim:
A receiver for receiving a radio wave modulated according to a digital signal, the receiver comprising: a first reception unit having a first switching/combining unit for receiving a first plurality of reception signals and outputting one of the first plurality of reception signals and a combined signal of the first plurality of reception signals, wherein said first reception unit comprises a first antenna set including a plurality of directional antennas; a second reception unit having a second switching/combining unit for receiving a second plurality of reception signals different from said first plurality of reception signals and outputting one of the second plurality of reception signals and a combined signal of the second plurality of reception signals, wherein said second reception unit comprises a second antenna set including a plurality of directional antennas; and a switching/combining control unit for controlling said first switching/combining unit and said second switching/combining unit to switch to and combine one or more of the first and second plurality of reception signals, in accordance with a first signal reception condition in said first reception unit and a second signal reception condition in said second reception unit, wherein said first antenna set comprises a first front directional antenna, a first side directional antenna and a first rear directional antenna, and wherein said second antenna set comprises a second front directional antenna, a second side antenna and a second rear directional antenna.