Patent ID: 8515496

Claim:
A method, implemented by a user device programmed to perform the following, comprising: communicating first data using two or more of a plurality of antennas in a first multi-channel configuration; wherein the communicating the first data comprises at least one of: transmitting the first data using a first subset of the plurality of antennas as one or more transmit antennas in the first multi-channel configuration; or receiving the first data using a second subset of the plurality of antennas as one or more receive antennas in the first multi-channel configuration; detecting an object proximate to the user device; determining an orientation of the user device relative to the object; switching to a second multi-channel configuration based on the orientation of the user device relative to the object, wherein the switching to the second antenna configuration, comprises: selecting, as a primary transmit antenna for the second configuration, one of the plurality of antennas that is farthest away from the object; selecting a third subset of the plurality of antennas as the one or more transmit antennas in the second multi-channel configuration, wherein the third subset comprises at least the primary transmit antenna; and selecting a fourth subset of the plurality of antennas as the one or more receive antennas in the second multi-channel configuration; and communicating second data using the second antenna configuration, wherein the communicating the second data comprises at least one of: transmitting the second data using the third subset of the one or more transmit antennas in the second multi-channel configuration; or receiving the second data using the fourth subset of the one or more receive antennas in the second multi-channel configuration.