Patent ID: 8706058

Claim:
A system comprising: an outer shell having an inner spherical cavity; an inner sphere located in the spherical cavity of the outer shell, the inner sphere comprising: a sensor configured to obtain data; at least one transmit antenna configured to radiate signals at a transmit frequency; and at least one transmitter coupled to the sensor and to a respective one of the at least one transmit antenna, the at least one transmitter configured to control transmission of the sensor data via the respective at least one transmit antenna; a first receive antenna located in the spherical cavity of the outer shell, the first receive antenna frequency matched to the transmit frequency of a respective one of the at least one transmit antenna; a second receive antenna located in the spherical cavity of the outer shell; the second receive antenna frequency matched to the transmit frequency of a respective one of the at least one transmit antenna; and a receiver located outside of the outer shell, the receiver coupled to the first receive antenna and to the second receive antenna, wherein the receiver is configured to determine the signal to noise ratio of a first signal received at the first receive antenna and the signal to noise ratio of a second signal received at the second receive antenna; and to combine the first and second signals based on the respective signal to noise ratios such that interference due to multi-path signals in the spherical cavity is reduced; wherein a position of the first receive antenna and a position of the second receive antenna in the spherical cavity are selected such that when one of the first and second receive antennas is blocked by a component in the spherical cavity, the other of the first and second receive antennas is off-centered from the blocking component.