Patent ID: 7636344

Claim:
A method of operating a wireless station of a wireless network, the wireless station including a receive path with a first stage of radio frequency amplification, the method comprising the steps of: separating radio transmission signals for transmission and reception signals received into corresponding one or more transmitter antennas and signals from corresponding one or more receiving antennas; providing at least three antennas including at least two transmitter antennas and at least one receive antenna, or including at least two receiver antennas and at least one transmit antenna, such there is transmit and/or receive diversity without a transmit/receive switch; and multiplexing between said at least two receive antennas with a receiver diversity switch and/or between said at least two transmit antennas with a transmitter diversity switch; wherein a transmit/receive switch and its concomitant signal insertion loss is eliminated from a path between an antenna receiving wireless local area network transmission signals and a first stage of radio-frequency amplification.