Granted Patent B2

US 7,142,811 · App. 10/004,989 · Granted Nov 28, 2006

Abstract

Claims (39)

1. A method for supporting communication comprising the steps of:

coupling one of multiple transducers to a circuit to transmit or receive a magnetic field;

adjusting characteristics of the circuit depending on which of the multiple transducers is coupled to the circuit;

intermittently adjusting characteristics of the circuit during use based upon feedback to more efficiently transmit or receive over one of the multiple transducers;

coupling a first transducer of the multiple transducers to the circuit for transmitting;

coupling a second transducer of the multiple transducers to the circuit for receiving;

transmitting a signal over the first transducer and receiving the signal over the second transducer; and

tuning the first transducer and the circuit for transmitting a magnetic field based on feedback from the second transducer receiving the magnetic field.

2. A method as in claim 1 , wherein a capacitance of the circuit is adjusted to tune the transducer.

3. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the circuit is adjusted to independently tune the transducer for transmitting or receiving at different time intervals.

4. A method as in claim 1 further comprising the step of:

selecting a setting of the circuit via electronic switching to tune the transducer.

5. A method as in claim 1 further comprising the step of:

positioning each of the multiple transducers along a unique axis with respect to each other.

6. A method as in claim 5 further comprising the step of:

selecting from which of the multiple transducers to transmit or receive a magnetic field; and

tuning the selected transducer to support a wireless link with a remote transceiver device having a single transducer that transmits and receives data.

7. A method as in claim 1 further comprising the step of:

orthogonally positioning three transducers with respect to each other.

8. A method as in claim 1 further comprising the step of:

adjusting an impedance of the circuit to tune a transducer for transmitting or receiving.

9. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

tuning the second transducer and the circuit for receiving based on a received signal strength of a magnetic field generated by the first transducer.

10. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

sweeping through a range of circuit settings to determine which of multiple settings is optimal for transmitting or receiving over a selected transducer.

11. A method as in claim 10 further comprising:

learning which of multiple settings is optimal and storing corresponding information in memory.

12. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

reducing power consumption of the circuit by increasing a magnetic signal generated by a selected transducer based upon adjustments to the circuit.

13. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

switching selected capacitors of a capacitor bank to ground via switches to tune a transducer for transmitting or receiving.

14. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

storing circuit setting information in memory regarding how to set a circuit for receiving or transmitting.

15. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

retrieving circuit setting information from memory and adjusting characteristics of the circuit to transmit or receive over a transducer.

16. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

adjusting the circuit to transmit or receive over the transducer at a selected carrier frequency.

17. A method as in claim 16 further comprising:

modulating digital data on the carrier frequency to transmit information to a target receiver.

Assignments (8)