Multiple disparate wireless units sharing of antennas
View Patent ↗Multiple disparate wireless units sharing of antennas are described herein. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes, but is not limited to, a first wireless communication unit of a first wireless communication standard, where the first standard includes selecting one of two antennas provided. The apparatus further includes a second wireless communication unit of a second wireless communication standard, where a first antenna and a second antenna are shared by the first and second communication units. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a first antenna;
a second antenna;
a first wireless communication unit of a first wireless communication standard, the first wireless communication unit comprising means for selecting one of the first and second antennas for use by the first wireless communication unit;
a second wireless communication unit of a second wireless communication standard;
means for sharing the first antenna and the second antenna between the first and second communication units; and
switch control logic comprising:
means for identifying a priority of an activity of the second wireless communication unit in connection with the first antenna;
means for determining whether the identified priority is a predetermined priority; and
means for opposing switching a connection of the second wireless communication unit from the first antenna to the second antenna if the identified priority is the predetermined priority.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus includes having a form factor of a hand-held computing device.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the means for selecting comprises means for selecting one of the first and second antennas based on quality of reception.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the second communication unit comprises means for selecting one of the first and second antennas not in use by the first communication unit.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the first communication standard is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11b standard, and the second communication is a (IEEE) 802.15 standard.
6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the first antenna is placed at a first of four sides of a chassis of the apparatus, and the second antenna is placed at a second side opposing the first side.
7. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the apparatus is a computing device to execute at least one of a Windows® based and Linux® based operating system.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the apparatus includes an X86® based processor.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the means for determining whether the identified priority is a predetermined priority comprises means for determining whether the identified priority is a high priority.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless communication unit includes the switch control logic.
11. A method for use with an apparatus including a first antenna, a second antenna, a first wireless communication unit of a first wireless communication standard, a second wireless communication unit of a second wireless communication standard, and means for sharing the first and second antennas between the first and second communication units, the method comprising:
(A) identifying a priority of an activity of the second wireless communication unit in connection with the first antenna;
(B) determining whether the identified priority is a predetermined priority; and
(C) opposing switching a connection of the second wireless communication unit from the first antenna to the second antenna if the identified priority is the predetermined priority.