Communication device

1. A communication device ( 2 ) comprising

an antenna system ( 4 ) provided with at least one antenna ( 6 a , 6 b , 6 c ) for receiving a radio signal and supplying a received radio signal to an output ( 8 ) of the antenna system, a low noise amplifier ( 10 ) for amplification of the receive radio signal to obtain an amplified radio signal, and a processing unit ( 12 ) for processing the amplified radio signal, characterized in that the antenna system ( 4 ) is configured to supply in a first state a first antenna signal as the received radio signal through a first antenna path and in a second state a continuously attenuated second antenna signal as the received radio signal through a second antenna path,

wherein the first and second antenna signal differ in amplitude,

wherein the antenna system further is configured to switch from state in response to a control signal ( 14 ) generated by the processing unit ( 12 ),

wherein the processing unit ( 12 ) is configured to determine regularly for the first state of the first antenna path and second state of the second antenna path a first signal quality and second signal quality, respectively,

wherein the processing unit ( 12 ) is configured to generate for a subsequent radio signal a control signal corresponding to the first state if the first signal quality is higher than the second signal quality and a control signal corresponding to the second state if the second signal quality is higher than the first signal quality.

2. The communication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the antenna system ( 4 ) comprises a switching unit ( 16 ) having a switch input ( 18 a ) coupled to an antenna and a switch output ( 19 ) coupled to the output of the antenna system ( 4 ),

wherein the switching unit ( 16 ) comprises an open state and a closed state, and

wherein the switch is configured to supply to the switch output in the closed state the signal received at the switch input ( 18 a ) and in the open state an attenuated version of a RF signal received at the switch input ( 18 a ).

3. The communication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the antenna system comprises a multiplexer ( 16 ) with a first, a second input and an output,

wherein the first input is coupled to the input of the multiplexer ( 16 ) and the second input is not connected or terminated, the multiplexer ( 16 ) further having a control input for receiving a control signal generated by the processing unit and configured to connect the first input or the second input to the output in response to the control signal.

4. The communication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the antenna system comprises a first antenna ( 6 a ), a second antenna ( 6 b ), a RF attenuator ( 20 ) and a multiplexer ( 16 ),

wherein the first antenna is coupled to a first input ( 18 a ) of the multiplexer, the second antenna ( 6 b ) is coupled to an input of the RF attenuator ( 20 ), an output of the RF attenuator ( 20 ) is coupled to a second input ( 18 b ) of the multiplexer ( 16 ), the multiplexer ( 16 ) having a control input ( 18 c ) for receiving a control signal ( 14 ) generated by the processing unit ( 12 ) and configured to connect the first input ( 18 a ) or the second input ( 18 b ) to the output ( 19 ) in response to the control signal.

5. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the attenuated second antenna signal has an attenuation in the range of 10 - 60 dB.

6. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the first signal quality and second signal quality have been obtained by performing a correlation function on the amplified radio signal.

7. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit ( 12 ) is further configured to determine for each state a packet error rate (PER) and to generate the control signal in dependence of the packet error rate and signal quality for each state.

8. The communication device of claim 1 ,

wherein the processing unit ( 12 ) is configured to retrieve data packets from the amplified radio signal,

wherein a data packet comprises a preamble part followed in time by a data part,

wherein the communication device is configured to derive the first signal quality signal and second signal quality signal from the amplified radio signal carrying the preamble part of a data packet and to select the state with the highest signal quality for processing the amplified radio signal carrying the data part of said data packet.

9. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the communication device is an 802.15.4 receiver.

10. A method of receiving data packets from a radio signal in a communication device comprising:

using an antenna system ( 4 ) provided with at least one antenna ( 6 a , 6 b , 6 c ) for receiving a radio signal and supplying a received radio signal to an output ( 8 ) of the antenna system, a low noise amplifier ( 10 ) for amplification of the receive radio signal to obtain an amplified radio signal, and a processing unit ( 12 ) for processing the amplified radio signal, characterized in that the antenna system ( 4 ) is configured to supply in a first state a first antenna signal as the received radio signal through a first antenna path and in a second state a continuously attenuated second antenna signal as the received radio signal through a second antenna path, wherein the first and second antenna signal differ in amplitude, wherein the antenna system further is configured to switch from state in response to a control signal ( 14 ) generated by the processing unit ( 12 ), wherein the processing unit ( 12 ) is configured to determine regularly for the first state and second state a first signal quality and second signal quality, respectively, wherein the processing unit ( 12 ) is configured to generate for a subsequent radio signal a control signal corresponding to the first state if the first signal quality is higher than the second signal quality and a control signal corresponding to the second state if the second signal quality is higher than the first signal quality;

retrieving at least two antenna signals, wherein the at least two antenna signals differ in amplitude and have been obtained by an antenna system having at least two states, wherein an antenna signal has a corresponding state;

determining for each of the at least two antenna signals a corresponding signal quality; and

selecting the state of the at least two states providing the antenna signal having the highest signal quality.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein a data packet comprises a preamble part followed in time by a data part and the method determines the signal quality for each of the at least two antenna signals on the preamble part of a data packet and select for the data part of said data packet the state providing the antenna signal having the highest signal quality.