Adaptive multiplexing and transmit/receive diversity

1. A method for operating a wireless user equipment (UE) device, comprising:

communicating with a base station using a first set of antennas;

determining one or more trigger conditions;

based on the one or more trigger conditions:

turning on a second set of antennas, in addition to the first set of antennas;

starting a measurement timer when the second set of antennas is turned on;

performing antenna measurements for the first set of antennas and the second set of antennas;

based on the antenna measurements, selecting, at or prior to expiration of the measurement timer, a new set of antennas for communicating with the base station, wherein the new set of antennas are different than the first set of antennas; and

based on selecting the new set of antennas:

turning off a remaining set of antennas; and

communicating with the base station using the new set of antennas.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more trigger conditions comprise a transmission power exceeding a transmission power threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more trigger conditions comprise expiration of a timer, wherein the timer measures the time since a previous antenna measurement.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a throughput/power ratio (TPR) of the first set of antennas, wherein the one or more trigger conditions comprise the TPR of the first set of antennas falling below a TPR threshold.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the TPR is based on one of:

a signal to noise ratio (SNR);

full mutual information; or

antenna imbalance and correlation.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a configuration indication from a base station, wherein the configuration indication specifies channel aggregation; and

performing semi-static resource allocation, wherein the semi-static resource allocation is prioritized based on:

a primary component carrier (PCC) that is capable of 4Rx receives first priority;

a secondary component carrier (SCC) that is adjacent to a PCC capable of 4Rx receives second priority;

a higher bandwidth SCC receives third priority; and

a higher frequency SCC receives fourth priority.

7. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

determining a measurement interval for the second set of antennas, wherein said turning on the second set of antennas is based on the measurement interval.

8. An apparatus for managing antenna selection of a wireless user equipment device (UE), the apparatus comprising:

at least one processing element configured to cause the UE to:

communicate with a base station using a first set of antennas;

determine that the UE is in an idle mode;

determine one or more trigger conditions;

based on the one or more trigger conditions:

turn on additional antennas;

start a measurement duration timer when the additional antennas are turned on; and

perform antenna measurements;

based on the antenna measurements, select a new set of antennas for communicating with the base station, wherein selecting the new set of antennas is completed at or prior to expiration of the measurement duration timer; and

communicate with the base station using the new set of antennas.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 ,

wherein the combination of the additional antennas and the first set of antennas comprises four antennas,

wherein the new set of antennas comprises fewer than four antennas.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 ,

wherein the measurement duration timer comprises a number of consecutive discontinuous reception (DRX) cycles,

wherein to perform antenna measurements comprises taking one or more measurements at each of the consecutive DRX cycles.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein to select the new set of antennas, the processing element is further configured to cause the UE to:

perform a comparison of a measurement of a first antenna to a measurement of at least a second antenna, wherein to select the new set of antennas comprises changing which antenna is used for transmission from the first transmission antenna to the second antenna, wherein the second antenna is selected based on the comparison.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein to perform the comparison, the processing element is further configured to cause the UE to:

calculate a difference between the measurement of the first antenna and the measurement of the second antenna;

compare the difference to a threshold, wherein the threshold is based on at least one of:

the total isotropic sensitivity of one or more receiver antennas, and

the maximum radiated power of the first antenna.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more trigger conditions comprise a received signal metric falling below a received signal threshold.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more trigger conditions comprise

detecting a failure or out of service event.

15. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more trigger conditions comprise a failure rate.

16. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the trigger condition is based on a comparison of a throughput/power ratio (TPR) of the first set of antennas to a TPR of the new set of antennas.

17. A wireless user equipment device (UE), comprising:

a plurality of antennas; and

a processing element operatively coupled to the plurality of antennas, wherein the processing element is configured to cause the UE to:

communicate with a base station using a first set of antennas;

determine one or more trigger conditions for performing antenna measurements;

based on the one or more trigger conditions:

start a timer; and

perform antenna measurements for at least the first set of antennas;

based on the antenna measurements, select a new set of antennas for communicating with the base station, wherein the new set of antennas is different than the first set of antennas and wherein the selection is at or prior to expiration of the timer; and

communicate with the base station using the new set of antennas.

18. The UE of claim 17 , wherein the processing element is further configured to cause the UE to:

determine at least one interval between antenna measurements; and

determine one or more parameters based on the at least one interval, wherein the one or more parameters are used to select the new set of antennas.

19. The UE of claim 18 , wherein the processing element is further configured to cause the UE to:

activate at least one additional antenna to perform the antenna measurements, wherein the at least one interval comprises an interval for the at least one additional antenna and an interval for the first set of antennas, wherein the interval for the at least one additional antenna is different than the interval for the first set of antennas.

20. The UE of claim 17 , wherein to perform antenna measurements, the processing element is further configured to cause the UE to:

perform antenna measurements using the first set of antennas;

start a blind trial timer;

switch to an alternative set of antennas;

perform antenna measurements using the alternative set of antennas;

at expiration of the blind trial timer, compare the antenna measurements of the first set of antennas and the antenna measurements of the alternative set of antennas, wherein the new set of antennas is selected based on the comparison.