Host-independent VHF-UHF active antenna system
An antenna system for use with a media device is provided. The antenna system includes a multi-mode active antenna configurable to operate in a plurality of modes. Each mode of the plurality of has a distinct radiation pattern. The antenna system includes a supplemental tuner that is separate from a primary tuner associated with the media device. The antenna system includes a switching device movable between at least two positions to selectively couple the active antenna to the supplemental tuner. When the switching device is in a first position, the active antenna is coupled to the supplemental tuner. When the switching device is in a second position, the active antenna is coupled to the media device.
1. An antenna system comprising:
a multi-mode active antenna configurable to operate in a plurality of modes associated with a ultra-high frequency (UHF) band or a very-high frequency (VHF) band, each of the plurality of modes having a distinct radiation pattern;
a supplemental tuner that is separate from a primary tuner associated with a media device;
a directional coupler configured to bifurcate a signal received from the multi-mode active antenna into a first bifurcated signal provided to the primary tuner and a second bifurcated signal provided to the supplemental tuner; and
a controller configured to:
obtain the second bifurcated signal while the multi-mode active antenna is configured in each of the plurality of modes;
process the second bifurcated signal for each of the plurality of modes to determine a signal metric for each of the plurality of modes; and
determine one of the plurality of modes as a selected mode for the multi-modal active antenna based, at least in part, on the signal metric.
2. The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a low noise amplifier coupled between the multi-mode active antenna and the directional coupler.
3. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the signal metric comprises at least one of receive power (RP), signal to noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (SNIR), magnitude error ratio (MER), error vector magnitude (EVM), bit error rate (BER), or packet error rate (PER).
4. The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a demodulator coupled to the supplemental tuner, the demodulator configured to demodulate the second bifurcated signal.
5. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the multi-mode active antenna comprises a first antenna and a second antenna, the first antenna connected to the second antenna.
6. The antenna system of claim 5 , wherein the multi-mode active antenna further comprises:
a first parasitic element positioned closer to the first antenna than the second antenna; and
a second parasitic element positioned closer to the second antenna than the first antenna.
7. The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an accelerometer configured to obtain data indicative of an orientation of the multi-mode active antenna.
8. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the media device comprises a television.
9. The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising:
radio-frequency (RF) circuitry comprising at least one of switches, inductors, capacitors, tunable inductors, tunable capacitors, or solid state devices.