IP Library Granted Patent US 7,187,332
Granted Patent B2
US 7,187,332 · App. 11/067,935 · Granted Mar 6, 2007

Mobile wireless communications device with human interface diversity antenna and related methods

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,187,332
App. No.
11/067,935
Granted
Mar 6, 2007
Kind
B2
Abstract

A mobile wireless communications device may include a portable handheld housing, and a wireless transceiver carried by the housing. A pair of an antennas are positioned in side-by-side relation preferably in the upper portion of the portable handheld housing. A human interface diversity controller is connected to the wireless transceiver to preferentially operate with the plurality of antennas based upon a relative position of the portable handheld housing with respect to a hand of a human user. The device can select or weight the antennas based upon the position of the device when being held by a user.

Claims (17)

1. A mobile wireless communication device comprising:

a portable handheld housing having opposing parallel front and back surfaces;

a wireless transceiver carried by said portable handheld housing;

a plurality of antennas positioned in side-by-side relation in said portable handheld housing, each of the antennas comprising a planar conductive element printed on a circuit board, and said plurality of antennas being arranged in side-by-side relation in an upper portion of the portable handheld housing and extending in a plane parallel to the front and back surfaces; and

a human interface diversity controller connected to said wireless transceiver to preferentially operate with the plurality of antennas based upon a relative position of said portable handheld housing with respect to a hand of a human user, said human interface diversity controller preferentially weights transmit signals based upon received signal strength.

2. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of antennas are operable on a same frequency.

3. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of antennas have different polarizations.

4. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of antennas have different conductive patterns.

5. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of antennas have different frequencies for transmit and receive.

6. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of antennas comprises a pair of first and second antennas.

7. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 further comprising a display carried by said portable handheld housing and connected to said transceiver.

8. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 further comprising at least one user input device carried by said portable handheld housing and connected to said transceiver.

9. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 further comprising at least one input/output transducer carried by said portable handheld housing and connected to said transceiver.

10. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein said transceiver and said plurality of antennas are operable in at least one of a LAN wireless network and a cellular wireless network.

11. A method of operating a mobile wireless communications device to account for different human interface, the mobile wireless communications device having a portable handheld housing and a wireless transceiver therein, and a pair of antennas side-by-side in an upper portion of the portable handheld housing and connected to the wireless transceiver, each of the antennas comprising a planar conductive element printed on a circuit board, and the portable handheld housing having opposing parallel front and back surfaces and the pair of antennas are arranged in side-by-side relation extending in a plane parallel to the front and back surfaces, the method comprising controlling the wireless transceiver to preferentially operate the pair of antennas based upon a relative position of the portable handheld housing with respect to a hand of a human user, including preferentially weighting transmit signals based upon received signal strength.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the pair of antennas are operated cn a same frequency.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein each antenna of the pair of antennas has a different conductive pattern.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 22, 2014
From: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
To: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 034030/0941 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2005
From: KEZYS, VYTAS; QI, YIHONG
To: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
Reel/Frame 016342/0399 →