Receiver including a matrix module to determine angular position

Abstract

A receiver includes an antenna array, a plurality of phase shifters, a matrix module, a low noise amplifier module, and a down conversion module. The antenna array is coupled to receive an inbound wireless signal. The plurality of phase shifters is coupled to the antenna array and to produce a plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals. The matrix module is coupled to beamform the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals to produce a plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals having a radiation pattern that is aligned with an angular position of a source of the inbound wireless signal with respect to the receiver.

1 . A receiver comprises:
 an antenna array coupled to receive an inbound wireless signal;   a plurality of phase shifters coupled to the antenna array and to adjust, based upon phase shifter coefficients, a phase of the inbound wireless signal to produce a plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals;   a matrix module coupled to beamform each of the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals to produce a plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals having a radiation pattern that is aligned with an angular position of a source of the inbound wireless signal with respect to the receiver;   a low noise amplifier module coupled to amplify one or more of the plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals to produce one or more amplified inbound signals; and   a down conversion module coupled to convert the one or more amplified inbound wireless signals into one or more baseband or near baseband signals.   
     
     
         2 . The receiver of  claim 1  further comprises:
 a selection module coupled to output the one or more of the plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals to the low noise amplifier module. 
 
     
     
         3 . The receiver of  claim 1  further comprises:
 a baseband processing module coupled to generate the phase shifter coefficients based on the one or more baseband or near baseband signals. 
 
     
     
         4 . The receiver of  claim 3  further comprises the baseband processing module coupled to:
 convert the one or more baseband or near baseband signals into inbound data. 
 
     
     
         5 . The receiver of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of phase shifters comprises at least one of:
 a coarse phase shifter; and   a fine phase shifter.   
     
     
         6 . The receiver of  claim 5 , wherein:
 the coarse phase shifter is a 1-bit phase shifter; and   the fine phase shifter is a 2-bit phase shifter.   
     
     
         7 . The receiver of  claim 1 , wherein the antenna array comprises:
 a linear antenna array.   
     
     
         8 . The receiver of  claim 1 , wherein the matrix module comprises:
 a Butler matrix.   
     
     
         9 . The receiver of  claim 1  further comprises:
 an inversion module coupled to invert a phase shifted inbound wireless signal of the representation of the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signal to produce an inverted phase shifted inbound wireless signal; 
 a second matrix module coupled to beamform the inverted phase shifted inbound wireless signal and remaining phase shifted inbound wireless signals of the representation of the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals to produce a second plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals; and 
 a control module to determine the angular position of the source of the inbound wireless signal based on at least one of the plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals and at least one of the second plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals. 
 
     
     
         10 . An antenna structure comprises:
 an antenna array coupled to receive an inbound wireless signal;   a plurality of phase shifters coupled to the antenna array and to adjust, based upon phase shifter coefficients, a phase of the inbound wireless signal to produce a plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals;   a matrix module coupled to beamform each of the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals to produce a plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals having a radiation pattern that is aligned with an angular position of a source of the inbound wireless signal with respect to the receiver; and   a selection module operably coupled to output the one or more of the plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals.   
     
     
         11 . The antenna structure of  claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of phase shifters comprises at least one of:
 a 1-bit phase shifter; and   a 2-bit phase shifter.   
     
     
         12 . The antenna structure of  claim 10 , wherein the antenna array comprises:
 a linear antenna array.   
     
     
         13 . The antenna structure of  claim 10 , wherein the matrix module comprises:
 a Butler matrix.   
     
     
         14 . The antenna structure of  claim 10  further comprises:
 a direction coupling module to generate a representation of the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals; 
 an inversion module coupled to invert a phase shifted inbound wireless signal of the representation of the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signal to produce an inverted phase shifted inbound wireless signal; 
 a second matrix module coupled to beamform the inverted phase shifted inbound wireless signal and remaining phase shifted inbound wireless signals of the representation of the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals to produce a second plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals; and 
 a control module to determine the angular position of the source of the inbound wireless signal based on at least one of the plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals and at least one of the second plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals. 
 
     
     
         15 . A receiver comprises:
 an antenna array coupled to receive an inbound wireless signal;   a plurality of 1-bit or 2-bit phase shifters coupled to the antenna array and to adjust a phase of the inbound wireless signal to produce a plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals;   a matrix module coupled to beamform each of the plurality of phase shifted inbound wireless signals to produce a plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals having a radiation pattern that is aligned with an angular position of a source of the inbound wireless signal with respect to the receiver;   a control module to determine the angular position of the source of the inbound wireless signal based on the one or more of the plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals and one or more of the second plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals;   a low noise amplifier module coupled to amplify one or more of the plurality of beamformed and phase shifted inbound wireless signals to produce one or more amplified inbound signals; and   a down conversion module coupled to convert the one or more amplified inbound wireless signals into one or more baseband or near baseband signals.   
     
     
         16 . The receiver of  claim 15  further comprises the control module coupled to:
 generate coefficients for the plurality of 1-bit or 2-bit phase shifters. 
 
     
     
         17 . The receiver of  claim 15 , wherein the antenna array comprises:
 a linear antenna array.   
     
     
         18 . The receiver of  claim 15 , wherein each of the first and second matrix modules comprises:
 a Butler matrix.   
     
     
         19 . The receiver of  claim 15  further comprises:
 a baseband processing module coupled to generate phase shifter coefficients based on the one or more baseband or near baseband signals.