1. A variable element, comprising:
a. a stationary circuit board, having at least one transmission line having a first output and a second output;
b. a rotatable circuit board, the rotatable circuit board including:
i. an input and a coupling section, the coupling section located to capacitively couple an input signal to the at least one transmission line between the first output and the second output; and
ii. an accelerometer, the accelerometer being oriented such that it provides a signal indicative of a physical angle of the rotatable circuit board with respect to vertical;
c. a look-up table having a plurality of physical angles of the rotatable circuit board correlated to a plurality of beam attributes; and
d. a controller configured to access the lookup table to obtain a physical angle of the rotatable circuit board that corresponds to a desired beam attribute, and to access the accelerometer to obtain the signal indicative of a physical angle of the rotatable circuit board.
2. The variable element of claim 1, wherein the stationary circuit board and the rotatable circuit board comprise a phase shifter and the beam attribute comprises a beam downtilt angle.
3. The variable element of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to operate an actuator to cause the rotatable circuit board to move to a physical angle corresponding to a desired beam downtilt angle.
4. The variable element of claim 1, further comprising an actuator, wherein the actuator includes the controller, a non-volatile memory coupled to the controller and including the look-up table, and a motor coupled to the controller, and the controller is further configured to operate the motor to cause the rotatable circuit board to move to a physical angle corresponding to a desired beam attribute.
5. The variable element of claim 1, wherein the accelerometer provides signals indicative of an angle with respect to vertical with respect to a plurality of axes.
6. The variable element of claim 1, wherein the accelerometer provides signals indicative of physical angle with respect to vertical with respect to a plurality of axes and wherein the look-up table further comprises a plurality of default tilt angles and beam downtilt angles correlated to the physical angle with respect to vertical with respect to a plurality of axes.
7. A panel antenna comprising:
a. a plurality of radiating elements;
b. an input;
c. a first feed network coupling the input to a first set of dipoles of the plurality of radiating elements, the first feed network comprising a plurality of transmission lines and at least a first variable element according to claim 1; and
d. an actuator coupled to the variable element.
8. The panel antenna of claim 7, further comprising a second feed network coupling a second input to a second set of dipoles of the plurality of radiating elements, the second feed network comprising a plurality of transmission lines and at least a second variable element, the second variable element being mechanically coupled to the first variable element.
9. The panel antenna of claim 8, wherein the first and second variable elements are differential phase shifters.
10. A phase shifter, comprising:
a. a stationary circuit board, having at least one transmission line having a first output and a second output;
b. a rotatable circuit board, the rotatable circuit board including:
i. an input and a coupling section, the coupling section located to capacitively couple an input signal to the at least one transmission line between the first output and the second output; and
ii. an accelerometer, the accelerometer being oriented such that it provides a signal indicative of a physical angle of the rotatable circuit board with respect to vertical;
c. a look-up table having a plurality of physical angles of the rotatable circuit board correlated to a plurality of beam downtilt angles; and
d. a controller configured to access the lookup table to obtain a physical angle of the rotatable circuit board that corresponds to a desired beam downtilt angle, and to access the accelerometer to obtain the signal indicative of a physical angle of the rotatable circuit board.
11. The variable element of claim 10, further comprising an actuator, wherein the actuator includes the controller, a non-volatile memory coupled to the controller and including the look-up table, and a motor coupled to the controller, and the controller is further configured to operate the motor to cause the rotatable circuit board to move to a physical angle corresponding to a desired beam downtilt angle.
12. The variable element of claim 10, wherein the accelerometer provides signals indicative of physical angle with respect to vertical with respect to a plurality of axes and wherein the look-up table further comprises a plurality of default tilt angles and beam downtilt angles correlated to the physical angle with respect to vertical with respect to a plurality of axes.
13. A panel antenna comprising:
a. a plurality of radiating elements;
b. an input;
c. a feed network coupling the input to the plurality of radiating elements, the feed network comprising a plurality of transmission lines and at least one variable element according to claim 10; and
d. an actuator coupled to the variable element.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. (canceled)
2. A printing apparatus comprising:
a holding unit configured to hold setting information for expanding a print setting function;
a receiving unit configured to receive identification information from an information processing apparatus, wherein the identification information which enables to identify whether to transmit setting information, and setting information to be transmitted;
a determination unit configured to determine whether to transmit setting information based on the identification information; and
a transmitting unit configured, if the determination unit determines to transmit setting information, to decide setting information to be transmitted from setting information held by the holding unit based on the identification information, and to transmit the decided setting information to the information processing apparatus,
wherein in the information processing apparatus, the print setting function is expanded by using the setting information received from the printing apparatus.
3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the identification information is setting information about a version of a printer driver and a version of an operating system in the information processing apparatus.
4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the receiving unit receives a model name as the identification information from the information processing apparatus.
5. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the holding unit further holds a table in which the identification information is associated with setting information to be transmitted, and
wherein the transmitting unit decides setting information to be transmitted from setting information held by the holding unit based on the table and the received identification information.
6. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein in the information processing apparatus, a print setting function of a printer driver is expanded by using the setting information received from the printing apparatus.
7. A control method for a printing apparatus comprising:
holding setting information for expanding a print setting function in a storage unit;
receiving identification information from an information processing apparatus, wherein the identification information which enables to identify whether to transmit setting information, and setting information to be transmitted; and
determining whether to transmit setting information based on the identification information,
wherein if it is determined, in the determining step, that setting information is transmitted, deciding setting information to be transmitted from setting information held in the storage unit based on the identification information, and transmitting the decided setting information to the information processing apparatus, and
wherein in the information processing apparatus, the print setting function is expanded by using the setting information received from the printing apparatus.
8. The control method according to claim 7, wherein the identification information is setting information about a version of a printer driver and a version of an operating system in the information processing apparatus.
9. The control method apparatus according to claim 7, wherein in the receiving step, a model name is received as the identification information from the information processing apparatus.
10. The control method according to claim 7, wherein in the holding step, a table in which the identification information is associated with setting information to be transmitted is further held in the storage unit, and
wherein setting information to be transmitted is decided from setting information held in the storage unit based on the table and the received identification information.
11. The control method according to claim 7, wherein in the information processing apparatus, a print setting function of a printer driver is expanded by using the setting information received from the printing apparatus.
12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the steps of:
holding setting information for expanding a print setting function in a storage unit;
receiving identification information from an information processing apparatus, wherein the identification information which enables to identify whether to transmit setting information, and setting information to be transmitted; and
determining whether to transmit setting information based on the identification information,
wherein if it is determined, in the determining step, that setting information is transmitted, deciding setting information to be transmitted from setting information held in the storage unit based on the identification information, and transmitting the decided setting information to the information processing apparatus, and
wherein in the information processing apparatus, the print setting function is expanded by using the setting information received from the printing apparatus.
13. The medium according to claim 12, wherein the identification information is setting information about a version of a printer driver and a version of an operating system in the information processing apparatus.
14. The medium according to claim 12, wherein in the receiving step, a model name is received as the identification information from the information processing apparatus.
15. The medium according to claim 12, wherein in the holding step, a table in which the identification information is associated with setting information to be transmitted is further held in the storage unit, and
wherein setting information to be transmitted is decided from setting information held in the storage unit based on the table and the received identification information.
16. The medium according to claim 12, wherein in the information processing apparatus, a print setting function of a printer driver is expanded by using the setting information received from the printing apparatus.