1. A method for dynamically adjusting a beam of an adaptive antenna array, the method comprising:
receiving in a receiving node, via a plurality of antenna array elements, a signal from a transmitting node;
digitizing the received signal from the antenna array elements;
recording the digitized received signal;
generating k+1 output signals from the recorded digitized signal, by applying each of a plurality of weight sets to the digitized signal, each of the weight sets corresponding to a different one of k known neighboring nodes and a weight set for generating an omnidirectional propagation pattern;
determining which one of the k+1 output signals to process; and
processing the one of the k+1 output signals and decoding a packet encoded in the one of the k+1 output signals.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further comprises:
finding an error-free one of the k+1 output signals, and
determining that the error-free one of the k+1 output signals is the one of the k+1 output signals to process.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further comprises:
finding a strongest one of the k+1 output signals, and
determining that the strongest one of the k+1 output signals is the one of the k+1 output signals to process.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
when the decoded packet includes location information of the transmitting node:
determining whether a line-of sight connection exists with the transmitting node;
when the determining determines that the line-of sight connection exists:
using the location information to estimate a position of the transmitting node, and
adjusting the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimated position of the transmitting node.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein:
the decoded packet including the location information is a heartbeat packet.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the location information includes a reported position and a reported velocity of a transmitting node.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein:
the determining whether a line-of-sight connection exists comprises:
estimating an angle to the transmitting node, and
determining whether the estimated angle to the transmitting node corresponds to a reported position of the transmitting node, included in the location information.
8. The method of claim 4, wherein
when the determining whether a line-of sight connection exists determines that a line-of-sight connection does not exist:
using a last known location of the transmitting node as an estimate of a position of the transmitting node, and
adjusting weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimate of the position of the transmitting node.
9. The method of claim 4, wherein
when the determining whether a line-of sight connection exists determines that a line-of-sight connection does not exist:
determining whether the transmitting node is moving,
when the determining whether the transmitting node is moving determines that the transmitting node is not moving:
using a last known location of the transmitting node as an estimate of a position of the transmitting node, and
adjusting weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimate of the position of the transmitting node.
10. The method of claim 4, wherein
when the determining whether a line-of sight connection exists determines that a line-of-sight connection does not exist:
determining whether the transmitting node is moving,
when the determining whether the transmitting node is moving determines that the transmitting node is moving:
providing a predictive filter with information concerning past movement of the transmitting node,
providing, by the predictive filter, an estimated position of the transmitting node, and
adjusting the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimated position of the transmitting node.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein:
the predictive filter includes a Kalman filter.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein:
adjusting the weight set further comprises adjusting the weight set based on an uncertainty of the estimated position provided by the predictive filter.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving comprises:
detecting, by each of the array elements, a beginning of a packet.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the detecting a beginning of a packet comprises:
detecting at least a predetermined radio frequency signal strength and detecting at least some acquisition and timing bits in a packet header.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording comprises:
storing the digitized received signal in a memory.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the receiving node and the transmitting node are included in a wireless ad hoc network.
17. A node configured to operate in a wireless network, the node comprising:
a transceiver including a plurality of antenna array elements and a memory, the transceiver being configured to:
receive, from a transmitting node, a signal via the plurality of antenna array elements and detect a beginning of a packet in the signal, and
store, in the memory, respective portions of the signal received via corresponding ones of the antenna array elements, and
a processor connected to the transceiver and configured to:
access the stored portions of the received signal from the memory,
generate k+1 output signals based on the stored portions of the received signal, wherein each of the output signals is generated using a different one of a plurality of weight sets, the weight sets corresponding to k known neighboring nodes and a weight set for generating an omnidirectional propagation pattern,
determine which one of the k+1 output signals to process, and
process the one of the k+1 output signals and decode the packet encoded in the one of the k+1 output signals.
18. The node of claim 17, wherein the processor being configured to determine which one of the k+1 output signals to process, further comprises the processor being configured to:
find an error-free one of the k+1 output signals, and
determine that the error-free one of the k+1 output signals is the one of the k+1 output signals to be processed.
19. The node of claim 17, wherein the processor being configured to determine which one of the k+1 output signals to process, further comprises the processor being configured to:
find a strongest one of the k+1 output signals, and
determine that the strongest one of the k+1 output signals is the one of the k+1 output signals to be processed.
20. The node of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the decoded packet includes location information of a transmitting node,
when the processor determines that the decoded packet includes the location information, the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the plurality of antenna array elements are receiving a line-of-sight signal from the transmitting node,
when the processor determines that the plurality of antenna array elements are receiving a line-of-sight signal, the processor is further configured to
estimate a position of the transmitting node based on the heartbeat packet, and
adjust the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimated position of the transmitting node.
21. The node of claim 20, wherein the location information includes a reported position and a reported velocity.
22. The node of claim 17, wherein the transceiver further comprises
a plurality of downconverters, each of the downconverters being coupled to a different one of the antenna array elements,
a plurality of analog-to-digital converters, each of the analog-to-digital converters being coupled to a different one of the downconverters, and
a memory coupled to the analog-to-digital converters and further coupled to the processor, wherein:
the downconverters are configured to receive the portions of the signal from the ones of the antenna array elements and downconvert the portions of the received signal from a radio frequency to a baseband frequency, and
the analog-to-digital converters are configured to digitize the downconverted portions of the received signal and to store the portions of the digitized downconverted signal in the memory.
23. The node of claim 20, wherein:
the processor being configured to determine whether the plurality of antenna array elements are receiving a line-of-sight signal from the transmitting node, further comprises the processor being configured to:
estimate an angle from the antenna array elements to the transmitting node, and
determine whether the estimated angle corresponds to the location information.
24. The node of claim 20, wherein:
when the processor determines that the plurality of antenna elements are not receiving a line-of-sight signal from the transmitting node, the processor is further configured to:
use a last known location of the transmitting node as an estimate of the position of the transmitting node, and
adjust weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimate of the position of the transmitting node.
25. The node of claim 20, wherein:
when the processor determines that the plurality of antenna elements are not receiving a line-of-sight signal from the transmitting node, the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the transmitting node is moving,
when the processor determines that the transmitting node is not moving, the processor is further configured to:
use a last known location of the transmitting node as an estimate of the position of the transmitting node, and
adjust weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimate of the position of the transmitting node.
26. The node of claim 20, wherein:
when the processor determines that the plurality of antenna elements are not receiving a line-of-sight signal from the transmitting node, the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the transmitting node is moving,
when the processor determines that the transmitting node is moving, the processor is further configured to:
provide a predictive filter with information concerning past movement of the transmitting node,
receive an estimated position of the transmitting node from the predictive filter, and
adjust the weight set pertaining to the transmitting node based on the estimated position of the transmitting node.
27. The node of claim 26, wherein
the processor being configured to determine whether the transmitting node is moving, further comprises the processor being farther configured to:
determine whether a reported velocity, included in the location information, is non-zero.
28. The node of claim 26, wherein
the predictive filter includes a Kalman filter.
29. The node of claim 26 wherein the processor being configured to adjust the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimated position of the transmitting node, further comprises the processor being configured to:
adjust the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on uncertainty of the estimated position of the transmitting node from the predictive filter.
30. The node of claim 17, wherein the transceiver being configured to detect a beginning of a packet, further comprises the transceiver being configured to:
detect a radio frequency signal having at least a predetermined signal strength and detecting at least some acquisition and timing bits in a packet header.
31. A machine-readable medium having instructions recorded thereon for a processor, when the instructions are executed by the processor, the processor is configured to:
access a plurality of recorded waveforms in a memory, each of the recorded waveforms having been received via a different one of a plurality of antenna array elements,
apply each of k+1 weight sets to the recorded waveforms to generate k+1 output signals, k of the weight sets corresponding to k known neighboring nodes and one of the weight sets being a predetermined weight set for generating an omnidirectional propagation pattern, and
determine which one of the k+1 output signals to process and process the determined one of the k+1 output signals, the processing including decoding a received packet encoded in the one of the k+1 output signals.
32. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, the processor being configured to determine which one of the k+1 output signals to process further comprises the processor being configured to:
find an error-free one of the k+1 output signals, and
determine that the error-free one of the k+1 output signals is the one of the k+I output signals to process.
33. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, the processor being configured to determine which one of the k+I output signals to process further comprises the processor being configured to:
find a strongest one of the k+1 output signals, and
determine that the strongest one of the k+1 output signals is the one of the k+1 output signals to process.
34. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, the processor further being configured to:
determine whether the decoded packet includes location information of a transmitting node,
when the decoded packet is determined to include the location information, the processor is further configured to:
determine whether a line-of-sight connection exists with a transmitting node,
when the processor determines that the line-of sight connection exists, the processor is further configured to:
estimate a position of the transmitting node based on the location information, and
adjust weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimated position of the transmitting node.
35. The machine-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the location information includes a reported position and a reported velocity.
36. The machine-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the processor being configured to determine whether a line-of-sight connection exists, further comprises the processor being further configured to:
estimate an angle to the transmitting node, and
determine whether the estimated angle to the transmitting node corresponds to the location information.
37. The machine-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the processor being configured to estimate the angle to the transmitting node, further comprises the processor being further configured to:
estimate the angle to the transmitting node based on eigenvalues of an array correlation matrix.
38. The machine-readable medium of claim 34, wherein when the processor determines that a line-of-sight connection does not exist, the processor is further configured to:
use a last known location of the transmitting node as an estimate of a position of the transmitting node, and
adjust weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimate of the position of the transmitting node.
39. The machine-readable medium of claim 34, wherein when the processor determines that a line-of-sight connection does not exist, the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the transmitting node is moving,
when the processor determines that the transmitting node is not moving, the processor is further configured to:
use a last known location of the transmitting node as an estimate of a position of the transmitting node, and
adjust weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimate of the \u2212position of the transmitting node.
40. The machine-readable medium of claim 34, wherein when the processor determines that a line-of-sight connection does not exist, the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the transmitting node is moving,
when the processor determines that the transmitting node is moving, the processor is further configured to:
use a predictive filter to estimate a position of the transmitting node based on past movement of the transmitting node, and
adjust weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimate of the position of the transmitting node determined by the predictive filter.
41. The machine-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the processor being configured to adjust weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimate of the position of the transmitting node determined by the predictive filter, further comprises the processor being configured to:
adjust the weights of the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on an uncertainty of the estimate of the position determined by the predictive filter.
42. The machine-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the predictive filter includes a Kalman filter.
43. A node configured to operate in a wireless network, the node comprising:
means for receiving a signal from a transmitting node via a plurality of antenna array elements;
means for storing a representation of the received signal;
means for generating a plurality of output signals by applying each of a plurality of weight sets to the representation of the received signal, k of the weight sets corresponding to k known neighboring nodes and one of the weight sets being a predetermined weight set for propagating an omnidirectional pattern;
means for determining which one of the plurality of output signals to process; and
means for processing and for decoding the determined one of the plurality of output signals.
44. The node of claim 43, further comprising:
means for determining whether a line-of-sight connection exists with the transmitting node;
means for estimating a position of the transmitting node; and
means for updating the weight set corresponding to the transmitting node based on the estimated position of the transmitting node.
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. A system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer comprising:
a means to produce a primary high heating period and a secondary low heating period of blower purge air flows to a bed of desiccant within at least one tower vessel within said air dryer;
a means to measure and control heater discharge temperatures and dew point of said at least one tower vessel;
a means to dry purge at least one tower vessel within said air dryer for deep cooling,
a means for measuring the desiccant bed bottom area temperature and terminating said dry purging based upon deep cooling of the desiccant bed;
wherein, said primary high heating period of blower purging is followed by said secondary low heating period of blower purging to complete the heating phase in regenerating the desiccant, and, a means to terminate said low secondary heating period of blower purging and begin said dry purge means of at least one tower vessel within said air dryer for deep cooling, enabling the system to be cooled and repressurized and returned to a dryer mode cycle of operation.
2. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 1, wherein said means for measuring the desiccant bed bottom area are temperature sensors disposed at the discharge of the heater to control primary and secondary purge temperature set points and to measure the temperature of the purging flows through the desiccant bed.
3. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 2, wherein said measurement means includes a a control for a high heating period with high heat sequencing, and a low heating period and low heat sequencing.
4. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 1, wherein said deep cooling desiccant bed flow temperatures are the result of early termination of primary heating period for high heat and secondary low heating period of heater purge flows to cool and to save operating energy during the regeneration.
5. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 1, wherein said desiccant bed bottom area temperature is controlled based upon a measurement of purge flows of both heating phase and cooling phase, said measurement of purge flows measures the dryness of the desiccant bed.
6. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 5, wherein said measurements allow for early termination of heating and the early termination of cooling phases of operation.
7. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 1 wherein the flow of dry re-loading moist air to the bed is reduced by a dry purge valve.
8. A system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer comprising:
a means to produce a primary high heating period of about degrees 430\xb0 F. and a secondary low heating period of about 225\xb0 F. of purge air flows to a bed of desiccant within at least one tower vessel of said air dryer; said purge air flow directed to at least one vessel containing desiccant to achieve a high heat of about 400\xb0 F. and a low heat of about 200\xb0 F. at the vessel entry area;
a means to measure heater discharge temperatures and bottom vessel temperatures; a means to measure desiccant bed bottom area temperature and read said high and low heating as it progresses through the desiccant bed, means to dry purge for deep cooling, and a means to measure dew point; wherein said bottom vessel is operatively arranged to achieve temperatures to maintain deep cooling of the desiccant bed and terminate dry purging;
wherein, said primary high heating is achieved at a set point of about 400\xb0 F. for a period of blower purging and is immediately terminated and followed by a secondary low heating set point of about 200\xb0 F. for a period of blower purging to complete the heating phase in regenerating the desiccant, and, a means to terminate said low secondary heating period of blower purging and begin said dry purge means of at least one tower vessel within said air dryer for deep cooling, enabling the system to be cooled and repressurized and returned to a dryer mode cycle of operation.
9. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 8, wherein said measurement means are temperature sensors disposed at the discharge of the heater to control primary at a set point of about 400\xb0 F. and secondary set point of about 200\xb0 F. for purge temperature, wherein the measurement means are temperature sensors disposed at the bottom vessel area of the desiccant bed to read the status of purging flows through the desiccant bed.
10. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 9 wherein the measurement means is operatively arranged to control a high heating period with high heat sequencing where heater is switched ON to maintain a high set point, a low heating period and low heat sequencing; where heater is switched ON to maintain a low set point.
11. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 8, wherein said deep cooling desiccant bed flow temperature is controlled by early termination of primary high heating period for high heat of about 400\xb0 F. and secondary low heating period for low heat of about 200\xb0 F. of heater purge flows to cool and save operating energy during the regeneration.
12. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 8, wherein said desiccant bed bottom area temperature is controlled based upon a measurement of purge flows of both heating phase and cooling phase; said measurement of purge flows measures the dryness of the desiccant bed and indicates a deep cooling process.
13. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 12 wherein said measurements means control early termination of heating and the early termination of cooling phases of operation once deep cooling has been achieved.
14. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 8 wherein the blower re-loading moist air to the bed means is eliminated by a dry purge valve in the deep cooling process.
15. A system process and apparatus for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer device comprising;
a means to produce a primary high heating period of about 400\xb0 F. to high purge temperatures and a secondary low heating period about 225\xb0 F. of purge air flows to a bed of desiccant within at least one tower vessel of said air dryer to start to cooling process; said purge air flow directed to a twin tower vessel configuration of a dryer system containing desiccant and achieve a high heat of about 400\xb0 F. and a low heat of about 200\xb0 F. at the vessel entry area during regeneration; means to measure heater discharge temperatures or the high and low temperature set points, and bottom vessel temperature sensing means; means to measure desiccant bed bottom area temperature and read said high and low heating as it progresses through the desiccant bed, means to dry purge for deep cooling elimination the opportunity for blower ambient air re-loading moisture in the desiccant bed being regenerated, and a means to measure dew point of the regenerated desiccant bed; said bottom vessel temperatures operatively configured to maintain the deep cooling process of the desiccant bed dryness and terminate dry purging early when dryness is accomplished;
wherein, said primary high heating set point of about 400\xb0 F. for a period of blower purging is configured to terminate high heat period and immediately start said secondary low heating set point at about 200\xb0 F. for a period of blower purging to complete the heating phase in regenerating the desiccant, and, said low heating period of blower purging configured to terminate low heat period and immediately start said dry purge period of the process enabling the system to be cooled and repressurized.
16. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 15, wherein said measurement means are temperature sensors disposed at the discharge of the heater to control primary about 400\xb0 F. set point and secondary about 200\xb0 F. set point for purge temperatures, the measurement means are temperature sensors disposed at the bottom vessel area of the desiccant bed to read the status of purging flows through the desiccant bed as purging heat penetrates the stratified layers of moisture in captive in the desiccant bed.
17. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 16 wherein the measurement means controls a high heating period with high heat sequencing where heater is switched ON to maintain a high set point to substantially burn-off captive moisture on the desiccant, a low heating period and low heat sequencing; where heater is switched ON to maintain a low set point and essentially start the cooling process, while maintaining a about 200\xb0 F. heat to prevent further re-loading of blower ambient air.
18. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 15, wherein said deep cooling desiccant bed flow temperature occurs upon early termination of primary high heating period for high heat of about 400\xb0 F. and secondary low heating period for low heat of about 200\xb0 F. of heater purge flows to cool and save operating energy during the regeneration process.
19. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 15, wherein said desiccant bed bottom area temperature means controls the temperature of the purge flows of both heating phase and cooling said measurement of purge flows in the dryness of the desiccant bed to determine the timing of the deep cooling process.
20. The system for regenerating desiccant in an air dryer of claim 19, wherein said measurements allow for early termination of heating and the early termination of cooling phases of operation once deep cooling has been achieved.