US 12,328,642 B2
System and method for coordinated beamforming among discrete communication devices
John Dalton Williams, Huntsville, AL (US); Ted R. Dabrowski, Huntsville, AL (US); and Jae H. Kim, Bellevue, WA (US)
Assigned to THE BOEING COMPANY, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed by THE BOEING COMPANY, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Aug. 15, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/819,733.
Prior Publication US 2024/0056769 A1, Feb. 15, 2024
Int. Cl. H04W 4/029 (2018.01); G01S 13/46 (2006.01); H01Q 1/38 (2006.01); H04W 16/14 (2009.01)
CPC H04W 4/029 (2018.02) [G01S 13/46 (2013.01); H01Q 1/38 (2013.01); H04W 16/14 (2013.01); G01S 2013/466 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A communication system comprising:
a first communication device including an isotropic antenna element and a controller operably connected to the isotropic antenna element, wherein a role of the first communication device is master device and the first communication device is configured to communicate with other communication devices, that include respective isotropic antenna elements, to form a group of multiple, discrete communication devices, wherein the role of the other communication devices in the group is follower device, the controller of the master device configured to:
determine relative locations of the follower devices to the master device;
assign different phase delay values to different corresponding ones of the communication devices in the group based on the relative locations of the follower devices to the master device and based on a direction of interest from the group of communication devices towards a target; and
communicate message information to the follower devices, the message information including the phase delay values, a message payload, and a transmit time, wherein the message information is communicated to control the isotropic antenna elements of the communication devices in the group to collectively form an antenna array that transmits the message payload at the transmit time and with a phase taper, defined by the phase delay values, to form a beam in the direction of interest towards the target.