US 11876548

US Patent 11876548, titled "Steerable antenna device," was issued on January 16, 2024. The patent is assigned to Massively Broadband LLC and lists Theodore S. Rappaport as the inventor. The application was filed on June 14, 2021.

Abstract:
Wireless devices, particularly mobile devices like cellphones, PDAs, computers, and navigation devices, as well as other data-transmitting or receiving devices across multiple frequency bands, utilize at least one antenna for simultaneous transmission and reception across various bands (e.g., GSM cellular, Bluetooth, UWB). These devices can transmit or receive simultaneously on different bands, or transmit and receive simultaneously on different bands. The invention enables these wireless devices to use a single physical structure (e.g., an antenna) for multi-band transmission and reception. This antenna can be actively or passively tuned using one or more elements and may comprise multiple antenna elements, with at least one being a steerable antenna.

Plain-language overview of the independent claims:

• Independent Claim 1 (Wireless device): This claim describes a wireless device designed to prevent radiation towards a user or a physical structure. It includes one or more detectors (such as cameras, microphones, ultrasound sensors, capacitive sensors, gyroscopes, light detectors, or motion detectors) that computationally determine the device's 3D orientation relative to the user or structure. One or more processors then use this information to identify "avoidance zones" or directions where the user or structure is located. The device also has one or more steerable antennas, operating on single or multiple bands between 10 GHz and 500 GHz, which can adjust their radiation patterns to strengthen signals in directions outside these avoidance zones while weakening signals within them. A controller manages this adjustment of the antenna's radiation pattern.

• Independent Claim 7 (Method for avoiding or reducing radiation): This claim outlines a method for a wireless device with at least one steerable antenna to avoid or reduce radiating towards a user or structure. The method involves: sensing the device's orientation relative to the user or structure using various sensors (cameras, microphones, ultrasound, capacitive, gyroscopes, light, or motion detectors) for 3D spatial orientation; receiving signals from these sensors; computing 3D "zones or spans of directions" where the user or structure is located relative to the steerable antenna; and adjusting the steerable antenna's beams to strengthen its radiation pattern in directions outside these zones. The steerable antenna radiates or receives beams based on processor signals, operates on one or multiple bands, and functions at frequencies between 10 GHz and 500 GHz.

• Independent Claim 12 (Method for avoiding radiation with a steerable antenna system): This claim details another method for a wireless device with a steerable antenna system to avoid radiating a user or structure. It involves: detecting the device's 3D orientation relative to the user or structure using sensors (cameras, microphones, ultrasound, range finders, capacitive, gyroscopes, light, or motion detectors); a computation module then determines 3D "zones or spans of directions" corresponding to the user's or structure's location. The steerable antenna, operating on one or multiple bands and radiating or receiving between 10 GHz and 500 GHz, is adjusted to direct its radiation pattern away from these computed zones while attenuating the pattern within them.

I did not find any specific dockets for patent US11876548 in the CAFC 2026 dockets. The search results provided general information about CAFC activity in 2026, but no direct matches for this specific patent number.