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ApplePatent applicationNetworks & wirelessInterest 6/10

Apple patents software trick to boost wireless range without new hardware

Apple describes a method to extend the distance of wireless signals by changing how data is prepared before it is sent. Instead of using more power or new antennas, the device simplifies the data pattern in software to make it easier to transmit and receive over longer distances.

Why it mattersThis could help existing devices maintain a stable connection in weak signal areas without needing physical upgrades.

In the filing’s own words

The subject technology provides range extension for wireless communications from a device, without modification to the wireless hardware of the device. Range extension operations can be performed, in software, at a transmitting device and/or at a receiving device. Range extension operations at a transmitting device may include reducing a symbol space in which data to be transmitted is represented, by modifying the data itself prior to signal modulation. Range extension operations at a receiving device may include accumulating frames with errors, and estimating an original frame from the accumulated frames.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method, comprising: obtaining, by an electronic device, a bitstream, wherein the electronic device comprises wireless communication circuitry configured to perform an encoding operation to map the bitstream into a symbol space comprising a first number of symbols; identifying, by the electronic device, a range extension condition for wireless communications from the electronic device; digitally modifying, responsive to the identifying of the range extension condition and prior to providing the bitstream to the wireless communications circuitry, the bitstream to generate a modified bitstream that maps, according to the encoding operation of the wireless communications circuitry, to a reduced symbol space comprising a second number of symbols smaller than the first number of symbols; and providing the modified bitstream to the wireless communications circuitry for: encoding, using the encoding operation, of the modified bitstream into the reduced symbol space comprising the second number of symbols; and transmission of a wireless signal corresponding to the modified bitstream encoded into the reduced symbol space comprising the second number of symbols.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
RANGE EXTENSION FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Publication number
US20260292528A1
Application number
19088891
Filed
Mar 24, 2025
Published
Sep 24, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
23

Classified under

H04W 16/26 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.