According to a new patent application, Microsoft appears to be working on power transmission improvements for next-generation hybrids, 2-in-1s such as the Surface Laptop and Book lineup. In the same patent application, which was published earlier this week, Microsoft also revealed its plan to improve the repairability score of the products.
In the filing, Microsoft notes that the components of the devices can be replaced with a different housing material from the original housing material to “increase repairability and/or customization of the electronic device”.
“The replacement housing component may have different housing material from the original housing material. For example, an electronic device with a dented aluminium backplate of the first housing could be repaired by replacing a portion of the first housing,” Microsoft noted.
If you replace the portion of the first housing with a different material, the signal strength of wireless adapters such as the Wi-Fi will change.
“It should be understood that references in the present disclosure to replacement, repairs, or modifications to the housing can refer to a portion of the housing, a layer of the housing, the entire housing, or any instance where the housing material in the transmission path changes,” Microsoft writes.
To improve the repairability score and Wi-Fi performance, the patent from the company has proposed the following solution:
A method of controlling wireless communication performance in an electronic device includes accessing data containing material properties relating to a plurality of materials, transmitting a first test signal on a first transmission channel with a first antenna at a first location in the electronic device, receiving the first test signal on the first transmission channel with a second antenna at a second location in the electronic device, determining a housing material of the electronic device based on a measured attenuation of the first test signal received by the second antenna based upon the data containing transmission properties relating to a plurality of materials, and adjusting a transmission power of one of the first antenna and the second antenna based upon the material properties of the housing material.
