An antenna system for a device and a method for determining the device's status

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an antenna system (10) for a device. The antenna system (10) comprises at least one antenna transducer (16) and an antenna transducer feed (15) in communication therewith. The antenna transducer feed (15) comprises an electrical terminal (12) for electrical connection to the device (14). The at least one antenna transducer (16) is for communicating information between the electrical terminal (12) and a wireless communications network (18). The antenna system (10) comprises a processor (20) configured to determine the device's status and cause an antenna transducer of the at least one antenna transducers (16) to communicate information indicative of the device's status to the or another wireless communications network (18).

Description

[0001] AN ANTENNA SYSTEM FOR A DEVICE AND A METHOD FOR DETERMININGTHE DEVICE’S STATUS.

[0002] Technical field

[0003] The disclosure herein generally relates to an antenna system for device, and a method for determining the device’s status, and particularly and not exclusively to antenna systems and methods for Smart Devices.

[0004] Background

[0005] The internet has billions of things - in addition to personal computers - connected to it, and so has been described as the internet of things. These things are, broadly speaking, known as smart devices. Example applications of smart devices include but are by no means limited to street lighting, traffic surveillance and control, parking metering, waste monitoring and management, public Wi-Fi, vehicle autonomy, electric vehicle charging, dispensing cash, climate control, smoke detection, public transportation, and vending.

[0006] A smart device generally comprises a network interface. The network interface is operational to at least one of send information over a wireless communications network and receive information over the wireless communications network (“network”).

[0007] A smart device may develop a fault and become unresponsive or inactive. A technician may be sent to inspect a faulty smart device, for example a network connected vending machine at a train station. It may be undesirable to send the technician, however, in view of time, cost or practicality. Redundant hardware (“backup system”), can be incorporated into the smart device (“primary system”), to reduce the likely hood of the primary system becoming unresponsive, however this may be undesirable, for example in view of feasibility.

[0008] Summary

[0009] Disclosed herein is an antenna system for a device. The antenna system comprises at least one antenna transducer and an antenna transducer feed in communication therewith, wherein the antenna transducer feed comprises an electrical terminal for electrical connection to the device and the at least one antenna transducer is for communicating information between the electrical terminal and a wireless communications network. The antenna system comprises a processor configured to determine the device’s status and cause an antenna transducer of the at least one antenna transducers to communicate information indicative of the device’s status to the or another wireless communications network.

[0010] In the context of this document, the meaning of electrical terminal encompasses a RF connector, an electrical contact, stripped wire, or generally any point that provides electrical access.

[0011] In an embodiment, the electrical terminal comprises an antenna transducer connector. The antenna transducer connector may comprise a radio frequency (RF) connector.

[0012] An embodiment comprises at least one enclosure. The enclosure may comprise a radome. At least one of the at least one antenna transducer and the processor may be enclosed in the at least one enclosure.

[0013] In an embodiment, the antenna system comprises a communications network interface. The communications network interface may comprise an internet of things (lol) module. The loT module is operationally coupled to the processor and the at least one antenna transducer. The loT module is operational to send the information indicative of the device’s status to one of the at least one antenna transducers. The antenna system may comprise a switch to selectively connect one of the loT module and the device to the at least one antenna transducer.

[0014] In an embodiment, the antenna system comprises a sensor. The sensor may be for detecting the device’s status and communicate information indicative of device’s status to the processor.

[0015] In an embodiment, the antenna system is power independent of the device. The antenna system may comprise a battery. The battery may be a secondary battery. The antenna system may be configured to receive Power over Ethernet (PoE). The antenna system may have an electrical power input terminal.

[0016] An embodiment comprises an out-of-band control system.

[0017] Disclosed herein is a processor. The processor is configured for information communication with an antenna system in accordance with the above disclosure.

[0018] In an embodiment, the processor is configured to receive information indicative that of the device’s status. The processor may be configured to trigger an alert message on receipt of the information indicative that the device has a fault. The alert may comprise a human-readable message. Disclosed herein is a method for detecting the status of a device for connection to a wireless communications network. The method comprises connecting an antenna system comprising an antenna transducer to the device, the antenna system being for connecting the device to the wireless communications network. The method comprises, in the antenna system, determining that the device’s status and cause the antenna transducer to communicate information indicative of the device’s status to the wireless communications network.

[0019] In an embodiment, the antenna system is in accordance with the above disclosure.

[0020] Disclosed herein is non-transitory processor readable tangible media including program instructions which when executed by a processor causes the processor to perform a method disclosed above.

[0021] Disclosed herein is a computer program for instructing a processor, which when executed by the processor causes the processor to perform a method disclosed above.

[0022] Any of the various features of each of the above disclosures, and of the various features of the embodiments described below, can be combined as suitable and desired.

[0023] Brief description of the figures

[0024] Embodiments will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying figures in which:

[0025] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an antenna system for a device.

[0026] Figures 2 and 2a shows a flow diagram of embodiments of methods.

[0027] Figures 3 to 10 shows schematic diagrams of other embodiments of antenna systems for a device.

[0028] Description of embodiments

[0029] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an antenna system for a device, the antenna system being generally indicated by the numeral 10. The antenna system 10 comprises at least one antenna transducer 16 and an antenna transducer feed 15 in communication therewith. The antenna transducer feed 15 comprises an electrical terminal 12 for electrical connection to the device 14. The at least one antenna transducer 16 is for communicating information between the electrical terminal 12 and a wireless communications network 18. The antenna system 10 comprises a processor 20 configured to determine the device’s status and cause an antenna transducer of the at least one antenna transducers 16 to communicate information indicative of the device’s status to the or another wireless communications network 18.

[0030] The device is generally but not necessarily in the form of a Smart Device or Internet of Things device. The device may be, for example:

[0031] • A vending machine with a payment card reader connecting to a payment card service (e.g. MASTERCARD or VISA) and which reports daily sales so can track inventory within the machine and schedule restocking of the vending machine.

[0032] • A communications network gateway within a police car, which provide LTE 5G, Wi-Fi and ethernet connectivity. The antenna system could, for example, determine if the communications gateway is broken or the police car is merely turned off.

[0033] • A public Wi-Fi access point may connect to the internet via a cable. The antenna system could, for example, provide information that other public Wi-Fi’s are working when the public Wi-Fi access is off, showing an isolated power failure.

[0034] The electrical terminal 12 comprises an antenna transducer connector in the form of a RF connector.

[0035] The antenna system 10 comprises at least one enclosure 22. The enclosure 22 may comprise a radome. Some or all of the active electronics is optionally within the enclosure or radome. In this embodiment, at least one of the at least one antenna transducer 16 and the processor 20 may be enclosed in the at least one enclosure 22. Alternatively, there may not be an enclosure, which may be suitable when the antenna system is installed within the device - the antenna system may be on a single circuit board or incorporated onto the device itself.

[0036] The antenna system comprises a communications network interface in the form of an internet of things (Io T) communications interface 24, which in this embodiment is integrated with the processor 20, however it may not be. The loT communications interface 20 is in the form of an loT module. The loT communications interface 20 is operationally coupled to the processor 20 and antenna transducer 16. The loT communications interface 24 is operational to send the information indicative of the device’s status to one of the at least one antenna transducers 16. The antenna system 10 can optionally comprise a switch in the form of a RF switch to selectively connect one of the loT module 24 and the device 14 to the at least one antenna transducer 16. The antenna system 10 comprises a sensor for detecting device inactivity. The processor 20 optionally comprises the sensor, or it can be otherwise disposed in the enclosure 22 or radome. The sensor communicates information indicative of device inactivity to the processor 20. The sensor may be in the form of, for example, an RF power sensor in communication with the antenna terminal 12. The processor determines whether an RF power condition is meet using the sensor information. Information indicative of the device’s status can be generated by the processor when the RF power condition is meet, for example when the sensor information indicates an RF power that is less than an RF power threshold. The RF power condition can generally be any suitable and desired RF power condition, for example “RF power = 0” may be a suitable and desired RF power condition for some devices. The status information can optionally include condition and telemetry information.

[0037] Otherwise-identical embodiments of the antenna system 10 have additional or alternative status information, and may provide more information. For example, an SSID scan or a web API query can be performed to demine whether the Primary System administrator has requested a remote reboot, remote support session, remote firmware update or other action.

[0038] Otherwise-identical embodiments of the antenna system 10 can take other actions, for example initiate a primary system action, change RF configuration, connect to the internet, initiate an external system action by sending an MQQT packet, send an SMS, activate a relay to reboot an external system, reboot Antenna system, redo status check

[0039] The antenna system 10 is power independent of the device 14. The antenna system 10 may comprise a battery in the form of a primary and / or secondary battery that powers the processor and / or sensor, for example. Other embodiments may additionally or alternatively be configured to receive Power over Ethernet (PoE) and / or have an electrical power input terminal -for example a bias-tee circuit and DC injector, or a power supply. A bias-tee generally enables an antenna system to provide both data and power. The antenna system 10 can generally be operationally independent of the device 14.

[0040] The antenna system 10 can perform an embodiment of a method for detecting the device’s status. Steps of the embodiment of the method 30 are now described with reference to the flow chart of figure 2. In a step 32 of an embodiment of the method, the antenna system 10 is connected to the device 14, the antenna system. In a step 34 of the method 30, the antenna system 10 determines that the device’s status and cause the antenna transducer 16 to communicate information indicative of the device’s status to the wireless communications network 18. The processor 20 comprises a logic device in the form of a Raspberry Pi Pico W, however generally any suitable logic device can be used, for example a Raspberry Pi 5, ESP32 or a FPGA.

[0041] Figure 2a shows a flow diagram for another embodiment of a method that can be performed by an embodiment of an antenna system. Two implementation examples are now described with reference to figure 2a.

[0042] Example 1 : Antenna system for use with an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), antenna system has battery only, no external power.

[0043] 1. Sleep - the Antenna system is set to the ‘Sleep Mode’ as determined by step 3. Different sleep mode’s draw different amounts of power by enabling or disabling various functionality.

[0044] 2. Wakeup? - on an intermittent basis (e.g. every hour), or by sensing and reacting to new information (e.g. a change in voltage, a change in location, a detection of movement) the Antenna system will partially wake-up to decide whether there is a need to fully wake-up to complete a Primary System Status Check. E.g, if more than 3 hours has passed since the last status check or the location has changed, the Antenna system will decide to wake up to complete a Status Check.

[0045] 3. Determine Sleep Mode - Even if there is no need to fully wake-up to complete a Primary System Status check, there is a need for the Antenna system to decide whether the Sleep Mode needs to be adjusted before returning to Sleep. Sleep Mode is determined using known information, e.g. RF energy detection, SSID scan.

[0046] 4. Wakeup - the Antenna system enables all functionality required to complete a status check, in this example, this might include just the RF energy detection circuit. There may be various wakeup schedules, e.g. once a day, the Antenna system may be scheduled to undertake a more comprehensive status check that involves connecting to the internet.

[0047] 5. Status Check - a simple status check may be using an RF energy detection circuit to determine that as long as energy is detected, that the primary system is operating ‘OK’, alternatively, a more complex status check may take place, e.g. an SSID scan or querying a web API to demine whether the Primary System administrator has requested a remote reboot, remote support session, remote firmware update or other action

[0048] 6. Status Information - the status check interacts with the Primary System and / or External Systems to retrieve the required Status Information

[0049] 7. Status OK? - Antenna system evaluates Status Information along with other known information (e.g. GPS) to determine whether Status is OK or whether actions should be initiated. E.g. a lack of RF energy detection from the Primary System may indicate a not OK status. The determination that the Primary System is not ‘OK’ results in Antenna system taking a range of possible actions.

[0050] 8. Antenna system Action - examples: initiate a primary system action, change RF configuration, connect to the internet, initiate an external system action by sending an MQQT packet, send an SMS, activate a relay to reboot an external system, reboot Antenna system, redo status check

[0051] 9. External System Action - examples: send an email alert, update a dashboard, change a configuration, send an SMS

[0052] 10. Primary System Action - examples: change a configuration (e.g. change from Starlink to LTE uplink), reboot, power down, roll back firmware, update firmware, activate a relay

[0053] Example 2: Antenna system for use with a LTE / 5G / Wi-Fi Gateway

[0054] 1. Sleep - the Antenna system is set to the ‘Sleep Mode’ as determined by step 3. Different sleep mode’s draw different amounts of power by enabling or disabling various functionality.

[0055] 2. Wakeup? - on an intermittent basis (e.g. every 5 seconds), or by sensing and reacting to new information (e.g. a change in voltage, a change in location, a detection of movement) the Antenna system will partially wake-up to decide whether there is a need to fully wake-up to complete a Primary System Status Check. For example, if more than 30 seconds has passed since the last status check or the location has changed, the Antenna system will decide to wake up to complete a Status Check. 3. Determine Sleep Mode - Even if there is no need to fully wake-up to complete a Primary System Status check, there is a need for the Antenna system to decide whether the Sleep Mode needs to be adjusted before returning to Sleep. Sleep Mode is determined using known information, e.g. vehicle battery status, vehicle movement status. While vehicle is running there is essentially unlimited power, the Antenna system remains ‘on’ with all peripherals within the Antenna system active (e.g. Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / CatMl / GPS) and may be locally logging various information such as GPS coordinates, voltage etc to RAM, to flash or even to cloud, it may even be connected to the primary system using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, but for the purpose of this process is still considered to be in a ‘sleep’ state as it is not interacting with the primary system. Immediately after the vehicle is powered off there is no longer unlimited power available, the Sleep Mode of the Antenna system would be configured to reduce power usage by disabling various functions depending on the state of the system and its power source e.g. immediately after the vehicle stops, the Antenna system may reduce power by disconnecting GPS. If the vehicle hasn’t moved in an hour and the vehicle battery is below 12.8v the system would enter a Deep Sleep mode where the modem and GPS is disabled and the CPU, most of the RAM, and other digital peripherals are clock gated.

[0056] 4. Wakeup - the Antenna system enables all functionality required to complete a status check, in this example, this would include the Wi-Fi card and the GPS.

[0057] 5. Status Check - the Antenna system connects to the Primary System (5G Gateway) using Wi-Fi and pre-configured WPA-PSK credentials, the Antenna system is assigned an IP address via DHCP by the Primary System and proceeds to query using SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) the status of the system. Alternatively, an API could be queried, an SSID scan could be completed to determine if the Primary System is active, or an RF energy sensor could be used to determine whether the Primary System is active, various other Status Checks are possible.

[0058] 6. Status Information - SNMP / API data is returned to the Antenna system

[0059] 7. Status OK - Antenna system evaluates SNMP / API (or other data) along with other known information (e.g. voltage / GPS) to determine whether Status is OK or whether actions should be initiated. E.g. if the SNMP / API doesn’t return anything and the voltage is OK and GPS indicates the vehicle is moving, it is likely that there is something wrong with the Primary System (5G Gateway), i.e. it is expected that the Primary System would return some data, the lack of data being returned indicates a possible ‘bricked’ (failed) device. The determination that the Primary System is not ‘OK’ results in Antenna system taking a range of possible actions.

[0060] 8. Antenna system Action - examples: initiate a primary system action, change RF configuration, connect to the internet, initiate an external system action by sending an MQQT packet, send an SMS, activate a relay to reboot an external system, reboot Antenna system, redo status check

[0061] 9. External System Action - examples: send an email alert, update a dashboard, change a configuration, send an SMS

[0062] 10. Primary System Action- examples: change a configuration (e.g. change from Starlink to LTE uplink), reboot, power down, roll back firmware, update firmware, activate a relay

[0063] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an antenna system 1 for a device in the form of an external device in the form of an loT or smart device. The parts show in figure 3 include:

[0064] • An antenna radome / enclosure 1 which has

[0065] • at least one antenna transducer 2 that can be connected to

[0066] • the external loT device via

[0067] • coaxial or other suitable cable 4 (i.e. an antenna, that looks similar to and can be installed in a similar fashion to a standard loT antenna)

[0068] • An integrated IOT module (e.g. modem, module, transmitter, receiver or transceiver)

[0069] • An integrated power solution 6 (e.g. battery, bias tee, POE and / or DC power connector)

[0070] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an antenna system for a device, where parts similar in form and / or function to those in figure 3 are similarly numbered. There may be two or more antenna transducers 2a, 2b each of which are connected to different loT modules.

[0071] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an antenna system for a device, where parts similar in form and / or function to those in figures 3 and 4 are similarly numbered. An RF switch 7 may be used to select which module 3,5 the antenna transducer 2 is connected to.

[0072] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an antenna system 1 for a device, where parts similar in form and / or function to those in figures 3 to 5 are similarly numbered. The antenna system may include a sensor 8 to detect whether the device is active.

[0073] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an antenna system for a device, where parts similar in form and / or function to those in figures 3 to 6 are similarly numbered. The antenna system may include a sensor 9 to detect whether the external power 101 supplied to the system is working and a battery 11 that can be used to power the backup module 6 when the external power 101 has failed. This embodiment may utilise a rechargeable battery 11 that is charged by the external power cable 10.

[0074] When sensor 9 detects that power from 101 is no longer being supplied, the Antenna system’s communications module 5 would be used to transmit a message to a cloud service, or to send an SMS to a specific number to provide an alert that the power to the Primary System has failed.

[0075] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an antenna system for a device, where parts similar in form and / or function to those in figures 3 to 7 are similarly numbered.

[0076] The antenna system may include a bias-tee circuit (12) to allow power to be injected via the coax cable (4) and a DC injector (13) connected to the primary module (3) and an external power source (10). The antenna system would provide an out of band control system suitable for monitoring devices that have a reliable power source, if there was a need for also monitoring while primary system power is out, the bias-tee power connection could be used to additionally power a battery inside the antenna system.

[0077] Applications may include providing out of band access or monitoring to network appliances such as firewalls, hotspots, gateways or modems. For example, antenna transducer 2 may be tuned to 2.4GHz / 5GHz and the Antenna system may be connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot connected to a LEOSat terminal for internet backhaul. In situations when the LEOSat connection is unavailable, possibly due to network or hardware issues, the antenna system would send an alert via a cellular connection to a cloud service and facilitate remote configuration and control via an SSH reverse proxy service.

[0078] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an antenna system 1 for a device, where parts similar in form and / or function to those in figures 3 to 8 are similarly numbered. The antenna system includes battery 11 that can be used to power the backup module without the need for an external power source or external power system.

[0079] This embodiment is generally suitable for providing backup remote monitoring, management and control for devices that are intended to be constantly powered. Examples could include Automatic Teller Machines, IP CCTV cameras, wireless hotspots or vending machines.

[0080] Some embodiments of antenna systems are physically identical to a traditional antenna, i.e. all active electronics are within an antenna enclosure or radome, and can optionally be concealed therein.

[0081] The battery 11 may be replaceable. The battery 11 in this embodiment is not connected to a charging source and as such can only power the system for a finite time and would typically only be powered up to ‘check-in’ on an intermittent basis.

[0082] A typical deployment may have the Antenna system waking up once per hour, upon wakeup it may check whether the primary system is operating as expected, either by sensing RF connectivity, by scanning for an SSID or by establishing a network connection via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and interrogating the primary system.

[0083] If it is determined that the primary system has a fault or other reportable event, the Antenna system would activate the on-board modem and send data to a cloud-based service that enables alerts to be generated or dashboards to be updated etc.

[0084] Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an antenna system for a device, where parts similar in form and / or function to those in figures 3 to 9 are similarly numbered. An example combination embodiment with a battery 11, RF switch 9 and sensor 8 is shown and a detailed workflow is provided explaining how this embodiment might be implemented.

[0085] This embodiment is highly suitable for IOT devices that are intended to be always on, for example, cameras, thermostats, smoke detectors, fixed Wi-Fi hotspots.

[0086] A battery 11 with limited capacity is used to power the Antenna system, as such it will usually act as a traditional antenna, and intermittently be woken up and use the sensor 8 to determine if the primary module 3 is operating as expected by sensing the presence or lack of RF energy.

[0087] The Antenna system may also intermittently connect the backup module 6 using the RF switch 5 to the antenna element 2 to determine the presence of Wi-Fi hotspots in the area and the signal strength of these hotspots. When RF energy is expected, but not detected, the Antenna system will power on the backup IOT module 6 and use the RF switch 5 to disconnect the primary module 3 and connect the backup module 6 to the antenna 2.

[0088] The backup IOT module 6 will then connect to the internet, and either by its connection or by a separate message, make it known that primary module failure has been detected.

[0089] The backup IOT module 6 may also scan for known Wi-Fi networks to infer whether the primary module failure is likely to have been caused by a power outage (i.e. reduction of hotspots indicates a power outage).

[0090] The RF switch may intermittently switch back to the primary module 3 to determine whether the failure has been resolved.

[0091] The antenna systems disclosed herein can communicate with embodiments of another processor that is remote. The other processor provides a cloud-based service. The other processor is configured to receive information from an antenna system indicating that a device has a fault. The other processor may be configured to trigger an alert message on receipt of the information indicative that the device has a fault. The alert may comprise a human-readable message.

[0092] Now that embodiments have been described, it will be appreciated that at least some embodiments may have at least some of the following advantages:

[0093] • It may not be necessary to deploy a technician to inspect an on-site smart device with a communications fault or failure (that is, an on-site inspection may be avoided).

[0094] • Faults and failures may be determined more quickly and feasibly.

[0095] • Feasible and cost-effective backup communications may be provided without significantly increasing installation and integration complexity and cost.

[0096] • The complexity of costs associated with providing redundant hardware (for example an additional antenna, an additional power supply, an additional cable, and additional mounting hardware) may be avoided.

[0097] • An embodiment of an antenna may be easily swapped for a prior art antenna without significant inconvenience.

[0098] • Embodiments may provide significant benefits with little or no additional installation complexity. From the outside, the antenna system radome looks like a traditional antenna and can be installed using the exact same process, by connecting a cable wired from the antenna system radome to the device. Variations and / or modifications may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention. For example:

[0099] • Any suitable and desired network interface may be used, examples of which include but are not limited to network interfaces configured for the following network types: o low-power wide-area networks

[0100] ■ including narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), LoRaWAN, SigFox, and CAT-M) o local area networks

[0101] ■ including Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi HaLow o mesh networks

[0102] ■ including Zigbee o cellular networks

[0103] ■ including 5G RedCap and LTE CAT-1 o satellite networks

[0104] ■ including Myriota, Inmarsat, astrocast, and low-earth orbit satellite constellations, used either with terminals or direct to cellular modules.

[0105] • The smart devices may be connectable to a network that is not part of an internetwork or the internet.

[0106] • The antenna terminal may be any form of suitable and desired antenna terminal, examples of which include but are not limited to a connector, a crimp terminal, a terminal block, or solder terminals. The connector may be any suitable and desired RF connector, examples of which include but are not limited to U.FL , SMA, N-Type, MMCX, FME, TNC, or a connector suitable for a cable.

[0107] • The human readable message may be an SMS message, or generally any suitable and desired massage, examples of which include an APPLE™ message and WHATS APP™ message.

[0108] • The device may generally be any suitable and desired device.

[0109] The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Reference to a feature disclosed herein does not mean that all embodiments must include the feature.

[0110] Prior art, if any, described herein is not to be taken as an admission that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any jurisdiction. In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises" or “comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, that is to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims

Claims1. An antenna system for a device, the antenna system comprising: at least one antenna transducer and an antenna transducer feed in communication therewith, wherein the antenna transducer feed comprises an electrical terminal for electrical connection to the device and the at least one antenna transducer is for communicating information between the electrical terminal and a wireless communications network; a processor configured to determine the device’s status and cause an antenna transducer of the at least one antenna transducers to communicate information indicative of the device’s status to the or another wireless communications network.

2. An antenna system defined by claim 1, wherein the electrical terminal comprises an antenna transducer connector.

3. An antenna system defined by claim 1 comprising at least one enclosure.

4. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims wherein the at least one enclosure comprises a radome.

5. An antenna system defined by either one of claim 3 and claim 4, wherein at least one of the at least one antenna transducer and the processor may be enclosed in thee at least one enclosure.

6. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims comprising an internet of things (Io T) module.

7. An antenna system defined by claim 6, wherein the loT module is operationally coupled to the processor and the at least one antenna transducer.

8. An antenna system defined by claim 7, wherein the loT module is operational to send the information indicative of the device’s status to one of the at least one antenna transducers.

9. An antenna system defined by claim 8 wherein the antenna system comprises a switch to selectively connect one of the loT module and the device to the at least one antenna transducer.

10. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims comprising a sensor.

11. An antenna system defined by claim 10 wherein the sensor comprises a radio frequency (RF) power sensor.

12. An antenna system defined by either one of claim 10 and claim 11 wherein the sensor is for detecting the device’s status and communicate information indicative of the device’s status to the processor.

13. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims that is power independent of the device.

14. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims comprising a battery.

15. An antenna system defined by claim 14 wherein the battery is a secondary battery.

16. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims configured to receivePower over Ethernet (PoE).

17. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims comprising an electrical power input terminal.

18. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims comprising a bias-tee circuit.

19. An antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims comprising an out-of- band control system.

20. A processor configured for information communication with an antenna system defined by any one of the preceding claims.

21. A processor defined by claim 20 and configured to receive information indicative of the device’s status.

22. A processor defined by claim 21 configured to trigger an alert message on receipt of the information indicative of a change in the device’s status.

23. A processor defined by claim 22 wherein the alert message comprises a human-readable message.

24. A method for determining the status of a device for connection to a wireless communications network, the method comprising:connecting an antenna system comprising at least one antenna transducer to the device, the antenna system being for connecting the device to the wireless communications network; in the antenna system, determining the device’s status and cause the at least one antenna transducer to communicate information indicative of the device’s status to the wireless communications network.

25. A method defined by claim 24, wherein the antenna system is defined by any one of the claims 1 to 19.

26. Non-transitory processor readable tangible media including program instructions which when executed by a processor causes the processor to perform a method defined by either one of claim 24 and 25.

27. A computer program for instructing a processor, which when executed by the processor causes the processor to perform a method defined by either one of claim 24 and 25.

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