The present disclosure relates to antenna tuning circuitry. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to antenna tuning circuitry including filtering circuitry configured to reduce harmonic distortion generated by switching elements in the antenna tuning circuitry.
Evolving wireless communications standards continue to demand extremely high performance from the antennas used in mobile handsets. Modern antennas are expected to be compact while maintaining a high quality factor and a broad operating bandwidth. Due to carrier aggregation applications, a single antenna may be required to simultaneously send and/or receive signals at five or more different bands. For example, in one carrier aggregation application, an antenna may be expected to simultaneously transmit a band 17 uplink signal, receive a band 17 downlink signal, receive a band 1 downlink signal, receive a global positioning system (GPS) signal, and send and receive WiFi signals. Generally, a standalone antenna cannot meet the demanding performance standards dictated by the wireless standards when transmitting and receiving multiple signals. Accordingly, antenna tuning circuitry is often coupled to an antenna in order to improve the performance of the antenna. Specifically, the antenna tuning circuitry is generally configured to selectively couple one or more impedances to a resonant conducting element in the antenna in order to alter the resonant frequency of the resonant conducting element. The antenna may thus be “tuned” to a specific frequency or group of frequencies, which may increase the performance of the antenna in certain operating conditions.
In operation, the control circuitry 18 opens or closes the first antenna tuning switch SWAT1, the second antenna tuning switch SWAT2, and/or the third antenna tuning switch SWAT3, either separately or together, in order to alter the impedance of the resonant conducting element 12 of the antenna 14. Changing the impedance of the resonant conducting element 12 effectively changes the resonant frequency thereof, thereby “tuning” the antenna 14 to a desired frequency or frequencies. Accordingly, the antenna 14 may more easily transmit or receive signals about a desired frequency or frequencies.
Although effective at “tuning” the antenna 14, the switching components present in the conventional antenna tuning circuitry 10 may degrade the performance of the antenna 14 in certain operating conditions. Specifically, the first antenna tuning switch SWAT1, the second antenna tuning switch SWAT2, and/or the third antenna tuning switch SWAT3 may generate harmonic signals, which are subsequently delivered to receive circuitry attached to the antenna 14 and/or transmitted from the antenna 14. Because the harmonic signals may be generated in response to a high-power transmit signal, such harmonic signals may cause desensitization of the receive circuitry, particularly when operating in a carrier aggregation configuration in which a receive frequency band includes one or more harmonic frequencies of a transmit signal. For example, a carrier aggregation configuration in which signals are simultaneously transmitted and received about bands 4 and 17 may be problematic, as the third harmonic of the band 17 uplink frequency range (704-716 MHz) falls squarely within the band 4 downlink frequency range (2110-2155 MHz).
Accordingly, there is a need for antenna tuning circuitry capable of altering the impedance and thus the resonant frequency of one or more resonant conducting elements in an antenna, while simultaneously avoiding or mitigating the generation of harmonic interference by the antenna tuning circuitry.
The present disclosure relates to antenna tuning circuitry. In one embodiment, antenna tuning circuitry includes an antenna tuning node, an antenna tuning switch, and a resonant tuning circuit. The antenna tuning node is coupled to a resonant conduction element of an antenna. The antenna tuning switch and the resonant tuning circuit are coupled in series between the antenna tuning switch and the antenna tuning node, such that the resonant tuning circuit is between the antenna tuning node and the antenna tuning switch. The resonant tuning circuit is configured to resonate at one or more harmonic frequencies generated by the antenna tuning switch such that a high impedance path is formed between the antenna tuning switch and the antenna tuning node at harmonic frequencies generated by the antenna tuning switch. Accordingly, harmonic interference generated by the antenna tuning switch is prevented from reaching the antenna, while simultaneously allowing for tuning of the antenna.
In one embodiment, antenna tuning circuitry includes an antenna tuning node, an antenna tuning switch, a fixed tuning impedance, and a resonant tuning circuit. The antenna tuning node is coupled to a resonant conduction element of an antenna. The antenna tuning switch is coupled in series with the fixed tuning impedance between the antenna tuning node and ground. The resonant tuning circuit is coupled between the antenna tuning node and ground, and is configured to resonate at one or more harmonic frequencies generated by the antenna tuning switch such that a low impedance path is formed between the antenna tuning switch and ground. Accordingly, harmonic interference generated by the antenna tuning switch is shorted to ground, thereby preventing the harmonic interference from reaching the antenna, while simultaneously allowing for tuning of the antenna.
In one embodiment, an antenna comprises a low-band resonant conduction element, a high-band resonant conduction element, and antenna tuning circuitry. The antenna tuning circuitry includes an antenna tuning node, an antenna tuning switch, and a resonant tuning circuit. The antenna tuning node is coupled to the high-band resonant conduction element and the low-band resonant conduction element of the antenna. The antenna tuning switch and the resonant tuning circuit are coupled in series between the antenna tuning switch and the antenna tuning node, such that the resonant tuning circuit is between the antenna tuning node and the antenna tuning switch. The resonant tuning circuit is configured to resonate at one or more harmonic frequencies generated by the antenna tuning switch such that a high impedance path is formed between the antenna tuning switch and the antenna tuning node at harmonic frequencies generated by the antenna tuning switch. Accordingly, harmonic interference generated by the antenna tuning switch is prevented from reaching the antenna, while simultaneously allowing for tuning of the antenna.
In one embodiment, an antenna comprises a low-band resonant conduction element, a high-band resonant conduction element, and antenna tuning circuitry. The antenna tuning circuitry includes an antenna tuning node, an antenna tuning switch, a fixed tuning impedance, and a resonant tuning circuit. The antenna tuning node is coupled to a resonant conduction element of an antenna. The antenna tuning switch is coupled in series with the fixed tuning impedance between the antenna tuning node and ground. The resonant tuning circuit is coupled between the antenna tuning node and ground, and is configured to resonate at one or more harmonic frequencies generated by the antenna tuning switch such that a low impedance path is formed between the antenna tuning node and ground. Accordingly, harmonic interference generated by the antenna tuning switch is shorted to ground, thereby preventing the harmonic interference from reaching the antenna, while simultaneously allowing for tuning of the antenna.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the disclosure and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description in association with the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and illustrate the best mode of practicing the disclosure. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Relative terms such as “below” or “above” or “upper” or “lower” or “horizontal” or “vertical” may be used herein to describe a relationship of one element, layer, or region to another element, layer, or region as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that these terms and those discussed above are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including” when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Turning now to
The first resonant tuning circuit 28A, the second resonant tuning circuit 28B, and the third resonant tuning circuit 28C are each associated with a particular impedance, which may be the same or different from one to the next. In operation, the control circuitry 30 opens and closes the first antenna tuning switch SWAT1, the second antenna tuning switch SWAT2, and/or the third antenna tuning switch SWAT3, either separately or together, in order to alter the impedance of the resonant conducting element 22 of the antenna 24. Changing the impedance of the resonant conducting element 22 effectively changes the resonant frequency thereof, thereby “tuning” the antenna 24 to a desired frequency or frequencies. Accordingly, the antenna 24 may more easily transmit or receive signals about a desired frequency or frequencies. Additionally, the first resonant tuning circuit 28A, the second resonant tuning circuit 28B, and the third resonant tuning circuit 28C are each configured to resonate at one or more harmonic frequencies generated by the antenna tuning switch SWAT to which they are attached, as discussed in further detail below. When the first resonant tuning circuit 28A, the second resonant tuning circuit 28B, and the third resonant tuning circuit 28C resonate, they each produce a substantially high impedance, thereby blocking harmonic signals generated by the antenna tuning switch SWAT coupled to the circuitry from reaching the antenna tuning node 26 and thus the antenna 24. Accordingly, the antenna 24 may be tuned while simultaneously avoiding problematic harmonic distortion.
Although three resonant tuning circuits 28 coupled in series with three antenna tuning switches SWAT are shown in
As discussed above, the values of the first resonant capacitor CR1 and the first resonant inductor LR1 are chosen such that the parallel combination of the first resonant capacitor CR1 and the first resonant inductor LR1 provides a desirable impedance value for presenting to the antenna tuning node 26 in order to tune the resonant conducting element 22 of the antenna 24, while simultaneously resonating at one or more harmonic frequencies generated by the first antenna tuning switch SWAT1 in order to block harmonic signals generated by the first antenna tuning switch SWAT1 from reaching the antenna tuning node 26 and thus the resonant conducting element 22 of the antenna 24. The values of the second resonant capacitor CR2, the second resonant inductor LR2, the third resonant capacitor CR3, and the third resonant inductor LR3 are chosen similarly, such that the combination of the second resonant capacitor CR2 and the second resonant inductor LR2 and the combination of the third resonant capacitor CR3 and the third resonant inductor LR3 provide a desirable impedance value for presenting to the antenna tuning node 26 in order to tune the resonant conducting element 22 of the antenna 24, while simultaneously resonating at one or more harmonic frequencies generated by the second antenna tuning switch SWAT2 and the third antenna tuning switch SWAT3, respectively in order to block harmonic signals generated by the second antenna tuning switch SWAT2 and the third antenna tuning switch SWAT3 from reaching the antenna tuning node 26 and thus the resonant conducting element 22 of the antenna 24.
The resonant capacitor CR and the resonant inductor LR are configured to resonate at one or more harmonic frequencies generated by the first antenna tuning switch SWAT1, the second antenna tuning switch SWAT2, and the third antenna tuning switch SWAT3. When the resonant capacitor CR and the resonant inductor LR resonate, they produce a substantially low impedance path from the antenna tuning node 26 to ground, thereby shorting harmonic signals generated by the first antenna tuning switch SWAT1, the second antenna tuning switch SWAT2, and the third antenna tuning switch SWAT3 to ground and preventing harmonic distortion from reaching the antenna 24. Accordingly, the antenna 24 may be tuned while simultaneously avoiding problematic harmonic distortion.
One or more of the plurality of low noise amplifiers 48A-48N amplify the received components of the radio frequency signals and deliver them to the transceiver circuitry 44, where they may be subsequently processed and used by the RF front end circuitry 42.
On the transmit side, the transceiver circuitry 44 receives digitized data, which may represent voice, data, or control information. The encoded data is modulated to produce a carrier signal at a desired transmit frequency. The carrier signal is then delivered to one or more of the plurality of power amplifiers 46A-46N, where it is amplified and delivered to the antenna switching circuitry 52, which may have previously set the impedance of the antenna 24 in order to optimize transmission of signals about a desired frequency, through the duplexer circuitry 50. The antenna switching circuitry 52 selectively couples one or more output terminals of the plurality of power amplifiers 46A-46N to the diplexer 54. The carrier signal is then filtered by the diplexer 54, and delivered through the antenna tuning circuitry 20 to the antenna 24. As discussed above, the antenna tuning circuitry 20 is configured to ensure optimal operation of the antenna 24 over a wide bandwidth, thereby increasing the performance of the RF front end circuitry 42. The control circuitry 30 may be configured to control not only the antenna tuning circuitry 20, but also one or more additional operating parameters of the transceiver circuitry 44, the antenna switching circuitry 52, and/or the diplexer 54.
Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/868,154, filed Aug. 21, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61868154 | Aug 2013 | US |