Field
The present invention relates generally to wireless communication. More specifically, the present invention relates to embodiments for tuning an antenna tuner of a wireless communication device based on one or more operating conditions of the wireless communication device.
Background
A wireless communication device (e.g., a cellular phone or a smart phone) in a wireless communication system may transmit and receive data for two-way communication. The wireless communication device may include a transmitter for data transmission and a receiver for data reception. For data transmission, the transmitter may modulate a radio-frequency (RF) carrier signal with data to obtain a modulated signal, amplify the modulated signal to obtain an output RF signal having the proper output power level, and transmit the output RF signal via an antenna to a base station. For data reception, the receiver may obtain a received RF signal via the antenna and may condition and process the received RF signal to recover data sent by the base station.
The transmitter may include various circuits such as a power amplifier (PA), a filter, etc. The receiver may also include various circuits such as a low noise amplifier (LNA), a filter, etc. An antenna tuning (i.e. impedance matching circuit) may be coupled between the antenna and the transmitter and/or the receiver and may perform tuning (i.e. impedance matching) for the antenna, the power amplifier, or the LNA. The impedance matching circuit may have a large impact on the performance of the wireless device.
A need exists for tuning an antenna tuner of a wireless communication device based on one or more operating conditions of the wireless communication device. More specifically, a need exists for embodiments related to an antenna tuner that may be tuned based on a communication standard of the communication device, an operating mode of the communication device, or both.
The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the present invention can be practiced. The term “exemplary” used throughout this description means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other exemplary embodiments. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the exemplary embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the novelty of the exemplary embodiments presented herein.
As will be appreciated by a person having ordinary skill in the art, an antenna tuner (i.e., an antenna matching circuit) of a conventional user equipment (e.g., a wireless communication device) may be tuned with respect to transmit frequency only. This may result undesirably result in up to 3 dB desense.
Exemplary embodiments, as described herein, are directed to devices including an antenna tuner. According to one exemplary embodiment, a device may include a transceiver configured to operate in a frequency division duplex (FDD) network. The device may further include an antenna tuner coupled to the transceiver. In addition, the device may include a processor configured to tune the antenna tuner for a receive frequency if the transceiver is operating in receive mode and tune the antenna tuner for a transmit frequency if the transceiver is operating in a transmit and receive mode.
According to another exemplary embodiment, the present invention includes methods for tuning an antenna tuner of a communication device. Various embodiments of such a method may include determining whether a device of a frequency division duplex (FDD) network is operating in a receive mode or a transmit and receive mode. The method may also include tuning an antenna tuner of the device for a receive frequency if the transceiver is operating in the receive mode. In addition, the method may include tuning the antenna tuner for a transmit frequency if the transceiver is operating in the transmit and receive mode.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention comprises a computer-readable media storage storing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform instructions in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.
Other aspects, as well as features and advantages of various aspects, of the present invention will become apparent to those of skill in the art through consideration of the ensuing description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) may include multiple radios including a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second RAT. By way of example only, one RAT may be a 1× (CDMA2000) communication standard and another RAT may be a long term evolution (LTE) communication standard. More specifically, a device may include a first RAT modem, which may comprise, for example, an LTE modem, and a second RAT modem, which may comprise, for example, a 1× (CDMA2000) modem. CDMA2000 includes but is not limited to single carrier radio transmission technology (1×RTT), 1× evolution-data optimized (1×EV-DO), and other like mobile technology standards that use CDMA channel access for sending voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. As described herein CDMA2000 may be referred to as 1×. Although the following description is provided with respect to 1× and LTE for ease of illustration, other configurations of the first and second RAT modems are possible while remaining within the scope of the appended claims and the inventive aspects of the present disclosure.
As illustrated in
As depicted in
It is noted that device 100 may include an additional tuner coupled to a diversity receive path of module 114 and module 116. For example,
In accordance with various exemplary embodiments, tuner 106 may be tuned based on one or more operating conditions of device 100. More specifically, for example, tuner 106 may be tuned for a receive frequency if device 100 is operating in a “receive only” mode. Otherwise, tuner 106 may be tuned to a transmit frequency. Moreover, in the embodiment illustrated in
With reference to a flowchart 200 illustrated in
Further, device 300 includes a module 318, a module 320, and a module 322. By way of example, each of module 318 and module 320 may include an analog module, a transceiver module, or a combination thereof. In addition, module 322 may comprise, for example, a MDM. As illustrated in
Module 322 may include ADCs 334, 338, and 346, sample servers 340, 342, and 350, and digital-to-analog converters (DACs) 336 and 348. Module 322 may also include a modem 344, which may comprise, for example, an LTE modem, and a modem 352, which may comprise, for example, a CDMA 2000 “1×” modem.
As depicted in
In addition, antenna 304, which may comprise a diversity antenna, may be coupled to tuner 308. An output of tuner 308 is coupled to input of filter 309, and an output of filter 309 is coupled to an input of duplexer 311. Furthermore, an output of duplexer 311 may be coupled to an input of receiver 330, which may be further coupled to modem 352 via ADC 346 and sample server 350. An output of modem 352 may be coupled to an input of transmitter 332 via DAC 348. An output of transmitter 332 may be coupled to an input of power amplifier 314, which further includes an output coupled to duplexer 311. An output of duplexer 311 may be coupled to an input of filter 309, which includes an output coupled to tuner 308. Moreover, another output of filter 309 may be coupled to receiver 328 of module 318. Receiver 328 is further coupled to modem 344 via ADC 338 and sample server 342.
In accordance with various exemplary embodiments, tuner 306 may be tuned based on one or more operating conditions of device 300. More specifically, for example, if modem 352 is “ON” and is operating in a receive mode, tuner 308 may be tuned for a receive frequency according to a communication standard of modem 352. If modem 352 is “ON” and is operating in a transmit and receive mode, tuner 308 may be tuned for a transmit frequency according to a communication standard of modem 352. If modem 352 is “OFF,” tuner 308 may be tuned for a receive frequency according to a communication standard of modem 344. It is noted that tuners 306 and 308 may be tuned via one or more analog signals, digital signals, or a combination thereof. More specifically, tuners 306 and 308 may comprise digitally controlled tuners, analog controlled tuners, or both. As noted above, a tuner, as described herein, may be controlled via a varactor to change a capacitance load as needed or via switching between two circuits (i.e., one that is designed for transmit frequency and one that is designed for receive frequency).
With reference to a flowchart 400 illustrated in
With reference again to
Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the exemplary embodiments of the invention.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the exemplary embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
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20150229348 A1 | Aug 2015 | US |