Patent Application
20070280376
The present invention is pointed out with particularity in the appended claims. However, other features of the present invention will become more apparent and the present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompany drawings in which:
The power regulator 10 of the present invention may be configured to regulate power levels of an output signal, shown for exemplary purposes to be a radio frequency (RF) signal 12. The RF output signal 12 be transmitted according to any number of transmission frequencies and/or protocols. An RF input 14 may be included to receive an RF signal from a signal source (not shown), such as an oscillator circuit or other element associated with a device for which power regulation is desired.
For exemplary purposes only and without intending to limited the present invention, the present invention is most prominently described with respect to the signal source being an element or other feature of a UGDO such that the RF signal is that used by the device for controlling operation of a garage door opener or other element. The power regulator 10 of the present invention, therefore, may be an add-on element for use with integrated and discrete circuits.
As described below in more detail, the power regulator 10 may be configured to facilitate regulating output power levels of received signals such that the power regulator 10 need not include capabilities for generating the signals. Rather, as shown in
The power regulator 10 may include a control circuit 18. The voltage control circuit 18 may be configured to facilitate setting a RF output voltage/current 20 for an output element 22 used to output the RF signal 12. By regulating the RF output voltage/current level 20, the present invention is able to regulate the output power levels of RF signals 12 outputted from the RF output element 22.
The output element 22 is shown to be a resistor, but it may any element suitable for facilitating communication of the attenuated RF signal 12 to another circuit device and/or broadcast element (antenna). The output element 22 may include or be associated with any number of elements and include any number of features and capabilities beyond those associated with simple resistors without deviating from the scope and contemplation of the present invention.
An input element 26 may be included to receive the RF input signal 14 and to communicate the same to the output element 22. The input element 26 is shown to be a resistor, but it may any element suitable for facilitating communication of the RF signal 12 to the output element 22. The input element 26 may include or be associated with any number of elements and include any number of features and capabilities beyond those associated with simple resistors without deviating from the scope and contemplation of the present invention.
A diode or other variable resistance element 30 may be connected between the input and output elements 22, 26 to form a t-network such that a voltage/current across the diode 30 may be used to regulate the RF output voltage/current 20, and thereby, the power level of the RF output signal 12. The diode 30 may be a voltage/current variable diode having a resistance that varies as a function of voltage/current, as one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate. Of course, the present invention is not limited to t-network configurations and other configurations, such as but not limited to pi-networks, may similarly be used without deviating from the scope and contemplation of the present invention.
The t-network may be configured to act in a manner similar to a voltage divider such that signal power between the input and output is attenuated according to the RF voltage level 20, or more particularly, according to a voltage drop across the diode 30. The voltage drop across the diode 30, which for exemplary purposes may be referred to as a diode voltage, may be regulated as a function of a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal 32 generated by a microcontroller 34.
The microcontroller 34 may be a standalone element, as shown, and/or integrated, or the function associated therewith, integrated into other features, such as but not limited to a vehicle system controller (not shown). The microcontroller 34 may include processors, memories, and other non-illustrated features to facilitate performing operations and other logical operations associated with generating the PWM signal 32 and executing other operations in accordance with the scope and contemplation of the present invention. Optionally, the microcontroller 34 may eliminated an replaced with discrete hardware components, such as but not limited switches and timer circuits that may be associated with different timers or other elements suitable for setting various duty cycles and other parameters associated with the microcontroller 34.
The PWM signal 32 may be communicated to a capacitor 36 in order to facilitate controlling capacitor charging and discharging, i.e., the capacitor 36 may be charged during an on-time of the duty cycle and discharged during an off-time of the same. The charging and discharging of the capacitor 36, or more particularly the PWM signal 32, may be regulated such that a constant DC voltage may be provided across the diode 30 for a particular duty cycle of the PWM signal 32. The microcontroller 34 may vary the duty cycle in order to vary the voltage across the diode 30, such as to control the RF output voltage 20.
The diode 30 may be of the type having a resistance that respectively decreases or increases with voltage increases or decreases, as one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate. These characteristics may be utilized by the present invention in so far as controlling the RF output power level. For example, the diode voltage may be increased to decrease the resistance of the diode 30 and thereby decrease the RF output power level and/or the diode voltage may be decreased to increase the resistance of the diode and thereby increase the RF output power level. Of course, other variable resistance elements may be used without deviating from the scope and contemplation of the present invention.
The ability of the present invention to vary the RF output voltage level by simply varying the PWM signal duty cycle allows the present invention to provide a relatively simple and cost-effective attenuating arrangement for regulating RF output power levels. This arrangement may be included with any number of circuits and circuit elements in order to regulate output levels of any number of signals and signal types.
Optionally, the control circuit 18 may include a first resistive element and second resistive element 40-42, which for exemplary purposes are shown to be resistors but may include any number of features and capabilities beyond those associated with simple resistors. These resistive elements 40-42 may be used to respectively set and smooth current flow to the capacitor and diode. Of course, these elements 40-42 need not necessarily be included in the regulator and the regulator may similarly include more or less elements in order to support these and other operations.
For exemplary purposes only, the method of the present invention is described with respect to vehicle mounted UGDO and regulating the output power levels of signals communicated from the same. The vehicle UGDO may be of the type which may be included on a vehicle and programmed with inputs, either at the time of manufacturing or thereafter, to transmit signals for controlling garage door to opening/closing and/or to perform other functions generally associated with remote communications. As noted above, the present invention is not intended to be so limited to UGDOs and fully contemplates the same or similar steps being used to regulate power levels for signals associated with TPMs, RKE elements, passive entry elements, and others.
Block 52 relates to determining a programming code for the UGDO. The programming code may be used to specify a garage door opener vendor for which the UGDO is intended to operate. The programming code may be determined as a function of inputs received a vehicle system controller, such as inputs made to a touch-screen and communicated to an on-board computer, and/or other by way of other interactions suitable for establishing the programming code, such through a guess-and-test procedure whereby a user repeatedly attempts to open the garage door while the vehicle control element searches for the appropriate code. Of course, the present invention fully contemplates determining the programming code in any manner and is not intended to be limited to the foregoing processes.
Block 54 relates to determining a desired output power level for the power regulator associated with the UGDO, such as to control power levels of signals communicated to another circuit element (amplifier, filter, etc. circuit) and/or to a broadcast element (antenna). The desired output power level may be determined as a function of the programming code, a vendor associated therewith, and FCC regulations. For example, different programming codes may be associated with different vendors and cross-reference with the transmission frequencies and data protocols of the vendor.
These transmission frequencies and data protocols may be associated with FCC regulations for output power levels such that the appropriate output power level for the particular transmission frequency and data protocol of the vendor may be determined. In this manner, the present invention is able to determine appropriate output power levels for any frequency and/or data protocol used by the garage door opener vendors such that the present invention is able to regulate the output power level to conform to FCC regulations. The regulator of the present invention may be used to support multiple transmission frequencies and data protocols without requiring hardware modifications.
Block 56 relates to determining an input power level for the signal received at the regulator input. The regulator acts essentially as an attenuator in that it decreases power from the input element to the output element in proportion to the diode voltage. Accordingly, the PWM signal used to set the diode voltage may be selected as a function of the input power level in order to insure the input power is attenuated by an amount sufficient to achieve the desired output power level.
Block 58 relates to determining the duty signal of the PWM signal used to set the diode voltage. The PWM signal may be selected, as described above, to insure the power drop between the input element and output element is sufficient to achieve the desired output power level. The microcontroller may then output the appropriate PWM signal. Optionally, the microcontroller may monitor the output power level and adjust the PWM signal as a function thereof, such as to compensate for input power variations or other variations that may cause the output signal to exceed FCC regulations and/or to increase signal power to take advantage of additional power capabilities, such as if the input power level decreases or FCC regulations are relaxed.
Block 60 relates to attenuating the input signal so as to transmit the output signal at the desired output power level. As describe above, this may include regulating the diode voltage so as to control the RF output voltage, and thereby, the output power level of the RF signal. Advantageously, the ability to attentuate the signal with the PWM signal allows the present invention to attenuate signals without requiring more expensive digital-analog converters.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
