Phase and power calibration in active antennas
First Claim
1. A switch comprising:
- a first data input adapted to input a transmit signal;
a first data output;
at least one bidirectional data port; and
a control input adapted to selectively couple in a first case the first data input to the bidirectional data port, and in a second case the bidirectional data port and the first data input to the first data output.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A switch is particularly advantageous for calibration of signal phase between transmitters, and other uses. The switch has a first data input adapted to input a transmit signal from a first transmitter, a first data output, at least one and preferably multiple bidirectional data ports, and a control input adapted to selectively couple in a first case the first data input to one of the bidirectional data ports, and in a second case one of the bidirectional data ports and the first data input to the first data output. By coupling one data port of the switch to a data port of another identical switch, a transmit signal from another transmitter can be ported to the first said switch, and both signals output to a feedback circuit that finds the phase difference and applies it to a new signal input to one of the transmitters. Beamforming and MIMO uses are also detailed.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A switch comprising:
-
a first data input adapted to input a transmit signal; a first data output; at least one bidirectional data port; and a control input adapted to selectively couple in a first case the first data input to the bidirectional data port, and in a second case the bidirectional data port and the first data input to the first data output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. An array of radios, each radio comprising:
-
a transmitter including a phase estimation and adjustment block; and a switch, the switch comprising; a first data input coupled to an output of the transmitter; a first data output coupled to an input of the phase estimation and adjustment block; at least one bidirectional data port; and a control input adapted to selectively couple in a first case the first data input to the bidirectional data port, and in a second case the bidirectional data port and the first data input to the first data output; wherein a bidirectional data port of each switch is coupled to a bidirectional data port of at least one other switch; the array of radios further comprising a processor having outputs coupled to each of the control inputs of the switches for coordinating said selective coupling, among switches that are coupled to one another via their bidirectional data ports. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method comprising:
-
processing in a feedback circuit a first transmit signal from a first transmitter; measuring a first phase of the processed first transmit signal; processing in the feedback circuit a second transmit signal from a second transmitter; measuring a second phase of the processed second transmit signal; determining a phase difference between the first phase and the second phase; and adjusting another signal input to the first transmitter using the phase difference. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 30)
-
-
20. An integrated circuit comprising a processor, a switch, a transmitter, a phase estimator, a phase adjuster, and a frequency downconverter, wherein the switch comprises:
-
a first data input coupled to an output of the transmitter; a first data output coupled to an input of the phase estimator through the frequency downconverter; at least one bidirectional data port; and a control input coupled to the processor and adapted to selectively couple in a first case the first data input to the bidirectional data port, and in a second case the bidirectional data port and the first data input to the first data output. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A computer program product, embodied on a computer readable storage medium, comprising instructions to cause a digital processor coupled to the storage medium to execute operations directed toward selectively coupling transceivers to one another, the operations comprising:
-
switching a first transmit signal from a first transmitter output through a first switch to a feedback circuit; switching a second transmit signal from a second transmitter output through a second switch to the feedback circuit via the first switch; finding a difference in phase between the first and second transmit signals; and adjusting phase of a signal input to one of the first and second transmitters based on the difference. - View Dependent Claims (29)
-
Specification