SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMIC TEMPERATURE CALIBRATION OF A FREQUENCY REFERENCE

• US 20100216407A1
• Filed: 02/24/2010
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks US LLC (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Eden Rock Communications LLC (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Gormley, Eamonn
• Granted Patent: US 8,824,971 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/67.110
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/104 of other parameters, e.g. DC offset, delay or propagation times
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/11 for calibration

Abstract

A system and method are described for dynamic temperature calibration of a frequency reference in a wireless base station. In a consumer grade base station, a reference oscillator may encounter frequency drift as the temperature of the base station changes. This causes interference as the transmission signal is not synchronized with other frequency resources in a network. An improved method of calibrating a reference frequency includes measuring a frequency difference between a frequency derived from an accurate reference frequency in a first base station and a frequency derived from a less accurate frequency reference in a second base station, determining a calibration factor for the offset, and applying the calibration factor to the base station to correct frequency drift. The calibration factors may be correlated with an operating temperature of the base station and stored in a temperature calibration table in the base station device.

Claims

1. A transceiver device, comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory having a calibration table stored therein;

a frequency reference;

a temperature sensor; and

a data communications component,

wherein the transceiver device is configured to;

receive a reference correction feedback from a network controller device;

measure a current operating temperature with the temperature sensor; and

update the calibration table using both data related to the reference correction feedback as well as calibration table data associated with the current operating temperature.

2. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein the reference correction feedback relates to an offset measurement determined by taking the difference between a measured frequency derived from the frequency reference and a measured frequency derived from a more accurate frequency reference.

3. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein the process of updating the calibration table further comprises converting the reference correction feedback into a data format consistent with a data format associated with data stored in the calibration table.

4. The transceiver device of claim 3, wherein the process of updating the calibration table further comprises reading data from the calibration table associated with the current operating temperature and then combining the read calibration table data with the converted reference correction feedback data.

5. The transceiver device of claim 4, wherein the process of updating the calibration table further comprises storing the combined data in the calibration table.

6. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein the frequency reference and the temperature sensor are collocated within the transceiver device, such that the operating temperature of the frequency source is accurately determined by the temperature sensor.

7. The transceiver device of claim 1, wherein the updated calibration table is utilized by the transceiver device to correct the frequency reference at a particular operating temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

8. A computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions for updating a calibration table within a transceiver device, which when executed, performs the method comprising:

receiving a reference correction feedback from a network controller device;

measuring a current operating temperature of a frequency reference of the transceiver device with a resident temperature sensor; and

updating the calibration table using both data related to the reference correction feedback as well as calibration table data associated with the current operating temperature.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the reference correction feedback relates to an offset measurement determined by taking the difference between a measured frequency derived from the frequency reference and a measured frequency derived from a more accurate frequency reference.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the process of updating the calibration table further comprises converting the reference correction feedback into a data format consistent with a data format associated with data stored in the calibration table.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the process of updating the calibration table further comprises:

reading data from the calibration table associated with the current operating temperature;

combining the read calibration table data with the converted reference correction feedback data; and

storing the combined data in the calibration table.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the process of receiving a reference correction feedback is performed at a predetermined interval throughout an operation of the transceiver device.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the frequency reference and the resident temperature sensor are collocated within the transceiver device, such that the operating temperature of the frequency source is accurately determined by the resident temperature sensor.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the updated calibration table is utilized to correct the frequency reference at a particular operating temperature measured by the resident temperature sensor.

15. A computer-implemented method for updating a calibration table within a transceiver device, the method comprising:

receiving a reference correction feedback from a network controller device;

measuring a current operating temperature of a frequency reference of the transceiver device with a resident temperature sensor; and

updating the calibration table using both data related to the reference correction feedback as well as calibration table data associated with the current operating temperature.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the reference correction feedback relates to an offset measurement determined by taking the difference between a measured frequency derived from the frequency reference and a measured frequency derived from a more accurate frequency reference.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the process of updating the calibration table further comprises converting the reference correction feedback into a data format consistent with a data format associated with data stored in the calibration table.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the process of updating the calibration table further comprises reading data from the calibration table associated with the current operating temperature and then combining the read calibration table data with the converted reference correction feedback data.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the process of updating the calibration table further comprises storing the combined data in the calibration table.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the updated calibration table is utilized to correct the frequency reference at a particular operating temperature measured by the resident temperature sensor.