METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING THE TIMING OF RADIO ANTENNA TUNING

• US 20140177686A1
• Filed: 12/21/2012
• Published: 06/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NXP USA, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: Research in Motion RF Inc (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Greene, Matthew, Hoirup, Carsten, Manssen, Keith
• Granted Patent: US 9,374,113 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/219
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/56 Modifications of input or output impedances, not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0458 Arrangements for matching and coupling between power amplifier and antenna or between amplifying stages matching circuits in general H03H
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/18 Input circuits, e.g. for coupling to an antenna or a transmission line coupling networks between antennas or lines and receivers independent of the nature of the receiver H03H
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, determining, by a controller of a mobile communication device, a phase shift criteria and an amplitude shift criteria associated with a modulation being implemented by the mobile communication device. The controller can determine a group of tuning steps that satisfies the phase and amplitude shift criteria and that provides a desired tuning step for a matching network of the mobile communication device. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A mobile communication device, comprising:

an antenna;

a transceiver coupled with the antenna;

a matching network coupled with the transceiver and the antenna, wherein the matching network includes a variable reactance element; and

a controller coupled with the matching network, wherein the controller determines a desired tuning step to be applied to the matching network to adjust a variable reactance of the variable reactance element, wherein the controller determines a phase shift criteria associated with a modulation being implemented by the mobile communication device, and wherein the controller selects a group of tuning steps that satisfies the phase shift criteria and that provides the desired tuning step.

2. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the phase shift criteria is a maximum phase shift limit for each tuning step of the group of tuning steps, and wherein the variable reactance of the variable reactance element is adjusted utilizing the group of tuning steps applied in sequence.

3. The mobile communication device of claim 2, wherein the controller determines a maximum amplitude shift limit associated with the modulation, and wherein the selection of the group of tuning steps by the controller includes selecting the group of tuning steps that does not exceed the maximum amplitude shift limit.

4. The mobile communication device of claim 3, comprising a memory, wherein the controller identifies the maximum phase shift limit and the maximum amplitude shift limit from a table stored in the memory, wherein the table is indexed based on a modulation type, and wherein the group of tuning steps enables achieving the desired tuning step within a single radio frame.

5. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein a first tuning step of the group of tuning steps has a different step size than a second tuning step of the group of tuning steps.

6. The mobile communication device of claim 5, wherein the selection of the group of tuning steps by the controller comprises utilizing an adjustable R-C time constant to determine an adjustment of a transition between steps of the group of tuning steps.

7. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the group of tuning steps has equal step sizes.

8. The mobile communication device of claim 7, further comprising a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) coupled with the matching network, wherein the controller via a single write command provides a rate of tuning adjustment to the DAC that represents the selected group of tuning steps, and wherein the DAC generates corresponding bias voltages representing the selected group of tuning steps that adjust the variable reactance of the variable reactance element.

9. The mobile communication device of claim 7, wherein the variable reactance of the variable reactance element is adjusted utilizing the selected group of tuning steps responsive to the controller detecting an absence of a frequency change during the modulation.

10. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the variable reactance of the variable reactance element is adjusted by the controller utilizing the group of tuning steps for both a transmit mode and a receive mode of the mobile communication device.

11. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the variable reactance element includes a voltage tunable capacitor.

12. The mobile communication device of claim 1, further comprising a measurement component to obtain an operational parameter of the mobile communication device, wherein the controller determines the desired tuning step based on the operational parameter.

13. The mobile communication device of claim 12, wherein the measurement component is connected with a directional coupler.

14. A method, comprising:

determining, by a controller of a mobile communication device, a phase shift criteria and an amplitude shift criteria associated with a modulation being implemented by the mobile communication device; and

determining, by the controller, a group of tuning steps that satisfies the phase and amplitude shift criteria and that provides a desired tuning step for a matching network of the mobile communication device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the phase and amplitude shift criteria are maximum phase and amplitude shift limits, and wherein the determining of the group of tuning steps by the controller comprises utilizing an adjustable R-C time constant to implement an adjustment of a transition between steps of the group of tuning steps.

16. The method of claim 14, comprising storing a table in a memory of the mobile communication device, wherein the controller determines the phase shift criteria and the amplitude shift criteria from the table according to the modulation.

17. The method of claim 14, comprising:

providing, by the controller, a rate of tuning adjustment that represents the group of tuning steps to a Digital-to-Analog Convertor (DAC) of the mobile communication device;

generating, by the DAC, bias voltages corresponding to the group of tuning steps based on the rate of tuning adjustment; and

providing, by the DAC, the bias voltages to a variable reactance element of the matching network to adjust a variable reactance of the variable reactance element.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the group of tuning steps has equal step sizes, and further comprising adjusting a variable reactance of a variable reactance element of the matching network based on the determined group of tuning steps responsive to a detection of an absence of a frequency change during the modulation, wherein the group of tuning steps enables achieving the desired tuning step within a single radio frame.

19. The method of claim 14, comprising:

determining a use case for the mobile communication device; and

determining the desired tuning step based on the determined use case.

20. A mobile communication device, comprising:

a memory storing a look-up table, wherein the look-up table is indexed based on a modulation type;

a matching network having a voltage tunable capacitor; and

a controller coupled with the memory and the matching network, wherein the controller determines a desired tuning step to be applied to the matching network to adjust a variable capacitance of the voltage tunable capacitor, wherein the controller determines maximum phase and amplitude shift limits associated with a modulation being implemented by the mobile communication device based on the look-up table, and wherein the controller generates control signals representative of a group of tuning steps that does not exceed the maximum phase and amplitude shift limits and that provides the desired tuning step.

21. A mobile communication device, comprising:

an antenna;

a transceiver coupled with the antenna;

a matching network coupled with the transceiver and the antenna, wherein the matching network includes a variable reactance element; and

a controller coupled with the matching network, wherein the controller determines a desired tuning step to be applied to the matching network to adjust a variable reactance of the variable reactance element, and wherein the controller selects a group of tuning steps that provides a linear phase shift and that provides the desired tuning step.

22. The mobile communication device of claim 21, further comprising an RC filter that is utilized in providing the linear phase shift.