METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CALIBRATING MULTIPLE ANTENNA ARRAYS
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- transmitting a calibration command to multiple antenna arrays, each antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements, a plurality of transmitter and receiver channels, and a calibration circuit comprising a calibration receiver and a calibration transmitter, the antenna arrays connected to one another;
for each pair of connected antenna arrays, calibrating the calibration circuits of the connected antenna arrays based on time delay differences and phase delay differences between the calibration receivers and the calibration transmitters in the pair of connected antenna arrays; and
calibrating the antenna elements of each antenna array using the calibrated calibration circuits.
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Abstract
A method includes transmitting a calibration command to multiple antenna arrays. Each antenna array includes a plurality of antenna elements, a plurality of transmitter and receiver channels, and a calibration circuit comprising a calibration receiver and a calibration transmitter. The antenna arrays are connected to one another. The method also includes, for each pair of connected antenna arrays, calibrating the calibration circuits of the connected antenna arrays based on time delay differences and phase delay differences between the calibration receivers and the calibration transmitters in the pair of connected antenna arrays. In addition, the method includes calibrating the antenna elements of each antenna array using the calibrated calibration circuits.
70 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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transmitting a calibration command to multiple antenna arrays, each antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements, a plurality of transmitter and receiver channels, and a calibration circuit comprising a calibration receiver and a calibration transmitter, the antenna arrays connected to one another; for each pair of connected antenna arrays, calibrating the calibration circuits of the connected antenna arrays based on time delay differences and phase delay differences between the calibration receivers and the calibration transmitters in the pair of connected antenna arrays; and calibrating the antenna elements of each antenna array using the calibrated calibration circuits. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system comprising multiple antenna arrays, each antenna array comprising:
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a plurality of antenna elements; a plurality of transmitter and receiver channels; a calibration circuit comprising a calibration receiver and a calibration transmitter; and a controller configured to; calibrate the calibration circuit of the antenna array based on time delay differences and phase delay differences between the calibration receivers and the calibration transmitters in a pair of connected antenna arrays; and calibrate the antenna elements of the antenna array using the calibrated calibration circuit of the antenna array. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for use with multiple antenna arrays, each antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements, a plurality of transmitter and receiver channels, and a calibration circuit comprising a calibration receiver and a calibration transmitter, the apparatus comprising:
a controller configured to; calibrate the calibration circuit of a first of the multiple antenna arrays based on time delay differences and phase delay differences between the calibration receivers and the calibration transmitters in a pair of connected antenna arrays including the first antenna array and a second antenna array; and calibrate the antenna elements of the first antenna array using the calibrated calibration circuit of the first antenna array. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for aligning multiple transceivers connected to one another, each transceiver comprising a transmitter and a receiver, the method comprising:
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transmitting an alignment command to the multiple transceivers; and for each pair of connected transceivers, aligning calibration circuits of the connected transceivers based on time delay differences and phase delay differences between the receivers and the transmitters in the pair of connected transceivers; wherein the time delay difference between the receivers in one pair of connected transceivers is determined as;
τ
RX2−
τ
RX1=(B1−
A1−
D1+C1)/2where; A1=τ
TX1+τ
d1+τ
RX1B1=τ
TX1+τ
d2+τ
RX2C1=τ
TX1+τ
d1+τ
RX2D1=τ
TX2+τ
d2+τ
RX1wherein τ
TX1 and τ
RX1 are time delays at the transmitter and the receiver, respectively, in a first of the connected transceivers;wherein τ
TX2 and τ
RX2 are time delays at the transmitter and the receiver, respectively, in a second of the connected transceivers;wherein τ
d1 is a time delay between the transmitter and the receiver in the first transceiver; andwherein τ
d2 is a time delay between the transmitter in one of the connected transceivers and the receiver in another of the connected transceivers. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. An apparatus for aligning multiple transceivers connected to one another, each transceiver comprising a transmitter and a receiver, the apparatus comprising:
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a controller configured to; transmit an alignment command to the multiple transceivers; and for each pair of connected transceivers, align calibration circuits of the connected transceivers based on time delay differences and phase delay differences between the receivers and the transmitters in the pair of connected transceivers; wherein the controller is configured to determine the time delay difference between the receivers in one pair of connected transceivers as;
τ
RX2−
τ
RX1=(B1−
A1−
D1+C1)/2where; A1=τ
TX1+τ
d1+τ
RX1B1=τ
TX1+τ
d2+τ
RX2C1=τ
TX1+τ
d1+τ
RX2D1=τ
TX2+τ
d2+τ
RX1wherein τ
TX1 and τ
RX1 are time delays at the transmitter and the receiver, respectively, in a first of the connected transceivers;wherein τ
TX2 and τ
RX2 are time delays at the transmitter and the receiver, respectively, in a second of the connected transceivers;wherein τ
d1 is a time delay between the transmitter and the receiver in the first transceiver; andwherein τ
d2 is a time delay between the transmitter in one of the connected transceivers and the receiver in another of the connected transceivers. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for use with multiple antenna arrays, each antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements, a plurality of transceivers, a clock recovery circuit, and a synchronization (sync) generator circuit, the method comprising:
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designating one of the antenna arrays as a master antenna array and at least one other of the antenna arrays as at least one slave antenna array; enabling the clock recovery circuit and the sync generator circuit of the master antenna array; disabling the clock recovery circuits and the sync generator circuits of each slave antenna array; injecting a clock signal recovered from the clock recovery circuit of the master antenna array into the master and at least one slave antenna arrays; injecting a sync signal generated from the sync generator circuit of the master antenna array into the master and at least one slave antenna arrays; adjusting phases of the clock and sync signals arriving at each transceiver in the master antenna array such that the clock and sync signals arrive substantially edge-aligned at each transceiver of the master antenna array; and for each slave antenna array, adjusting phases of clock and sync signals arriving at each transceiver in the slave antenna array such that the clock and sync signals arrive substantially edge-aligned at each transceiver of the slave antenna array.
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35. An apparatus for use with multiple antenna arrays, each antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements, a plurality of transceivers, a clock recovery circuit, and a synchronization (sync) generator circuit, the apparatus comprising:
a controller configured to; designate one of the antenna arrays as a master antenna array and at least one other of the antenna arrays as at least one slave antenna array; enable the clock recovery circuit and the sync generator circuit of the master antenna array; disable the clock recovery circuits and the sync generator circuits of each slave antenna array; inject a clock signal recovered from the clock recovery circuit of the master antenna array into the master and the at least one slave antenna arrays; inject a sync signal generated from the sync generator circuit of the master antenna array into the master and the at least one slave antenna arrays; adjust phases of the clock and sync signals arriving at each transceiver in the master antenna array such that the clock and sync signals arrive substantially edge-aligned at each transceiver of the master antenna array; and for each slave antenna array, adjust phases of clock and sync signals arriving at each transceiver in the slave antenna array such that the clock and sync signals arrive substantially edge-aligned at each transceiver of the slave antenna array.
Specification