APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING COMMUNICATION

• US 20150215901A1
• Filed: 01/22/2015
• Published: 07/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: PARK, Sung-Chul, LIM, Chai-Man, HONG, Hyun-Ju, LEE, Jong-Won
• Granted Patent: US 9,986,533 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/242 specially adapted for hand-held use
• 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 17/102 Power radiated at antenna
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/30 using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal

Abstract

A method for communication in an electronic device is provided. The method includes determining whether to control a communication module of the electronic device based on information related to communication between the electronic device and an external device, determining a control value for the communication module based on the determination, and controlling the communication module using the control value.

Claims

1. A method for providing communication in an electronic device, the method comprising:

determining whether to control a communication module of the electronic device based on at least a part of information related to communication between the electronic device and an external device;

determining a control value for the communication module based on the determination; and

controlling the communication module using at least a part of the control value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the control value comprises:

transmitting a signal through the communication module; and

determining the control value based on a reflection of the transmitted signal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitted signal does not include data for communication between the electronic device and the external device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitting of the signal comprises transmitting the signal at a strength that is less than or equal to a specified value.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitting of the signal comprises transmitting the signal over a channel that is specified in relation to the communication.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitting of the signal comprises modulating data using a modulation that is not supported by the external device.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the external device cannot decode the transmitted signal.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the control value is based on a reflection of the transmitted signal.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the control value comprises:

receiving a first signal and a second signal by controlling the communication module with a first control value and a second control value; and

determining one of the first control value and the second control value as the control value based on the first signal and the second signal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the control value is determined when there is no data transmission between the electronic device and the external device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the control value is determined when a communication quality between the electronic device and the external device corresponds to a specified range.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of whether to control the communication module comprises determining whether to control physical characteristics of the communication module.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling of the communication module comprises controlling frequency characteristics of the communication module.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform the method of claim 1.

14. An electronic device for providing communication, the electronic device comprising:

a communication module; and

a communication control module configured;

to determine whether to control the communication module based on at least a part of information related to communication between the electronic device and an external device,

to determine a control value for the communication module based on the determination, and

to control the communication module using at least a part of the control value.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the communication control module transmits a signal through the communication module and determines the control value based on a reflection of the transmitted signal.

16. The electronic device of claim 14, further comprising a signal generator configured to generate a signal that is not related to data transmission to the external device.

17. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the communication control module receives a first signal and a second signal by controlling the communication module with a first control value and a second control value, and determines one of the first control value and the second control value as the control value based on the received first signal and second signal.

18. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the information related to the communication includes at least one of communication status information, communication quality information, communication schedule information, and handoff information.

19. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the communication control module determines, if communication quality between the electronic device and the external device corresponds to a specified range, the communication module determines the control value.

20. An electronic device for providing communication, the electronic device comprising:

a transmission/reception unit configured to transmit a signal during an idle state; and

a communication control module configured;

to estimate a change in a resonant frequency of an antenna using a return loss generated by a transmission of the signal, and

to control an impedance of the antenna based on the change in the resonant frequency of the antenna.

21. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the communication control module calculates an amount of the generated return loss and determines the change in the resonant frequency of the antenna based on the return loss applied to a predefined table.

22. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the communication control module measures a quality of a signal received from a base station and, when the measured quality corresponds to a predefined threshold range, determines to control the resonant frequency of the antenna.

23. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the communication control module measures the quality of the signal received from the base station by controlling an impedance of a variable element, when the measured quality is outside of the predefined threshold range, and to controls the resonant frequency of the antenna using an impedance at which a difference between the measured quality of the signal and a signal quality falling within the predefined threshold range is minimal.

24. The electronic device of claim 20, further comprising:

a storage unit configured to store a table for estimating the change in the resonant frequency,

wherein the table includes an impedance value that is specified in advance according to a location in which the electronic device is placed, a state of the electronic device, and an occasion at which an object is in contact with or in proximity to the electronic device.