N-th order curve fit for power calibration in a mobile terminal

• US 7,529,523 B1
• Filed: 08/23/2005
• Issued: 05/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: RF Micro Devices Incorporated (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Inventors: Toner, Adam, Young, Jason, Clark, Ricke W., Khlat, Nadim, Mahoney, Dennis
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thanh C
• Application Number:
  US11/209,435
• Time in Patent Office: 1,351 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/115.1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/242 specially adapted for hand-held use
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/28 varying the amplitude

Abstract

A method for calibrating the output power of a mobile terminal using at least a second order curve fit to describe a power amplifier gain (PAG) setting versus output power characteristic of a power amplifier in a transmitter of the mobile terminal is provided. For each of an upper-band frequency, a mid-band frequency, and a lower-band frequency of a frequency band, multiple measurements of the output power of the mobile terminal are made corresponding to multiple values of the PAG setting, and a curve fit is performed, thereby calculating coefficients defining a polynomial describing the PAG setting versus output power characteristic. Using the polynomials describing the PAG setting versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier for each of the upper-band, mid-band, and lower-band frequencies, values of the PAG setting are determined for each desired output power level for each desired frequency within the frequency band.

Claims

1. A method of calibrating an output power of a mobile terminal comprising:

a) providing a radio frequency (RF) input signal to an input of a power amplifier of the mobile terminal;

b) for each of an upper-band frequency, a mid-band frequency, and a lower-band frequency of a desired frequency band, measuring an output power of the mobile terminal for each of a plurality of values of an adjustable power amplifier gain (PAG), wherein the plurality of values of the PAG for each of the upper-band frequency, the mid-band frequency, and the lower-band frequency comprises at least three values;

c) for each of the upper-band frequency, the mid-band frequency, and the lower-band frequency of the desired frequency band, performing a curve fit for the plurality of values of the PAG and the corresponding plurality of measurements of the output power, thereby providing a plurality of coefficients defining a polynomial describing a PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier; and

d) determining values of the PAG corresponding to a plurality of desired output power levels and a plurality of frequencies within the desired frequency band based on the polynomials describing the PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier for each of the upper-band, mid-band, and lower-band frequencies of the desired frequency band.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein for each of the plurality of desired output power levels, determining values of the PAG comprises determining values of the PAG for ones of the desired plurality of frequencies between the mid-band frequency and the upper-band frequency using an interpolation between a first value of the PAG for the desired output power level calculated using the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic for the upper-band frequency and a second value of the PAG for the desired output power level calculated using the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic for the mid-band frequency.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein for each of the plurality of desired output power levels, determining values of the PAG comprises determining values of the PAG for ones of the desired plurality of frequencies between the mid-band frequency and the lower-band frequency using an interpolation between a first value of the PAG for the desired output power level calculated using the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic for the mid-band frequency and a second value of the PAG for the desired output power level calculated using the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic for the lower-band frequency.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the RF input signal, measuring the output power, performing the curve fit, and determining values of the PAG are repeated for each of a plurality of frequency bands.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the RF input signal further comprises configuring the mobile terminal to be in a first mode of operation in which a supply voltage provided to the power amplifier comprises no amplitude modulation and the step of determining the values of the PAG determines the values of the PAG for the first mode of operation.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the first mode of operation is a Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) mode of operation.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising determining second values of the PAG for a second mode of operation for a plurality of target output power levels based on the polynomials describing the PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier for each of the upper-band, mid-band, and lower-band frequencies of the desired frequency band, wherein the supply voltage provided to the power amplifier comprises amplitude modulation when operating in the second mode of operation.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the second mode of operation is an Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution (EDGE) mode of operation.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein determining the second values of the PAG for the second mode of operation comprises for one of the plurality of target output power levels and one of the plurality of frequencies within the desired frequency band for the second mode of operation:

determining a corrected target output power value for each of a plurality of amplitude modulation points by combining desired output power values for the amplitude modulation points at the target output power and predetermined error values;

determining PAG values for each of the plurality of amplitude modulation points based on the corrected target output power values and the plurality of coefficients defining the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier for the one of the plurality of frequencies; and

computing Amplitude Modulation to Amplitude Modulation (AM/AM) predistortion coefficients including one of the second values of the PAG for the second mode of operation based on the plurality of amplitude modulation points and the PAG values for each of the plurality of amplitude modulation points.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein determining values of the PAG for the second mode of operation further comprises determining the error values in a reference mobile terminal.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein determining the error values in the reference mobile terminal comprises for the one of the plurality of target output power levels and the one of the plurality of frequencies within the desired frequency band:

determining values of a power control signal controlling an output power of the power amplifier for each of a plurality of amplitude modulation points based on the plurality of amplitude modulation points and an optimized set of Amplitude Modulation to Amplitude Modulation (AM/AM) predistortion coefficients defining a polynomial describing the power control signal as a function of amplitude modulation;

determining a value for the output power for each of the plurality of amplitude modulation points based on the values of the power control signal and a plurality of coefficients defining the polynomial describing a PAG versus output power characteristic of a power amplifier of the reference mobile terminal for the one of the plurality of frequencies; and

for each of the plurality of amplitude modulation points, determining one of the error values based on a difference between the value of the output power for the amplitude modulation point and a desired output power for the amplitude modulation point.

12. A method of calibrating an output power of a mobile terminal comprising:

a) providing an RF input signal to an input of a power amplifier of the mobile terminal;

b) for a mid-band frequency of a desired frequency band, measuring an output power of the mobile terminal for each of a plurality of values of an adjustable power amplifier gain (PAG), wherein the plurality of values of the PAG comprises at least three values; and

c) performing a curve fit for the plurality of values of the PAG and the corresponding plurality of measurements of the output power, thereby calculating a plurality of coefficients defining a polynomial describing a PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

for each of a upper-band frequency and a lower-band frequency of the desired frequency band, measuring the output power of the mobile terminal for a predetermined value of the PAG to provide an upper-band and a lower-band frequency measurement of the output power; and

determining values of the PAG corresponding to a plurality of desired output power levels and a plurality of frequencies within the desired frequency band based on the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier for the mid-band frequency of the desired frequency band and the upper-band and lower-band frequency measurements of the output power such that the values of the PAG are compensated for variations in power-amplifier losses over frequency.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein for each of the plurality of desired output power levels, determining values of the PAG comprises:

converting the desired output power level to a desired RF voltage and the upper-band and lower-band frequency measurements to upper-band and lower-band RF voltages;

for ones of the plurality of frequencies greater than the mid-band frequency, calculating a desired RF voltage indicative of the desired output power level based on a first interpolation between a first point defined by the upper-band frequency and the upper-band RF voltage and a second point defined by the mid-band frequency and a mid-band RF voltage indicative of the output power of the mobile terminal corresponding to the predetermined value of the PAG;

for ones of the plurality of frequencies less than the mid-band frequency, calculating a desired RF voltage indicative of the desired output power level based on a second interpolation between a third point defined by the lower-band frequency and the lower-band RF voltage and the second point defined by the mid-band frequency and the mid-band RF voltage; and

calculating the value of the PAG based on the desired RF voltage indicative of the desired output power level.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein providing the RF input signal, measuring the output power of the mobile terminal for each of a plurality of values of the PAG, performing a curve fit, measuring the output power of the mobile terminal for a predetermined value of the PAG to provide an upper-band and a lower-band frequency measurement of the output power, and determining values of the PAG are repeated for each of a plurality of frequency bands.

16. A system for calibrating an output power of a mobile terminal comprising:

a) output power detection circuitry adapted to measure the output power of the mobile terminal; and

b) a calibration control system that calibrates the output power of the mobile terminal for a desired frequency band, the calibration control system adapted to;

i) control the mobile terminal such that an RF input signal is provided to an input of a power amplifier of the mobile terminal;

ii) for each of an upper-band frequency, a mid-band frequency, and a lower-band frequency of the desired frequency band, receive measurements of the output power of the mobile terminal from the output power detection circuitry for each of a plurality of values of an adjustable power amplifier gain (PAG), wherein the plurality of values of the PAG for each of the upper-band frequency, the mid-band frequency, and the lower-band frequency comprises at least three values;

iii) for each of the upper-band frequency, the mid-band frequency, and the lower-band frequency of the desired frequency band, perform a curve fit for the plurality of values of the PAG and the corresponding plurality of measurements of the output power, thereby providing a plurality of coefficients defining a polynomial describing a PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier; and

iv) determine values of the PAG corresponding to a plurality of desired output power levels and a plurality of frequencies within the desired frequency band based on the polynomials describing the PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier for each of the upper-band, mid-band, and lower-band frequencies of the desired frequency band.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein for each of the plurality of desired output power levels, the calibration control system is further adapted to determine the values of the PAG by determining values of the PAG for ones of the desired plurality of frequencies between the mid-band frequency and the upper-band frequency using an interpolation between a first value of the PAG for the desired output power level calculated using the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic for the upper-band frequency and a second value of the PAG for the desired output power level calculated using the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic for the mid-band frequency.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein for each of the plurality of desired output power levels, the calibration control system is further adapted to determine values of the PAG by determining values of the PAG for ones of the desired plurality of frequencies between the mid-band frequency and the lower-band frequency using an interpolation between a first value of the PAG for the desired output power level calculated using the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic for the mid-band frequency and a second value of the PAG for the desired output power level calculated using the polynomial describing the PAG versus output power characteristic for the lower-band frequency.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the calibration control system is further adapted to calibrate the output power of the mobile terminal for each of a plurality of desired frequency bands.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein the calibration control system is further adapted to configure the mobile terminal to be in a first mode of operation in which a supply voltage provided to the power amplifier comprises no amplitude modulation and the step of determining the values of the PAG determines the values of the PAG for the first mode of operation.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the calibration control system is further adapted to determine second values of the PAG for a second mode of operation for a plurality of target output power levels and a second plurality of desired frequencies within a desired frequency band based on the polynomials describing the PAG versus output power characteristic of the power amplifier for each of the upper-band, mid-band, and lower-band frequencies of the desired frequency band, wherein the supply voltage provided to the power amplifier comprises amplitude modulation when operating in the second mode of operation.