Web-enabled controller for impedance tuner systems

• US 8,823,392 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2011
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maury Microwave Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Maury Microwave Incorporated
• Inventors: Meierer, Roman
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamza, Faruk
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zaman, Shah R
• Application Number:
  US13/081,462
• Publication Number:
  US 20120259911A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 324/650
• US Class Current: 324/650
• 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: H04L 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/00 Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them

Abstract

A system and method for controlling an impedance tuner system. In one embodiment, a web-enabled electronic controller controls an impedance tuner system including a signal transmission line and an electronically-controllable impedance-varying system coupled to the signal transmission line for affecting the impedance presented by the signal transmission line. The controller has a communication port, and an electronic processor configured to process external command signals and generate electronic control signals to configure the impedance-varying system in response to the command signals. An electronic memory stores sets of data and one or more web pages. The controller has a communication server and is configured to receive or send signals through a communication channel from or to a client computer system. The communication server is configured to be responsive to a request message from a client computer system to send a response comprising a web page to the client computer system. The controller processes commands received from the client computer system into the electronic control signals.

An exemplary embodiment of a method for controlling an impedance tuner system includes providing a web-enabled controller having a communication server, storing web pages on the controller, sending a client request to the communication server from a client computer through a communication channel, in response to the client request, sending the web page to the client computer from the impedance tuner system through the communication channel, entering user commands through the web page and transmitting signals representing the user commands to the tuner controller, and processing the user commands by the tuner controller to provide tuner drive signals to set the tuner to a state determined by the user commands.

Claims

1. A web-enabled electronic controller for controlling an impedance tuner in an RF measurement system, the impedance tuner including an RF signal transmission line and an electronically-controllable impedance-varying system coupled to the signal transmission line for controlling the impedance presented by the signal transmission line, the web-enabled controller comprising;

an electronic processor configured to process external command signals and generate electronic control signals to configure the impedance-varying system of the impedance tuner in response to the command signals;

an electronic memory for storing sets of data and one or more web pages;

a communication server with an Internet Protocol (IP) address, the server supporting HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) communication and configured to receive or send signals through a TCP/IP communication channel from or to a client computer system;

the communication server configured on said IP address to be responsive to an HTTP request message from a client computer system to send a response comprising the web page to the client computer system;

the controller configured to process commands received from the client computer system through the communication server into the electronic control signals and to control the impedance-varying system of the impedance tuner during a measurement or calibration process conducted by the RF measurement system, and wherein during the measurement or calibration process first and second input/output ports of the impedance tuner connected to the RF signal transmission line are connected to at least one of the DUT, a signal source, a termination, a network analyzer or equipment, and the RF measurement system is configured during a measurement process to measure characteristics of a device under test (DUT) connected to the RF measurement system by sampling and measuring signals applied to and coming from the DUT.

2. The controller of claim 1, wherein the controller is integrated with the impedance tuner system and disposed in a tuner system housing with the transmission line and the impedance-varying system.

3. The controller of claim 1, wherein the controller is an external controller separate from the impedance tuner system and electrically connected to the impedance tuner system.

4. The controller of claim 1, further comprising a file transfer server supporting FTP (file transfer protocol), and the memory is configured to store configuration data files for the tuner.

5. The controller of claim 1, wherein said client computer system includes a web browser, and one of said at least one web pages has an embedded application program, the embedded application program configured to translate web page entered commands by a user through the browser into second protocol signals for transmission to the controller through a second protocol signal channel.

6. The controller of claim 5, wherein said second protocol utilizes ASCII or text-based commands supported by the controller.

7. The controller of claim 1, further comprising a display for visually displaying said IP address.

8. The controller of claim 1, wherein the communication server supports the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and the IP address is a dynamic IP address.

9. A method for controlling an impedance tuner system, comprising:

providing a web-enabled controller, having a communication server with an Internet Protocol (IP) address;

connecting an impedance tuner in an RF measurement system to provide a measurement or calibration test setup, the impedance tuner including an RF signal transmission line and an electronically-controllable impedance-varying system coupled to the signal transmission line for controlling the impedance presented to a device under test (DUT) connected in the RF measurement system for sampling and measuring signals applied to or coming from the DUT in the measurement test setup, the impedance tuner including first and second input/output ports each configured for connection to the DUT or equipment comprising the RF measurement system;

the web-enabled controller configured to generate tuner drive signals to control the electronically-controllable impedance-varying system of the impedance tuner;

storing web pages on the controller or memory associated with the controller;

sending an HTTP client request to the IP address of the communication server from a client computer through a TCP/IP communication channel;

in response to the client request, sending the web page to the client computer from the controller through the TCP/IP communication channel;

entering user commands through the web page and transmitting signals representing the user commands to the tuner controller;

processing the user commands to provide the tuner drive signals to set the impedance tuner to a state determined by the user commands.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said entering user commands and transmitting signals representing the user commands to the tuner controller comprises:

using an HTTP post method to send HTML page with user data through said TCP/IP communication channel to the tuner controller.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said entering user commands and transmitting signals representing the user commands to the tuner controller comprises:

opening a second communication channel between the tuner controller and the client computer system;

converting the user commands into text-based protocol signals and transmitting the text-based protocol signals on the second communication channel to the tuner controller;

processing the text-based protocol signals by a second controller communication server to provide tuner drive signals to set the tuner to a state determined by the text-based protocol signals.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the web page has an embedded applet, the method further comprising:

opening the web page at the client computer system on a web browser, the applet opening and running on the client computer system to open the second communication channel and to convert graphical user commands into said text-based protocol signals.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the tuner controller further comprises a file transfer server supporting the FTP (file transfer protocol), and a memory is configured to store data files for the tuner, the method further comprising:

transferring a tuner configuration file from the client computer system to the tuner using FTP.

14. An impedance tuner system for controlling an impedance in a calibration test setup or presented to a device under test (DUT) in a measurement test setup, comprising:

a housing structure;

first and second input/output ports each configured for connection to at least one of the DUT, a signal source, a termination, a network analyzer or other equipment in the measurement or calibration setup;

an RF signal transmission line disposed within the housing structure and connected between the first and second input/output ports;

an impedance-varying system disposed in the housing structure and coupled to the signal transmission line for affecting the impedance presented by the signal transmission line, the impedance-varying system including at least one electrically controllable component in response to electronic control signals;

a tuner communication port;

a web-enabled system controller integrated with the tuner and disposed in the tuner housing, including;

an electronic processor configured to process external command signals received through the tuner communication port and generate the electronic control signals to configure the impedance-varying system in response to the command signals;

an electronic memory for storing sets of data and a web page having an embedded application program;

an IP client configured to obtain or have an Internet Protocol (IP) address;

a communication server configured on the IP address, the server supporting HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) communication and configured to receive or send signals through a TCP/IP communication channel from or to a client computer system;

the communication server configured to be responsive to an HTTP request message from a client computer system to send a response comprising the web page to the client computer system;

the controller configured to process commands received from the client computer system through the communication server into the electronic control signals.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the impedance-varying system is an electromechanical system including a probe, a carriage for carrying the probe and first and second motors for positioning the carriage along the RF signal transmission line, and for positioning the probe in directions transverse to the transmission line.

16. The system of claim 14, further comprising a display for visually displaying tuner status information including the tuner IP address.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the controller further comprises a file transfer server supporting the FTP (file transfer protocol), and the memory is configured to store configuration and calibration data files for the tuner and the file transfer server is configured to transfer the files between the client and the tuner.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the controller further comprises a second communication server supporting signals conforming to a text-based signal protocol.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the IP address is a dynamic IP address, and said IP client is a DHCP client configured to request a valid IP address from a DHCP server.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the IP client is further configured with a default IP address for use if a valid IP address is not obtained from the DHCP server.

21. A method for controlling an impedance tuner system, comprising:

providing an RF measurement system, the system including a web-enabled impedance tuner system, having an integrated controller with an integrated DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) client configured to request a valid Internet Protocol (IP) address from a network DCHP server, the impedance tuner including an RF signal transmission line and an electronically-controllable impedance-varying system coupled to the signal transmission line for controlling the impedance presented by the RF signal transmission line in a a calibration test setup or to a device under test (DUT) connected to the RF measurement system in a measurement test setup, the impedance tuner including first and second input/output ports each configured for connection to at least one of the DUT, a signal source, a termination, a network analyzer or other equipment in the measurement or calibration test setup;

storing web pages on the impedance tuner with an embedded applet having a tuner system graphical user interface;

sending an HTTP client request to the IP address from a client computer through a TCP/IP communication channel;

in response to the client request, sending the web page with the embedded applet to the client computer from the impedance tuner using HTTP protocol;

running the applet on the client computer and entering user commands via the graphical user interface, the applet converting the user commands to text-based protocol command signals;

opening a second communication channel and transmitting the text-based protocol command signals on the second communication channel;

receiving the text-based protocol signals at the controller of the impedance tuner and processing the text-based protocol signals to provide tuner drive signals to set the impedance-varying system of the impedance tuner to a state determined by the text-based protocol signals.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the integrated tuner controller further comprises a file transfer server supporting the FTP (file transfer protocol), and a memory is configured to store data files for the tuner, the method further comprising:

transferring a tuner configuration file from the client to the tuner using FTP.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein said sending an HTTP client request comprises:

sending the HTTP client request from a web browser.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the second signal protocol employs a text-based protocol.

25. A web-enabled electronic controller for controlling an impedance tuner including an RF signal transmission line and an electronically-controllable impedance-varying system coupled to the signal transmission line for affecting the impedance presented by the signal transmission line in an RF measurement system connected to a device under test (DUT) for measuring characteristics of the DUT, the web-enabled controller comprising;

an electronic processor coupled to the impedance-varying system of the impedance tuner configured to process external command signals and generate electronic control signals to the impedance-varying system to configure the impedance-varying system and control the impedance presented by the impedance tuner in response to the command signals;

an electronic memory for storing sets of data and one or more web pages;

a communication server configured to receive or send signals through a communication channel from or to a client computer system;

the communication server configured to be responsive to a request message from a client computer system to send a response comprising the web page to the client computer system using the communication channel;

and wherein, with first and second input/output ports of the impedance tuner each connected to at least one of the DUT, a signal source, a termination, a network analyzer or other equipment in a measurement or calibration setup, the controller is configured to process commands received from the client computer system into the electronic control signals to set the impedance tuner to a state determined by the commands.

26. The controller of claim 25, wherein:

the communication server is configured to support an Internet Protocol (IP) address and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) communication and the communication channel is a TCP/IP communication channel.

27. The controller of claim 25, wherein the controller is integrated with the impedance tuner system and disposed in a tuner system housing with the transmission line and the impedance-varying system.

28. The controller of claim 25, wherein the controller is an external controller separate from the impedance tuner system and electrically connected to the impedance tuner system.

29. The controller of claim 25, further comprising a file transfer server, and the memory is configured to store configuration data files for the tuner.

30. The controller of claim 25, wherein said client computer system includes a web browser, and one of said at least one web pages has an embedded application program, the embedded application program configured to translate web page entered commands by a user through the browser into second protocol signals for transmission to the controller through a second protocol signal channel.

31. The controller of claim 30, wherein said second protocol utilizes text-based commands supported by the controller.

32. The controller of claim 26, further comprising a display for visually displaying said IP address.

33. The controller of claim 25, wherein the communication server supports the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and a dynamic IP (Internet Protocol) address.

34. A method for controlling an impedance tuner system, comprising:

providing a web-enabled controller, having a communication server;

connecting an impedance tuner in an RF measurement system to provide a measurement or calibration test setup, the impedance tuner including an RF signal transmission line and an electronically-controllable impedance-varying system coupled to the signal transmission line for controlling the impedance presented by the signal transmission line in the calibration test setup or, with a device under test (DUT) connected in the measurement test setup for measurement of characteristics of the DUT, the impedance tuner including first and second input/output ports each configured for connection to at least one of the DUT, a signal source, a termination, a network analyzer or other equipment in the RF measurement system;

configuring the web-enabled controller to control the electronically-controllable impedance-varying system of the impedance tuner system;

storing web pages on the controller or memory associated with the controller;

sending a client request to the communication server from a client computer through a communication channel;

in response to the client request, sending the web page to the client computer from the controller through the communication channel;

entering user commands through the web page and transmitting signals representing the user commands to the tuner controller;

processing the user commands to provide tuner drive signals to set the tuner to a state determined by the user commands.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein:

the communication server is configured to support an Internet Protocol (IP) address and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) communication and the communication channel is a TCP/IP communication channel.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein said entering user commands and transmitting signals representing the user commands to the tuner controller comprises:

using an HTTP post method to send HTML page with user data through said TCP/IP communication channel to the tuner controller.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein said entering user commands and transmitting signals representing the user commands to the tuner controller comprises:

opening a second communication channel between the tuner controller and the client computer system;

converting the user commands into text-based protocol signals and transmitting the text-based protocol signals on the second communication channel to the tuner controller;

processing the text-based protocol signals by a second controller communication server to provide tuner drive signals to set the tuner to a state determined by the text-based protocol signals.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the web page has an embedded applet, the method further comprising:

opening the web page at the client computer system on a web browser, the applet opening and running on the client computer system to open the second communication channel and to convert graphical user commands into said text-based protocol signals.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein the tuner controller further comprises a file transfer server, and a memory is configured to store data files for the tuner, the method further comprising:

transferring a tuner configuration file from the client computer system to the tuner.