Electronic device with over-the-air wireless self-testing capabilities

• US 9,673,916 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2016
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Mow, Matthew A., Ouyang, Yuehui, Jiang, Yi, Pascolini, Mattia, Caballero, Ruben, Noori, Basim
• Primary Examiner(s): Trinh, Sonny
• Application Number:
  US15/097,873
• Publication Number:
  US 20160308626A1
• Time in Patent Office: 419 Days
• Field of Search: 455101, 4555621, 455 6711, 455139, 4552761, 342423, 342434
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/14 of the whole transmission and reception path, e.g. self-test loop-back
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/19 Self-testing arrangements

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include antennas. The antennas may include phased antenna arrays for handling millimeter wave signals. Antennas may be located in antenna signal paths. The antenna signal paths may include adjustable components such as adjustable filters, adjustable gain amplifiers, and adjustable phase shifters. Circuitry may be incorporated into an electronic device to facilitate wireless self-testing operations. Wireless self-testing may involve use of one antenna to transmit an over-the-air antenna test signal that is received by another antenna. The circuitry that facilitates the wireless self-testing operations may include couplers, adjustable switches for temporarily shorting antenna signal paths together, mixers for mixing down radio-frequency signals to allow digitization with analog-to-digital converters, and other circuitry for supporting self-testing operations.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a housing;

control circuitry in the housing;

a plurality of antennas in the housing including at least a first and second antennas in respective first and second antenna signal paths; and

wireless circuitry in the housing that includes transceiver circuitry that operates under control of the control circuitry to transmit and receive antenna signals over the first and second antenna signal paths using the first and second antennas, wherein the control circuitry is configured to use the wireless circuitry to transmit over-the-air antenna signals from the first antenna to the second antenna while measuring corresponding received antenna signals from the first antenna using the second antenna and transceiver circuitry in the second antenna signal path, and the control circuitry gathers impedance measurements using at least the corresponding received antenna signals.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising a switch between the first antenna signal path and the second antenna signal path that the control circuitry closes to normalize path length delay between the first and second antenna signal paths.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 further comprising an adjustable electrical component in the first antenna signal path that the control circuitry adjusts while measuring the corresponding received antenna signals from the first antenna to calibrate the adjustable electrical component.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the adjustable electrical component comprises a phase shifter that makes phase adjustments to transmitted signals in the first antenna signal path.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the adjustable electrical component comprises an adjustable gain amplifier that amplifies transmitted signals in the first antenna signal path.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the adjustable electrical component comprises an adjustable filter in the first antenna signal path.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the housing comprises a housing selected from the group consisting of:

a laptop computer housing, a cellular telephone housing, and a tablet computer housing.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising:

a first coupler in the first antenna signal path;

a second coupler in the second antenna signal path; and

a switch that gathers signals from the first and second couplers under control of the control circuitry to make S-parameter measurements on the first and second antenna signal paths.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the first and second antennas are part of a common phased antenna array.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the first and second antennas are part of first and second different phased antenna arrays.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the first and second antennas are located at respective first and second corners of the housing.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the first antenna is a millimeter wave antenna.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 wherein the second antenna is a millimeter wave antenna.

14. An electronic device, comprising:

a housing

control circuitry in the housing;

a plurality of antennas in the housing including at least a first and second antennas in respective first and second antenna signal paths;

wireless circuitry in the housing that includes transceiver circuitry that operates under control of the control circuitry to transmit and receive antenna signals over the first and second antenna signal paths using the first and second antennas, wherein the control circuitry is configured to use the wireless circuitry to transmit over-the-air antenna signals from the first antenna to the second antenna while measuring corresponding received antenna signals from the first antenna using the second antenna and transceiver circuitry in the second antenna signal path;

a mixer that mixes a first signal with a second signal to produce an output; and

an analog-to-digital converter that digitizes the output, wherein the second signal is received from the second antenna signal path.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising a radio-frequency local oscillator, wherein the first signal is received from the radio-frequency local oscillator.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising a signal path that routes the first signal to the mixer from the first antenna signal path.

17. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a housing;

a display in the housing;

a plurality of antennas in the housing including at least a first and second antennas in respective first and second antenna signal paths; and

wireless circuitry in the housing that transmits an over-the-air antenna test signal from the first antenna and that receives the transmitted over-the-air antenna test signal from the first antenna with the second antenna, wherein the first antenna signal path includes an adjustable electrical component that is adjusted by control circuitry while receiving the antenna test signal with the second antenna, and the control circuitry analyzes the antenna test signal received with the second antenna to produce calibration data.

18. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a housing;

a plurality of phased antenna arrays in the housing, wherein the phased antenna arrays include at least first and second antennas;

wireless circuitry in the housing that transmits an over-the-air antenna signal from the first antenna and that receives the transmitted over-the-air antenna signal from the first antenna with the second antenna; and

control circuitry that tests at least the first antenna by analyzing the antenna signal received with the second antenna, wherein the phased antenna arrays comprise millimeter wave phased antenna arrays and wherein the antenna signal received with the second antenna comprises a millimeter wave antenna signal.