Method and apparatus for radio antenna frequency tuning

• US 9,935,674 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2017
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NXP USA, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Hoirup, Carsten, Manssen, Keith, Greene, Matthew Russell
• Primary Examiner(s): HSIEH, PING Y
• Application Number:
  US15/606,953
• Publication Number:
  US 20170264335A1
• Time in Patent Office: 312 Days
• Field of Search: 455 6711, 455 77, 455 78, 455 82, 455 83, 455 84, 455 87, 455125, 4552341, 455333, 455120, 455121, 4551931, 4551932, 455230, 4552401, 455 69
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/242 specially adapted for hand-held use
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/14 Length of element or elements adjustable telescopic elements H01Q1/10
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 7/40 Automatic matching of load impedance to source impedance
• 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 1/401 for selecting or indicating operating mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/26 using historical data, averaging values or statistics
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which can include computer instructions to determine a subset of use cases from a group of use cases stored in a memory of a communication device, and to determine a target use case from among the subset of use cases based on an operational parameter associated with a transceiver of the communication device. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A communication device comprising:

an antenna;

a tunable network having tuning elements and being coupled with the antenna;

a memory that stores computer instructions; and

a processor coupled with the memory and the tunable network, wherein the processor, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising;

applying each tuning state of a subset of use cases to the tuning elements of the tunable network and measuring a measured signal parameter for a received signal at each tuning state to generate a group of signal parameters, each of the use cases corresponding to a tuning state for the tuning elements of the tunable network;

selecting a target use case from among the subset of use cases based on a desired signal parameter selected from among the group of signal parameters; and

tuning the tunable network by adjusting the tuning elements according to the target use case.

2. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the tuning elements include a group of inductors, and further comprising adjusting a switch coupled with the group of inductors based on a corresponding tuning state of the target use case to tune the tuning elements, and wherein the measured signal parameter comprises a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurement.

3. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the tunable network includes a fixed reactance capacitor.

4. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise selecting the subset of use cases from a group of use cases based on a usage condition determined for the communication device.

5. The communication device of claim 1, wherein generating of the group of signal parameters comprises averaging parametric measurements for each tuning state of the subset of use cases.

6. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving tuning information from a base station, wherein the selecting of the target use case is based on the tuning information.

7. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the tuning elements include a variable capacitance element.

8. A method comprising:

applying, by a system of a communication device, each tuning state of a subset of use cases to tuning elements of a tunable network of the communication device and measuring a signal parameter for a received signal at each tuning state to generate a group of signal parameters, each of the use cases corresponding to a tuning state for the tuning elements of the tunable network;

selecting, by the system, a target use case from among the subset of use cases based on a desired signal parameter selected from among the group of signal parameters; and

tuning the tunable network by adjusting the tuning elements according to the target use case.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the signal parameter for the received signal comprises a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurement.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein generating of the group of signal parameters comprises averaging parametric measurements for each tuning state.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the tuning elements include a variable capacitance element.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the tuning elements include a group of inductors, and further comprising adjusting a switch coupled with the group of inductors based on a corresponding tuning state of the target use case to tune the tunable network.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the tunable network includes a fixed reactance capacitor.

14. The method of claim 8, comprising:

receiving, by the system, tuning information from a base station, wherein the selecting of the target use case is based on the tuning information.

15. A communication device comprising:

a tunable network having tuning elements;

a memory that stores computer instructions; and

a processor coupled with the memory and the tunable network, wherein the processor, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising;

applying each tuning state of a subset of use cases to the tuning elements of the tunable network and measuring a signal parameter for a received signal at each tuning state to generate a group of signal parameters, each of the use cases corresponding to a tuning state for the tuning elements of the tunable network;

selecting a target use case from among the subset of use cases based on a desired signal parameter selected from among the group of signal parameters; and

tuning the tunable network by adjusting the tuning elements according to the target use case.

16. The communication device of claim 15, wherein the signal parameter for the received signal comprises a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurement.

17. The communication device of claim 15, wherein the tuning elements include a group of inductors, and further comprising adjusting a switch coupled with the group of inductors based on a corresponding tuning state of the target use case to tune the tuning elements.

18. The communication device of claim 15, wherein the tunable network includes a fixed reactance capacitor.

19. The communication device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise selecting the subset of use cases from a group of use cases based on a usage condition determined for the communication device.

20. The communication device of claim 15, wherein generating of the group of signal parameters comprises averaging parametric measurements for each tuning state of the subset of use cases.