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

• US 9,960,864 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2017
• Issued: 05/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Mow, Matthew A., Noori, Basim, Ouyang, Yuehui, Jiang, Yi, Pascolini, Mattia, Caballero, Ruben
• Primary Examiner(s): Trinh, Sonny
• Application Number:
  US15/495,732
• Publication Number:
  US 20170230124A1
• Time in Patent Office: 372 Days
• Field of Search: 4555621, 4555751, 4555757, 455 6711, 455 6714, 343702, 348156, 348 16, 348164
• 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. Apparatus, comprising:

a first antenna in a first antenna signal path;

a second antenna in a second antenna signal path;

wireless circuitry that is configured to transmit an over-the-air antenna signal at a millimeter wave frequency using the first antenna and that is configured to receive the transmitted over-the-air antenna signal from the first antenna using the second antenna;

control circuitry configured to perform wireless test measurements using the antenna signal received using the second antenna;

a switching circuit coupled between the first and second antenna signal paths; and

a coupler interposed on the first antenna signal path and coupled to the second antenna signal path through the switching circuit.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is configured to gather impedance measurements using at least the antenna signal received using the second antenna.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 2, further comprising:

an additional coupler interposed on the second antenna signal path, wherein the switching circuit is coupled between the coupler and the additional coupler.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 3, wherein the impedance measurements comprise S-parameter measurements.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 1, further comprising:

an adjustable electrical component interposed in the first antenna signal path, wherein the control circuitry is configured to generate calibration data for the adjustable electrical component based at least on the antenna signal received using the second antenna.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a phased antenna array, wherein the phased antenna array comprises the first and second antennas.

7. Apparatus, comprising:

a first antenna in a first antenna signal path;

a second antenna in a second antenna signal path;

wireless circuitry that is configured to transmit an over-the-air antenna signal at a millimeter wave frequency using the first antenna and that is configured to receive the transmitted over-the-air antenna signal from the first antenna using the second antenna;

control circuitry configured to perform wireless test measurements using the antenna signal received using the second antenna;

a switching circuit coupled between the first and second antenna signal paths;

a first phased antenna array that comprises the first antenna; and

a second phased antenna array that comprises the second antenna.

8. Apparatus, comprising:

a first antenna in a first antenna signal path;

a second antenna in a second antenna signal path;

wireless circuitry that is configured to transmit an over-the-air antenna signal at a millimeter wave frequency using the first antenna and that is configured to receive the transmitted over-the-air antenna signal from the first antenna using the second antenna;

control circuitry configured to perform wireless test measurements using the antenna signal received using the second antenna; and

a switching circuit coupled between the first and second antenna signal paths, wherein the wireless circuitry comprises;

baseband processor circuitry, and

transceiver circuitry interposed between the baseband processor circuitry and the first and second antennas.

9. Apparatus, comprising:

a first antenna in a first antenna signal path;

a second antenna in a second antenna signal path;

wireless circuitry that is configured to transmit an over-the-air antenna signal at a millimeter wave frequency using the first antenna and that is configured to receive the transmitted over-the-air antenna signal from the first antenna using the second antenna;

control circuitry configured to perform wireless test measurements using the antenna signal received using the second antenna; and

a switching circuit coupled between the first and second antenna signal paths, wherein the wireless circuitry comprises;

baseband processor circuitry,

a first transceiver in the first antenna signal path and interposed between the baseband processor circuitry and the first antenna, and

a second transceiver in the second antenna signal path and interposed between the baseband processor circuitry and the second antenna.

10. The apparatus defined in claim 9, further comprising:

an integrated circuit, wherein the first and second transceivers and the switching circuit are formed on the integrated circuit.

11. The apparatus defined in claim 10, wherein the first and second antennas are formed on the integrated circuit.

12. Apparatus, comprising:

control circuitry;

a first antenna in a first antenna signal path;

a second antenna in a second antenna signal path;

wireless circuitry that includes transceiver circuitry configured to operate 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 control the wireless circuitry to transmit over-the-air antenna signals using the first antenna while measuring corresponding received antenna signals from the first antenna using the second antenna, and the control circuitry is further configured to gather impedance measurements using at least the corresponding received antenna signals; and

a coupler interposed in the second antenna signal path, wherein the control circuitry is configured to gather the impedance measurements using at least the coupler.

13. The apparatus defined in claim 12, further comprising:

an integrated circuit, wherein the first and second antennas, the first and second antenna signal paths, and the wireless circuitry are formed on the integrated circuit.

14. The apparatus defined in claim 13, further comprising:

an additional coupler on the integrated circuit and interposed in the first antenna signal path.

15. The apparatus defined in claim 12, wherein the wireless circuitry is configured to transmit the over-the-air antenna signals using the first antenna signal at a frequency that is greater than 10 GHz.

16. The apparatus defined in claim 12, wherein the impedance measurements comprise S-parameter values.

17. An integrated antenna and transceiver module that is controlled by control circuitry to transmit and receive antenna signals, comprising:

a first antenna in a first antenna signal path;

an adjustable electrical component in the first antenna signal path;

a second antenna in a second antenna signal path; and

transceiver circuitry that is configured to transmit an over-the-air antenna test signal using the first antenna and that is configured to receive the over-the-air antenna test signal transmitted by the first antenna using the second antenna, wherein the adjustable electrical component is configured to be adjusted by the control circuitry while the second antenna receives the over-the-air antenna test signal, and the adjustable electrical component is calibrated using calibration data generated by the control circuitry in response to the over-the-air antenna test signal received using the second antenna.

18. The integrated antenna and transceiver module defined in claim 17, wherein the transceiver circuitry is configured to transmit the over-the-air antenna test signal at a millimeter wave frequency.

19. The integrated antenna and transceiver module defined in claim 18, further comprising:

a phased antenna array that comprises the first and second antennas.

20. The integrated antenna and transceiver module defined in claim 17, further comprising:

a first phased antenna array that comprises the first antenna; and

a second phased antenna array that comprises the second antenna.