Apparatus and method for providing communication

• US 9,986,533 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2015
• Issued: 05/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Jong-Won, Park, Sung-Chul, Lim, Chai-Man, Hong, Hyun-Ju
• Primary Examiner(s): Jia, Xin
• Application Number:
  US14/602,594
• Publication Number:
  US 20150215901A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,223 Days
• Field of Search: 455 411, 455 412
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/242 specially adapted for hand-held use
• 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 17/102 Power radiated at antenna
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/30 using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal

Abstract

A method for communication in an electronic device is provided. The method includes determining whether to control a communication module of the electronic device based on information related to communication between the electronic device and an external device, determining a control value for the communication module based on the determination, and controlling the communication module using the control value.

Claims

1. A method for providing communication in an electronic device, the method comprising:

detecting at least one of contact or proximity with an object;

determining whether an impedance of an antenna of the electronic device changes based on the detecting of the object;

when the impedance changes and there is no data to transmit, transmitting at least one signal through the antenna for determining a control value for controlling a resonant frequency of a transceiver of the electronic device;

measuring a reflected signal that is reflected through the antenna based on the transmitted at least one signal for determining the control value;

determining the control value for controlling the resonant frequency of the transceiver based on the reflected signal; and

controlling an impedance of an antenna of the electronic device based on the control value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted at least one signal does not include data for communication between the electronic device and an external device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the at least one signal comprises transmitting the at least one signal at a strength that is less than or equal to a specified value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the at least one signal comprises transmitting the at least one signal over a channel that is specified in relation to the communication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one signal is modulated using a modulation scheme that cannot be demodulated by an external device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a first signal and a second signal by controlling the transceiver with a first control value and a second control value; and

determining one of the first control value and the second control value as the control value based on the first signal and the second signal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the control value is determined if a communication quality between the electronic device and an external device corresponds to a specified range.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the control value comprises determining whether to control physical characteristics of the transceiver.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the controlling of the transceiver comprises controlling frequency characteristics of the transceiver.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform the method of claim 1.

11. An electronic device for providing communication, the electronic device comprising:

an antenna;

a transceiver; and

a processor configured to;

detect at least one of contact or proximity with an object,

determine whether an impedance of an antenna of the electronic device changes based on the detecting of the object,

when the impedance changes and there is no data to transmit, transmit at least one signal through the antenna for determining a control value for controlling a resonant frequency of the transceiver,

measure a reflected signal that is reflected based on the transmitted at least one signal for determining the control value,

determine the control value for controlling the resonant frequency of the transceiver based on the reflected signal, and

control an impedance of an antenna of the electronic device based on the control value.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the transceiver comprises a signal generator configured to generate the at least one signal that is not related to the data communication with an external device.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a first signal and a second signal by controlling the transceiver with a first control value and a second control value, and

determine one of the first control value and the second control value as the control value based on the received first signal and second signal.

14. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit the control value for controlling the resonant frequency based on at least one of communication status, communication quality, communication schedule with an external device, and handoff.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine if communication quality between the electronic device and the external device corresponds to a specified range, and

if the communication quality corresponds to the specified range, control the transceiver to determine the control value.

16. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

measure a quality of a signal received from the external device, and

if the measured quality corresponds to a predefined threshold range, control the resonant frequency of the antenna.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:

measure the quality of the signal received from the external device by controlling an impedance of a variable element in the transceiver corresponding to the resonance frequency of the antenna, if the measured quality is outside of the predefined threshold range, and

control the resonant frequency of the antenna using an impedance at which a difference between the measured quality of the signal and a signal quality falling within the predefined threshold range is minimal.

18. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

estimate a change in the resonant frequency using a return loss generated by the transmitted at least one signal, and

control the impedance of the antenna based on the change in the resonant frequency of the antenna.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to:

calculate an amount of the return loss, and

determine the change in the resonant frequency of the antenna based on the return loss applied to a predefined table.

20. The electronic device of claim 18, further comprising:

a storage unit configured to store a table for estimating the change in the resonant frequency,

wherein the table includes an impedance value that is specified in advance according to a location in which the electronic device is placed, a state of the electronic device, and an occasion at which an object is in contact with or in proximity to the electronic device.