Method and apparatus for managing operations of a communication device

• US 10,659,088 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2017
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NXP USA, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: NXP USA, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Inventors: Manssen, Keith R., Greene, Matthew Russell, Hoirup, Carsten
• Primary Examiner(s): Sorowar, Golam
• Application Number:
  US15/816,450
• Publication Number:
  US 20180083657A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• 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 7/26 at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a communication device having a controller to provision a matching network that controls one or more operational characteristics of one of a receiver portion and a transmitter portion of the communication device according to a profile describing one or more characteristics of a communication system from which the communication device operates. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a wireless communication device, network condition information from a communication element that is remote from the wireless communication device, wherein the network condition information does not include settings for a variable reactance element of a matching network of the wireless communication device;

selecting, by the wireless communication device, a profile from among a plurality of profiles based on an identification of the communication element, wherein each profile of the plurality of profiles includes tuning information for the matching network;

determining, by the wireless communication device, a desired operational metric according to the network condition information;

determining, by the wireless communication device, a relative position of a body part of a user and the wireless communication device;

determining, by the wireless communication device, a use case for the wireless communication device according to relative position of the body part of the user;

determining, by the wireless communication device, a tuning state for the matching network via the tuning information of the profile according to the desired operational metric and the use case; and

adjusting, by the wireless communication device, the variable reactance element according to the tuning state to perform impedance matching.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the wireless communication device, a provisioning instruction from a communication system to which the communication element belongs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication element is a cellular base station or a wireless local area network access point.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired operational metric includes one of radiated transmit power, receive sensitivity, transmit linearity, power amplifier efficiency, or any combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the desired operational metric comprises determining a plurality of desired operational metrics, and further comprising receiving, by the wireless communication device from the communication element, weighting factors to be applied to at least some of the plurality of desired operational metrics for determining the tuning state.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the wireless communication device, an operational frequency band for a wireless communication link between the wireless communication device and the communication element, wherein the determining of the tuning state is further according to the operational frequency band that is determined.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the relative position of the body part of the user and the wireless communication device is via a proximity sensor.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the wireless communication device, a physical orientation of the wireless communication device, wherein the determining of the use case is further according to the physical orientation that is determined.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting, by the wireless communication device, the tuning state that is determined from a plurality of desired tuning states.

10. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions which, responsive to being executed by a processing system including a processor of a wireless communication device, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a communication element over a wireless communication link, network condition information without receiving settings for a variable reactance element of a matching network of the wireless communication device;

selecting a profile from among a plurality of profiles based on an identification of the communication element, wherein each profile of the plurality of profiles includes tuning information for the matching network;

determining a desired operational metric according to the network condition information;

detecting a connection between the wireless communication device and a wireless headset device;

determining a use case for the wireless communication device according to the detecting the connection between the wireless communication device and a wireless headset device;

determining a tuning state for the matching network via the tuning information of the profile according to the desired operational metric and the use case; and

adjusting the variable reactance element according to the tuning state to perform impedance matching.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the desired operational metric comprises a first desired operational metric and a second desired operational metric, and wherein the determining of the tuning state further comprises providing a compromise between the first desired operational metric and the second desired operational metric.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the first desired operational metric is associated with transmitter performance, and wherein the second desired operational metric is associated with receiver performance.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the determining the use case for the wireless communication is further according to determining a relative position of a body part of a user and the wireless communication device.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the determining the relative position of the body part of the user and the wireless communication device is via a proximity sensor.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise determining an operational frequency band for the wireless communication link, wherein the determining of the tuning state is further according to the operational frequency band that is determined.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the determining the use case for the wireless communication device is further according to determining a physical orientation of the wireless communication device.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise selecting the tuning state that is determined from a plurality of desired tuning states.

18. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving, from a communication element over a wireless communication link, network condition information;

selecting, by the wireless communication device, a profile from among a plurality of profiles based on an identification of the communication element, wherein each profile of the plurality of profiles includes tuning information for a matching network;

determining a desired operational metric according to the network condition information;

determining a use case for the wireless communication device;

determining a tuning state for the matching network via the tuning information of the profile according to the desired operational metric and the use case; and

adjusting a variable reactance element of the matching network according to the tuning state to perform impedance matching.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the network condition information is received without receiving settings for the variable reactance element of the matching network of the wireless communication device.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the determining the use case for the wireless communication device is further according to determining a physical orientation of the wireless communication device, and detecting a connection between the wireless communication device and a wireless headset device.