Wireless chipset with a non-temperature compensated crystal reference

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10243569-B2
Application number	US-201514981264-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2015
Priority date	Feb 14, 2011
Publication date	Mar 26, 2019
Grant date	Mar 26, 2019

Abstract

An apparatus includes a temperature measuring device within a thermally conductive package. A crystal within the package is thermally coupled to the temperature measuring device and subjected to a same temperature as the temperature measuring device. A controller external to the package is configured to receive a signal from the crystal and a temperature measurement from the temperature measuring device. The controller is configured to estimate a frequency error of the crystal based on the temperature measurement and to provide a frequency error estimate to an external system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a temperature measuring device within a package, at least a portion of the package being thermally conductive, the temperature measuring device configured to measure a temperature of the package;
a clock source within the package, the clock source being thermally coupled to the package and subjected to substantially the same temperature as the package;
a controller external to the package, the controller configured to receive a temperature measurement from the temperature measuring device, the controller configured to estimate a frequency error of the clock source based on the temperature measurement; and
a signal generator coupled to the clock source to receive the uncompensated signal from the clock source and coupled to the controller to receive the frequency error, the signal generator configured to generate a first reference signal and a second reference signal based on the uncompensated signal and the frequency error.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which the package comprises a ceramic material and the clock source comprises a crystal.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which the package and the controller are implemented on an electronic board.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which the package is configured to accommodate the clock source in an upper cavity of the package and to accommodate the temperature measuring device in a lower cavity of the package.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which the temperature measuring device comprises a thermistor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which the package is configured in an H configuration.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which the package comprises a base layer thermally isolated from a circuit card assembly.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , integrated into at least one of a mobile phone, a set top box, a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a computer, a hand-held personal communication systems (PCS) unit, a portable data unit, or a fixed location data unit.

9. A method comprising:
measuring, by a temperature measuring device, a temperature of a package;
generating, by a clock source thermally coupled to the package and subjected to substantially the same temperature as the package, an uncompensated signal;
estimating, by a controller external to the package and configured to receive the measured temperature of the package, a frequency error of the clock source based on the measured temperature of the package; and
generating, by a signal generator coupled to the clock source to receive the uncompensated signal from the clock source and coupled to the controller to receive the frequency error, a first reference signal and a second reference signal based on the uncompensated signal and the frequency error.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising integrating the controller, the clock source, which comprises a crystal, and the temperature measuring device into at least one of a mobile phone, a set top box, a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a computer, a hand-held personal communication systems (PCS) unit, a portable data unit, and a fixed location data unit.

11. An apparatus, comprising:
means for measuring temperature a temperature of a package;
a clock source within the package, the clock source being thermally coupled to the package and subjected to substantially the same temperature as the package;
means for controlling an operation of the apparatus, the controlling means being external to the package and configured to receive a temperature measurement from the temperature measuring means and estimate a frequency error of the clock source based on the temperature measurement; and
means for generating a signal coupled to the clock source to receive an uncompensated signal from the clock source and coupled to the means for controlling to receive the frequency error of the clock source, the signal generating means configured to generate a first reference signal and a second reference signal based on the uncompensated signal and the frequency error.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , in which the package comprises a ceramic material and the clock source comprises a crystal.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , in which the package and the controlling means are implemented on an electronic board.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , in which the package is configured to accommodate the clock source in an upper cavity of the package and to accommodate the temperature measuring means in a lower cavity of the package.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , in which the package comprises a base layer thermally isolated from a circuit card assembly.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , in which the package is configured according to a dual C configuration.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , integrated into at least one of a mobile phone, a set top box, a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a computer, a hand-held personal communication systems (PCS) unit, a portable data unit, or a fixed location data unit.

18. A computer program product residing on a non-transitory processor-executable computer-readable medium, the computer program product comprising processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor to:
measure a temperature of a package;
generate an uncompensated signal with a clock source thermally coupled to the package and subjected to substantially the same temperature as the package;
estimate a frequency error of the clock source based on the measured temperature of the package; and
generate a first reference signal and a second reference signal based on the uncompensated signal and the frequency error.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 , in which the clock source comprises a crystal and the computer program product is integrated into at least on of a mobile phone, a set top box, a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a computer, a hand-held personal communication systems (PCS) unit, a portable data unit, or a fixed location data unit.

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Wilcox Rick A
• Filipovic Daniel F
• Chi Xu Mike
• Rosolowski Chris M

Classifications

• G01K7/22

  the element being a non-linear resistance, e.g. thermistor (G01K7/26 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H03B5/36 Primary

  active element in amplifier being semiconductor device ({H03B5/323, H03B5/326} , H03B5/38 take precedence) · CPC title

• H03L1/04

  Constructional details for maintaining temperature constant · CPC title

• H03L1/02

  against variations of temperature only · CPC title

• H03B5/364

  the amplifier comprising field effect transistors (H03B5/366 takes precedence) · CPC title