Facilitating switching between transmitting antennas in portable electronic devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10425137-B2
Application number	US-201715482236-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2017
Priority date	Jun 8, 2012
Publication date	Sep 24, 2019
Grant date	Sep 24, 2019

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments provide a system that uses a first antenna and a second antenna in a portable electronic device. During operation, the system receives a request to switch from the first antenna to the second antenna to transmit a signal to a cellular receiver. Next, the system loads a set of radio-frequency (RF) calibration values for the second antenna. Finally, the system performs the switch from the first antenna to the second antenna to transmit the signal, wherein the second antenna is operated using the RF calibration values after the switch.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a request to switch from a first antenna to a second antenna;
accessing a set of radio-frequency (RF) calibration values for the second antenna;
switching from the first antenna to the second antenna;
transmitting, with the second antenna, a signal based at least in part on the set of RF calibration values and a regulatory limit associated with the second antenna, wherein the regulatory limit associated with the second antenna is different than a regulatory limit associated with the first antenna; and
adjusting a power setting of the second antenna based at least in part on a third antenna in operation during the transmitting of the signal by the second antenna.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of RF calibration values comprises one or more of a frequency offset, a transmitter gain index versus power, and a power detector value versus power.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the accessing comprises accessing the set of RF calibration values from a table stored in a portable electronic device electrically coupled to the second antenna.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a size of the second antenna sets a maximum power to the regulatory limit associated with the second antenna.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting further comprises transmitting the signal using the second antenna based at least in part on a proximity of the second antenna to an object external to a portable electronic device electrically coupled to the second antenna.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein, in response to the object being within a predetermined proximity to the portable electronic device, the transmitting comprises reducing a maximum power used to transmit the signal.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein, in response to the object being outside a predetermined proximity to the portable electronic device, the transmitting comprises maintaining a maximum power used to transmit the signal.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting the power setting of the second antenna comprises reducing the power setting of the second antenna.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third antenna is a WiFi antenna.

10. A portable electronic device comprising:
a first antenna;
a second antenna;
a switching mechanism configured to switch from the first antenna to the second antenna; and
a driver configured to:
access a set of radio-frequency (RF) calibration values for the second antenna;
control the switching mechanism to switch from the first antenna to the second antenna;
control the second antenna to transmit a signal based at least in part on the set of RF calibration values and a regulatory limit associated with the second antenna, wherein the regulatory limit associated with the second antenna is different than a regulatory limit associated with the first antenna; and
adjust a power setting of the second antenna based at least in part on a third antenna in operation during the transmit of the signal by the second antenna.

11. The portable electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the set of RF calibration values comprises one or more of a frequency offset, a transmitter gain index versus power, and a power detector value versus power.

12. The portable electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the accessing comprises accessing the set of RF calibration values from a table stored in the portable electronic device.

13. The portable electronic device of claim 10 , wherein a size of the second antenna sets a maximum power to the regulatory limit associated with the second antenna.

14. The portable electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the transmitting further comprises transmitting the signal using the second antenna based at least in part on a proximity of the second antenna to an object external to the portable electronic device.

15. The portable electronic device of claim 14 , wherein, in response to the object being within a predetermined proximity to the portable electronic device, the transmitting comprises reducing a maximum power used to transmit the signal.

16. The portable electronic device of claim 14 , wherein, in response to the object being outside a predetermined proximity to the portable electronic device, the transmitting comprises maintaining a maximum power used to transmit the signal.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for using a first antenna and a second antenna in a portable electronic device, the method comprising:
receiving a request to switch from a first antenna to a second antenna;
accessing a set of radio-frequency (RF) calibration values for the second antenna;
switching from the first antenna to the second antenna;
transmitting, with the second antenna, a signal based at least in part on the set of RF calibration values and a regulatory limit associated with the second antenna, wherein the regulatory limit associated with the second antenna is different than a regulatory limit associated with the first antenna; and
adjusting a power setting of the second antenna based at least in part on a third antenna in operation during the transmitting of the signal by the second antenna.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the set of RF calibration values comprises one or more of a frequency offset, a transmitter gain index versus power, and a power detector value versus power.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the accessing comprises accessing the set of RF calibration values from a table stored in the portable electronic device electrically coupled to the second antenna.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein a size of the second antenna sets a maximum power to the regulatory limit associated with the second antenna.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the transmitting further comprises transmitting the signal using the second antenna based at least in part on a proximity of the second antenna to an object external to the portable electronic device electrically coupled to the second antenna.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Hu Ming
• Zhang Haining
• Liu Xueting

Classifications

• H01Q21/28

  Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems {(multiple beam H01Q25/00)} · CPC title

• H01Q1/243

  with built-in antennas · CPC title

• H04B7/0608

  Antenna selection according to transmission parameters · CPC title

• H04B17/11

  for calibration · CPC title

• H04B7/0602 Primary

  using antenna switching (H04B7/0686 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24) · CPC title