Structure of electronic device for optimizing performance of antenna and method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11063358-B2
Application number	US-202016899838-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2020
Priority date	Jun 18, 2019
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

An electronic device for supporting carrier aggregation (CA) is provided. The electronic device includes a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) including a plurality of mixers and a feedback circuit, at least one antenna, a coupler disposed between the RFIC and the at least one antenna to transfer a reflected signal of a transmission signal to the feedback circuit, and at least one processor operatively connected to the RFIC, wherein the at least one processor may identify whether there is a mixer which is not in use among the plurality of mixers, when the first mixer which is not in use among the plurality of mixers is identified, perform antenna impedance tuning through a first mixer and the feedback circuit, and when the plurality of mixers are all in use, perform the antenna impedance tuning through a second mixer assigned to a secondary cell (Scell) among the plurality of mixers and the feedback circuit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device for supporting carrier aggregation, the electronic device comprising:
a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) comprising a plurality of mixers and a feedback circuit;
at least one antenna;
a coupler disposed between the RFIC and the at least one antenna and transferring a reflected signal of a transmission signal to the feedback circuit; and
at least one processor operatively connected to the RFIC, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
identify whether there is a mixer which is not in use among the plurality of mixers,
when a first mixer which is not in use among the plurality of mixers is identified, perform antenna impedance tuning through the first mixer and the feedback circuit, and
when the plurality of mixers are all identified as in use, perform the antenna impedance tuning through a second mixer assigned to a secondary cell (Scell) among the plurality of mixers and the feedback circuit.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
back up configuration information on the second mixer when the plurality of mixers are all in use,
perform the antenna impedance tuning through the second mixer when the back up is completed, and
restore the backed up configuration information to the second mixer when the antenna impedance tuning is completed.

3. The electronic device of claim 2 ,
wherein the RFIC further comprises a plurality of oscillators, and
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
back up information on a first oscillator assigned to the Scell among the plurality of oscillators when the plurality of mixers are all in use,
perform the antenna impedance tuning through a second oscillator configured to transmit the transmission signal among the plurality of oscillators and the second mixer when the backup is completed, and
restore the backed up information on the first oscillator to the second mixer when the antenna impedance tuning is completed.

4. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
identify whether at least one of specified conditions for a closed loop (CL) antenna impedance tuning is satisfied when the plurality of mixers are all in use,
perform the antenna impedance tuning using the second mixer and the feedback circuit when the at least one of the specified conditions is satisfied, and
perform the antenna impedance tuning based on an event detected through a sensor when the specified conditions are not satisfied.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the specified conditions comprise at least one of a condition that a frequency corresponding to a primary cell (Pcell) is a frequency at which setting for antenna impedance tuning is possible, a condition that the electronic device is using a quality of service (QoS) service, or a condition that the Pcell satisfies a weak electric field condition.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine that the QoS service is in use when the electronic device is using a voice over long term evolution (VoLTE) service.

7. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the antenna impedance tuning based on an event detected through the second mixer, the feedback circuit and the sensor when the at least one of the specified conditions is satisfied.

8. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor comprises a communication processor (CP) and an application processor (AP).

9. A method of supporting carrier aggregation (CA) in an electronic device, the method comprising:
identifying whether there is a mixer which is not in use among a plurality of mixers included in the electronic device;
when a first mixer which is not in use among the plurality of mixers is identified, performing antenna impedance tuning (AIT) through the first mixer; and
when the plurality of mixers are all identified as in use, performing the antenna impedance tuning through a second mixer assigned to a secondary cell (Scell) among the plurality of mixers.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the performing of the antenna impedance tuning comprises:
backing up configuration information on the second mixer when the plurality of mixers are all in use;
assigning a first oscillator configured to generate a transmission signal among a plurality of oscillators of the electronic device to the second mixer when the backing up is completed;
perform the antenna impedance tuning through the second mixer; and
restore the backed up configuration information to the second mixer when the antenna impedance tuning is completed.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the configuration information comprises information on a second oscillator assigned to the Scell among the plurality of oscillators.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
identifying, by the electronic device, whether at least one of specified conditions for closed loop (CL)-AIT is satisfied when the plurality of mixers are all in use;
performing the antenna impedance tuning using the second mixer when the at least one of the specified conditions is satisfied; or
performing the antenna impedance tuning based on an event detected through a sensor when the specified conditions are not satisfied.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the specified conditions comprise at least one of a condition that a frequency corresponding to a primary cell (Pcell) is a frequency at which setting for antenna impedance tuning is possible, a condition that the electronic device is using a quality of service (QoS) service, or a condition that the Pcell satisfies a weak electric field condition.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the event comprises at least one of a state in which a universal serial bus is connected to the electronic device, a state in which an earjack is connected to the electronic device, a state in which an on-the-go (OTG) gender is connected to the electronic device, or a state in which a grip by a user is detected.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
performing the antenna impedance tuning using the second mixer and the antenna impedance tuning based on the event when the at least one of the specified conditions is satisfied.

16. An electronic device for supporting carrier aggregation (CA), the electronic device comprising:
a sensor;
a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) comprising a plurality of mixers and a feedback circuit;
at least one antenna;
a coupler disposed between the RFIC and the at least one antenna and transferring a reflected signal of a transmission signal to the feedback circuit; and
at least one processor operatively connected to the sensor and the RFIC, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
identify whether a mixer which is not in use among the plurality of mixers,
when a first mixer which is not in use among the plurality of mixers is identified, perform antenna impedance tuning (AIT) through the first mixer and the feedback circuit, and
when all the plurality of mixers are identified as in use:
identify whether at least one of specified conditions for closed loop (CL) antenna impedance tuning is satisfied,
perform the antenna impedance tuning using a second mixer assigned to a secondary cell (Scell) among the plurality of mixers and the feedback circuit when the at least one of the specified conditions is satisfied, and
perform the antenna impedance tuning based on an event detected th

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yu Hyungjoon
• Park Youngjun
• Kang Myungjin
• Lee Youngkwon
• Moon Yongwoon
• Park Sangjun

Classifications

• H04B1/0064

  with separate antennas for the more than one band (H04B1/0053 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04L5/001

  the frequencies being arranged in component carriers · CPC title

• H04B1/0458 Primary

  Arrangements for matching and coupling between power amplifier and antenna or between amplifying stages (matching circuits in general H03H) · CPC title

• H04B1/401 Primary

  for selecting or indicating operating mode · CPC title

• H04B1/18 Primary

  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 title