Drift compensation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11239796-B2
Application number	US-202117180748-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 20, 2021
Priority date	Feb 21, 2020
Publication date	Feb 1, 2022
Grant date	Feb 1, 2022

Abstract

An embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a device comprising an electronic circuit; an oscillation circuit comprising a quartz crystal, configured to provide a clock signal to the electronic circuit; and a heater configured to increase the temperature of the quartz crystal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device comprising:
an electronic circuit;
an oscillation circuit comprising a quartz crystal, and configured to provide a clock signal to the electronic circuit;
a heater configured to increase a temperature of the quartz crystal;
an antenna; and
a control circuit configured to:
enable a power amplifier of the electronic circuit; and
after a delay with respect to an instant from which the power amplifier is enabled, enable a passage of signals from the electronic circuit to the antenna.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic circuit is a radio frequency transmitter.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to control the heater.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the heater is dedicated to preheating the quartz crystal.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the heater is disposed within 10 mm of the quartz crystal.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the heater is a resistor.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to control a switch to enable the passage of the signals from the electronic circuit to the antenna.

8. The device of claim 1 , further comprising, coupled in series, a first variable capacitor, a first fixed capacitor, the quartz crystal, and a second variable capacitor.

9. The device of claim 8 , further comprising an inverter comprising:
an output terminal coupled between the first variable capacitor and the first fixed capacitor; and
an input terminal coupled between the oscillation circuit and the second variable capacitor.

10. A method of controlling a device comprising an electronic circuit, the method comprising:
preheating, with a heater, a quartz crystal of an oscillation circuit providing a clock signal to the electronic circuit; and
enabling an emission of signals as a temperature of the quartz crystal decreases, the enabling comprising:
enabling a power amplifier of the electronic circuit; and
after a delay with respect to an instant from which the power amplifier is enabled, enabling a passage of signals from the electronic circuit to an antenna.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the heater comprises a resistor, and the preheating comprises increasing a current going through the resistor.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising controlling capacitances of first and second variable capacitors coupled in series with the quartz crystal to be above 50% of maximum capacitances of the first and second variable capacitors, respectively.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the heater is dedicated to preheating the quartz crystal.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the preheating comprises starting the heater and then stopping the heater prior to the enabling the emission of the signals.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising leaving the heater stopped during the enabling the emission of the signals.

16. A method of controlling a device comprising an electronic circuit, the method comprising:
preheating, with a heater, a quartz crystal of an oscillation circuit providing a clock signal to the electronic circuit;
enabling an emission of signals as a temperature of the quartz crystal decreases; and
controlling capacitances of first and second variable capacitors coupled in series with the quartz crystal to be above 50% of maximum capacitances of the first and second variable capacitors, respectively.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the heater comprises a resistor, and the preheating comprises increasing a current going through the resistor.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the heater is dedicated to preheating the quartz crystal.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the preheating comprises starting the heater and then stopping the heater prior to the enabling the emission of the signals.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising leaving the heater stopped during the enabling the emission of the signals.

Assignees

• St Microelectronics Grenoble 2
• St Microelectronics Srl

Inventors

• Mangano Daniele
• Marchand Benoit
• Leotta Santo
• Querino De Carvalho Hamilton Emmanuel

Classifications

• H03L1/02 Primary

  against variations of temperature only · CPC title

• G04F5/063

  Constructional details · CPC title

• H03L1/026

  by using a memory for digitally storing correction values (H03L1/025 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04B1/48

  in circuits for connecting transmitter and receiver to a common transmission path, e.g. by energy of transmitter {(H04B1/46 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• H03L7/0991

  the oscillator being a digital oscillator, e.g. composed of a fixed oscillator followed by a variable frequency divider (H03L7/0995 takes precedence; fixed oscillators with means for selecting among various phases H03L7/0814) · CPC title