Low power ultra-wide-band transmitter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018123639-A1
Application number	US-201615575737-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 20, 2016
Priority date	May 29, 2015
Publication date	May 3, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems, devices and methods are disclosed for an ultra-wide-band (UWB) transmitter tag capable of operating in different power mode depending on voltage level and/or host interruption signal. The transmitter tag comprises a power management circuit, a one-time-programmable memory (OTP), a read/write memory, a state machine for controlling/monitoring the operation of the tag. The tag goes into the high power mode when the power supply ramps up to a preset voltage level. During the high power mode, the tag consumes the higher level of electrical current as indicated by the battery current signal. Upon completion of high power consumption activity, such as OTP memory download, the tag exits the high power mode and enters the low power mode. The power supply current goes to the low level to minimize the power consumption by the tag.

First claim

1 . An ultra-broad-band (UWB) transmitter tag comprising:
a power management circuit coupled to a power supply for power consumption management of the UWB transmitter tag, the tag goes into a high power mode after the power supply ramps up to a preset voltage level; a memory coupled to the power management circuit via a switch, the memory is switched on in the high power mode to download information stored in the memory into a read and write memory; and a state machine coupled to the power management circuit, the state machine changes status of a memory download signal after completion of the information download from the memory to enable the UWB transmitter tag into a low power mode.

2 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 1 wherein the memory is a one-time-programmable memory (OTP).

3 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 1 wherein the memory download signal is set to low during the information download and set to high after completion of the information download.

4 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 1 wherein in the low power mode, the UWB transmitter tag is in a sleep mode during a preset time interval and enters a transit mode to transmit a UWB signal at the end of the preset time interval.

5 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 4 wherein the UWB transmitter tag goes back to the sleep mode from the transit mode after the UWB signal is transmitted.

6 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 1 further comprises a test and calibration access (TC access) coupled to the state machine, the TC access communicates to an outside host controller via a test port on the UWB transmitter tag.

7 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 6 wherein the UWB transmitter tag enters the high power mode when the state machine sets a host interrupt signal to high after the host controller sends an interrupt signal.

8 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 7 wherein the UWB transmitter tag enters the low power mode when the state machine sets the host interrupt signal to low after completion of one or more host controller initiated tasks.

9 . An ultra-broad-band (UWB) transmitter tag comprising:
a regulator for generating a reference voltage; a voltage divider for reading the voltage level of the power supply; a comparator coupled to the regulator and the voltage divider, the comparator compares output voltage of the voltage divider to the reference voltage and sending an indication signal when the output voltage of the voltage divider goes below the reference voltage; and a state machine coupled to the comparator, when receiving the indication signal, the state machine enables an antenna to transmit at least one UWB signal indicating that the power supply has a voltage level below a preset level.

10 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 9 wherein the at least one UWB signal includes a tag identification (TID) followed by continuous pulses.

11 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 10 wherein the TID and continuous pulses are the repeatedly sent until the transmitter fails to operate or a user responds.

12 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 10 wherein the continuous pulse are transmitted during a preset time interval at a predetermined frequency of a clock signal.

13 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 12 wherein the clock signal is generated together by an oscillator and an external crystal.

14 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 12 wherein the clock signal is generated by a resistor-capacitor oscillator (RCO) circuit integrated within the UWB transmitter tag.

15 . An ultra-broad-band (UWB) transmitter tag comprising:
an oscillator generating a clock signal when the oscillator coupled to an external crystal; a resistor-capacitor oscillator (RCO) generating a RCO clock signal; a state machine coupled to the oscillator and the RCO, the state machine operates to select one of the clock signal and the RCO clock signal as a system clock signal.

16 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 15 wherein the state machine comprises a first counter coupled to the oscillator to receive the clock signal and a second counter coupled to the RCO to receive the RCO clock signal.

17 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 16 wherein the second counter starts counting pulses in the RCO signal during a time interval after the RCO is enabled.

18 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 17 wherein the first counter starts counting pulses in the clock signal after the oscillator is enabled until the end of the time interval and outputs a counted number.

19 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 18 wherein the state machine selects the clock signal as the system clock signal if the counted number is greater a first threshold value.

20 . The UWB transmitter tag of claim 18 wherein the state machine selects the RCO clock signal as the system clock signal if the counted number is less than a second threshold.

Assignees

• Maxim Integrated Products

Inventors

• Muthali Harish S
• Pahlavan Kourosh
• Cohen Elik E
• Razell Charles John

Classifications

• H04B1/71635 Primary

  Transmitter aspects (H04B1/7174 takes precedence) · CPC title