Sensor signals interference mitigation method and apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9628124-B1
Application number	US-201615239742-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 17, 2016
Priority date	Aug 17, 2016
Publication date	Apr 18, 2017
Grant date	Apr 18, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide techniques and configurations for an apparatus for mitigating interference in sensor signals. In one instance, the apparatus may include sensors and a processing block couplable with the sensors. The processing block may include a front end block to receive sensor signals, and tunable filter block to filter the sensor signals. The apparatus may further include a correction block. The correction block may include a replica of the front end block, and may be configured to receive interference information. A controller may operate the correction block to adjust the tunable filter block, based on interference information, and connect the sensors with the processing block after adjustment. The controller may operate the processing block, in response to connection of the processing block with the sensors, to initiate processing of sensor signals filtered by the filter block, to mitigate interference. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
one or more sensors;
a processing block couplable with the one or more sensors and operable by a controller, wherein the processing block includes a first front end block to receive sensor signals from the one or more sensors, and a tunable filter block coupled with the first front end block, to filter the sensor signals; and
a correction block coupled with the processing block, wherein the correction block includes a second front end block that comprises a replica of the first front end block and is to receive interference information,
wherein the controller is to operate the correction block to determine to adjust the tunable filter block, based on the received interference information, and initiate a connection of the one or more sensors with the processing block in response to the adjustment, wherein the controller is to operate the processing block, in response to a connection of the processing block with the one or more sensors, to initiate a receipt, filtering, and processing of the sensor signals filtered by the adjusted tunable filter block, to mitigate interference.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise analog sensors, wherein the correction block further includes a calibration logic coupled with the second front end block, wherein the controller is to operate the correction block to connect the calibration logic to an input of the tunable filter block, to initiate an adjustment of the tunable filter block.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the calibration logic is embedded in the controller.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the controller is to operate the correction block to connect the calibration logic to the input of the tunable filter block in response to a determination that an interference level at the second front end block is above a determined threshold.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the controller is to operate the correction block to disconnect the calibration logic from the input of the tunable filter block, in response to the adjustment of the tunable filter block, and to initiate the receipt, filtering, and processing of the sensor signals filtered by the tunable filter block.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the adjustment of the tunable filter block is a first adjustment, wherein the calibration logic is coupled with an output of the tunable filter block, wherein the controller is to operate the calibration logic to determine whether to perform a second adjustment of the tunable filter block, based at least in part on tunable filter block output information and the received interference information.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the correction block further includes a receiver coupled with second front end block to sense the interference information, wherein the receiver includes one of: an antenna or a capacitive sensor.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the first and second front end blocks comprise a receiver chain or signal chain amplifier, wherein the processing block includes a first analog to digital converter (ADC) coupled with the first front end block and the tunable filter block, wherein the correction block includes a second analog to digital converter (ADC) coupled with the second front end block and the calibration logic.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the tunable filter block comprises one of: a passive filter or an active filter.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the correction block includes a first comparison logic, wherein the second ADC is coupled with the calibration logic via the first comparison logic, wherein the first comparison logic is to compare an interference level at the second front end block with a determined threshold.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the correction block includes a second comparison logic, wherein the calibration logic is coupled with an output of the tunable filter block via the second comparison logic, wherein the second comparison logic is to compare filter output information with a reference threshold.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the calibration logic includes the first and second comparison logics.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is to operate the correction block to poll the second front end block periodically, to receive the interference information, and to initiate the determination to adjust the tunable filter block.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises one of: a wearable device, a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a game console.

15. A controller-implemented method for mitigating interference to sensor signals in an apparatus, comprising:
receiving, by a controller, interference information, including causing a front end block of a correction block of the apparatus to receive the interference information, wherein the front end block of the correction block models or replicates a front end block of a processing block of the apparatus, wherein the processing block is connectable with one or more sensors to receive sensor signals;
determining, by the controller, to adjust a tunable filter block of the apparatus, based on the received interference information, wherein the processing block is disconnected from the one or more sensors; and
initiating, by the controller, a connection between the one or more sensors and the processing block in response to adjusting the tunable filter block, to provide receiving, filtering, and processing of the sensor signals filtered by the adjusted tunable filter block, to mitigate interference.

16. The controller-implemented method of claim 15 , further comprising:
initiating, by the controller, receiving, filtering, and processing of the sensor signals filtered by the tunable filter block, after the initiating the connection between the one or more sensors and the processing block.

17. The controller-implemented method of claim 16 , further comprising:
determining, by the controller, whether to further adjust the tunable filter block, based at least in part on tunable filter block output information and the received interference information, during receiving, filtering, and processing of the sensor signals filtered by the adjusted tunable filter block.

18. One or more non-transitory apparatus-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon for mitigating interference to sensor signals, which, in response to execution by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to:
receive interference information, with a front end block of a correction block of the apparatus, wherein the front end block of the correction block models or replicates a front end block of a processing block of the apparatus, wherein the processing block is connectable with one or more sensors to receive sensor signals;
determine to adjust a tunable filter block of the apparatus, based on the received interference information, wherein the processing block is disconnected from the one or more sensors; and
initiate a connection between the one or more sensors and the processing block in response to the adjustment of the tunable filter block, to provide a receipt, filtering, and processing of the sensor signals filtered by the adjusted tunable filter block, to mitigate interference.

19. The apparatus-readable storage media of claim 18 , wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to initiate a receipt, filtering, and processing of the sensor signals filtered by the tunable filter block, after the initiation of the connection between the one or more

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Srivastava Amit Kumar

Classifications

• H04W4/005

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04B2001/1072

  by tuning the receiver frequency · CPC title

• H04B1/1036 Primary

  with automatic suppression of narrow band noise or interference, e.g. by using tuneable notch filters (H04B1/123 takes precedence; filter circuits H03H) · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title