Method and apparatus for radio antenna frequency tuning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9935674-B2
Application number	US-201715606953-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2017
Priority date	Feb 18, 2011
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which can include computer instructions to determine a subset of use cases from a group of use cases stored in a memory of a communication device, and to determine a target use case from among the subset of use cases based on an operational parameter associated with a transceiver of the communication device. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A communication device comprising:
an antenna;
a tunable network having tuning elements and being coupled with the antenna;
a memory that stores computer instructions; and
a processor coupled with the memory and the tunable network, wherein the processor, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising:
applying each tuning state of a subset of use cases to the tuning elements of the tunable network and measuring a measured signal parameter for a received signal at each tuning state to generate a group of signal parameters, each of the use cases corresponding to a tuning state for the tuning elements of the tunable network;
selecting a target use case from among the subset of use cases based on a desired signal parameter selected from among the group of signal parameters; and
tuning the tunable network by adjusting the tuning elements according to the target use case.

2. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the tuning elements include a group of inductors, and further comprising adjusting a switch coupled with the group of inductors based on a corresponding tuning state of the target use case to tune the tuning elements, and wherein the measured signal parameter comprises a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurement.

3. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the tunable network includes a fixed reactance capacitor.

4. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise selecting the subset of use cases from a group of use cases based on a usage condition determined for the communication device.

5. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein generating of the group of signal parameters comprises averaging parametric measurements for each tuning state of the subset of use cases.

6. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving tuning information from a base station, wherein the selecting of the target use case is based on the tuning information.

7. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the tuning elements include a variable capacitance element.

8. A method comprising:
applying, by a system of a communication device, each tuning state of a subset of use cases to tuning elements of a tunable network of the communication device and measuring a signal parameter for a received signal at each tuning state to generate a group of signal parameters, each of the use cases corresponding to a tuning state for the tuning elements of the tunable network;
selecting, by the system, a target use case from among the subset of use cases based on a desired signal parameter selected from among the group of signal parameters; and
tuning the tunable network by adjusting the tuning elements according to the target use case.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the signal parameter for the received signal comprises a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurement.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein generating of the group of signal parameters comprises averaging parametric measurements for each tuning state.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the tuning elements include a variable capacitance element.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the tuning elements include a group of inductors, and further comprising adjusting a switch coupled with the group of inductors based on a corresponding tuning state of the target use case to tune the tunable network.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the tunable network includes a fixed reactance capacitor.

14. The method of claim 8 , comprising:
receiving, by the system, tuning information from a base station, wherein the selecting of the target use case is based on the tuning information.

15. A communication device comprising:
a tunable network having tuning elements;
a memory that stores computer instructions; and
a processor coupled with the memory and the tunable network, wherein the processor, responsive to executing the computer instructions, performs operations comprising:
applying each tuning state of a subset of use cases to the tuning elements of the tunable network and measuring a signal parameter for a received signal at each tuning state to generate a group of signal parameters, each of the use cases corresponding to a tuning state for the tuning elements of the tunable network;
selecting a target use case from among the subset of use cases based on a desired signal parameter selected from among the group of signal parameters; and
tuning the tunable network by adjusting the tuning elements according to the target use case.

16. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the signal parameter for the received signal comprises a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurement.

17. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the tuning elements include a group of inductors, and further comprising adjusting a switch coupled with the group of inductors based on a corresponding tuning state of the target use case to tune the tuning elements.

18. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the tunable network includes a fixed reactance capacitor.

19. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise selecting the subset of use cases from a group of use cases based on a usage condition determined for the communication device.

20. The communication device of claim 15 , wherein generating of the group of signal parameters comprises averaging parametric measurements for each tuning state of the subset of use cases.

Assignees

• Blackberry Ltd

Inventors

• Hoirup Carsten
• Manssen Keith
• Greene Matthew Russell

Classifications

• H04B1/401 Primary

  for selecting or indicating operating mode · CPC title

• H01Q9/14

  Length of element or elements adjustable (telescopic elements H01Q1/10) · CPC title

• H04B17/26

  using historical data, averaging values or statistics · CPC title

• H01Q1/242 Primary

  specially adapted for hand-held use · CPC title

• H04B1/18

  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