KR101737657B1 - Method and apparatus for managing operations of a communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

A system comprising the teachings of the present disclosure may include a matching network that controls one or more operating characteristics of one of a receiver portion and a transmitter portion of a communication device in accordance with a profile describing one or more characteristics of the communication system in which the communication device operates, A communication device having a controller for providing a control signal. A further embodiment is disclosed.

Description

Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing the operation of a communication device,

This application is a continuation-in-part of U. S. Patent Application Serial No. 12 / < RTI ID = 0.0 > 12 / < / RTI > filed on October 10, 2009, entitled " METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING OPERATIONS OF A COMMUNICATION DEVICE, 577,178, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND I. Field [0002] The present disclosure relates generally to communication device operations, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for managing the operation of a communication device.

The quality of wireless communication between wireless access points such as WiFi or cellular base stations and portable mobile devices such as cell phones and laptop computers can be influenced by many factors. For example, the performance of an antenna of a portable device may be affected by its operating environment. There are a number of use cases for wireless handsets, which include conditions such as placing the handset's antenna next to the user's head or in the user's pocket, or wrapping the antenna by hand, which can significantly degrade wireless device efficiency . Likewise, the quality of the wireless communication may be affected by the network topology and location of the mobile device.

The present invention seeks to provide a method and apparatus for managing the operation of a communication device.

One embodiment of the disclosure is directed to a method of establishing a communication session with a communication system, identifying the communication system from the communication session, selecting a profile according to the identified communication system, Wherein the at least one tuning state of the matching network comprises a computer readable storage medium that affects one or more performance parameters of the communication device, do.

One embodiment of the present disclosure involves a tunable reactance circuit coupled to one of a transmitter portion and a receiver portion of a communication device. The tunable reactance circuit may affect one or more performance parameters of the communication device. The tunable reactance circuit may be provided by the communication device in accordance with a profile that describes the communication characteristics of the communication system in which the communication device operates.

One embodiment of the present disclosure involves a cellular base station that includes a controller that utilizes a profile that sends a request to a communication device to provide a tunable reactance circuit that affects one or more performance parameters of the communication device.

One embodiment of the disclosure provides a controller that provides a matching network that controls one or more operating characteristics of one of a receiver portion and a transmitter portion of the communication device in accordance with a profile that describes one or more characteristics of the communication system in which the communication device operates ≪ / RTI >

One embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a tunable reactance in a communication device in accordance with a profile that controls operation of the communication device in accordance with at least one of a transmit power level of a transmitter portion of a communication device and a received signal strength of a receiver portion of the communication device And tuning the circuit.

The method and apparatus for managing the operation of the communication device according to the present invention can be provided.

1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a communication device;
Figure 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of a portion of a transceiver of the communication device of Figure 1;
Figures 3 and 4 show an exemplary embodiment of a tunable matching network of the transceiver of Figure 2;
Figures 5 and 6 show an exemplary embodiment of a tunable reaction element of a tunable matching antenna.
Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a test environment for configuring the communication device of Figure 1;
Figure 8 illustrates an exemplary method operating in a portion of the test environment of Figure 7;
Figures 9-12 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a data set before and after applying the smoothing function.
Figure 13 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a lookup table used by a communication device controlling the matching network of the transceiver of Figure 2;
14 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a communication system in which the communication device of Fig. 1 may operate; Fig.
15 is a diagram illustrating a method operating in a portion of the communication system of FIG. 14;
16 illustrates an exemplary representation of a machine in the form of a computer system in which a set of instructions, when executed, may cause the machine to perform one or more of the methodologies disclosed herein.

1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a communication device 100. As shown in FIG. The communication device 100 may include a wireless transceiver 102 (having independent transmit and receive sections), a user interface (UI) 104, a power supply 114, and a controller 106 for managing its operation. Wireless transceiver 102 may use short range or long distance wireless access technologies, such as Bluetooth, WiFi, Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), or cellular communication technology, to name just a few. Cellular technology may include, for example, CDMA-IX, WCDMA, UMTS / HSDPA, GSM / GPRS, TDMA / EDGE, EV / DO, WiMAX and next generation cellular wireless communication technologies.

The UI 104 may include a push or touch sensitive keypad 108 having a navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse, or a navigation disc that manipulates the operation of the communication device 100. The keypad 108 may be an integral part of the housing assembly of the communication device 100 or may be a stand-alone device operatively coupled thereto by a wireless line interface (such as a flex cable) or a wireless interface supporting Bluetooth, for example. The keypad 108 may represent a numeric dialing keypad commonly used by the pawn and / or a Qwerty keypad with alpha numeric keys. The UI 104 may further include a display 110 such as a monochrome or color liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitter diode (OLED) or other suitable display technology for delivering an image to an end user of the communication device 100 . In an embodiment where the display is a touch sensitive display, some or all of the keypad 108 may be displayed by the display.

The power supply 114 may utilize a common power management technique (such as a replaceable battery, supply regulation technology, and charging system technology) that energizes the components of the communication device 100 to enable portable applications. The controller 106 may utilize a computing technology such as a microprocessor and / or a digital signal processor (DSP) having associated storage memory such as flash, ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other similar technology.

2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a portion of a wireless transceiver 102 of the communication device 100 of FIG. In a GSM application, the transmit and receive portion of the transceiver 102 may include a common amplifier 201, 203 coupled to a tunable matching network 202 and an impedance load 206 by a switch 204. The load 206 in this figure may be the antenna (here, antenna 206) shown in FIG. A transmit signal in the form of a radio frequency (RF) signal (TX) is generated by amplifying the signal when the switch 204 is enabled for the transmit session and sending the amplified signal to the antenna 206 by the tunable matching network 202. [ To the amplifier 201, which transmits the signal to the amplifier 201. FIG. The receiving portion of the transceiver 102 may utilize a preamplifier 203 that amplifies the signal received from the antenna 206 by the tunable matching network 202 when the switch 204 is enabled for the receiving session. have. Other configurations of FIG. 2 are possible for other types of cellular access technologies such as CDMA. These non-disclosed arrangements are contemplated by the present disclosure.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the tunable matching network 202 of the transceiver 102 of Figure 2. In one embodiment, the tunable matching network 202 may include a control circuit 302 and a tunable response element 310. The control circuitry 302 may include a DC / DC converter 304, one or more digital-to-analog converters (DACs) 306, and one or more corresponding buffers 308 to amplify the voltages generated by each DAC . The amplified signal may be provided to one or more tunable reaction components 504, 506, 508 as shown in FIG. 5, showing possible circuit configurations for the tunable reactive element 310. In this example, the tunable reactive element 310 includes three tunable capacitors 504 to 508 and an inductor 502 having a fixed inductance. Other circuit configurations are possible and are contemplated by the present disclosure.

Tunable capacitors 504 through 508 may each utilize a technique that enables the tunability of the capacitance of the component. One embodiment of the tunable capacitors 504-508 may utilize a voltage or current tunable dielectric material, such as a composition of barium strontium titanate (BST). An example of a composition of BST is a Parascan tunable capacitor. In another embodiment, the tunable reactive element 310 may utilize a semiconductor varactor. Other current or next generation methods or material compositions that can support the means for voltage or current tunable reactive elements are contemplated by this disclosure.

The DC / DC converter 304 may receive a power signal of 3 volts or the like from the power supply 114 of the communication device of FIG. The DC / DC converter 304 can amplify this power signal to a higher range (e.g., 30 volts) as shown using common techniques. Controller 106 provides digital signals to each of DACs 306 by a control bus of "n" or more wires to individually control the capacitances of tunable capacitors 504 to 508 to provide a tunable matching network 202 Can be changed. The control bus can be implemented with a 2-wire common serial communication technique such as a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus. With the SPI bus, the controller 106 may provide a serialized digital signal to configure the respective DAC of FIG. 3 or the switch of the tunable reactive element 404 of FIG. The control circuitry 302 of FIG. 3 may implement the SPI bus using common digital logic and communicate the digital signal provided by the controller 106 to the DAC.

In another embodiment, the tunable matching network 202 may include a control circuit 402 in the form of a decoder and a tunable reactive element 404 including a switchable reactive element as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the controller 106 provides a control circuit 402 signal, which can be decoded into common Boolean or state machine logic, via the SPI bus to enable or disable the switching element 602 individually can do. The switching element 602 may be implemented as a semiconductor switch or a micromachining switch used in a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS). By independently enabling or disabling the reacting element (capacitor or inductor) of FIG. 6 with the switching element 602, the co-reactance of the tunable reactive element 404 can be varied.

The tunability of the tunable capable matching network 202 and 240 may vary depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, transmitter power, transmitter efficiency, receiver sensitivity, power consumption of a communication device, specific absorption rate (SAR) Provides a means for the controller 106 to optimize the performance parameters of the transceiver 102 of the system 100. [ In order to achieve one or more desirable performance characteristics that a designer can define, the communication device 100 may be disposed within an anechoic chamber 706 as shown by FIG. In this configuration, the designer can determine the performance parameters of the communication device 100, such as total radiated power (TRP), total isotropic sensitivity (TIS) or radiation harmonic measurements, receiver efficiency, transmission power efficiency, Calibration measurements can be performed. Calibration measurements may be performed on a per-band or subband basis for the multi-frequency band communication device 100.

In addition, the calibration measurements may be performed under a number of use cases of the communication device 100 using a virtual body that mimics the composition of the human body. For example, in a communications device 100 having a flip design housing assembly, the communications device 100 may be placed next to the ear of a virtual hand when opening the flip and mimicking a common call use case. In a hands-free application, when the user uses a Bluetooth headset or when the communication device 100 is in the standby mode, the communication device 100 may be placed on the hip of the virtual image with the flip closed. Calibration may be performed for other use cases, such as antenna up or down, speaker phone feature "on ", where the communication device is in the hands of a virtual hand but is far from the head of the virtual head. If desired, any number of use cases may be applied to each frequency band and subband.

As shown in FIG. 7, the computer 702 may be communicatively coupled to the communication device 100 disposed in the anechoic chamber by Bluetooth to a USB adapter having a coaxial connection. The computer 702 may also be communicatively coupled to a communication system analyzer 704 (which may receive and receive an active "phone call" to the cellular handset) connected to the anechoic chamber by a coaxial cable connection. The computer 720 may control the communication system analyzer 704 and the tunable capable matching network 202 of FIG. Control of the communication device 100 may be accomplished using a Bluetooth SPP (serial port profile) providing a means for transmitting a test command, control DAC setting, or switch setting by the control circuit 302 or 402 of FIG. 3 or 4 to the computer 702. [ ). Although not shown, the calibration environment of FIG. 7 may include additional test equipment capable of measuring power consumption, SAR, harmonics, or other useful performance parameters of the communications device 100. Thus, any measurable performance parameter of the communication device 100 is contemplated by this disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary method 800 operating in a portion of the test environment of FIG. Method 800 directs the operation of communication device 100 at computer 702 and the configuration of tunable matching network 202 to determine one or more performance parameters of communication device 100 (e.g., TX power, Intensity indication or RX sensitivity via RSSI, power consumption, etc.). For example, the tunable matching network 202 includes three DACs, each of which is assumed to have 32 configurable output voltages of 0 to 3 volts as shown in FIG. The three DACs provide a combination of 32,768 (32 * 32 * 32) voltages that can be supplied to the three tunable capacitors 504 - 508 of FIG. It is assumed that the transceiver 102 supports four bands for world travel and that the designer of the communication device 100 tests three use cases per band. Under this condition, the designer must perform 393,216 calibrated measurements for each performance parameter of interest, which can cause millions of measurements.

However, step 802 may be adapted to perform a subset of the possible tuning states of DAC 306. [ For example, the computer 702 may be adapted to perform calibration measurements for the five tuning states of each DAC. Under these constraints, the calibration can be limited to 125 (5 * 5 * 5) calibrated measurements for each performance parameter of interest. If one measurement includes four bands and three use cases, the total calibrated measurement can reach 1500 measurements, which is certainly substantially smaller than the full range of calibrated measurements.

For purposes of explanation, it will be assumed that the tuning matching network 202 shown in FIG. 3 has two DACs each capable of twenty tunable levels. It is assumed that a subset of the five tuning states is used in step 802. Thus, Figure 9 shows a data set of 25 calibrated measurements of receive sensitivity data based on RSSI measurements. The graph of Fig. 9 shows a 1dB contour band. As is apparent from Fig. 9, contour bands 902 to 914 are not smooth. A pointed band occurs for two reasons. First, the RSSI data point is incorrect because the communication device 100 can provide only non-fractional RSSI data. Second, the loss tuning condition creates a step effect that creates additional sharp edges between contour bands.

At step 804, the computer 702 applies the common mathematical fitting function g (v1, v2, ...) to the model system performance for a portion of the tuning state that is not included within the subset of the step 802 Lt; / RTI > The fitting function can reduce the inaccuracy in the RSSI data. The fitting function may be a tertiary or quaternary function using a common regression algorithm that interpolates between the actual measurements derived from step 802. For purposes of illustration, the following is a sample tertiary fitting function.

The constants c1 through c10 may be adapted to perform a third order fitting function through an iterative process. Other fitting functions are contemplated by this disclosure. 10 shows the result of applying a fitting function to the RSSI data set of FIG. 10, the 1 dB contour bands 1002-1012 are substantially smoothed to more accurately reflect the actual RSSI measurements and to adjust the tuning state of DACs 1 and 2 that are not included within the subset of step 802 Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > RSSI < / RTI >

FIG. 11 shows a data set for a transmit power measurement performed on a subset of the tuning states used in step 802. The 1dB contour bands 1102-1120 of this figure are less sharp than the contour bands 902-914 of Figure 9 since the TX transmission measurements are from a network analyzer that can provide the result of the fraction to the computer 702 It is because it is derived. Figure 12 shows a data set obtained from the application of the fitting function in step 840. As is apparent from this figure, the fitting function produces smoother contour bands 1202-1220 as compared to contour bands 1102-1120 of FIG.

Once the data set for each performance parameter (e.g., RX sensitivity, TX power, etc.) is fitted in step 804 over the entire tuning state of DACs 1 and 2, And proceeds to step 806 where an option for the desired FOM that can be used to determine the tuning state that provides the optimal solution for the desired figures of merit is provided to the communication device 100, To the designer of the < / RTI > The FOM represents, for example, the desired power transmission efficiency (TX power to battery power drain). The FOM may also indicate a " keep out " area where optimal performance may be undesirable. The FOM may also combine performance parameters (e.g., TX power + RX power) mathematically.

Once the designer has defined at least one desired performance characteristic of the communication device 100 in the form of FOM, at step 808, the computer 702 computes a common mathematical model in fine increments to find the global optimal performance for the desired FOM Can be adapted to look for a range of tuning states to achieve the desired FOM by sweeping. At step 810, the computer 702 may be adapted to provide the user with a range of tuning states to achieve the desired FOM for each band and use case. The user may select a portion of the tuning state stored in the lookup table that may be used by the communication device 100 in operation at step 812. [ Figure 13 shows a look-up table that can be indexed by the controller 106 of the communication device 100 of Figure 1 in operation in accordance with the band and use case.

In normal operation by the consumer, the communication device 100 is able to detect many possible use cases for the device. For example, the communication device 100 may detect that the consumer is making or receiving a call based on the state of the call processing software operating in the communication device 100. The call processing software operating in the communication device 100 may detect which band or subband is used for the active call. The communication device 100 may detect that the flip housing assembly is open with a common electromechanical sensor.

The communication device 100 may also detect from the call processing software that the Bluetooth headset and speakerphone section are disabled while a communication session occurs. The communication device 100 may also detect with a common electromechanical sensor whether the antenna is up or in a closed position. The communication device 100 may also detect proximity sensors and / or orientation sensors (e.g., accelerometers) to determine whether the device is proximate to a user's body part and whether the device is in a horizontal or vertical position.

There are a myriad of detectable use cases considered by the present disclosure. The wholly or partially detectable state can provide the communication device 100 with a means for predicting the probability of any number of use cases. Once the user case is detected, the communication device 100 may be indexed through the lookup table of FIG. 13 according to frequency bands (or subbands) and use cases to allow the communication device 100 to be considered by the designer of the communication device 100 Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 202 < / RTI > of FIG.

14 illustrates a hybrid communication system 1400 that supports WiFi, PSTN, and cellular communication, and Internet services over which the communication device 100 may operate. Communication system 1400 is not meant to be limiting. That is, other wired or wireless communication technologies such as Ethernet over power lines, Bluetooth, WiMAX, software defined radio, and the like are contemplated by this disclosure. FIG. 15 shows a method 1500 that may be used by the communication device 100 in addition to or in combination with the above described embodiments described by the method 800.

The method 1500 may begin at step 1502 where the communication device 100 establishes a communication session with the communication system 1400. The communication session may be a wireless communication session using a common radio access technology such as GSM, CDMA, UMTS, WiFi, Bluetooth or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, the communication device 100 may identify the communication system 100 from the identifier provided in step 1504. The communication identifier may be a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier defined by the 3GPP standard, a service set identifier (SSID), a cell identifier (CELL ID in the 3GPP standard), or other common wireless access point such as a cellular base station or WiFi access point Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 1400 < / RTI >

In step 1506, the communication device 100 may select a profile according to the identifier. The profile may represent a set of instructions, a look-up table, or a combination thereof that provides the tunable matching network 202. The profile may include visual provision information among others, provision information associated with the operational position of the communication device, provision information for tuning the receiver portion of the communication device, or provision information for tuning the transmitter portion of the communication device.

Any one or more combinations of the above embodiments of the provisioning may direct communication device 100 to provide tunable matching network 202 to provide visual considerations such as high and low network traffic conditions; An operation position of the communication device 100 such as a city roaming, a suburban roaming, and the like; The performance parameters of the transmitter portion and / or the receiver portion of the transceiver 102 of FIG. 1 may be adapted according to specific tuning commands for the receiver portion and the transmitter portion. These embodiments are not limited. Accordingly, other suitable provisioning instructions are contemplated by the present disclosure.

The provision information contained in the profile may be determined by the network operator from the uplink and / or downlink communication characteristics of the communication system 1400. The performance parameters of the communication device 100 may include, without limitation, power consumption of the communication device 100, radiated power of the transmitter portion of the communication device, linearity of the transmitter portion, reception sensitivity of the receiver portion of the communication device, Selectivity.

The provisioning information may be used to control the operational efficiency, battery life, or other desirable common performance metric of the transceiver 102. The provisioning information may also be used to improve the operating characteristics of the receiver portion of the communication device 100, or vice versa, at the expense of operating characteristics of the transmitter portion of the communication device.

In yet another embodiment, the tunable matching network 202 may be used as a tunable filter network that controls the operation of the receiver or transmitter portion. The provisioning information provided in the profile may be used, for example, to change the filter that detents the receiver portion, which may have useful results, as described below.

Steps 1508 through 1512 provide additional embodiments using profiles. For example, in one embodiment, the communication device 100 may receive a request from a communication element of the communication system 1400 and utilize a particular profile that may be selected in step 1510. In one embodiment, the communication device 100 may receive a profile (supplement to the existing profile or a variation thereof) from the communication component at step 1512. [ In response to the embodiment of steps 1504 through 1512, the communication device 100 may provide the tunable matching network 202 at step 1514. [

In another embodiment, the communication device 100 may be programmed to determine the need for autotuning without commands from the communication system 1400 and / or independently of the communication system 1400 in which the communication device operates. The communication device 100 may perform this determination at step 1516. [ The autotuning condition may be determined from a parameter that can identify a receiver or transmitter operating characteristic that justifies adjustment to the performance parameters of the communication device 100 by adaptation of the tuning state of the tunable matching network 202. [ For example, if the link margins for the receiver and the transmitter are high, the communication device 100 may independently select the automatic provisioning of the tunable matching network 202 to improve the power consumption of the communication device.

The adapted performance parameters of the communication device 100 managed according to the type of profile described above may be used by the communication element of the communication system 1400 to adapt to the communication service of the population of the communication device served in step 1520 . For example, the communication component may provide increased system capacity as a result of multiple communication devices 100 that optimize transmitter linearity to reduce band interference and thus improve overall system capacity.

Generally speaking, different communication operators (carriers) place their own infrastructure (base station and antenna tower and antenna system), and correspondingly some networks can be "uplink restricted" and some "downlink restricted " This means that in some networks, the link between the handset transmitter and the base station receiver may be less total loss than the link between the base station transmitter and the handset receiver, and vice versa. In this situation, the tunable matching network 202 in the handset can be modified to accommodate this difference.

For example, if the network is downlink limited, it may be appropriate for the handset antenna tuner of the communication device 100 to emphasize an improvement in matching to the antenna in the reception band of the handset, at the expense of matching within the transmission band. This may be a way to improve overall performance or link margins for that particular network. Conversely, if the network is bounded uplink, it may be appropriate to sacrifice the reception band and improve the matching within the transmission band of the handset.

If this information is known, the tuner lookup table referred to above may be extended to include input of a network identity (e.g., PLMN) with properly different tuner settings for different communication networks. Also, even within the network (PLMN), if the network operator knows a particular problem within a given location within his network, the lookup table may be specific to the individual cell site identity.

There is another type of consideration when determining the settings for the tunable matching network 202, which is to autonomously determine the optimal setting based on the actual transmitter and receiver conditions in the handset at step 1518. [ For example, cellular handset transmitters commonly use power parameters that can be adjusted to a range of output power levels at the time of indication from the base station with which they are communicating. The handset controller can know the transmit power setting at any moment and can know the received signal strength received from the base station at any instant.

Knowing these transmit and receive levels, the controller can determine if the antenna matching should be changed to improve the matching in the transmit or receive bands. If the uplink and downlink paths have margins (the transmitter is at a lower power level and the receiver knows the higher signal power), then tunable matching optimizes transmitter efficiency (to reduce current drain to improve battery life) Or to optimize the transmitter linearity (to reduce band interference and improve overall system capacity).

Another potential use of the tunable matching network 202 is to intentionally detune or degrade the performance of matching in the receive band while maintaining good matching (for transmit power, efficiency, or linearity) within the transmit band of the handset. The reason for doing this is that the receiver is less sensitive to local interfering signals and can respond less sensitively. As previously mentioned, by detecting the strong desired received signal, the handset controller can autonomously set the tuner to increase the loss in the receiver path in the handset while maintaining good matching to the transmitter.

Another embodiment is to consider the tunable matching network 202 as a tunable filter network. Correspondingly deliberately detuning the network in the receive band is equivalent to tuning the passband of the filter to include only the transmit band but partially rejecting the receive band.

The network operator may prefer to preferentially tune the antenna matching to a position that can improve the current drain or linearity based on the actual time when the handset is in a situation having good link margins (uplink and downlink) have. For a particular amount of time during a work hour (e.g., at a rush hour), a network operator may prefer to optimize handset linearity to optimize network capacity for hours of extreme phone call traffic.

This preferential network tuning may be loaded into the lookup table when the handset is manufactured, but it may be useful to allow the operator to reprogram or supply this information over the air. This can be improved by providing flexibility to the operator to improve the operation of the communication device 100 operating in the communication system 1400 whenever the system is changed or by changing the way the handset operates when encountered with these conditions Conditions can be found in systems that can affect overall performance. There are several ways in which this provision can be achieved in a wireless network. For example, the profile may be a short message service (SMS), a WAP PUSH, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, a direct data channel connection via Internet protocol, a SIM Took Kit message, or an Open Mobile Alliance May be provided through a designated wireless standard, or a registration method used for an iPhone or an Android-based phone.

Other implementations of the tuning application may be to include the tuning application in the 3GPP SIM tuk kit specification. The tuning application may receive lookup table information from a corresponding tuning application in the communication system. This lookup table may include any number of parameters regarding how the handset should perform linearity, detuning, weighted transmission, weighted reception, weighted battery life, and the like. The network tuning application may also provide other specific information, for example when and where a particular performance profile should be selected:

Network Id (3GPP standard PLMN)

Cell identifier (Cell ID of 3GPP standard)

· Time

· Day of the week

Manufacturer ID (part of the handset serial number, e.g. 3GPP IMEI)

With a proper lookup table, the handset can apply all of these parameters to a specific performance profile. The network tuning application may select and profile a particular profile for the handset manufacturer and aim and model these handsets with a specific performance profile for the purpose of obtaining a more uniform performance within a particular communication cell area.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description that the above-described embodiments can be modified, reduced or improved without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims which follow. For example, the methods 800 and 1500 of FIGS. 8 and 15 may be adapted to be used to calibrate and provide a tunable matching network of wireline transceivers. The methods 800 and 1500 may be applied to a number of combinations of unprocessed use cases, subsets of bands, and other performance parameters in this disclosure. Combinations not disclosed are contemplated by this disclosure.

Other suitable variations may be applied to the present disclosure. Thus, the reader is directed to the claims for a complete understanding of the breadth and scope of the disclosure.

16 illustrates an exemplary representation of a machine in the form of a computer system 1600 that, when executed, may cause a machine to perform at least one of a set of instructions. In certain embodiments, the machine operates as a stand-alone device. In certain embodiments, a machine may be connected to another machine (e.g., using a network). In a networking deployment, the machine may operate within the capacity of a client user machine or server in a server-client user network environment, or may operate as a peer device in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may be a set of instructions that specify actions to be taken by a server computer, a client user computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a control system, a network router, a switch or a bridge, And so on). The apparatus of the present disclosure includes any electronic device that provides near-voice, video, or data communication. Also, although a single machine is described, the term "machine" includes any set of machines that execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions that perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein, either individually or jointly can do.

Computer system 1600 includes a processor 1602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU)), a graphics processing unit (GPU or both), a main memory 1604 and a static memory (1606). The computer system 1600 may further include a video display unit 1610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)), a flat panel, a semiconductor display, or a CRT. The computer system 1600 includes an input device 1612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 1614 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1616, a signal generating device 1618 , A speaker or a remote controller) and a network interface device 1620. [

The disk drive unit 1616 includes a machine readable medium 1622 that stores one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 1624) that implement one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein, including the methods described above. Instructions 1624 may reside completely or at least partially within main memory 1604, static memory 1606 and / or processor 1602 upon execution by computer system 1600. Main memory 1604 and processor 1602 may also constitute a machine-readable medium.

Dedicated hardware implementations, including, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic arrays, and other hardware devices, may be configured to implement the methods described herein. Applications involving devices and methods of various embodiments include approximately various electronic and computer systems. Any embodiment may implement or function as a part of two or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices having associated control and data signals communicating between the modules. Thus, the exemplary system may be applied to software, firmware, and hardware implementations.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the methods described herein are intended for operation as a software program executing on a computer processor. In addition, the software implementation may include, but is not limited to, distribution processing or component / object distribution processing, and parallel processing or virtual machine processing may also be configured to implement the methods described herein.

The disclosure may take the form of a machine readable medium including instructions 1624 or receive and execute instructions 1624 from a propagated signal to cause a device connected to the network environment 1616 to transmit voice, Or may receive and communicate via network 1626 using command 1614. [ The instruction 1624 may be transmitted or received over the network 1626 via the network interface device 1620.

Although the machine readable medium 1622 is shown in the illustrated embodiment as being a single medium, the term "machine readable medium" refers to a medium or medium that stores one or more sets of instructions (e.g., And / or an associated cache and server). The term "machine readable medium" should include any medium that can store, encode, or transport a set of instructions executed by a machine and cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present disclosure.

Thus, the term "machine readable medium" includes semiconductor memory such as, but not limited to, a memory card or other package housing one or more read-only (nonvolatile) memory, random access memory or other rewritable (volatile) memory; A magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape; And / or e-mail attachments, and other self-contained information archives or sets of archives are considered distribution media equivalent to the type of storage media. Accordingly, disclosures are considered to include one or more of machine readable media, including equivalents and subsequent media, as are listed herein and known to those skilled in the art of software implementation.

Although the specification describes components and functionality implemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standards and protocols, the disclosure is not limited to these standards and protocols. Standards for the Internet and other packet-switched network transmissions (e.g., TCP / IP, UDP / IP, HTML, HTTP) These standards are replaced periodically by essentially faster or more efficient equivalents with the same functionality. Thus, alternative standards and protocols having the same functionality are considered equivalents.

The description of the embodiments described herein is intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of the various embodiments and is not intended to be provided as a complete description of all elements and parts of the apparatus and systems in which the structures described herein may be used. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the above-described embodiments. Other embodiments that are capable of structural and logical alternation and modification without departing from the scope of the disclosure can be utilized and derived. The drawings are also only spheroidal and may not be drawn at a constant rate. While others are minimized so that certain portions can be exaggerated. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein individually and / or collectively as the "invention" for convenience, and, where one or more are disclosed, the scope of the present application may be interpreted as any single inventive or progressive concept And is not intended to limit it voluntarily. Thus, although specific embodiments are shown and described herein, any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of the various embodiments. Combinations of the above-described embodiments and other embodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the above description.

The summary is provided to comply with 37 CFR § 1.72 (b), which requires the reader to quickly identify the nature of the technical disclosure. It will be understood that they are not used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Also, in the foregoing detailed description, it is to be understood that the various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for purposes of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting the claimed embodiment needing more features cited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, progressive topics are less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. The following claims are encompassed within the detailed description, and each claim is individually based on the claimed subject matter.

Claims (35)

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer instructions, wherein, in response to the computer instructions being executed by a processor of a communication device, the computer instructions cause the processor to:
A communication element spaced from the communication device, the communication element having an element identifier that enables the processor to determine an identity of the communication element from among a group of communication devices of the communication network; Establishing a wireless communication link; And
Selecting a profile from among a plurality of profiles based on the identity of the communication element, wherein the communication element corresponds to the selected profile, and wherein each profile of the plurality of profiles includes a matching network of the communication device, Wherein the performance information identifies one or more RF performance parameters to be used to determine a tuning state of the matching network and wherein the plurality of profiles identify one or more variable reactances of the matching network, And does not include settings for variable reactance elements. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 13 > The method according to claim 1,
In response to being executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
And receiving a provisioning instruction from a communication system managing the communication network to which the communication element belongs, wherein the one or more RF performance parameters comprise at least two RF capabilities ≪ / RTI > parameters. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the communication element is part of a cell roller base station and the element identifier is a cell identifier. The method according to claim 1,
In response to being executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
And adjusting the tuning state of the matching network according to performance information in the selected profile. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 19 > 2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more RF performance parameters comprise at least one of a radiation transmit power, a receive sensitivity, a transmit linearity, or a power amplifier efficiency. 2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more RF performance parameters comprise transmit linearity or power amplifier efficiency. 2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more RF performance parameters comprise power amplifier efficiency. 2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the communication device is a cellular phone and the step of selecting a profile from among the plurality of profiles is performed without receiving operational information from the communication element. 2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the performance information is weighted for each member of a set of RF performance parameters that can be used to determine a tuning state of the matching network. 2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more RF performance parameters comprise received signal strength indicator (RSSI) data. A method for tuning a matching network in a communication device, the method being performed by a communication device,
Establishing a wireless communication link with a communication element spaced from the communication device, the communication element being a single device having an element identifier that enables a processor of the communication device to determine an identity of the communication element;
Selecting a profile from among a plurality of profiles based on the identity of the communication element, the communication element corresponding to the selected profile, and wherein each profile of the plurality of profiles is adapted to tune the matching network of the communication device Wherein the performance information includes required operational metrics that can be compared to operating metrics measured for the communication device to perform tuning of the matching network, Wherein the plurality of profiles do not include settings for one or more variable reactance elements of the matching network. 12. The method of claim 11, comprising receiving a provisioning instruction from a communication system to which the communication element belongs. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the communication element is a cellular base station or a wireless local area network access point. 12. The method of claim 11, comprising adjusting the tuning state of the matching network according to performance information in the selected profile. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the performance information identifies one or more RF performance parameters to be used to determine a tuning state of the matching network. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the required operational metrics are based on at least one of radiation transmit power, receive sensitivity, transmit linearity or power amplifier efficiency. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the required operational metrics are based on transmit linearity or power amplifier efficiency. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the required operational metrics are based on power amplifier efficiency. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the communication device is a cellular phone. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the performance information is weighted for each member of a set of RF performance parameters that can be used to determine a tuning state of the matching network. A wireless communication apparatus comprising:
Matching network; And
And a controller coupled to the matching network for tuning the matching network,
Wherein the communication element is a device of a wireless local area network access point or a cellular base station and the communication element is adapted to cause the controller to determine an identity of the communication element from among a group of communication devices of the communication network Establishing a wireless communication link with the element identifier;
Selecting a profile from among a plurality of profiles based on the identity of the communication element, the communication element corresponding to the selected profile, and wherein each profile of the plurality of profiles is adapted to tune the matching network of the communication device Wherein the performance information includes one or more RF performance parameters to be used to determine a tuning state of the matching network;
Measuring RF performance parameters during RF operation to obtain measured RF performance parameters;
Comparing the measured RF performance parameter with the one or more RF performance parameters obtained from performance information of the selected profile; And
Adjusting one or more variable reactance elements of the matching network within an iterative process based on the comparison until the measured RF performance parameter meets a threshold for the one or more RF performance parameters And performing operations comprising: 22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, wherein the controller is to receive a provisioning instruction from a communication system that manages the communication network to which the communication element belongs. 22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, wherein the one or more RF performance parameters comprise at least one of a radiation transmit power, a receive sensitivity, a transmit linearity, or a power amplifier efficiency. 22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, wherein the one or more RF performance parameters comprise transmit linearity or power amplifier efficiency. 22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, wherein the one or more RF performance parameters comprise power amplifier efficiency. 22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, wherein the communications device is a cellular phone. 22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, wherein the performance information is weighted for each member of a set of RF performance parameters usable to determine a tuning state of the matching network. 22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 21, wherein the performance information comprises settings for one or more variable reactance elements of the matching network. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

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