Calibration of wireless communication device

Abstract

A wireless communication device includes an integrated circuit (IC) and an antenna system. The IC includes a baseband processing module, a network processing module, a calibration processing module, a receiver section and a transmitter section. The network processing module establishes a wireless communication protocol and operational parameters based on the wireless communication protocol. The calibration processing module generates RF receiver calibration information based on the operational parameters and RF receive feedback and generates RF transmitter calibration information based on the operational parameters and RF transmit feedback. The receiver section provides the RF receive feedback and converts an inbound RF signal into an inbound symbol stream. The transmitter section provides the RF transmit feedback and converts an outbound symbol stream into an outbound RF signal. The antenna system provides the inbound RF signal to the receiver section and receives the outbound RF signal from the transmitter section.

1 . An integrated circuit (IC) comprises:
 a processing module coupled to:
 establish a wireless communication protocol in accordance with an operational mode; 
 establish operational parameters based on the wireless communication protocol; 
 receive radio frequency (RF) receive feedback from a receiver section; 
 receive RF transmit feedback from a transmitter section; 
 generate RF receiver calibration information based on the operational parameters and the RF receive feedback; 
 provide the RF receiver calibration information to the receiver section; 
 generate RF transmitter calibration information based on the operational parameters and the RF transmit feedback; 
 provide the RF transmitter calibration information to the transmitter section; 
 convert outbound data into an outbound symbol stream in accordance with the wireless communication protocol; 
 provide the outbound symbol stream to a transmitter section; 
 receive an inbound symbol stream from a transmitter section; and 
 convert the inbound symbol stream into inbound data in accordance with the wireless communication protocol. 
   
   
   
       2 . The IC of  claim 1  further comprises:
 the receiver section coupled to:
 provide the RF receive feedback; and 
 convert an inbound RF signal into the inbound symbol stream in accordance with the RF receiver calibration information and a receive local oscillation; and 
   the transmitter section coupled to:
 provide the RF transmit feedback; and 
 convert the outbound symbol stream into an outbound RF signal in accordance with the RF transmitter calibration information and a transmit local oscillation. 
   
   
   
       3 . The IC of  claim 2  further comprises:
 an interface module coupling the processing module to the receiver section and the transmitter section.   
   
   
       4 . The IC of  claim 2  further comprises:
 a local oscillation module coupled to generate the receive local oscillation and the transmit local oscillation in accordance with the wireless communication protocol.   
   
   
       5 . The IC of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is further coupled to:
 establish the first and second wireless communication protocols in accordance with a concurrent operational mode of the wireless communication device;   establish first operational parameters based on the first wireless communication protocol; and   establish second operational parameters based on the second wireless communication protocol;   receive first RF receive feedback corresponding to the first wireless communication protocol;   receive second RF receive feedback corresponding to the second wireless communication protocol;   receive first RF transmit feedback corresponding to the first wireless communication protocol;   receive second RF transmit feedback corresponding to the second wireless communication protocol;   generate first RF receiver calibration information based on the first operational parameters and the first RF receive feedback;   generate second RF receiver calibration information based on the second operational parameters and the second RF receive feedback;   generate first RF transmitter calibration information based on the first operational parameters and the first RF transmit feedback;   generate second RF transmitter calibration information based on the second operational parameters and the second RF transmit feedback;   convert first outbound data into a first outbound symbol stream in accordance with a first wireless communication protocol;   convert a first inbound symbol stream into first inbound data in accordance with the first wireless communication protocol;   convert second outbound data into a second outbound symbol stream in accordance with a second wireless communication protocol; and   convert a second inbound symbol stream into second inbound data in accordance with the second wireless communication protocol.   
   
   
       6 . The IC of  claim 5 , wherein the processing module is further coupled to:
 determine whether the first and second wireless communication protocols have at least partially overlapping frequency bands;   when the first and second wireless communication protocols have the at least partially overlapping frequency bands, determining whether the first outbound RF signal will interfere with the second inbound RF signal or whether the second outbound RF signal will interfere with the first inbound RF signal; and   when the first outbound RF signal will interfere with the second inbound RF signal or when the second outbound RF signal will interfere with the first inbound RF signal, establish an RF resource sharing protocol between the first and second wireless communication protocols.   
   
   
       7 . The IC of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is further coupled to:
 establish the operational parameters to include a range of antenna matching parameters from which a matching control signal is generated;   establish the operational parameters to include a range of RF filter control parameters from which a RF filter control signal is generated;   establish the operational parameters to include a range of LNA parameters from which a LNA control signal is generated;   establish the operational parameters to include a range of down-conversion parameters from which a down conversion control signal is generated; and   establish the operational parameters to include a range of analog filter parameters from which an analog filter control signal is generated.   
   
   
       8 . The IC of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is further coupled to:
 establish the operational parameters to include a range of analog filter parameters from which an analog filter control signal is generated;   establish the operational parameters to include a range of up-conversion parameters from which an up conversion control signal is generated;   establish the operational parameters to include a range of PA parameters from which a PA control signal is generated;   establish the operational parameters to include a range of RF filter control parameters from which a RF filter control signal is generated; and   establish the operational parameters to include a range of antenna matching parameters from which a matching control signal is generated.   
   
   
       9 . The IC of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is further coupled to:
 establish the operational parameters for at least one of: beamforming, antenna polarization, maximum signal to noise ratio, and maximum signal to interference ratio.   
   
   
       10 . The IC of  claim 1  further comprises:
 the processing module utilizing the RF receive feedback and the RF transmit feedback to establish the operational parameters.   
   
   
       11 . The IC of  claim 1  further comprises:
 an analog to digital interface for conveying the RF receive feedback and the RF receiver calibration information between the receiver section and the calibration processing module and for conveying the RF transmit feedback and the RF transmitter calibration information between the transmitter section and the calibration processing module.   
   
   
       12 . An integrated circuit (IC) comprises:
 a receiver section coupled to:
 provide radio frequency (RF) receive feedback; 
 receive RF receiver calibration information that is derived in accordance with a wireless communication protocol and the RF receive feedback; and 
 convert an inbound RF signal into the inbound symbol stream in accordance with the RF receiver calibration information and a receive local oscillation; 
   a transmitter section coupled to:
 provide RF transmit feedback; 
 receive RF transmitter calibration information that is derived in accordance with the wireless communication protocol and the RF transmit feedback; and 
 convert the outbound symbol stream into an outbound RF signal in accordance with the RF transmitter calibration information and a transmit local oscillation; and 
   a local oscillation module coupled to generate the receive local oscillation and the transmit local oscillation in accordance with the wireless communication protocol.   
   
   
       13 . The IC of  claim 12  further comprises:
 the receiver section coupled to:
 provide first and second RF receive feedback; 
 convert a first inbound RF signal into a first inbound symbol stream in accordance with a first RF receiver calibration information and a first receive local oscillation; and 
 convert a second inbound RF signal into a second inbound symbol stream in accordance with a second RF receiver calibration information and a second receive local oscillation; 
   the transmitter section coupled to:
 provide first and second RF transmit feedback; 
 convert first outbound symbol stream into a first outbound RF signal in accordance with a first RF transmitter calibration information and a first transmit local oscillation; and 
 convert a second outbound symbol stream into a second outbound RF signal in accordance with a second RF transmitter calibration information and a second transmit local oscillation. 
   
   
   
       14 . The IC of  claim 13  further comprises:
 the receiver section including:
 a first receiver module coupled to:
 provide the first RF receive feedback; and 
 convert the first inbound RF signal into the first inbound symbol stream in accordance with the first RF receiver calibration information and the first receive local oscillation, wherein a carrier frequency of the first inbound RF signal is within a first frequency band; and 
 
 a second receiver module coupled to:
 provide the second RF receive feedback; and 
 convert the second inbound RF signal into the second inbound symbol stream in accordance with the second RF receiver calibration information and the second receive local oscillation, wherein a carrier frequency of the second inbound RF signal is within a second frequency band; 
 
   the transmitter section including:
 a first transmitter module coupled to:
 provide the first RF transmit feedback; and 
 convert the first outbound symbol stream into the first outbound RF signal in accordance with the first RF transmitter calibration information and the first transmit local oscillation, where a carrier frequency of the first outbound RF signal is within the first frequency band; and 
 
 a second transmitter module coupled to:
 provide the second RF transmit feedback; and 
 
 convert the second outbound symbol stream into the second outbound RF signal in accordance with the second RF transmitter calibration information and the second transmit local oscillation, wherein a carrier frequency of the second outbound RF signal is within the second frequency band. 
   
   
   
       15 . The IC of  claim 12 , wherein the receiver section comprises:
 an antenna matching circuit module coupled to receive the inbound RF signal from an antenna system, wherein the antenna matching circuit module is tuned in accordance with a matching control signal of the RF receiver calibration information;   an RF filtering module coupled to filter the inbound RF signal in accordance with an RF filter control signal of the RF receiver calibration information to produce a filtered inbound RF signal;   a low noise amplifier (LNA) module coupled to amplify the filtered inbound RF signal in accordance with a LNA control signal of the RF receiver calibration information to produce an amplified inbound RF signal;   a down conversion module coupled to convert the amplified inbound RF signal into a baseband or near baseband signal based on the receive local oscillation and in accordance with a down conversion control signal of the RF receiver calibration information; and   an analog baseband or near baseband filter module coupled to filter the baseband or near baseband signal in accordance with an analog filter control signal of the RF receiver calibration information to produce an analog representation of the inbound symbol stream.   
   
   
       16 . The IC of  claim 15  further comprises:
 the antenna matching circuit module coupled to generate receive antenna matching feedback of the RF receive feedback;   the RF filtering module coupled to generate RF receive filtering feedback of the RF receive feedback;   the LNA module coupled to generate LNA feedback of the RF receive feedback;   the down conversion module coupled to generate down conversion feedback of the RF receive feedback; and   the analog baseband or near baseband filter module coupled to generate analog filtering feedback of the RF receive feedback.   
   
   
       17 . The IC of  claim 12 , wherein the transmitter section comprises:
 an analog baseband or near baseband filter module coupled to filter the outbound symbol stream in accordance with an analog filter control signal of the RF transmitter calibration information to produce an analog representation of the outbound symbol stream;   an up conversion module coupled to convert the analog representation of the outbound symbol stream into an up-converted signal based on the transmit local oscillation and in accordance with an up conversion control signal of the RF transmitter calibration information;   a power amplifier (PA) module coupled to amplify the up-converted signal in accordance with a PA control signal of the RF transmitter calibration information to produce an amplified outbound RF signal;   an RF filtering module coupled to filter the amplified outbound RF signal in accordance with an RF filter control signal of the RF transmitter calibration information to produce the outbound RF signal; and   an antenna matching circuit module coupled to provide the outbound RF signal to an antenna system, wherein the antenna matching circuit module is tuned in accordance with a matching control signal of the RF transmitter calibration information.   
   
   
       18 . The IC of  claim 17  further comprises:
 the analog baseband or near baseband filter module coupled to generate analog filtering feedback of the RF transmit feedback;   the up conversion module coupled to generate up conversion feedback of the RF transmit feedback;   the PA module coupled to generate PA feedback of the RF transmit feedback;   the RF filtering module coupled to generate RF filter feedback of the RF transmit feedback; and   the antenna matching circuit module coupled to generate antenna matching feedback of the RF transmit feedback.