Patentable/Patents/US-9270311
US-9270311

Methods and systems for calibrating an analog filter

PublishedFebruary 23, 2016
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

Devices and methods capable of addressing filter responses are disclosed. For example, a method for compensating a first low-pass filter and a second low-pass filter is disclosed. The method includes injecting a reference tone fR and a cutoff tone fC into the first low-pass filter, and measuring respective filter responses of the reference tone fR and the cutoff tone fC while changing capacitor codes that control a cutoff frequency of the first low-pass filter until a first capacitor code ICODE is determined that most accurately causes the first low-pass filter to utilize a desired cutoff frequency f0, performing a similar operation for the second low-pass filter until a second capacitor code QCODE is determined, and calibrating for mismatch between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter.

Patent Claims
19 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. A method for compensating for non-idealities in a filter circuit that includes programmable filter circuitry including a first low-pass filter and a second low-pass filter both having a common desired cutoff frequency f 0 , the method comprising: for a first desired bandwidth BW 0 corresponding to the common desired cutoff frequency f 0 , injecting a reference tone IR and a cutoff tone fC into the first low-pass filter, and measuring respective filter responses of the reference tone fR and the cutoff tone fC while changing capacitor codes that control a cutoff frequency f 0 -I of the first low-pass filter until a first capacitor code ICODE is determined that causes the first low-pass filter to match the desired cutoff frequency f 0 as close as possible given an available resolution of the capacitor codes; for the first desired bandwidth BW 0 , injecting the reference tone fR and the cutoff tone fC into the second low-pass filter, and measuring respective filter responses of the reference tone fR and the cutoff tone fC while changing capacitor codes that control a cutoff frequency f 0 -Q of the second low-pass filter until a second capacitor code QCODE is determined that causes the second low-pass filter to match the desired cutoff frequency f 0 as close as possible given the available resolution of the capacitor codes; and further calibrating for mismatch between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter for one or more additional bandwidths greater than the first desired bandwidth BW 0 .

2

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more additional bandwidths include a second desired bandwidth BW 1 , where BW 1 =N×BW 0 , where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

3

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein calibrating for mismatch between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter includes: for a respective second cutoff frequency f 1 , where f 1 =(N×f 0 )+Δf, where Δf is a cutoff frequency offset for the second desired bandwidth BW 1 : determining a capacitor code offsets ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET ; adding the capacitor code offset ΔI OFFSET to the first capacitor code I CODE to produce a first compensated capacitor code I C-CODE ; and adding the capacitor code offset ΔQ OFFSET to the second capacitor code Q CODE to produce a second compensated capacitor code Q C-CODE , wherein the second cutoff frequency f 1 =(N×f 0 )+Δf, where Δf is a cutoff frequency offset for the second desired bandwidth BW 1 .

4

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein BW 0 =20 MHz, BW 1 =40 MHz, f 0 =8.75 MHz, f 1 =18.75 MHz, and Δf=1.25 MHz; or wherein BW 0 =20 MHz, BW 1 =80 MHz, f 0 =8.75 MHz, f 1 =38.75 MHz, and Δf=3.75 MHz.

5

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein calibrating for mismatch between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter further includes: determining a fractional capacitor code CI FRAC corresponding to the first desired bandwidth BW 0 , the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC being a value that lies between two consecutive capacitor codes [I CODE , I CODE+1 ], and that ideally corresponds to both a zero phase difference and a zero power difference between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter; and using the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC to determine the capacitor code offsets ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET .

6

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC includes: interpolating a line using a plurality of points with each point having a first dimension being a combined I-Q capacitor code [I CODE , Q CODE ], and a second dimension being a respective measured phase offset between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter using a respective combined I-Q capacitor code; and selecting a combined I-Q capacitor code value that corresponds to a substantially zero phase difference between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter.

7

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein using the fractional capacitor code C FRAC to determine the capacitor code offset ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET includes: rounding the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC to a nearest integer to produce the capacitor code offset ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET ; adding the capacitor code offset ΔI OFFSET to the first capacitor code I CODE to produce the first compensated capacitor code I C-CODE ; and adding the capacitor code offset ΔQ OFFSET to the second capacitor code Q CODE to produce the second compensated capacitor code Q C-CODE .

8

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein using the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC to determine the capacitor code offsets ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET includes: rounding to the nearest integer a scaled value=[(1+αΔfc)*ΔC FRAC ] to produce the capacitor code offsets ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET , where ΔC FRAC is a difference between the first capacitor code CI FRAC and the second capacitor code Q CODE , a is a scaling factor derived from empirical data, and Δfc is a capacitor code difference corresponding to the cutoff frequency offset Δf; adding the capacitor code offset ΔI OFFSET to the first capacitor code I CODE to produce the first compensated capacitor code I C-CODE ; and adding the capacitor code offset ΔQ OFFSET to the second capacitor code Q CODE to produce the second compensated capacitor code Q C-CODE .

9

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising: applying the first compensated capacitor code I C-CODE to the first low-pass filter; and applying the second compensated capacitor code Q C-CODE to the second low-pass filter.

10

10. A wirelessly operating device that operates according to the method of claim 1 .

11

11. A device for compensating for non-idealities in a filter circuit that includes programmable filter circuitry including a first low-pass filter and a second low-pass filter both having a common desired cutoff frequency f 0 corresponding to a first desired bandwidth BW 0 , the device comprising: code search circuitry that controls the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter; tone generation circuitry that injects a reference tone f R and a cutoff tone f C into both the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter, measurement circuitry that: (1) measures respective filter responses of the reference tone f R and the cutoff tone f C while the code search circuitry changes capacitor codes that control a cutoff frequency f 0-1 of the first low-pass filter until a first capacitor code I CODE is determined that causes the first low-pass filter to match the desired cutoff frequency f 0 as close as possible given an available resolution of the capacitor codes; and (2) measures respective filter responses of the reference tone f R and the cutoff tone f C while the code search circuitry changes capacitor codes that control a cutoff frequency f 0-Q of the second low-pass filter until a second capacitor code Q CODE is determined that causes the second low-pass filter to match the desired cutoff frequency f 0 as close as possible given the available resolution of the capacitor codes; and calibration circuitry configured to calibrate for mismatch between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter for one or more additional bandwidths greater than a first desired bandwidth BW 0 of the desired cutoff frequency f 0 .

12

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein each of the one or more additional bandwidths include a second desired bandwidth BW 1 , where BW 1 =N×BW 0 , where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

13

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the calibration circuitry is further configured to: for a respective second cutoff frequency f 1 for the second bandwidth BW 1 , determine a capacitor code offsets ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET ; add the capacitor code offset ΔI OFFSET to the first capacitor code I CODE to produce a first compensated capacitor code I C-CODE ; and add the capacitor code offset ΔQ OFFSET to the second capacitor code Q CODE to produce a second compensated capacitor code Q C-CODE ; wherein the second cutoff frequency f 1 =(N×f 0 )+Δf, where Of is a cutoff frequency offset for the second desired bandwidth BW 1 .

14

14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the calibration circuitry is further configured to calibrate for mismatch between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter by: determining a fractional capacitor code CI FRAC corresponding to the first desired bandwidth BW 0 , the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC being a value that lies between two consecutive capacitor codes [I CODE , I CODE+1 ], and that ideally corresponds to both a zero phase difference and a zero power difference between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter; and using the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC to determine the capacitor code offset ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET .

15

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein the calibration circuitry is further configured to determining the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC by: interpolating a line using a plurality of points with each point having a first dimension being a combined I-Q capacitor code [I CODE , Q CODE ], and a second dimension being a respective measured phase offset between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter using a respective combined I-Q capacitor code; and selecting a combined I-Q capacitor code value that corresponds to a substantially zero phase difference between the first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter.

16

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the calibration circuitry is further configured to use the fractional capacitor code C FRAC to determine the capacitor code offset Δ OFFSET by: rounding the fractional capacitor code C FRAC to a nearest integer to produce the capacitor code offset Δ OFFSET ; adding the capacitor code offset Δ OFFSET to the first capacitor code I CODE to produce the first compensated capacitor code I C-CODE ; and adding the capacitor code offset Δ OFFSET to the second capacitor code Q CODE to produce the second compensated capacitor code Q C-CODE .

17

17. The device of claim 15 , wherein using the fractional capacitor code CI FRAC to determine the capacitor code offsets ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET includes: rounding to the nearest integer [(1+αΔfc)*ΔC FRAC ] to produce the capacitor code offsets ΔI OFFSET and ΔQ OFFSET , where ΔC FRAC is a difference between the first capacitor code CI FRAC and the second capacitor code Q CODE , a is a scaling factor derived from empirical data, and Δfc is a capacitor code difference corresponding to the cutoff frequency offset Δf; adding the capacitor code offset ΔQ OFFSET to the first capacitor code I CODE to produce the first compensated capacitor code I C-CODE ; and adding the capacitor code offset ΔQ OFFSET to the second capacitor code Q CODE to produce the second compensated capacitor code Q C-CODE .

18

18. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured to: applies the first compensated capacitor code I C-CODE to the first low-pass filter; and applies the second compensated capacitor code Q C-CODE to the second low-pass filter.

19

19. A wirelessly operating device that incorporates the device of claim 11 .

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Patent Metadata

Filing Date

December 4, 2014

Publication Date

February 23, 2016

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