U.S. patent application number 17/534743 was filed with the patent office on 2022-03-17 for systems and methods for calibrating a tunable component.
The applicant listed for this patent is wiSpry, Inc.. Invention is credited to Peter Good, Arthur S. Morris, III, Marten A. E. Seth, Steven Spencer Watkins.
Application Number | 20220084755 17/534743 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005996893 |
Filed Date | 2022-03-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220084755 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Morris, III; Arthur S. ; et
al. |
March 17, 2022 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CALIBRATING A TUNABLE COMPONENT
Abstract
Systems, devices, and methods for adjusting tuning settings of
tunable components, such as tunable capacitors, can be configured
for calibrating a tunable component. Specifically, the systems,
devices and methods can measure a device response for one or more
inputs to a tunable component, store a calibration code in a
non-volatile memory that characterizes the device response of the
tunable component, and adjust a tuning setting of the tunable
component based on the calibration code to achieve a desired
response of the tunable component.
Inventors: |
Morris, III; Arthur S.;
(Lakewood, CO) ; Seth; Marten A. E.; (Dana Point,
CA) ; Good; Peter; (Dana Point, CA) ; Watkins;
Steven Spencer; (San Diego, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
wiSpry, Inc. |
Irvine |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005996893 |
Appl. No.: |
17/534743 |
Filed: |
November 24, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
16775027 |
Jan 28, 2020 |
11189428 |
|
|
17534743 |
|
|
|
|
14537489 |
Nov 10, 2014 |
10546695 |
|
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16775027 |
|
|
|
|
61901911 |
Nov 8, 2013 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01G 7/00 20130101; H03H
7/0153 20130101; H03H 2210/025 20130101; H03H 7/0161 20130101; G01R
27/26 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H01G 7/00 20060101
H01G007/00; H03H 7/01 20060101 H03H007/01; G01R 27/26 20060101
G01R027/26 |
Claims
1. A tunable component comprising: one or more tunable elements,
wherein the one or more tunable elements is tunable in response to
an electrical tuning input to vary a response of the tunable
component; and a logic block in communication with the one or more
tunable elements; wherein the logic block is in communication with
a non-volatile memory configured to store a calibration code,
wherein the calibration code characterizes a deviation of the
response of the one or more tunable elements relative to a
reference response of the one or more tunable elements for a
reference electrical tuning input; and wherein the logic block is
configured to receive during operation of the tunable component an
electrical tuning input as a tuning word corresponding to a desired
response, to generate a modified tuning word that is selected based
on the electrical tuning input and the calibration code, and to
apply the modified tuning word to adjust a tuning setting of the
one or more tunable elements to produce a tuned response of the one
or more tunable elements that most closely matches the desired
response.
2. The tunable component of claim 1, wherein the one or more
tunable elements comprise one or more tunable capacitors; and
wherein the logic block is configured to apply the modified tuning
word to adjust a capacitance of the one or more tunable capacitors
to produce the tuned response.
3. The tunable component of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile
memory is configured to store one of a plurality of bin identifiers
that are each associated with a discrete response range of the one
or more tunable elements.
4. The tunable component of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile
memory is configured to store one or more coefficients of a
calibration tuning function.
5. The tunable component of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile
memory is configured to store one of a plurality of bin identifiers
that are each associated with a discrete response range of the one
or more tunable elements; and wherein the logic block is configured
to select one or more of a plurality of tuning words corresponding
to the stored one of the plurality of bin identifiers.
6. The tunable component of claim 1, wherein the desired response
has a first numerical resolution; and wherein the one or more
tunable elements are configured to generate a tuned response having
a second numerical resolution that is finer than the first
numerical resolution.
7. The tunable component of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile
memory is provided on the tunable component.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a divisional patent application
of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/775,027, filed Jan. 28,
2020, which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.
14/537,489, filed Nov. 10, 2014, and U.S. Provisional Patent
Application Ser. No. 61/901,911, filed Nov. 8, 2013, the
disclosures of which is incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to
control of tunable components. More particularly, the subject
matter disclosed herein relates to adjusting tuning settings of
tunable components, such as tunable capacitors.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Programmable capacitors can be used for tuning the response
of an electrical circuit by varying the capacitance value of the
capacitor to correspondingly produce different behaviors. In many
applications, the set value may need to be tightly controlled to
meet system requirements and optimize overall performance. In
general, however, although such capacitors are commonly built using
a range of processes, all processes exhibit variations due to
factors such as rates, chemistries, temperatures, and timing. As a
result, substantially all programmable capacitors as built have a
range of values (e.g., for maximum capacitance value, minimum
capacitance value, capacitance step between set values). This range
may be acceptable for some applications, but when a more precise
response is required, it is desirable that variation in the
capacitance values be minimized.
[0004] To address these issues, attempts have been made to reduce
the variation in the manufacturing process, but raising performance
standards generally requires either exerting more precise control
over the production process or discarding components that fail to
meet the higher standards. Both of these approaches increase the
cost of producing the components. Alternatively, the capacitors can
be designed to reduce the sensitivity of the device capacitance on
the process variation, but doing so is not possible in all device
configuration and/or applications. As a result, it would be
desirable for the variation in the performance of devices to be
reduced without dramatically increasing manufacturing costs or
requiring component designs to be constrained to only those
configurations that are less sensitive to process variability.
SUMMARY
[0005] In accordance with this disclosure, systems, devices, and
methods for adjusting tuning settings of tunable components, such
as tunable capacitors, are provided. In one aspect, a method for
calibrating a tunable component is provided. The method can include
measuring a device response for one or more inputs to a tunable
component, storing a calibration code in a non-volatile memory that
characterizes the device response of the tunable component, and
adjusting a tuning setting of the tunable component based on the
calibration code to achieve a desired response of the tunable
component.
[0006] In another aspect, a tunable component is provided having
one or more tunable elements and a non-volatile memory configured
to store a calibration code that characterizes a device response of
the one or more tunable elements.
[0007] Although some of the aspects of the subject matter disclosed
herein have been stated hereinabove, and which are achieved in
whole or in part by the presently disclosed subject matter, other
aspects will become evident as the description proceeds when taken
in connection with the accompanying drawings as best described
hereinbelow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The features and advantages of the present subject matter
will be more readily understood from the following detailed
description which should be read in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings that are given merely by way of explanatory
and non-limiting example, and in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method for calibrating
a tunable component according to an embodiment of the presently
disclosed subject matter;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a tunable component according
to an embodiment of the presently disclosed subject matter;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for calibrating
the tunable component shown in FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of
the presently disclosed subject matter;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a tunable component according
to an embodiment of the presently disclosed subject matter;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for calibrating
the tunable component shown in FIG. 4 according to an embodiment of
the presently disclosed subject matter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] Rather than relying on controlling the production of the
tunable devices to minimize the variation in performance and/or to
minimize the impact of the variation, the present subject matter
provides systems and methods that are designed to compensate for
the variation through appropriate control. In this way, more
precise device response values can be available, and higher yields
can be achieved for a given tolerance.
[0015] In this regard, in one aspect, the present subject matter
provides a method for calibrating a tunable component, such as a
tunable capacitor. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the performance of a
given tunable device can be characterized in a measurement step 10.
Specifically, measurement step 10 can comprise measuring a device
response for one or more inputs to a tunable component. For
example, for a tunable capacitor, measuring the device response can
comprise measuring a capacitance at one or more tuning states. Such
a measurement can be obtained at a final device test or in an
application final test (e.g. filter response). Based on the
measurement, the deviation from the nominal response can be noted.
In particular, a calibration digital word that characterizes the
device response of the tunable component can be written into a
non-volatile memory on the device in a storing step 20.
[0016] Upon receiving an input 30 that identifies the desired
response (e.g., the desired total capacitance), this calibration
digital word can thereafter be used in a calibration step 40 to
modify the tuning word that is applied to control the device. As
will be discussed in further detail below, in some configurations,
such modification can be performed externally from the device by
reading the calibration digital word from the device and
calculating the appropriate modified control word required for any
desired tuned value. This calculation can be performed for an
entire control table at system reset and/or it can be performed
on-the-fly as required during operation. Alternatively, in some
configurations, the compensation can be performed on the tunable
device itself by modifying control words written to the device by
the system using on-board circuits/logic.
[0017] In any configuration, the calibrated tuning word can be
applied in a tuning step 50 to adjust a tuning setting of the
tunable component based on the calibration code. In this way, a
desired response of the tunable component can be achieved that
compensates for the manufacturing variation and yields a more
precisely tuned value.
[0018] Within this general framework, the present subject matter
can be implemented in any of a variety of configurations. In one
embodiment shown in FIG. 2, for example, a tunable component,
generally designated 100, can include one or more tunable elements
and can be is configured to compensate for any variation in the
performance of its tunable elements. In particular, for example,
the one or more tunable elements can be one or more tunable
capacitors. Tuning of the tunable elements can be achieved by
applying a tuning word that is stored in a tuning word register
110. As discussed above, however, due to the variability in the
performance of the tunable elements, calibration of the tuning word
can be desirable such that a given desired output can be
achieved.
[0019] In this regard, tunable component 100 can further include a
non-volatile memory 120 configured to store one or more calibration
code that characterizes a device response of the one or more
tunable elements. Specifically, in some embodiments, the
calibration code can comprise one of a plurality of "bin"
identifiers that characterizes one or more of the tunable elements
as exhibiting a device response that falls within one of a
plurality of discrete device response ranges (e.g., less than 70%
of the designed response for a given input, less than 80%, less
than 90%, etc.). Accordingly, non-volatile memory 120 can be
configured to store one of the plurality of bin identifiers
associated with a discrete device response range of the tunable
component. In some embodiments, an individual bin identifier can be
selected to characterize a device response of each tunable element
of the tunable component. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the
bin identifier can be selected to characterize an aggregate device
response of an array of tunable elements of the tunable
component.
[0020] Regardless of how the bin identifier characterizes the
device performance, tuning of tunable component 100 can involve
communication with a driver 200 that is distinct from tunable
component 100 (e.g., by way of a serial data link). Driver 200 can
have access to a plurality of tuning word tables (e.g., first,
second, third, and fourth tuning word tables 210a, 210b, 210c, and
210d shown in FIG. 2). In some embodiments, for example, the number
of tuning words can be equal to an integer multiple of the number
of bin identifiers (i.e., one or more tuning word for every
bin)
[0021] With this configuration for tunable component 100, the
method for tuning tunable component 100 can be implemented as shown
in FIG. 3. In particular, calibration step 40 can comprise reading
the bin number from the storage on tunable component 100 in a bin
retrieval step 41. Then, for a given input 30, a tuning word
selection step 42 can comprise selecting one or more of a plurality
of tuning words (e.g., selected from tuning word tables 210a, 210b,
210c, and 210d) corresponding to the stored one of the plurality of
bin identifiers.
[0022] In this regard, the bin identifier can effectively be used
as an index to filter within a tuning-word matrix. As shown in
Table 1 below, for example, a portion of a tuning word matrix is
provided in which the range of capacitance values achievable by a
device are associated with both a bin identifier and a tuning word
(e.g., identified as t-2.000 through t-3.000). In this way, once
the matrix is filtered by the identified bin, a tuning word can be
selected to achieve the desired output. For example, if a response
of 2.000 is desired and the bin identifier is 80%, a tuning word of
t-2.500 would be utilized. Note that the step size between tuning
words and between bins may be product- and/or
application-specific.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 120% bin 100% bin 80% bin 70% bin t-3.000
3.600 3.000 2.400 2.100 t-2.875 3.450 2.875 2.300 2.013 t-2.750
3.300 2.750 2.200 1.925 t-2.625 3.150 2.625 2.100 1.838 t-2.500
3.000 2.500 2.000 1.750 t-2.375 2.850 2.375 1.900 1.663 t-2.250
2.700 2.250 1.800 1.575 t-2.125 2.550 2.125 1.700 1.488 t-2.000
2.400 2.000 1.600 1.400
[0023] In addition, the desired response can be controlled to be
within the discrete device response range of the bin identifier
having the smallest discrete device response range to maximize
yield. Specifically, for example, for a device having a response
range specification minimum that is 70% of a designed response
range (i.e., 70% bin), the desired response can be selected to
provide similar responses for other bins. As shown in Table 2
below, for example, settings for devices operating within the upper
bin values can be backed off to achieve a total output that is as
close as possible in value to the values achieved by a reference
device operating in the 70% bin (e.g., within the limits of the
resolution of the tuning steps available).
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 120% bin 100% bin 80% bin 70% bin 3.600
.fwdarw. 2.100 3.000 .fwdarw. 2.125 2.400 .fwdarw. 2.100 2.100
3.450 .fwdarw. 1.950 2.875 .fwdarw. 2.000 2.300 .fwdarw. 2.000
2.013 3.300 .fwdarw. 1.950 2.750 .fwdarw. 1.875 2.200 .fwdarw.
1.900 1.925 3.150 .fwdarw. 1.800 2.625 .fwdarw. 1.875 2.100
.fwdarw. 1.800 1.838 3.000 .fwdarw. 1.800 2.500 .fwdarw. 1.750
2.000 .fwdarw. 1.800 1.750 2.850 .fwdarw. 1.650 2.375 .fwdarw.
1.625 1.900 .fwdarw. 1.700 1.663 2.700 .fwdarw. 1.650 2.250
.fwdarw. 1.625 1.800 .fwdarw. 1.600 1.575 2.550 .fwdarw. 1.500
2.125 .fwdarw. 1.500 1.700 .fwdarw. 1.500 1.488 2.400 .fwdarw.
1.350 2.000 .fwdarw. 1.375 1.600 .fwdarw. 1.400 1.400
[0024] In addition, the specific tuning word(s) used can be
selected based on other variables in addition to the bin, which may
be used in computing the desired tuning word, selection from a
multi-dimensional selection matrix, or a combination of the two.
For example, parameters such as a frequency or frequencies of
operation, platform configurations, temperature, power level, data
from sensors, or other variables can be considered in the selection
of the tuning word (or words) to be used to achieve a desired
output.
[0025] A subset of the full set of tuning words corresponding to
the bin can be down-selected based on the bin identifier. This
subset can be read during power up or in similar circumstances so
that only the words that are of use would be in active memory for
selection. In this way, the `active` memory used during operation
only needs to read in the row/column of a tuning word matrix that
corresponds to the bin identifier at that initial stage. The rest
can stay in long-term storage. This pre-selection of the relevant
subset of a global tuning word matrix can save processor memory and
time.
[0026] Alternatively, in another configuration shown in FIG. 4,
tunable component 100 can be configured to perform on-chip
recalibration of tuning words rather than having the tuning word
adjustment done by driver 200. In this regard, tunable component
100 can further include a logic block 130 configured to generate a
tuning word that is selected based on the calibration code to
produce a response of the one or more tunable elements that
substantially matches a desired response. In some embodiments,
logic block 130 is included within logic of tunable component 100.
In the configuration where the tunable elements are tunable
capacitors, for example, logic block 130 can be configured to
generate a tuning word that is selected to produce a total
capacitance of the tunable capacitors that substantially matches a
desired total capacitance. This off-loading of the turning word
selection from driver 200 can allow for easier driver development
and operation. In addition, customer engineering can be more easily
designed during application development.
[0027] In some embodiments, non-volatile memory 120 can again be
configured to store one of a plurality of bin identifiers as
discussed above. In this configuration, however, logic block 130
can be used to select one or more of a plurality of tuning words
corresponding to the stored one of the plurality of bin identifiers
rather than driver 200. Alternatively, logic block 130 can be
configured to receive a reference tuning word corresponding to the
desired response, and logic block 130 can be configured to generate
the tuning word that is selected to produce the response of the one
or more tunable elements that substantially matches the desired
response by modifying the reference tuning word based on the
calibration code.
[0028] Specifically, in some embodiments, non-volatile memory 120
can be configured to store one or more coefficients of a
calibration tuning function. For example, for a first-degree
polynomial function C=aC.sub.1+C.sub.2, where a is an element of a
variable tuning input, the calibration code can define a set of
coefficients [C.sub.1, C.sub.2] that most closely maps the function
C to the measured performance capabilities of tunable component
100. In addition, those having skill in the art will recognize that
the function can also be a higher-order polynomial or a more
complex function that models the device response for a given set of
calibration coefficients.
[0029] With this on-chip calibration configuration, adjusting a
tuning setting can be performed as shown in FIG. 5. Specifically,
for a given input 30, a baseline tuning word corresponding to the
desired response can be communicated by driver 200 to tunable
component 100 in an initial selection step 45. Tunable component
100 can then itself generate a modified tuning word in a
calculation step 46 (e.g., at logic block 130) based on the
calibration code to produce a response of the tunable component
that substantially matches the desired response.
[0030] Furthermore, the operation of tunable component 100 can be
designed such that the desired response has a first numerical
resolution, but the response of tunable component 100 has a second
numerical resolution that is finer than the first numerical
resolution. For example, for a tunable capacitor array, the desired
response can be configured to define values to the nearest 0.125
pF, whereas the tunable capacitor array can be configured to
produce values to the nearest 0.0625 or 0.03125 pF. In this way,
even though the device performance may deviate from the designed
levels, fine adjustments can be made to get the performance very
close to the desired values.
[0031] The present subject matter can be embodied in other forms
without departure from the spirit and essential characteristics
thereof. The embodiments described therefore are to be considered
in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Although the
present subject matter has been described in terms of certain
preferred embodiments, other embodiments that are apparent to those
of ordinary skill in the art are also within the scope of the
present subject matter.
* * * * *