# US 12,003,260 B2 · Antenna unit, transmission system and method for operating an antenna unit > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,003,260 B2 - Document ID: US12003260B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/055,125 - Filed: 2019-05-14 - Published: 2021-11-11 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2018-05-14 - Assignees: Molex Technologies GmbH - Applicants: Molex Technologies GmbH - Inventors: Helmut Nast; Thomas Bartsch; Lars Lehmann; Ahmed Sayed - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12003260B2 ## CPC - H04B 1/0458: {Arrangements for matching and coupling between power amplifier and antenna or between amplifying stages (matching circuits in general H03H)} - H04B 17/12: of transmit antennas, e.g. of the amplitude or phase - H03F 3/245: {with semiconductor devices only} - H04B 1/18: Input circuits, e.g. for coupling to an antenna or a transmission line (coupling networks between antennas or lines and receivers independent of the nature of the receiver H03H) - H04B 17/13: of power amplifiers, e.g. gain or non-linearity - H04B 17/221: {of receiver antennas, e.g. as to amplitude or phase} - H04B: TRANSMISSION - H03F: AMPLIFIERS ## Abstract An antenna unit is configured to transmit and/or receive signals and is connected to transmitting/receiving unit via a signal cable. A control device is configured to adjust signal strength by modifying gain of the control device. A calibration signal is provided by the transmitting/receiving unit and the signal strength of the calibration signal is used to adjust the gain of the control device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: providing an antenna unit with a device-side signal interface and an antenna-side signal interface; receiving a calibration signal with the device-side signal interface in a calibration process; determining a signal strength of the calibration signal with a power detector; comparing the determined signal strength with a reference signal strength; and adjusting a gain factor of a gain controlling device such that the difference between the reference signal strength and a signal strength of a gain modified calibration signal is minimized, wherein the antenna unit is operated with the gain factor set in this way after the calibration process has ended and without transmitting the calibration signal or the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna connected to the antenna-side signal interface; wherein the calibration process does not send the calibration signal or the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna connected to the antenna-side signal interface, thereby avoiding a transmission signal that could otherwise form an undesired interference signal emitted by the antenna that disturbs operation of other units. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the calibration signal is generated by a transmitting/receiving unit and is transmitted to the antenna unit via a coaxial cable via the device-side signal interface, and wherein the method includes compensating for signal loss caused by the coaxial cable without additional signal transmission between the antenna unit and the transmitting/receiving unit. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the transmitting/receiving unit generates the calibration signal at a maximum signal strength that can be generated or at a signal strength which corresponds to a predetermined proportion of the maximum signal strength. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the ratio of the reference signal strength to the maximum signal strength is equal to the ratio of the signal strength of the signal generated by the transmitting/receiving unit to the maximum signal strength that can be generated. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the provision of the calibration signal and the adjusting of the gain factor is carried out each time the antenna unit is switched on or activated when an ignition on state is established for a vehicle in which the antenna unit arranged. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the gain controlling device is either a damper device or an amplifier device. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the gain controlling device sets the signal strength of a transmission signal and a signal strength of a reception signal. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining a variation in temperature, wherein the gain factor of the gain control device is changed as a function of the variation in temperature such that a maximum reference power of the antenna unit is not exceeded or undershot when a transmitting/receiving unit that generates the calibration signal is transmitting at maximum power. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further including the step of determining a supply voltage of the antenna unit, wherein the gain factor of the gain control device is changed as a function of the supply voltage thereby allowing an overall amplification of the antenna unit to remain substantially constant when the supply voltage changes by fully or at least partially compensating for supply-voltage-related changes in the amplification. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, including the step of activating a transmission mode by the antenna unit, wherein the calibration process is carried out in the transmission mode. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the gain factor at the beginning of the calibration process is determined as a function of at least one gain factor which was determined in a previous calibration process. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna unit includes a control device and the control device detects an error state when the minimized difference is greater than a predetermined threshold value. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, including the step of determining a signal strength of a transmission signal, wherein the gain factor determined in a previous calibration process is changed as a function of the signal strength. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: the gain factor is an attenuation factor; and the method incudes using an attenuator device for adjusting the attenuation factor such that the antenna unit is operated with the attenuation factor after the calibration process has ended. ### Claim 15 A method comprising: providing an antenna unit with a device-side signal interface and an antenna-side signal interface; receiving a calibration signal with the device-side signal interface in a calibration process; determining a signal strength of the calibration signal with a power detector; comparing the determined signal strength with a reference signal strength; and adjusting a gain factor of a gain controlling device such that the difference between the reference signal strength and a signal strength of a gain modified calibration signal is minimized, wherein the antenna unit is operated with the gain factor set in this way after the calibration process has ended and without transmitting the calibration signal or the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna connected to the antenna-side signal interface; wherein: the gain factor is an attenuation factor; the method incudes using an attenuator device for adjusting the attenuation factor such that the antenna unit is operated with the attenuation factor after the calibration process has ended; the antenna unit includes a transmission signal branch and a received signal branch; the attenuator device is arranged both in the transmission signal branch and in the received signal branch; and the method includes using the attenuation factor determined during the calibration process for both the attenuation factor adjusted in a transmission mode of the antenna unit and the attenuation factor adjusted in a receive mode of the antenna unit. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the calibration process does not send the calibration signal or the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna connected to the antenna-side signal interface, thereby avoiding a transmission signal that could otherwise form an undesired interference signal emitted by the antenna that disturbs operation of other units. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the calibration signal comprises: a modulated signal with a low crest factor describing a ratio of peak power to an average power of the modulated signal; an OFDM-modulated (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing) signal; or an unmodulated continuous wave signal. ### Claim 18 A method comprising: providing an antenna unit with a device-side signal interface and an antenna-side signal interface; receiving a calibration signal with the device-side signal interface in a calibration process; determining a signal strength of the calibration signal with a power detector; comparing the determined signal strength with a reference signal strength; and adjusting a gain factor of a gain controlling device such that the difference between the reference signal strength and a signal strength of a gain modified calibration signal is minimized, wherein the antenna unit is operated with the gain factor set in this way after the calibration process has ended and without transmitting the calibration signal or the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna connected to the antenna-side signal interface; wherein the method includes transmitting the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna equivalent resistor without transmitting the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna connected to the antenna-side signal interface, thereby avoiding a transmission signal that could otherwise form an undesired interference signal emitted by the antenna that disturbs operation of other units. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the method includes: transmitting the calibration signal via a coaxial cable to the device-side signal interface; compensating for signal loss caused by the coaxial cable without additional signal transmission between the antenna unit and a transmitting/receiving unit that generated the calibration signal; transmitting the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna equivalent resistor without transmitting the gain modified calibration signal to an antenna connected to the antenna-side signal interface, thereby avoiding a transmission signal that could otherwise form an undesired interference signal emitted by the antenna that disturbs operation of other units; determining a variation in temperature, wherein the gain factor of the gain control device is changed as a function of the variation in temperature such that a maximum reference power of the antenna unit is not exceeded or undershot when a transmitting/receiving unit that generates the calibration signal is transmitting at maximum power; and determining a supply voltage of the antenna unit, wherein the gain factor of the gain control device is changed as a function of the supply voltage thereby allowing an overall amplification of the antenna unit to remain substantially constant when the supply voltage changes by fully or at least partially compensating for supply-voltage-related changes in the amplification.