Tuning an electrically small antenna

An antenna tuning circuit in a mobile device comprising an electrically small antenna tuned by the antenna tuning circuit, the antenna tuning circuit comprising:

• one or more position sensors detecting a position of the mobile device;
• one or more wired accessory sensors detecting a connectivity of a wired accessory relative to the mobile device;
• a timer;
• a timer initiating circuit that initiates the timer when at least one of:
• the one or more position sensors detects a change in the position of the mobile device, the one or more wired accessory sensors detect a change in the connectivity of the wired accessory relative to the mobile device, and a change in an audio channel selected by the mobile device occurs;
• a signal sensor monitoring an audio signal produced by the audio channel selected by the mobile device;
• a tuner;
• and
• a tuner activation circuit that activates the tuner to retune the electrically small antenna upon an earlier of an expiration of the timer and a detection, by the signal sensor, of at least one signal metric, associated with the audio signal, dropping below a threshold.

A processor for controlling a retuning of an electrically small antenna that is associated with a mobile device, the processor configured to:

• receive an indication of a change in at least one of:
• a connectivity of a wired accessory relative to the mobile device, a position of the mobile device, and an audio channel selected by the mobile device;
• initiate a timer in response to the received indication;
• and
• request a retuning of the electrically small antenna upon an earlier of an expiration of the timer and a detection of at least one signal metric, associated with an audio signal from the audio channel selected by the mobile device, dropping below a threshold.