Variable inductance circuitry for frequency control of a voltage countrolled oscillator
AssigneeNXP B.V.
InventorYann Bouttement
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electronic device (2) is made from a first substrate (22) with device circuitry (32) including an inductor (42) and a second substrate (24) with inductance adjustment circuitry (60) including a number of other inductors (62). The substrates (22, 24) are assembled together to be opposite one another. The other inductors (62) are arranged to provide a selection of different mutual inductance relationships relative to the inductor (42). These relationships are selectable during operation of the device to provide a variable inductance in the device circuitry (32).
Claims25
A method, comprising:
- utilizing an electronic device (20) including a first substrate (22) carrying a voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) and a second substrate (24) carrying inductance adjustment circuitry (60), the voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) including a first inductor (42) and the inductance adjustment circuitry (60) including a second inductor (62);
- electromagnetically coupling the first inductor (42) and the second inductor (62) to provide a mutual inductance therebetween;
- during the coupling of the first inductor (42) and the second inductor (62), operating the voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) with a first frequency range determined as a function of the mutual inductance;
- with the inductance adjustment circuitry (60), changing operation of the second inductor (62) to alter the mutual inductance between the first inductor (42) and the second inductor (62);
- and operating the voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) with a second frequency range different than the first frequency range after the operation of the second inductor (62) is changed.
The method of claim of 1, which includes adjusting frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) within the first frequency range by varying a capacitance established with one or more components included in the voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41).
An apparatus, comprising:
- a first substrate (22);
- a second substrate (24) assembled with the first substrate (22) in an opposing relationship;
- voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) including a first inductor (42), the first inductor (42) being carried on the first substrate (22);
- and inductance adjustment circuitry (60) including an inductance selection device (69) and a second inductor (62), the second inductor (62) being carried on the second substrate (24), the inductance selection device (69) being structured to select between a number of different inductance values for the voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) by altering mutual inductance between the first inductor (42) and the second inductor (62) during operation of the apparatus, the different inductance values each establishing a different one of a number of corresponding operating frequency ranges for the voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) when selected.
The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the voltage controlled oscillator circuitry (41) includes means for adjusting frequency within each one of the operating frequency ranges.
A method of making an electronic device (20), comprising:
- providing a first substrate (22) with device circuitry (32) including an inductor (42) and a second substrate (24) with inductance adjustment circuitry (60) including a number of other inductors (62);
- assembling the first substrate (22) and the second substrate (24) together in a spatial relationship designed to provide a desired form of electromagnetic coupling of the inductor (42) and one or more of the other inductors (62) on a selective basis;
- and arranging the other inductors (62) to provide a selection of different mutual inductance relationships with the inductor (42), the different mutual inductance relationships each being selectable during operation of the electronic device (20) to provide a variable inductance.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a voltage controlled oscillator (40) including an inductor (42) carried on a first substrate (22);
- one or more other inductors (62) carried on a second substrate (24), the second substrate (24) being assembled together with the first substrate (22) to position the first substrate (22) and the second substrate (24) in a spatial relationship defined to provide electromagnetic coupling between the inductor (42) and the one or more other inductors (62) on a selective basis;
- and means for varying frequency range of the voltage controlled oscillator (40), the varying means including means for adjusting inductance in the voltage controlled oscillator (40) by altering mutual inductance between the inductor (42) and the one or more other inductors (62).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.