PC radio card capable of operating at a nonstandard power output level by limiting the current being drawn from a power amplifier
AssigneeSierra Wireless, Inc.
InventorsTrent McKeen, Robert M. Lukas, Bruce M. Miller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hand-held, PCMCIA cellular radio modem card is described which uses a non-standard power output level. The non-standard power output is defined as the maximum RF power attainable such that the current drawn by the power amplifier does not exceed 400 mA. This definition permits the use of the wireless modem inside hand-held computing devices without the use of an additional battery pack extension.
Claims16
A PC radio card adapted to be connected to a hand-held personal computer and adapted to be powered by a battery that also powers said hand-held personal computer, the PC radio card using a number of output power levels controlled by current supplied to a power amplifier in the PC radio card, the output power levels including multiple implemented standard power output levels and a nonstandard power output level, the nonstandard power output level being greater than the multiple implemented standard power output levels but less than an unimplemented standard power output level, wherein a current control circuit, having an automatic leveling circuit, in the PC radio card prevents a current drawn by said power amplifier from said battery from exceeding a predetermined current limit when the PC radio card is transmitting at the nonstandard power output level.
A PC radio card adapted to be connected to a hand-held personal computer and adapted to be powered by a battery that also powers said hand-held personal computer, the PC radio card using a number of output power levels set by current supplied to a power amplifier in the PC radio card, the output power levels including multiple implemented standard power output levels and a nonstandard power output level, wherein a current control circuit, having an automatic leveling circuit, in the PC radio card prevents a current drawn by said power amplifier from said battery from exceeding a predetermined current limit when the PC radio card is transmitting at the nonstandard power output level.
A system including:
- a battery-powered hand-held personal computer;
- and
- a PC radio card connected to the hand-held personal computer and powered by a battery that also powers the hand-held personal computer, the PC radio card using a number of output power levels set by current supplied to a power amplifier in the PC radio card, the output power levels including multiple implemented standard power output levels and a nonstandard power output level, the nonstandard power output level being greater than the multiple implemented standard power output levels but less than an unimplemented standard power output level, wherein a current control circuit, having an automatic leveling circuit, in the PC radio card prevents a current drawn by said power amplifier from said battery from exceeding a predetermined current limit when the PC radio card is transmitting at the nonstandard battery power output level.
A PC card transceiver including:
- an antenna;
- an amplifier operably connected to the antenna:
- a current controller, having an automatic leveling circuit, operably connected to the amplifier to set the power output of the transceiver, the current controller adapted to produce a number of standard transceiver power output levels and a nonstandard transceiver output power level, and operable to limit the amplifier current when said PC card transceiver is transmitting at the nonstandard transceiver output power level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.