System and method for a digitally tunable impedance matching network
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsXu Zhu, Mike Brobston
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates generally to digitally tunable impedance matching networks. In one example, a digitally tunable impedance matching network is configured to produce an overall reactance value of approximately X, and includes multiple reactive components that are configured to produce a reactance value in the range of approximately zero to X with a minimum resolution of approximately X/2n.
Claims24
An impedance matching system comprising:
- a digitally tunable impedance matching network having a maximum capacitance C, the network including:
- a first capacitor having a fixed plate and a moveable plate configured to be in a first position or a second position, wherein the first capacitor provides a predefined value of capacitance C/2 when the movable plate is in the first position and an open circuit when the movable plate is in the second position;
- and
- a second capacitor coupled in parallel to the first capacitor and having a fixed plate and a moveable plate configured to be in a first position or a second position, wherein the second capacitor provides a predefined value of capacitance equal to approximately C/2n (where n>=2) when the movable plate is in the first position and an open circuit when the movable plate is in the second position;
- and
- a digital controller coupled to the first and second capacitors and configured to actuate the moveable plate of one or both of the first and second capacitors to produce a capacitance in the range of zero to (C/2)+(C/2n).
An impedance matching network configured to produce a maximum reactance value of X comprising:
- a plurality of reactive elements each having a reactance value X/2n (where 1≧=n<=total number of reactive elements (nmax)) and the reactance value of each reactive element is smaller than the reactance value of the next largest reactive element by a factor of 2, and wherein each of the reactive elements is coupled to a controller and configured to be individually actuated by the controller to tune the digitally tunable impedance matching network to have a reactance value ranging from approximately zero to X in steps of approximately X/2nmax.
A system for receiving and transmitting information comprising:
- an antenna;
- a front-end module coupled to the antenna;
- a low noise amplifier coupled to the front-end module to form a reception path for information received from the antenna;
- a power amplifier coupled to the front-end module to form a transmission path for information sent to the antenna;
- and
- a digitally tunable impedance matching circuit coupled between the front-end module and at least one of the antenna, the low noise amplifier, and the power amplifier, wherein the digitally tunable impedance matching circuit has a maximum reactance value of X and is comprised of a plurality of reactive elements having sequential reactance values differing by a factor of two and ranging from a largest reactance value of X/2 to a smallest reactance value of X/2n, wherein n>=2.
A method for matching a target impedance comprising:
- calculating a matching impedance needed to match a target impedance;
- converting the matching impedance to a binary signal based on a minimum resolution of an impedance network to be used for producing the matching impedance;
- sending the binary signal to at least one actuator associated with a reactive element;
- and
- actuating the reactive element using the at least one actuator to substantially produce the matching impedance using the impedance network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.