Adaptive matching network

#Mobile communications have become common place throughout society. Not only is voice communications prevalent, but also the need for mobile data communications such as email, and Internet browsing has increased. The efficiency of RF systems in mobile communications, such as antenna efficiency of a mobile device as it undergoes changes in its environment, can affect among other things the quality of communications experienced by mobile subscribers. Efficient RF power transfer, or good impedance matching, can affect the performance of RF subsystems, such as at the input port of an antenna, between filters, at the output stages of power amplifiers, and even inter-stage matching between amplifier stages.

#Impedance matching networks can be used by various devices and systems, for example, a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a wireless communication station, or a wireless communication device. Examples of RF systems that can utilize impedance matching networks include without limitation, a wireless Access Point (AP), a modem, a wireless modem, a computer (e.g., desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a network, a wireless network, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wireless LAN (WLAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Wireless MAN (WMAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Wireless WAN (WWAN), devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing IEEE 802.11x, 802.16x standards and/or future versions and/or derivatives and/or Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the above standards, a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Wireless PAN (WPAN), units and/or devices which are part of the above WLAN and/or PAN and/or WPAN networks, one way and/or two-way radio communication systems, cellular radio-telephone communication systems, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, a Personal Communication Systems (PCS) device, a PDA device which incorporates a wireless communication device, a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transceiver or device, a Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) transceiver or device, a Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) transceiver or device, a Multi Receiver Chain (MRC) transceiver or device, a transceiver or device having “smart antenna” technology or multiple antenna technology, or the like.

#The above RF systems can utilize any number of RF signaling techniques such as, for example, Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM), Orthogonal FDM (OFDM), Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM), Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Extended TDMA (E-TDMA), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Extended GPRS, Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA 2000, Multi-Carrier Modulation (MDM), Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT), Bluetooth®, ZigBee™, or the like.

#FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of simultaneous measurements of magnitude and phase for both forward and reflected waves;

#FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a Smith Chart illustrating course to fine tuning;

#FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative embodiment of simultaneous measurement of magnitude and phase for both forward and reflected waves;

#In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present disclosure.

#Some portions of the detailed description that follows are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits or binary digital signals within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations can be the techniques used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art.

#An algorithm is here, and generally, considered to be a self-consistent sequence of acts or operations leading to a desired result. These include physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.