Patent ID: 12228655

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Use of the term “approximately,” “near,” “about,” “close to,” and/or “substantially” should be understood to mean including close to a target (e.g., design, value, amount), such as within a margin of any suitable or contemplatable error (e.g., within 0.1% of a target, within 1% of a target, within 5% of a target, within 10% of a target, within 25% of a target, and so on).

This disclosure is directed to antenna tuning for various signal types in electronic devices (e.g., radio frequency communication devices). The electronic device may include one or more shared antennas that may each receive cellular signals and satellite signals in multiple frequency bands. For example, the one or more shared antennas may receive a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signal transmitted by a GNSS satellite in L1 frequency bands (e.g., centered at 1575.42 MHz) and/or L5 frequency bands (e.g., centered at 1176.45 MHz). In some cases, the shared one or more antennas may be tuned to a cellular frequency, and the GNSS signals in some/all frequency bands may be severely attenuated as a result. For example, the one or more shared antenna may periodically be tuned to cellular bands for cellular paging operations even when there is no cellular operation. This periodic antenna de-tune from GNSS operation to cellular paging operations (e.g., periodic requests (e.g., every 1.28 second) for cellular tuning for a duration of 1 millisecond (ms) to 10 ms may introduce noise into and degrade the GNSS signals. In particular, the GNSS signals may be 20 decibels (dB) below a noise floor of cellular operations without additional de-tuning or de-sensing due to antenna tuning away from a GNSS frequency band. Thus, GNSS processing may be unnecessary and result in unneeded power expenditure without any user benefit.

Additionally, the electronic device may receive low earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals on a LEO transmit frequency band (e.g., 1610-1618.725 megahertz (MHz)) that may interfere with the L1 band for GNSS signal reception. This may result in interference with the GNSS signals received by the one or more antennas on the L1 band. Additionally, governmental bodies and other regulatory bodies may implement restrictions on LEO satellite communication according to certain geographical areas, such as requiring that the electronic device deactivate a LEO transceiver and halt LEO satellite communication in the certain geographical areas.

Embodiments herein provide various apparatuses and techniques to reduce GNSS signal attenuation and unnecessary GNSS receiver power output during shared antenna tuning with cellular operations. To do so, the embodiments disclosed herein include GNSS receiver architecture that enables independent power control for signals received at one or more GNSS receivers. In particular, a GNSS receiver may be deactivated and/or blanked (e.g., the received signals may be “blanked” or replaced with “dummy” signals, such as a signals having only zeroes) when the shared antenna is detuned (e.g., with respect to GNSS) for cellular requests. In this way, attenuation of GNSS signals during cellular operation using the shared antenna may be mitigated or avoided. Moreover, blanking the GNSS receiver, as opposed to deactivating the GNSS receiver, may enable faster activation of the GNSS receiver, thus reducing latency time and excess power output associated with deactivating and activating the GNSS receiver multiple times over short time durations.

Additionally, to address LEO satellite transmission interference with the GNSS signals in the L1 band, the electronic device may deactivate (e.g., shut off or depower) a GNSS L1 receiver during LEO satellite transmissions. That is, the electronic device may determine that a LEO satellite transmission signal is to be received, and deactivate the GNSS L1 receiver for a period of time that the electronic device receives the LEO satellite transmissions. The electronic device may also enable a GNSS L5 receiver so that GNSS signals may continue to be received and processed by the electronic device in the L5 frequency band, which may not interfere with the LEO satellite transmission signal. The electronic device may also enable periodic tracking and updating of a location of the electronic device (e.g., relative to geographical areas where LEO satellite transmissions are not permitted based on territory regulations). The electronic device may initially determine a distance the device is to an area where LEO satellite communication is restricted (e.g., geographical areas where the LEO transceiver of the electronic device should be deactivated). The electronic device may periodically determine the location of the device via receiving GNSS L5 signals, and may increase the frequency of location determination based on the distance to the restricted LEO satellite area decreasing. Accordingly, the electronic device may increase frequency of location determination as the electronic device approaches the restricted LEO use area, and may deactivate the LEO transceiver when the electronic device is within the restricted LEO use area.

With the foregoing in mind,FIG.1is a block diagram of an electronic device10, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic device10may include, among other things, one or more processors12(collectively referred to herein as a single processor for convenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), memory14, nonvolatile storage16, a display18, input structures22, an input/output (I/O) interface24, a network interface26, and a power source29. The various functional blocks shown inFIG.1may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including machine-executable instructions) or a combination of both hardware and software elements (which may be referred to as logic). The processor12, memory14, the nonvolatile storage16, the display18, the input structures22, the input/output (I/O) interface24, the network interface26, and/or the power source29may each be communicatively coupled directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive data between one another. It should be noted thatFIG.1is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in electronic device10.

By way of example, the electronic device10may include any suitable computing device, including a desktop or notebook computer (e.g., in the form of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or Mac Pro® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a portable electronic or handheld electronic device such as a wireless electronic device or smartphone (e.g., in the form of a model of an iPhone® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a tablet (e.g., in the form of a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a wearable electronic device (e.g., in the form of an Apple Watch® by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), and other similar devices. It should be noted that the processor12and other related items inFIG.1may be generally referred to herein as “data processing circuitry.” Such data processing circuitry may be embodied wholly or in part as software, hardware, or both. Furthermore, the processor12and other related items inFIG.1may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the electronic device10. The processor12may be implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machines, or any other suitable entities that may perform calculations or other manipulations of information. The processors12may perform the various functions described herein and below.

In the electronic device10ofFIG.1, the processor12may be operably coupled with a memory14and a nonvolatile storage16to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor12may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media. The tangible, computer-readable media may include the memory14and/or the nonvolatile storage16, individually or collectively, to store the instructions or routines. The memory14and the nonvolatile storage16may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. In addition, programs (e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that may be executed by the processor12to enable the electronic device10to provide various functionalities.

In certain embodiments, the display18may facilitate users to view images generated on the electronic device10. In some embodiments, the display18may include a touch screen, which may facilitate user interaction with a user interface of the electronic device10. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display18may include one or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light-emitting diode (LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, or some combination of these and/or other display technologies.

The input structures22of the electronic device10may enable a user to interact with the electronic device10(e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface24may enable electronic device10to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interface26. In some embodiments, the I/O interface24may include an I/O port for a hardwired connection for charging and/or content manipulation using a standard connector and protocol, such as the Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California, a universal serial bus (USB), or other similar connector and protocol. The network interface26may include, for example, one or more interfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as a BLUETOOTH® network, for a local area network (LAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN), such as a network employing one of the IEEE 802.11x family of protocols (e.g., WI-FI®), and/or for a wide area network (WAN), such as any standards related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including, for example, a 3rd generation (3G) cellular network, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), 4th generation (4G) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE®) cellular network, long term evolution license assisted access (LTE-LAA) cellular network, 5th generation (5G) cellular network, and/or New Radio (NR) cellular network, a satellite network, and so on. In particular, the network interface26may include, for example, one or more interfaces for using a Release-15 cellular communication standard of the 5G specifications that include the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency range (e.g., 24.25-300 gigahertz (GHz)). The network interface26of the electronic device10may allow communication over the aforementioned networks (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, and so forth).

The network interface26may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (e.g., WIMAX®), mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WIMAX®), asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T®) network and its extension DVB Handheld (DVB-H®) network, ultra-wideband (UWB) network, alternating current (AC) power lines, and so forth.

As illustrated, the network interface26may include a transceiver30. In some embodiments, all or portions of the transceiver30may be disposed within the processor12. The transceiver30may support transmission and receipt of various wireless signals via one or more antennas. The power source29of the electronic device10may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter. In certain embodiments, the electronic device10may take the form of a computer, a portable electronic device, a wearable electronic device, or other type of electronic device.

FIG.2is a functional diagram of the electronic device10ofFIG.1, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the processor12, the memory14, the transceiver30, the transmitter52, the receiver54, and/or the antennas55(illustrated as55A-55N, collectively an antenna55) may be communicatively coupled directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive data between one another.

The electronic device10may include the transmitter52and/or the receiver54that respectively enable transmission and reception of data between the electronic device10and a remote location via, for example, a network or direction connection associated with the electronic device10and an external transceiver (e.g., in the form of a cell, eNB (E-UTRAN Node B or Evolved Node B), base stations, and the like. As illustrated, the transmitter52and the receiver54may be combined into the transceiver30. The electronic device10may also have one or more antennas55A-55N electrically coupled to the transceiver30. The antennas55A-55N may be configured in an omnidirectional or directional configuration, in a single-beam, dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangement, and so on. Each antenna55may be associated with a one or more beams and various configurations. In some embodiments, multiple antennas of the antennas55A-55N of an antenna group or module may be communicatively coupled a respective transceiver30and each emit radio frequency signals that may constructively and/or destructively combine to form a beam. The electronic device10may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas as suitable for various communication standards.

The transmitter52may wirelessly transmit packets having different packet types or functions. For example, the transmitter52may transmit packets of different types generated by the processor12. The receiver54may wirelessly receive packets having different packet types. In some examples, the receiver54may detect a type of a packet used and process the packet accordingly. In some embodiments, the transmitter52and the receiver54may transmit and receive information via other wired or wireline systems or means.

As illustrated, the various components of the electronic device10may be coupled together by a bus system56. The bus system56may include a data bus, for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus, in addition to the data bus. The components of the electronic device10may be coupled together or accept or provide inputs to each other using some other mechanism.

FIG.3is a schematic diagram of the transmitter52(e.g., transmit circuitry), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the transmitter52may receive outgoing data60in the form of a digital signal to be transmitted via the one or more antennas55. A digital-to-analog converter (DAC)62of the transmitter52may convert the digital signal to an analog signal, and a modulator64may combine the converted analog signal with a carrier signal to generate a radio wave. A power amplifier (PA)66receives the modulated signal from the modulator64. The power amplifier66may amplify the modulated signal to a suitable level to drive transmission of the signal via the one or more antennas55. A filter68(e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) of the transmitter52may then remove undesirable noise from the amplified signal to generate transmitted data70to be transmitted via the one or more antennas55. The filter68may include any suitable filter or filters to remove the undesirable noise from the amplified signal, such as a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and/or a decimation filter. Additionally, the transmitter52may include any suitable additional components not shown, or may not include certain of the illustrated components, such that the transmitter52may transmit the outgoing data60via the one or more antennas55. For example, the transmitter52may include a mixer and/or a digital up converter. As another example, the transmitter52may not include the filter68if the power amplifier66outputs the amplified signal in or approximately in a desired frequency range (such that filtering of the amplified signal may be unnecessary).

FIG.4is a schematic diagram of the receiver54(e.g., receive circuitry), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the receiver54may receive received data80from the one or more antennas55in the form of an analog signal. A low noise amplifier (LNA)82may amplify the received analog signal to a suitable level for the receiver54to process. A filter84(e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) may remove undesired noise from the received signal, such as cross-channel interference. The filter84may also remove additional signals received by the one or more antennas55which are at frequencies other than the desired signal. The filter84may include any suitable filter or filters to remove the undesired noise or signals from the received signal, such as a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and/or a decimation filter. A demodulator86may remove a radio frequency envelope and/or extract a demodulated signal from the filtered signal for processing. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC)88may receive the demodulated analog signal and convert the signal to a digital signal of incoming data90to be further processed by the electronic device10. Additionally, the receiver54may include any suitable additional components not shown, or may not include certain of the illustrated components, such that the receiver54may receive the received data80via the one or more antennas55. For example, the receiver54may include a mixer and/or a digital down converter.

As discussed above, the electronic device10may include one or more antennas55that may receive cellular signals and/or satellite signals in multiple frequency bands. A global navigation satellite signal (GNSS) signal may be transmitted by a GNSS satellite in an L1 frequency bands (e.g., 1575.42 MHz) and L5 frequency bands (e.g., 1,176.45 MHz) and be received by the shared one or more antennas. In some cases, the shared one or more antennas are tuned to a cellular frequency and the GNSS signals in some/all frequency bands may be severely attenuated as a result of antenna tuning operations corresponding to cellular connected modes (e.g., Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VOLTE) calls, video streaming) and/or cellular paging operations. That is, the GNSS signals may have signal quality values below a GNSS receiver' acquisition and/or tracking threshold signal quality values (e.g., signal quality values used to determine a location of the electronic device10). Thus, GNSS processing may be unnecessary and result in unneeded power expenditure without any user benefit.

With the foregoing in mind,FIG.5is a schematic diagram of communication circuitry100of the electronic device10, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic device10may include a LEO transceiver102that enables sending and receiving LEO signals, a cellular transceiver104that enables sending and receiving cellular signals, a GNSS L1 receiver106that enables receiving GNSS signals on the L1 band, and a GNSS L5 receiver108that enables receiving GNSS signals on the L5 band. The communication circuitry100may include a baseband processor114that utilizes radio frequency (RF) control software110to control the one or more receivers and transceivers and an antenna tuner112based on one or more tune requests received at the baseband processor114. The baseband processor114may be in the form of the processor12described above.

The GNSS L1 receiver108and the GNSS L5 receiver106may include the components of the receiver54discussed inFIG.4to receive GNSS L1 band signals and GNSS L5 band signals, respectively. The cellular transceiver104may include the components of the transceiver30described inFIG.2, including those of the transmitter52and the receiver54ofFIGS.3and4, to transmit and receive cellular signals. The LEO transceiver102may also include the components of the transceiver described inFIG.2, including those of the transmitter52and the receiver54ofFIGS.3and4, to transmit and receive LEO satellite signals. The receivers106,108and the transceivers102,104described above may be coupled to one or more antenna tuners112(collectively an antenna tuner112). The baseband processor114may send one or more control signals to the antenna tuner112to cause the antenna tuner112to tune a resonant frequency of the one or more antennas55to send or receive signals efficiently at a desired frequency. The antenna tuner112may include any suitable device that may tune the frequency of the one or more antennas55to a desired frequency, such as an aperture tuner, an impedance tuner, and so on. The baseband processor114may include or execute RF control software110that may receiver and/or process tune requests (e.g., a cellular tune request118, a GNSS tune request120, and a LEO tune request122) and determine and/or send control instructions to the antenna tuner112, the transceivers102,104, and/or the receivers106,108based on the received tune requests.

For example, the baseband processor114may receive a cellular tune request118and a GNSS tune request120(e.g., from an application processor, such as the processor12) along with additional information regarding the tune request (e.g., duration information, cellular operation information). The RF control software110may determine that the cellular tune request118is for a cellular operation (e.g., Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VOLTE), video streaming) based on the tune request information. Performing the cellular operation may cause GNSS signals received at the shared antenna55to be severely attenuated. If in operation, the GNSS L1 and L5 receivers108,106may expend excessive power in an effort to process the attenuated GNSS signals. Accordingly, the RF control software110may deactivate or blank (e.g., replace the received GNSS signals with “dummy” signals, such as a signals having only zeroes) the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106when operating the cellular transceiver104(e.g., as indicated by receiving the cellular tune request118). In some embodiments, the RF control software110may determine a cellular frequency for the cellular tune request118, and determine whether the cellular frequency interferes with GNSS L1 and/or GNSS L5 band signals. If so, the RF control software110may deactivate or blank the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106when operating the cellular transceiver104. The RF control software110may cause the antenna tuner112to tune to a desired cellular frequency and cause the cellular transceiver104to send or receive cellular signals over the desired cellular frequency when operating the cellular transceiver104. The RF control software110may also cause the antenna tuner112to tune to a desired L1 and/or L5 frequency and cause the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106to receive GNSS signals when operating the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106. The RF control software110may thus operate the antenna tuner112, the cellular transceiver104, and/or the GNSS L1 receiver108, the GNSS L5 receiver106based on tune requests received at the baseband processor114. In particular, the RF control software110may send instructions to these components to deactivate the components, activate the components, blank signals received by the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106, or the like.

In some embodiments, the baseband processor114may receive a cellular tune request118, but no GNSS tune request120. Therefore, the baseband processor114may utilize the RF control software110to cause the antenna tuner112to tune to a desired cellular frequency and cause the cellular transceiver104to send or receive cellular signals over the desired cellular frequency, but would not cause the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106to receive GNSS signals, because no GNSS tune request120was received at the baseband processor114, and therefore no processing of the GNSS signals is required. In some embodiments, one or more of the receivers106,108and transceivers102,104shown inFIG.5may not be included in the communication circuitry100. For example, in one embodiment, the communication circuitry100may include only the cellular transceiver104and a single GNSS receiver (e.g., either the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106). In another embodiment, the communication circuitry100may include only the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106and the LEO transceiver102. That is, it should be understood that the communication circuitry100may include any combination of the receiver106,108and transceiver102,104components depicted inFIG.5.

Based on the foregoing,FIG.6is a flowchart of a method130for tuning an antenna55shared by the cellular transceiver104and a GNSS receiver (e.g.,106,108) as shown inFIG.6, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the electronic device10, such as the processor12(e.g., the baseband processor114), may perform the method130. In some embodiments, the method130may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory14or storage16, using the processor12. For example, the method130may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the electronic device10, one or more software applications of the electronic device10, and the like. As a specific example, the method130may be performed at least in part by the processor12executing the RF control software110. While the method130is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

In process block132, the processor12receives a GNSS tune request120for antenna tuning of the shared antenna55(e.g., an antenna that is capable of receiving at least GNSS signals and cellular signals) to an L1 band frequency (e.g., 1575.42 MHz) and/or an L5 band frequency (e.g., 1176.45 MHz). In particular, the processor12, in the form of the baseband processor114, may receive the GNSS tune request120from an application processor of the electronic device10. In some embodiments, the processor12may determine a frequency or frequency band (e.g., the L1 band or the L5 band) for receiving GNSS signals based on the GNSS tune request120.

In process block134, the processor12tunes the shared antenna55to the GNSS L1 band or L5 band frequency. The processor12may also activate (e.g., turn on) the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver, such that the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or GNSS L5 receiver may receive and/or process GNSS signals (e.g., from a GNSS satellite).

In process block136, the processor12receives a cellular tune request118for antenna tuning of the shared antenna (e.g., to a specified cellular frequency). In particular, the processor12may receive the cellular tune request118from an application processor of the electronic device10. In some embodiments, the processor12may determine a cellular frequency for the cellular tune request118, and determine whether the cellular frequency interferes with GNSS L1 and/or GNSS L5 band signals. For example, the processor12may determine, based on the cellular frequency associated with the cellular tune request, that the cellular frequency would severely attenuate the L1 band signals received at the shared antenna. That is, the processor may determine that a signal quality of the attenuated GNSS L1 band signal is below GNSS L1 receiver108acquisition and/or tracking threshold values.

In process block138, the processor12tunes the shared antenna55to the specified cellular frequency and enables the cellular transceiver104. The processor12may also deactivate or blank the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106, for example, based on the determined signal interference. That is, the processor12may determine to deactivate or blank the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106based on the cellular tune request information (e.g., type of cellular request, duration of request).

In this manner, unnecessary power output due to processing attenuated GNSS signals received by the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5 receiver106may be mitigated by deactivating and/or blanking the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or GNSS L5 receiver106when tuning the shared antenna55to perform cellular tune requests118.

With the foregoing in mind,FIG.7is a flowchart of method140for tuning an antenna55shared by the cellular transceiver104and the GNSS receiver (e.g.,106,108) as shown in FIG.5based on a cellular operation, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the electronic device10, such as the processor12(e.g., baseband processor114), may perform the method140. In some embodiments, the method140may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory14or storage16, using the processor12. For example, the method140may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the electronic device10, one or more software applications of the electronic device10, and the like. As a specific example, the method140may be performed at least in part by the processor12executing the RF control software110. While the method140is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

In process block142, the processor12receives a cellular tune request118for antenna tuning of the shared antenna55(e.g., an antenna that is capable of receiving at least GNSS signals and cellular signals) to a cellular frequency. In particular, the processor12, in the form of the baseband processor114, may receive the cellular tune request118from an application processor of the electronic device10. In some embodiments, the processor12may determine the cellular frequency or frequency band based on the cellular tune request118.

In decision block144, the processor12determines whether the cellular tune request118corresponds to a paging operation. For example, when the electronic device10is in a cellular idle state (e.g., performing GNSS operations), the cellular transceiver104may perform periodic paging operations on a cadence of every few seconds (e.g., 1.28 sec) to monitor for paging messages from base stations or cellular network operators to determine whether there is incoming data from the cellular network. These periodic paging operations may result in periodic detuning of the GNSS receivers106,108at the shared antenna55for a short duration (e.g., 1-10 ms).

If the processor12determines that the request is a paging operation, the processor12, at process block146, blanks the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or GNSS L5106receiver. In some embodiments, the processor12blanks the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or GNSS L5 receiver106based on determining whether the cellular frequency interferes with the GNSS frequency (e.g., the L1 band and/or the L5 band). In particular, the processor12may blank a GNSS receiver106,108by replacing received GNSS signals with “dummy” signals, such as “zeroing out” the signals by replacing the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or GNSS L5 receiver106with signals having only zeroes. As such, the GNSS signals may be processed by a GNSS receiver106,108with little or no additional power output from RF and/or digital components of the GNSS receiver106,108.

If the processor12determines, at process block148, that the cellular tune request118is not a paging operation (e.g., that the cellular tune request118corresponds to a long duration cellular operation), the processor12deactivates the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or the GNSS L5106receiver. It should be understood that the paging operation is an example of a short duration cellular operation, and any suitable operation may be substituted for or added to the paging operation. For example, the paging operation may be substituted with any cellular operation that takes at least 2 seconds to complete, 1 second to complete, 100 ms to complete, 10 ms to complete, 5 ms to complete, 1 ms to complete, 0.5 ms to complete, and so on.

At process block150, the processor12enables the cellular transceiver104to send and/or receive and/or process the cellular signals received by the shared antenna55. Blanking a GNSS receiver106,108based on short duration cellular operations (e.g., the paging operation) may prevent latency and excess power output in the GNSS receiver106,108during short duration cellular tune requests.

In some embodiments, a first cellular tune request118may be received, the corresponding cellular operation may be completed, and then, after a short time duration (e.g., greater than 1 picosecond, greater than 1 nanosecond, greater than 1 ms, between 1 ms and 10 seconds), a second cellular tune request118may be received again at the processor12after the short duration. In some cases, a GNSS tune request120may be received by the processor12during performance of the first cellular tune request118(e.g., and thus may be queued) or during the short duration (e.g., when no cellular tune request118is received). This may result in the shared antenna55being tuned to the GNSS frequency and activation of the GNSS receivers106,108for the short duration, only to have to disable the GNSS receivers106,108, after the short duration due to the second cellular tune request118. Unnecessary or excessive power may be output due to activating and deactivating the GNSS receivers106,108for such short time periods over the short time durations.

Based on the discussions above,FIG.8is a flowchart of a method160for tuning an antenna55shared by the cellular transceiver104and the GNSS receiver106,108ofFIG.5by delaying tuning to the GNSS receiver106,108, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the electronic device10, such as the processor12(e.g., baseband processor114), may perform the method160. In some embodiments, the method160may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory14or storage16, using the processor12. For example, the method160may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the electronic device10, one or more software applications of the electronic device10, and the like. As a specific example, the method160may be performed at least in part by the processor12executing the RF control software110. While the method160is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

In process block162, the processor12receives a GNSS tune request120for antenna tuning of the shared antenna55(e.g., an antenna that is capable of receiving at least GNSS signals and cellular signals) to the L1 band frequency (e.g., 1575.42 MHZ) and/or L5 band frequency (e.g., 1,176.45 MHz) and concurrently receives a cellular tune request118for shared antenna tuning to a cellular frequency. In particular, the processor12, in the form of the baseband processor114, may receive the cellular tune request118and the GNSS tune request120from an application processor of the electronic device12. In some embodiments, the processor12may determine the cellular frequency or frequency band based on the cellular tune request118.

In process block164, the processor12tunes the one or more shared antennas55of the communication circuitry100to the cellular frequency. In some embodiments, the processor12may also blank and/or deactivate the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or GNSS L5 receiver based on determining whether the cellular frequency interferes with the GNSS frequency (e.g., the L1 band and/or the L5 band).

In decision block166, the processor12determines if the cellular tune request118has stopped (e.g., whether a cellular operation associated with the cellular tune request118has been completed) or if the cellular tune request118has continued. If the processor12continues to receive the cellular tune request118from an application processor of the electronic device10, the processor12, at process block164, continues to tune the shared antenna55to the cellular frequency.

If the processor12determines that the cellular tune request118has stopped, in decision block168, the processor12determines if an additional cellular tune request118has been received. If the processor12determines that an additional cellular tune request118has been received, at process block164, the processor12tunes the shared antenna55to the cellular frequency that corresponds to the additional cellular tune request118.

If the processor12determines that no additional cellular tune request118has been received, at decision block170, the processor12determines if a specified delay time period has elapsed. The delay time period to any suitable time period that may avoid unnecessary and/or excessive power output due to activating and deactivating the cellular transceiver104and/or the GNSS receiver106,108during the time period, such as the time for cellular paging (e.g., between 1 ms and 10 ms). The delay time period may also be determined by the quality of GNSS L1 signals and/or GNSS L5 signals received at the shared one or more antennas55. For example, the cellular tune frequency may not cause interference and result in a degraded signal for both the GNSS L1 band signal and the GNSS L5 band signal. In this case, since both signals are generally unaffected by the shared antenna55tuning to the cellular frequency, the delay time period may be extended because the GNSS signals may still be processed and location of the electronic device10determined during cellular tuning operations. In another case, both the GNSS L1 signal and the GNSS L5 signal may be degraded due to the cellular tune frequency at the shared antenna55. In this case the delay time period may be shorter, such that the location of the electronic device10may be obtained more rapidly during cases where cellular tuning is not necessary.

If the processor12determines that the delay period of time has not elapsed without an additional cellular tune request118being received, at decision block168, the processor12continues to monitor if an additional cellular tune request118has been received by the processor12. If the processor12determines that the delay period of time has elapsed without an additional cellular tune request118being received, the processor12, at process block172, tunes the shared antenna55to the GNSS frequency and activates and/or enables the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or GNSS L5106receiver.

The method160may be implemented to mitigate unnecessary tuning and/or activation of the GNSS receiver106,108for short durations. For example, the electronic device10may be utilized to stream music via cellular operation and provide route directions via GNSS operation. As such, the electronic device10may tune the shared antenna55according to the cellular tune request118to stream music on the electronic device10. The electronic device10may stop transmitting the cellular tune request118during short time periods, such as when a user of the electronic device10may be selecting an additional song, and may resume streaming music after the short time period. To prevent unnecessary tuning of the shared antenna55to a GNSS frequency during the short time period, only to return to tuning to a cellular frequency after the short time period and mitigate unnecessary power output for short term activation and deactivation of the GNSS L1 receiver108and/or GNSS L5 receiver106, the electronic device10may implement the delay period for shared antenna tuning.

As mentioned above, the electronic devices10may receive low earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals on a LEO satellite transmit frequency band (e.g., 1610-1618.725 megahertz (MHz)) that may interfere with the L1 band for GNSS signal reception. This may result in interference with the GNSS signals received by one or more antennas55tuned to the L1 band. Additionally, governmental bodies and other regulatory bodies may implement restrictions on LEO satellite communication according to certain geographical areas, such as requiring that the electronic device10deactivate a LEO transceiver102and halt LEO satellite communication in the certain geographical areas.

With the foregoing in mind,FIG.9is a flowchart of method180for tuning an antenna shared by a Low Orbit Satellite (LEO) transceiver102and a GNSS receiver106.108as shown inFIG.5, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the electronic device10, such as the processor12(e.g., baseband processor114), may perform the method180. In some embodiments, the method180may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory14or storage16, using the processor12. For example, the method180may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the electronic device10, one or more software applications of the electronic device10, and the like. As a specific example, the method180may be performed at least in part by the processor12executing the RF control software110. While the method180is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

In process block182, the processor12receives a LEO satellite tune request122for antenna tuning of the one or more antenna55(e.g., an antenna that is capable of receiving at least LEO signals) to a LEO satellite frequency (e.g., 2483.5-2500 MHZ). In particular, the processor12, in the form of the baseband processor114, may receive the LEO satellite tune request122from an application processor of the electronic device10. Additionally, in response to receiving the LEO satellite tune request122, the processor12may receive GNSS signals via the one or more antennas55tuned to the GNSS L1 band and/or the GNSS L5 band, to determine an initial time and local oscillator frequency offset for acquiring the LEO satellite signal.

In process block184, the processor12blanks the GNSS L1 receiver108(e.g., in response to receiving LEO satellite tune request122). The GNSS L1 receiver108may be blanked to mitigate receiving and/or processing degraded GNSS L1 signals resulting from high power LEO satellite transmissions causing interference with the L1 band for GNSS signal reception. That is, the processor12may replace the GNSS L1 signals with a dummy signal (e.g., zeroes), such that the GNSS L1 receiver108receives the dummy signal instead of the degraded GNSS L1 signals. In some embodiments, the processor12may deactivate or turn off the GNSS L1 receiver108instead of blanking the GNSS L1 receiver108. In process block186, the processor12enables and/or activates the LEO transceiver102to receive the LEO satellite signals.

In process block188, the processor12may enable and/or activate the GNSS L5 receiver106to allow for GNSS signal processing for the electronic device10. In some embodiments, the processor12may send instructions to a secondary device (e.g., a smartphone, a smartwatch, a laptop, a tablet, and so on) associated with or communicatively coupled to the electronic device10to cause a GNSS receiver of the secondary device to receive GNSS signals and transmit the GNSS signals to the electronic device10. Additionally, the electronic device10may transmit the initial time and local oscillator frequency offset calculated based on the GNSS signals to the LEO satellite. The LEO satellite may utilize the initial time and local oscillator frequency offset to progressively degrade time and frequency uncertainties based on clock stability parameters. In some embodiments, the GNSS L5 receiver106may receive GNSS signals on the L5 frequency band on a first set of antennas of the one or more antennas55, the GNSS L1 receiver108may receive GNSS signals on the L1 frequency band on a second set of antennas of the one or more antennas55, and the LEO transceiver102may send and receive LEO satellite signals on a third set of antennas of the one or more antennas55, where the first set, second set, and third set of antennas include different antennas. However, in some embodiments, the second set of antennas used to receive the GNSS signals on the L1 frequency band may be the same as the third set of antennas used to send and receive LEO satellite signals.

In decision block190, the processor12determines whether the LEO satellite is out of range (e.g., for communications to be performed with the LEO satellite). In some embodiments, the processor12may determine whether a signal received from the LEO satellite is weak, nonexistent, or has a signal quality or power below a threshold signal quality or power. In additional or alternative embodiments, the electronic device10may store a map of LEO satellite trajectories, and may determine whether a location of the electronic device10(e.g., based on the received GNSS signals) is not within range of a LEO satellite. If the processor12determines that the LEO satellite is out of range, at process block192, the processor12enables the GNSS L1 receiver108based on the LEO satellite no longer transmitting to the electronic device10. That is, the processor12may stop blanking the GNSS L1 signals or replacing the GNSS L1 signals with a dummy signal (e.g., zeroes), and thus enable the GNSS L1 receiver108to receive the GNSS L1 signals. In embodiments where the processor12deactivates or turns off the GNSS L1 receiver108(e.g., in process block184), then the processor12may activate or turn on the GNSS L1 receiver108. The processor12may also deactivate the LEO transceiver102. If the processor12determines that the LEO satellite is still within a communication range, at process block188, the processor12continues to enable the GNSS L5 receiver106or the GNSS receiver of the secondary device. In this manner the GNSS L1 receiver108may avoid unnecessary power output due to processing a noisy GNSS L1 signal caused by LEO satellite communication interference, which may result in a loss of GNSS L1 signal tracking due to degraded signal quality.

With the foregoing in mind,FIG.10is a flowchart of method200for deactivating the LEO transceiver102ofFIG.5based on a location of the electronic device ofFIG.1, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the electronic device10, such as the processor12(e.g., baseband processor), may perform the method200. In some embodiments, the method200may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory14or storage16, using the processor12. For example, the method200may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the electronic device10, one or more software applications of the electronic device10, and the like. As a specific example, the method200may be performed at least in part by the processor12executing the RF control software110. While the method200is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

In process block202, the processor12determines an initial location of the electronic device10. In particular, the processor12may receive GNSS signals using a GNSS receiver106,108, and determine the initial location of the electronic device10based on the received GNSS signals. At process block204, the processor12enables the LEO transceiver102to send and receive LEO satellite signals. In some embodiments, the processor12may enable the LEO transceiver102after determining that the electronic device10is within communication range of the LEO satellite, as described in decision block190of method180inFIG.9. Additionally or alternatively, the processor12may determine that LEO satellite communication may be performed by the electronic device10according to satellite transmission regulations corresponding to the initial location of the electronic device10.

In process block206, the processor12determines a distance to one or more geographical areas from the initial location where the LEO transceiver102is to be deactivated based on territory and/or country regulations for LEO satellite transmissions. As discussed above, governmental bodies and other regulatory bodies may implement restrictions on LEO satellite communication according to certain geographical areas, such as requiring that the electronic device10deactivate a LEO transceiver102and halt LEO satellite communication in the certain geographical areas. The processor12may store the geographical areas in the memory14to track when the electronic device10may be approaching a restricted LEO satellite area.

In decision block208, the processor12may determine whether the electronic device10is within a first threshold distance to the geographical areas where LEO satellite use is restricted. That is, the processor12may determine a shortest distance that the electronic device10is to a restricted LEO satellite area, and determine whether that distance is within the first threshold distance. In particular, the processor12may utilize GNSS L5 signals due to LEO satellite transmission signal interferences with the GNSS L1 band. During operation of the LEO transceiver102, the GNSS L5 receiver106may be enabled initially to determine location information. The first threshold distance may include any suitable distance that may be indicative of the electronic device10being sufficiently close enough to a restricted LEO satellite area to warrant regular checking or tracking the electronic device10to see if the electronic device10has entered the restricted LEO satellite area. For example, the first threshold distance may be greater than 100 meters (m), 200 m, 500 m, 1 kilometer (km), 2 km, 5 km, 10 km, and so on. During LEO satellite communication, the GNSS L5 receiver106may implement a duty cycle (e.g., deactivate GNSS L5 receiver106for certain periods of time) to save power after initial location is determined. Duty cycle of the GNSS L5 tracking may be based on time and frequency uncertainty propagation and pull-in range of the LEO satellite transceiver102. The stability of the clock (e.g., 1 parts per million (ppm) stable clock) enables a time duration of four minutes to stay within +/−250 microseconds of time uncertainty necessary to maintain L5 tracking capability. The LEO satellite time/frequency lock (e.g., when LEO satellite is tracking) may further increase duration of the duty cycle depending on the LEO satellite capabilities.

If the processor12determines that the LEO satellite is within the first threshold distance to the restricted LEO satellite areas, then, at process block210, the processor12increases the GNSS L5 tracking duty cycle to a greater frequency and/or increase the frequency of received GNSS signals from the secondary device. This may be to ensure that the electronic device10does not enter restricted LEO areas. The increased frequency of the GNSS signals received at the processor12may be determined based on the first threshold distance to the restricted LEO satellite area. For example, the frequency of GNSS signals received at the processor12may be a frequency less than 1 second (sec), 5 sec, 10 sec, 1 minute (min), 5 min, 10 min, and so on. The frequency determined by the processor12may be based on the first threshold distance, such that a greater first threshold distance to the restricted LEO area may result in a lesser frequency (e.g., a determined first threshold distance of 2 km may correspond to a frequency of 10 min and a determined first distance of 200 m corresponds to a frequency interval of 1 min). The first frequency may be any suitable frequency that can receive GNSS signals at intervals that correspond to less than the time estimate to the shortest distance to reach the restricted LEO satellite areas from the first threshold distance. If the processor12determines that the electronic device10is not within the first threshold distance based on the GNSS signals, at process block206, the processor12decreases the frequency of the GNSS L5 tracking duty cycle due and/or frequency of received secondary device GNSS signals due to distance to the LEO satellite restricted areas from the electronic device10increasing. That is, because the electronic device10is not sufficiently close enough to a restricted LEO satellite area to warrant regular checking or tracking the electronic device10to see if the electronic device10has entered the restricted LEO satellite area, checking or tracking the electronic device10may be performed less frequently (e.g., at a lower duty cycle).

In decision block212, the processor12determines if the electronic device10is within a second threshold distance less than the first distance to the geographical areas where LEO satellite use is restricted. That is, the processor12may determine a shortest distance that the electronic device10is to a restricted LEO satellite area, and determine whether that distance is within the second threshold distance. The second threshold distance may be less than the first threshold distance, and may include any suitable distance that may be indicative of having to increase the frequency of checking or tracking the electronic device10to see if the electronic device10has entered the restricted LEO satellite area, as the electronic device10is near or sufficiently close to the restricted LEO satellite area. For example, the first threshold distance may be less than 10 km, 5 km, 2 km, 1 km, 500 m, 200 m, 100 m, and so on. If the processor12determines that the LEO satellite is within the second threshold distance to the restricted LEO satellite areas the processor12, at process block214, increases the GNSS L5 tracking duty cycle to a second frequency greater than the first frequency, based on the electronic device10approaching the restricted area for LEO satellite signal communication. As discussed, above the second frequency may be a greater frequency than the first frequency. For example, the second frequency may be a frequency greater than 1 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, 1 min, 5 min, 10 min, and so on based on the first frequency value determined and the second threshold distance. The second frequency may be any suitable frequency that can enable the processor12to receive GNSS signals at intervals that correspond to less than the time estimate to the shortest distance to reach the restricted LEO satellite areas from the second threshold distance. If the processor12determines that the electronic device10is not within the second threshold distance, at decision block208, the processor12determines the distance of the electronic device10relative to the first threshold (e.g., based on receiving GNSS signals).

In decision block216, the processor12determines if the electronic device10is within a geographical area where the LEO satellite communication is restricted. If the processor12determines that the electronic device10is within the restricted area, the processor12, at process block218, deactivates the LEO transceiver102. If the processor12determines that the electronic device10is not within the within the restricted area, the processor12returns to decision block212and determines the distance of electronic device10relative to the second threshold.

The method200enables the electronic device10to monitor the device location relative to geographical areas that restrict LEO satellite access based on regulatory requirements, and increases the frequency of checking the device location using the GNSS L5 receiver106to ensure that the electronic device10does not enter the geographical areas while the LEO transceiver102is active. The method may also reduce unnecessary power output by decreasing the frequency of checking the device location using the GNSS L5 receiver106when the electronic device10is further away from a restricted area. Additionally, the average duty cycle implemented by the GNSS L5 receiver106in the disclosed embodiments may enable between 5 and 15 milliamperes of current draw savings for the electronic device10.

The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for [perform] ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for [perform] ing [a function] . . . ,” it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112 (f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112 (f).