PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12136939-B2
Application Number: US-202217667187-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Receiver with distributed attenuators

Abstract:
This disclosure is directed to power gain variation compensation of Radio Frequency (RF) receivers based on temperature variations. An RF receiver may include amplification circuitry having a chain of multiple amplifiers and/or passive elements. Multiple distributed and/or lumped attenuators disposed at different points between amplifiers and/or passive elements of the chain may attenuate a received RF signal to compensate for gain variations of the multiple amplifiers and/or passive elements caused by a temperature change. Accordingly, the distributed and/or lumped attenuators may improve linear response of the amplifiers and/or passive elements and signal-to-noise and distortion ratio of RF signals received at the receiver.

Claims:
The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device comprising:
 an antenna configured to receive a radio frequency signal; 
 a plurality of amplifiers arranged in series along a transmission line and coupled to the antenna, each amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers having a gain and a gain variation based on a temperature; 
 a phase shifter coupled in series to at least one amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers along the transmission line, the phase shifter having a gain variation based on the temperature; 
 a first attenuator coupled to a first amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers or the phase shifter, the first attenuator being configured to attenuate the radio frequency signal based on the temperature to compensate for at least a portion of a cumulative gain variation of the plurality of amplifiers and the phase shifter based on the temperature. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first attenuator is coupled between the transmission line and a ground. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first attenuator comprises a first dynamic range of gain attenuation and is configured to attenuate the radio frequency signal based on the first dynamic range of gain attenuation to compensate for at least the portion of the cumulative gain variation caused by the first amplifier. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device of  claim 3 , comprising a second attenuator coupled in series with at least a second amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers, the second attenuator comprising a second dynamic range of gain attenuation higher than the first dynamic range of gain attenuation, and the second attenuator configured to attenuate the radio frequency signal based on the second dynamic range of gain attenuation to compensate for at least a second portion of the cumulative gain variation caused by the second amplifier. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device of  claim 4 , wherein a fourth third attenuator comprises a third dynamic range of gain attenuation lower than the second dynamic range of gain attenuation, the third attenuator configured to attenuate the radio frequency signal based on the third dynamic range of gain attenuation to compensate for at least a third portion of the cumulative gain variation caused by the first amplifier, the second amplifier, and the transmission line. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first attenuator is differentially coupled to the transmission line. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device of  claim 1 , further comprising controller circuitry configured to provide one or more control signals to the first attenuator to attenuate the radio frequency signal based on the temperature. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device of  claim 7 , wherein the first attenuator each comprises a plurality of field-effect transistor switches configured to receive the one or more control signals to attenuate the radio frequency signal based on the temperature. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more control signals causes at least one of the plurality of field-effect transistor switches to
 partially activate to apply a first attenuation based on a dynamic range of gain attenuation of the first attenuator, or 
 fully activate to apply a second attenuation higher than the first attenuation based on the dynamic range of gain attenuation of the first attenuator. 
 
     
     
       10. Radio frequency receiver circuitry comprising:
 a plurality of amplifiers coupled in series; 
 a phase shifter coupled in series to at least one amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers, the plurality of amplifiers and the phase shifter having a cumulative gain comprising a sum of each gain of each amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers and the phase shifter, and the plurality of amplifiers and the phase shifter having a cumulative gain variation comprising a sum of each gain variation of each amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers and the phase shifter, the cumulative gain and the cumulative gain variation varying with temperature; and 
 a plurality of distributed attenuators each coupled to at least one amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers or the phase shifter, each distributed attenuator of the plurality of distributed attenuators configured to compensate for a respective portion of the cumulative gain variation. 
 
     
     
       11. The radio frequency receiver circuitry of  claim 10 , further comprising a variable attenuator coupled in series to at least one amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers, the variable attenuator configured to compensate for a portion of the cumulative gain variation higher than the respective portion of the cumulative gain variation compensated for by each distributed attenuator of the plurality of distributed attenuators. 
     
     
       12. The radio frequency receiver circuitry of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of distributed attenuators is configured to receive one or more signals based on the temperature, wherein each distributed attenuator of the plurality of distributed attenuators compensates for the respective portion of the cumulative gain variation based on the one or more signals. 
     
     
       13. The radio frequency receiver circuitry of  claim 10 , wherein a first distributed attenuator of the plurality of distributed attenuators is coupled in series to a first amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers, the first distributed attenuator being configured to compensate for a gain variation of the first amplifier based on the temperature. 
     
     
       14. The radio frequency receiver circuitry of  claim 10 , wherein an increase in the temperature is associated with a negative gain variation of each of the plurality of amplifiers and a decrease in the temperature is associated with a positive gain variation of each of the plurality of amplifiers. 
     
     
       15. A method comprising:
 receiving, at a radio frequency receiver circuitry, an input signal; 
 receiving, at processing circuitry of the radio frequency receiver circuitry, a temperature of one or more of a plurality of amplifiers or a phase shifter of the radio frequency receiver circuitry, the plurality of amplifiers being coupled in series, the phase shifter being coupled to at least one amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers, each amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers and the phase shifter having a gain variation based on the temperature; 
 providing, by the processing circuitry, one or more control signals to adjust a gain attenuation of a first distributed attenuator of a plurality of distributed attenuators, the first distributed attenuator being coupled to a first amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers or the phase shifter to compensate for a portion of a cumulative gain variation of the plurality of amplifiers and the phase shifter, the cumulative gain variation comprising a sum of gain variations of the plurality of amplifiers and the phase shifter based on the temperature; 
 applying, by the first distributed attenuator, the gain attenuation to the input signal based on the one or more control signals; and 
 transmitting, by the receiver, the input signal to the processing circuitry. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of distributed attenuators comprises a dynamic range of gain attenuation associated with compensating for an increased gain of a respective amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , comprising providing, by the processing circuitry, the one or more control signals to increase a gain attenuation of the first distributed attenuator of or a lumped attenuator of the radio frequency receiver circuitry to compensate for an increased gain of the first amplifier based on the temperature of the one or more of the plurality of amplifiers being below a temperature threshold, the lumped attenuator having a higher range of gain attenuation compared to the dynamic range of gain attenuation of each of the plurality of distributed attenuators. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 15 , comprising providing, by the processing circuitry, the one or more control signals to idle the first distributed attenuator of based on a decreased gain of the first amplifier of the plurality of amplifiers based on the temperature of the one or more of the plurality of amplifiers being equal to or above a temperature threshold. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 15 , comprising
 receiving, by the processing circuitry, a plurality of temperatures of the plurality of amplifiers or the phase shifter subsequent to receiving the temperature, 
 determining, by the processing circuitry, that a second temperature associated with the first amplifier is increased based on receiving the plurality of temperatures, and 
 providing, by the processing circuitry, one or more additional control signals to decrease gain attenuation of the first distributed attenuator o based on the second temperature. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 15 , comprising referencing a lookup table, by the processing circuitry, to generate the one or more control signals based on the temperature.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to gain variation in receiving circuitry of wireless communication devices. 
     In a wireless communication device, a receiver may be coupled to one or more antennas to enable the device to receive wireless signals. The receiver may include amplification circuitry, including low noise amplifiers (LNAs), that amplify received signals to a level above a noise floor so that the signals may be used for additional processing (e.g., at processing circuitry of the device). However, temperature variation may impact performance of the amplification circuitry. For example, an LNA may apply a different amplification factor to a received signal at different temperatures. 
     SUMMARY 
     A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below. 
     In one embodiment, an electronic device is described. The electronic device may include one or more antennas configured to receive radio frequency signals. The electronic device may also include receiver circuitry coupled to the one or more antennas to amplify the radio frequency signals received by the one or more antennas. The receiver circuitry may include multiple amplifiers coupled in series using multiple transmission lines. Each of the multiple amplifiers and the multiple transmission lines may amplify the radio frequency signals based on a gain and a gain variation based on temperature. The electronic device may also include multiple distributed attenuators. A first distributed attenuator of the multiple distributed attenuators may be disposed on a first transmission line between a first amplifier and a second amplifier of the multiple amplifiers. The first amplifier and the second amplifier may be coupled in series via the first transmission line. Moreover, the first distributed attenuator may attenuate the radio frequency signals by a first gain attenuation based on the temperature to compensate for a first portion of a cumulative gain variation of the multiple amplifiers and the multiple transmission lines, the first portion of the cumulative gain variation associated with the first amplifier, the second amplifier, the first transmission line, or a combination thereof. 
     In another embodiment, radio frequency receiver circuitry is described. The radio receiver circuitry may include multiple amplifiers coupled in series. Each of the multiple amplifiers may amplify radio frequency signals received by antenna circuitry based on a gain and a gain variation based on temperature. The multiple amplifiers may amplify the radio frequency signals based on a cumulative gain of each of the plurality of amplifiers. Multiple distributed attenuators may couple to the multiple amplifiers respectively. Each of the distributed attenuator may compensate for at least a portion of a cumulative gain variation of the multiple amplifiers based on the temperature. 
     In yet another embodiment, a method is described. The method includes receiving one or more temperatures of multiple amplifiers of a radio frequency receiver circuitry by a controller of the radio frequency receiver circuitry. The controller may determine that a first temperature of the one or more temperatures of a first amplifier is below a high temperature threshold. Moreover, the controller may determine that the first amplifier of the multiple amplifiers includes an increased gain based on the first temperature being below the high temperature threshold. Furthermore, the controller may provide one or more control signals to increase a gain attenuation of a first distributed attenuator of multiple distributed attenuators of the radio frequency receiver circuitry associated with the first amplifier to compensate for the increased gain based on the first temperature. 
     Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings described below in which like numerals refer to like parts. 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram of an electronic device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a block diagram of a transceiver of the electronic device of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is a block diagram of a receiver of the electronic device of  FIGS.  1  and  2   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram of an amplification circuitry of the receiver of  FIG.  3    including multiple distributed attenuators, according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  5    is a circuit diagram of a distributed attenuator of the amplification circuitry of  FIG.  4   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic diagram of the amplification circuitry of the receiver of  FIG.  3    including multiple distributed attenuators and a variable attenuator, according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  7    is a circuit diagram of the variable attenuator of the amplification circuitry of  FIG.  6   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  8    is a flowchart of a process for attenuating a received RF signal to compensate for gain variations of the amplification circuitry of  FIG.  4  or  6   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG.  9    is a flowchart of a process for attenuating a received RF signal to compensate for gain variations of the amplification circuitry of  FIG.  4  or  6    based on using a lookup table, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS 
     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 terms “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). Moreover, it should be understood that any exact values, numbers, measurements, and so on, provided herein, are contemplated to include approximations (e.g., within a margin of suitable or contemplatable error) of the exact values, numbers, measurements, and so on. 
     This disclosure is directed to power gain variation compensation of radio frequency (RF) receivers based on temperature variations. RF circuitry of a wireless communication device (e.g., a smartphone) may include one or more antennas and one or more RF receivers having one or more RF mixers, among other circuitry/components. The one or more antennas may provide received signals (e.g., RF signals) to the one or more RF receivers. Moreover, an RF receiver may include amplification circuitry that amplifies the signals and/or shifts a frequency of the signals before providing the signals to the RF mixer. Subsequently, the RF mixer may provide the signals (e.g., amplified and/or shifted signals) to downstream components of the receiver and/or device for processing. For example, the downstream components may include processing circuitry of the wireless communication device. 
     The RF receiver may include a cascaded chain of amplifiers and transmission lines for amplifying and/or shifting the signals. In some cases, multiple amplifiers may be coupled in series using the transmission lines. Moreover, in some embodiments, the RF receiver may amplify the signals based on a cumulative gain (e.g., power gain) of the amplifiers and the transmission lines of the RF receiver. Subsequently, the RF receiver may provide the signals to the RF mixer. For example, each of the amplifiers and the transmission lines of the RF receiver may amplify the signals by applying a respective gain. However, the gain of some of the amplifiers and the transmission lines of the RF receiver may change based on a change in temperature (e.g., a gain variation). Accordingly, the cumulative gain of the RF receiver may change based on a cumulative gain variation of each of the amplifiers and the transmission lines coupled in series. 
     The gain variation of the amplifiers and the transmission lines of the RF receiver due to temperature may reduce a signal to noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) of the RF receiver. For example, lower temperatures may cause a gain of the amplifiers and the transmission lines to increase. At the same time, the lower temperatures may cause a signal distortion ratio (SDR) and/or a Third-Order Intercept Point (IIP3) of the amplifiers to worsen. As such, the lower temperatures may worsen nonlinear responses of the amplifiers, and thus an overall nonlinear response of the RF receiver. 
     Additionally, higher temperatures may cause power gains of the amplifiers and/or the transmission lines to decrease, which may worsen a noise factor (NF) and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the amplifiers. As such, if not compensated for, the gain variations of components of the RF receiver due to temperature may accumulate and reduce the SNDR and/or overall performance of the RF receiver. 
     With the foregoing in mind, the RF receiver may include circuitry to compensate for the gain variations of the amplifiers and the transmission lines due to temperature. For example, the RF receiver may include a number of attenuators to compensate for at least some of the gain variations of at least some of the amplifiers and the transmission lines. Each attenuator may apply a dynamic range of attenuation for compensating for the gain variations. In some cases, controller and/or processing circuitry of the electronic device may provide one or more control signals to adjust the attenuation of each of the attenuators. For example, the controller circuitry may use a lookup table to provide the one or more control signals based on the temperature. 
     In some embodiments, the RF receiver may include one or more variable attenuators to compensate for the gain variations of multiple amplifiers and transmission lines of the RF receiver due to temperature. For example, a variable or “lumped” attenuator may compensate for the cumulative gain variation of the multiple amplifiers and/or the transmission lines due to temperature (e.g., a lumped attenuator). Moreover, the variable attenuator may provide variable attenuation via variable resistors. In some cases, the variable attenuator may apply a dynamic range of attenuation for compensating for the gain variations of the multiple amplifiers and transmission lines due to temperature. The variable attenuator may be disposed in series with the amplifiers and the transmission lines of the RF receiver. 
     The variable attenuator may correlate to or match an impedance of the RF receiver while maintaining a low gain attenuation error and a viable frequency response to the signals. However, the variable attenuator may include a high minimum gain loss when idle (e.g., when the attenuation is adjusted to 0 decibels (dB) by the control signals). In some cases, the variable attenuators may worsen the NF and/or SNR of the signals when disposed closer to the one or more antennas in the cascaded chain of amplifiers. Moreover, the variable attenuators may worsen the SDR and linear response of the signals when disposed closer to the RF mixer in the cascaded chain of amplifiers. 
     In different embodiments, the RF receiver may include multiple distributed attenuators to compensate for the gain variations of the amplifiers and the transmission lines of the RF receiver due to temperature. In some cases, the distributed attenuators may apply a smaller dynamic range of attenuation for compensating for the gain variations across temperature compared to the variable attenuators. However, the distributed attenuators may include a low minimum gain loss (e.g., 0 dB, nearly 0 dB) when idle (e.g., when the attenuation is adjusted to 0 dB by the control signals). 
     For example, each distributed attenuator may at least partially compensate for the gain variations of one or more amplifiers and/or transmission lines of the RF receiver due to temperature. Moreover, the controller circuitry may provide the control signals to the multiple distributed attenuators to compensate for gain variations at different nodes of the RF receiver. Accordingly, the RF receiver may use the multiple distributed attenuators to improve the linear response and SNDR of the RF receiver. 
     In additional or alternative embodiments, the RF receiver may include one or more variable attenuators and multiple distributed attenuators to compensate for the cumulative gain variations of the RF receiver across temperature. In such embodiments, the lumped and distributed attenuators may each compensate for a portion of the cumulative gain variations of the RF receiver across temperature. Moreover, the controller circuitry may provide the control signals to the variable attenuators and the distributed attenuators to adjust the respective attenuations of received RF signals. The variable attenuators may correlate to or match an impedance of the RF receiver, maintain a low gain attenuation error, and maintain a viable frequency response to the signals. The distributed attenuators may improve the linear response and SNDR of the RF receiver while having a low minimum gain loss (e.g., 0 dB, near 0 dB) when idle. 
       FIG.  1    is a block diagram of an electronic device  10  (e.g., a wireless communication device, a mobile communication device, a smartphone, and so on), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic device  10  may include, among other things, one or more processors  12  (collectively referred to herein as a single processor for convenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), memory  14 , nonvolatile storage  16 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , an input/output (I/O) interface  24 , a network interface  26 , and a power source  28 . The various functional blocks shown in  FIG.  1    may 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 processor  12 , the memory  14 , the nonvolatile storage  16 , the display  18 , the input structures  22 , the I/O interface  24 , the network interface  26 , and/or the power source  28  may 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 that  FIG.  1    is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in the electronic device  10 . 
     By way of example, the electronic device  10  may 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, Calif.), 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 processor  12  and other related items in  FIG.  1    may be embodied wholly or in part as software, hardware, or both. Furthermore, the processor  12  and other related items in  FIG.  1    may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the electronic device  10 . The processor  12  may 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 processors  12  may include one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, or both, and perform the various functions described herein. 
     In the electronic device  10  of  FIG.  1   , the processor  12  may be operably coupled with the memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor  12  may 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 memory  14  and/or the nonvolatile storage  16 , individually or collectively, to store the instructions or routines. The memory  14  and the nonvolatile storage  16  may 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 processor  12  to enable the electronic device  10  to provide various functionalities. 
     In certain embodiments, the display  18  may facilitate users to view images generated on the electronic device  10 . In some embodiments, the display  18  may include a touch screen, which may facilitate user interaction with a user interface of the electronic device  10 . Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display  18  may 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 structures  22  of the electronic device  10  may enable a user to interact with the electronic device  10  (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface  24  may enable electronic device  10  to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interface  26 . In some embodiments, the I/O interface  24  may 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 interface  26  may include, for example, one or more interfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as an ultra-wideband (UWB) or a BLUETOOTH® network, 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 a wide area network (WAN), such as any standards related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including, for example, a 3 rd  generation (3G) cellular network, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), 4 th  generation (4G) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE®) cellular network, long term evolution license assisted access (LTE-LAA) cellular network, 5 th  generation (5G) cellular network, and/or New Radio (NR) cellular network, a satellite network, a non-terrestrial network, and so on. In particular, the network interface  26  may 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)) and/or any other cellular communication standard release (e.g., Release-16, Release-17, any future releases) that define and/or enable frequency ranges used for wireless communication. The network interface  26  of the electronic device  10  may allow communication over the aforementioned networks (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, and so forth). 
     The network interface  26  may 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 interface  26  may include a transceiver  30 . In some embodiments, all or portions of the transceiver  30  may be disposed within the processor  12 . The transceiver  30  may support transmission and receipt of various wireless signals via one or more antennas, and thus may include a transmitter and a receiver. The power source  28  of the electronic device  10  may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter. 
       FIG.  2    is a functional diagram of the electronic device  10  of  FIG.  1   , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the processor  12 , the memory  14 , the transceiver  30 , a transmitter  52 , a receiver  54 , and/or antennas  55  (illustrated as  55 A- 55 N, collectively referred to as an antenna  55 ) may be communicatively coupled directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, and/or a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive data between one another. 
     The electronic device  10  may include the transmitter  52  and/or the receiver  54  that respectively enable transmission and reception of data between the electronic device  10  and an external device via, for example, a network (e.g., including base stations) or a direct connection. As illustrated, the transmitter  52  and the receiver  54  may be combined into the transceiver  30 . The electronic device  10  may also have one or more antennas  55 A- 55 N electrically coupled to the transceiver  30 . The antennas  55 A- 55 N may be configured in an omnidirectional or directional configuration, in a single-beam, dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangement, and so on. 
     Each antenna  55  may be associated with one or more beams and various configurations. In some embodiments, multiple antennas of the antennas  55 A- 55 N of an antenna group or module may be communicatively coupled a respective transceiver  30  and each emit radio frequency signals that may constructively and/or destructively combine to form a beam. The electronic device  10  may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas as suitable for various communication standards. In some embodiments, the transmitter  52  and the receiver  54  may transmit and receive information via other wired or wireline systems or means. 
     As illustrated, the various components of the electronic device  10  may be coupled together by a bus system  56 . The bus system  56  may 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 device  10  may be coupled together or accept or provide inputs to each other using some other mechanism. 
       FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram of the receiver  54  (e.g., receive circuitry), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the receiver  54  may receive received data from the one or more antennas  55  in the form of a signal  80  (e.g., an analog signal). Amplification circuitry  82  may amplify the received signal  80  to a suitable level for the receiver  54  to process. In particular, the amplification circuitry  82  may amplify the signal  80  by applying a gain (e.g., a power gain) to the signal  80 . As illustrated, the amplification circuitry  82  may include one or more low noise amplifiers (LNAs)  83 , though the amplification circuitry  82  may also include one or more passive components (e.g., transmission lines, routing circuitry, phase shifters, and so on). 
     As an example, the amplification circuitry  82  may include multiple amplifiers (e.g., LNAs  83 ) coupled in series using multiple transmission lines. Moreover, each of the amplifiers and the transmission lines of the amplification circuitry  82  may apply a respective gain (e.g., a power gain) to the received signal  80 . Accordingly, each of the amplifiers and the transmission lines of the amplification circuitry  82  may provide a portion of the total gain applied by the amplification circuitry  82 . 
     The amplification circuitry  82  may also include multiple attenuators, as discussed in further detail below. For example, a gain of each of the amplifiers and the transmission lines may change based on a change in temperature. Accordingly, in different embodiments, the amplification circuitry  82  may include a number of distributed attenuators, variable attenuators, or both, to compensate for the gain variations of the amplifiers and the transmission lines caused by a temperature change, as will be appreciated. 
     In any case, the amplification circuitry  82  may provide the amplified signal  80  to an RF mixer  84 . The RF mixer  84  may include a filter  86  (e.g., filter circuitry and/or software), a demodulator  88 , and an analog to digital converter (ADC)  90 . In different embodiments, the filter  86  may include filter circuitry, filtering software, or both. The filter  86  may receive the amplified signal from the amplification circuitry  82 . The filter  86  may remove undesired noise from the received signal, such as cross-channel interference. The filter  86  may also remove additional signals received by the one or more antennas  55  that are at frequencies other than the desired signal. Moreover, the filter  86  may 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. 
     The demodulator  88  may remove a radio frequency envelope and/or extract a demodulated signal from the filtered signal for processing. The ADC  90  may receive the demodulated analog signal and convert the signal to a digital signal of incoming data  92  to be further processed by the electronic device  10 . Additionally, the receiver  54  may include any suitable additional components not shown, or may not include certain of the illustrated components, such that the receiver  54  may receive the received signal  80  via the one or more antennas  55 . For example, the receiver  54  may include a mixer component and/or a digital down converter. 
       FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram of an amplification circuitry of the receiver of  FIG.  3    including multiple distributed attenuators. The amplification circuitry  82  may include amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106 , passive elements  108 , and distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118 . In the depicted embodiment, the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108  are coupled in series. As such, the amplification circuitry  82  may amplify the signal  80  based on the cumulative gain and gain variation of the cascaded amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108 . Moreover, the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  are coupled between a ground  130  and nodes  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  126 , and  128  respectively. Each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108  may amplify the signal  80 , received by the antenna  55 , based on a respective gain. For example, each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108  may provide a portion of the gain of the amplification circuitry  82 . 
     In some cases, the passive elements  108  (illustrated as a phase shifter) may include one or more transmission lines, routing circuitry, phase shifters, and/or other elements of the amplification circuitry  82  that receive energy (e.g., and do not supply energy to the amplification circuitry  82 ). Moreover, one or more of the nodes  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  126 , and  128  may correspond to transmission lines, routing circuitry, and/or connection nodes coupling the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108 . In particular, the nodes  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  126 , and  128  may include differential transmission lines, routing circuitry, and/or connection nodes. Furthermore, while the depicted embodiment of the amplification circuitry  82  in  FIG.  4    includes a specific number of amplifiers, distributed attenuators, and passive components (e.g., transmission lines), it should be understood that the amplification circuitry  82  may include a different number (e.g., more or less) of amplifiers, distributed attenuators, and passive components in different embodiments. 
     In any case, a temperature change to the elements of the amplification circuitry  82  (e.g., the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108 ) may cause a gain variation as applied by at least some of the elements. For example, an initial or standard gain of each of the elements may correspond to a gain of the respective elements at a specific temperature (e.g., room temperature, approximately 20° Celsius (C) to 30° C., such as 25° C., or any other suitable initial or standard temperature). For example, the specific temperature may correspond to a testing temperature associated with the manufacturing facility of the electronic device  10  or the amplification circuitry  82 . Moreover, a total gain of each of the elements, when the amplification circuitry  82  is in operation, may correspond to the initial or standard gain of the respective elements, plus the gain variation for each element that is caused by a change in the temperature (e.g., from the specific temperature). 
     For example, a higher temperature (e.g., than the specific temperature) may cause a negative gain variation (e.g., -dB) of each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and/or the passive elements  108 , decreasing the initial or standard gain of each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and/or the passive elements  108 . Accordingly, the higher temperature may decrease the total gain of the amplification circuitry  82 . Moreover, a lower temperature (e.g., lower than the specific temperature) may cause a positive gain variation (e.g., +dB) of each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108 , increasing the initial or standard gain of each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and/or the passive elements  108 . Accordingly, the lower temperature may increase the total gain of each of the amplification circuitry  82 . 
     In some embodiments, each of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  may apply a dynamic range of gain attenuation to compensate for a range of gain variation of one respective amplifier  100 ,  102 ,  104 , or  106  or the passive elements  108 . In alternative or additional embodiments, each of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  may apply a respective dynamic range of gain attenuation to compensate for a respective portion of a cumulative gain variation of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106 , and/or the passive elements  108 . 
     In a specific example, the distributed attenuator  110  may compensate for gain variation of (e.g., attenuate a positive gain variation of) the amplifier  100 . The distributed attenuator  110  may apply a dynamic range of gain attenuation based on the range of gain variation of the amplifier  100 . Moreover, the distributed attenuator  112  may compensate for gain variation of the passive elements  108 . The distributed attenuator  112  may apply a dynamic range of gain attenuation based on the range of gain variation of the passive elements  108 . Also, the distributed attenuator  114  may compensate for gain variation of the amplifier  102 . The distributed attenuator  114  may apply a dynamic range of gain attenuation based on the range of gain variation of the amplifier  102 . 
     Moreover, the distributed attenuator  116  may compensate for gain variation of the amplifier  104 . The distributed attenuator  116  may include a dynamic range of gain attenuation based on the range of gain variation of the amplifier  104 . Furthermore, the distributed attenuator  118  may compensate for gain variation of the amplifier  106 . The distributed attenuator  118  may include a dynamic range of gain attenuation based on the range of gain variation of the amplifier  106 . That said, in alternative or additional embodiments, the dynamic range of gain attenuation of each of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  may correspond to a at least a portion of a cumulative range of gain variation of the amplification circuitry  82 . 
     In any case, a controller circuitry, such as the processor  12 , may provide control signals to the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118 . In some cases, the processor  12  may transmit the control signals using a multi-bit unary (e.g., a 3-bit unary) implementation for progressively turning on and off one or multiple of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118 , either completely or partially, to increase or decrease attenuation. For example, the processor  12  may transmit a 3-bit unary control signal to increase (or decrease) the attenuation by 0.5 dB or less, 1 dB or less, 2 dB or less, 3 dB or less, 5 dB or less, 10 dB or less, and so on. The processor  12  may provide the control signals based on the temperature of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106  and/or the passive elements  108 . As mentioned above, the temperature change of each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106  and/or the passive elements  108  may cause a gain variation of the respective amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108 . 
     Accordingly, the processor  12  may provide the control signals to adjust a gain attenuation of each of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  based on (e.g., to compensate for) the respective gain variation of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  caused by the temperature change. For example, a first control signal may cause the distributed attenuator  110  to compensate for a first gain variation, a second control signal may cause the distributed attenuator  112  to compensate for a second gain variation, and so on. Moreover, in some cases, the processor  12  may transmit a multi-bit command signal to one or multiple of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  to, for example, progressively turn on or off one or multiple of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  based on temperature. 
     In the specific example discussed above, the processor  12  may operate the distributed attenuator  110  by sending control signals based on the temperature of the amplifier  100 . The processor  12  may also operate the distributed attenuator  112  by sending control signals based on the temperature of the passive elements  108 . Moreover, the processor  12  may operate the distributed attenuator  114  by sending control signals based on the temperature of the amplifier  102 . Furthermore, the processor  12  may operate the distributed attenuator  116  by sending control signals based on the temperature of the amplifier  104 , and operate the distributed attenuator  118  by sending control signals based on the temperature of the amplifier  106 . 
     In some cases, the processor  12  may use a lookup table (e.g., stored in the memory  14  and/or the storage device  16 ) to provide the control signals to the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  based on the temperature. The lookup table may include values for adjusting the gain attenuation of each of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  that correspond to the temperature of the associated amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108 . In some embodiments, the lookup table may include a different set of values for adjusting the gain attenuation of each of (or some of) the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118 , as each attenuator may have different operating characteristics, undergone different manufacturing procedures, and so on, from another. 
     To determine the temperature of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108 , the receiver  54  and/or the amplification circuitry  82  may include a number of temperature sensors. In some cases, the amplification circuitry  82  may include a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermocouple, resistance temperature detector, thermistor, and so on) associated with each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108 . In alternative cases, the amplification circuitry  82  may include a temperature sensor associated with one or more of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108 . In any case, the processor  12 , or any other viable circuitry, may receive and/or determine a temperature of each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  based on receiving temperature information from the one or multiple temperature sensors. 
     When receiving a temperature equal to or above a threshold temperature (e.g., 25° C. or greater, 30° C. or greater, 40° C. or greater, 50° C. or greater, 60° C. or greater, 65° C. or greater, 100° C. or greater, and so on) at one or more of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106  and/or the passive elements  108 , the processor  12  may provide the control signals to idle one or more of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  that correspond to the one or more of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106  and/or the passive elements  108  operating at or above the threshold temperature (e.g., such that the idled attenuator(s) is not in operation and/or not attenuation an RF signal). As mentioned above, a higher temperature (e.g., higher than an initial or standard temperature) may cause a negative gain variation (e.g., -dB) that may reduce a gain of one or more of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108 . Accordingly, it may be undesirable to attenuate (e.g., or decrease) gain variation of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  operating at the temperature equal to or above the threshold temperature, as the gain variation has already been decreased by this higher temperature. 
     In one example, one or more of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  may include a 3 dB (or near 3 dB) range of gain attenuation (e.g., −3 dB of maximum gain attenuation), including zero or near zero gain attenuation when idled. Moreover, the gain variation of at least some of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108  may be +/−1.5 dB (or near +/−1.5 dB) from an initial or standard gain (e.g., measured at a specific temperature, such as room temperature, approximately 20° Celsius (C) to 30° C., such as 25° C., or any other suitable initial or standard temperature). For example, the gain variation of at least some of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108  may be −1.5 dB at (or above) the threshold temperature. Accordingly, the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108  may amplify the signal  80  based on the respective initial gains in combination with the respective negative gain variation (e.g., -1.5 dB of gain variation) from the respective initial gain at (or above) the threshold temperature. 
     Moreover, when idled, the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  may provide zero or near zero decibels of gain attenuation (e.g., minimum gain attenuation, 0 dB, ˜+/−0dB) to the signal  80 . As mentioned above, in some cases, each of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and  118  may compensate for gain variations of one respective amplifier  100 ,  102 ,  104 , or  106 , or the passive elements  108 . In such cases, each distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , or  118  may include a relatively narrow dynamic range of gain attenuation, including a zero or near zero gain attenuation when idled, to compensate for gain variations of one respective amplifier  100 ,  102 ,  104 , or  106 , or the passive elements  108 . Accordingly, the idled distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  may provide zero or near zero decibels of gain attenuation (e.g., minimum gain attenuation, 0 dB, ˜+/−0 dB) to the signal  80  based at least in part on having the narrow dynamic range of gain attenuation. 
     When receiving a temperature below the threshold temperature (e.g., less than 25° C. or greater, 30° C. or greater, 40° C. or greater, 50° C. or greater, 60° C. or greater, 65° C. or greater, 100° C. or greater, and so on), the processor  12  may provide control signals to increase the gain attenuation of one or multiple of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  (e.g., to compensate for the gain variation of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  caused by the temperature being below the threshold temperature). In some cases, the processor  12  may provide the control signals to increase the gain attenuation inversely proportional to the temperature of the component providing the gain attenuation decreasing below the threshold temperature. In one example, the processor  12  may provide the control signals to increase the gain attenuation of the signal  80  by a distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , or  118  as the temperature of at least one of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , or  106 , or the passive elements  108  decreases below the threshold temperature. 
     As mentioned above, decreasing a temperature of each of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108  may cause a positive gain variation (e.g., +dB) of the respective amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108 . Moreover, the positive gain variation may increase the total gain of the respective amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108 . Accordingly, the processor  12  may provide the control signals to increase the gain attenuation of the respective distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  to compensate for the increased total gain of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  based on the decreased temperature. 
       FIG.  5    is a circuit diagram of a distributed attenuator of the amplification circuitry of  FIG.  4   . In different embodiments, the distributed attenuators  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  may be similar or different to the depicted distributed attenuator  110 . In the depicted embodiment, the distributed attenuator  110  may be coupled to the node  120  of the amplification circuitry  82 . In particular, the distributed attenuator  110  may be differentially coupled between a node  120 A (e.g., a positive power supply rail) and a node  120 B (e.g., a negative power supply rail). 
     The distributed attenuator  110  may include a first switch  152  and a second switch  154 . In some cases, the first switch  152  and/or the second switch  154  may be configurable to be conductive or non-conductive (e.g., using metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), resistors, or other viable components). Alternatively or additionally, the first switch  152  and/or the second switch  154  may be configurable to provide a variable resistance (e.g., using variable resistance transistors). In any case, the processor  12  may provide a first control signal  156  to the first switch  152  and a second control signal  158  to the second switch  154  (e.g., to respective gates of each MOSFET switch  152 ,  154 ). In different cases, the first control signal  156  may partially or fully activate the first switch  152 , the second switch  154 , or both, to apply a lower or higher attenuation within the dynamic range of gain attenuation of the distributed attenuator  110 . 
     As discussed above, the processor  12  may provide the first control signal  156  and/or the second control signal  158  based on a received and/or determined temperature of the amplifier (e.g.,  100 ). Moreover, the processor  12  may use the look up table to provide the first control signal  156  and/or the second control signal  158  based on the temperature. That is, the lookup table may be indexed by temperature, and may store values corresponding to the temperature that the processor  12  may send via the first control signal  156  and/or the second control signal  158  to the first switch  152  and/or the second switch  154 . In specific cases, the processor  12  may adjust the gain attenuation of the distributed attenuator  110  by adjusting a variable resistance of the first switch  152 , the second switch  154 , or both. 
       FIG.  6    is a schematic diagram of the amplification circuitry of the receiver of  FIG.  3    including multiple distributed attenuators and a variable attenuator. The amplification circuitry  82  may include the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106  and the passive elements  108  coupled in series with a variable attenuator  160  (e.g., a “lumped” attenuator). The processor  12  may provide the control signals to the variable attenuator  160  to compensate for one or more elements of the amplification circuitry  82 . The amplification circuitry  82  may include a distributed attenuator  162  coupled to a node  166  disposed between the passive elements  108  and the amplifier  102 . The amplification circuitry  82  may also include a distributed attenuator  164  coupled to a node  168  disposed between the amplifier  102  and the amplifier  104 . 
     The variable attenuator  160 , the distributed attenuator  162 , and the distributed attenuator  164  may each compensate for a portion of the gain variation of the amplification circuitry  82  caused by a temperature change of the amplification circuitry  82 . For example, the variable attenuator  160  may receive control signals. In some embodiments, the variable attenuator  160  (or the distributed attenuator  162  and/or  164 ) may receive the multi-bit control signals from the processor  12  to compensate for a gain variation of the amplifiers  104  and  106  (e.g., based on the temperature at the amplifier  104  and/or the amplifier  106 ) by adjusting the attenuation based on resistive switching. However, in other embodiments, the variable attenuator  160  may receive the control signals to compensate for a gain variation of only one of the amplifiers  104  or  106 . 
     Moreover, the distributed attenuator  164  may receive control signals from the processor  12  to compensate for a gain variation of the amplifier  102  (e.g., based on the temperature at the amplifier  102 ). Furthermore, the distributed attenuator  162  may receive control signals from the processor  12  to compensate for a gain variation of the amplifier  100  and the passive elements  108  (e.g., based on the temperature at the amplifier  100  and/or the passive elements  108 ). Accordingly, each of the variable attenuator  160 , the distributed attenuator  162 , and the distributed attenuator  164  may compensate for a different portion of the gain variation of the amplification circuitry  82  based on their respective range of attenuation. In this manner, the variable attenuator  160 , the distributed attenuator  162 , and the distributed attenuator  164  may each compensate for a different portion of the gain variation of the amplification circuitry  82 . 
     In some cases, the variable attenuator  160  may include a wider range of attenuation compared to the distributed attenuators  162  and  164 . For example, in different cases, the variable attenuator  160  may compensate for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or more elements (e.g., amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106 , and/or passive elements  108 ) of the amplification circuitry  82 . In one example, the variable attenuator  160  may provide gain attenuation (e.g., gain decrease or dampening) of 5 dB or more, 10 dB or more, 15 dB or more, and so on. In some embodiments, the processor  12  may use the lookup table to provide the control signals to the variable attenuator  160 , the distributed attenuator  162 , and/or the distributed attenuator  164  based on the temperature. In one example, as temperature decreases, the gain variation of at least some of the elements of the amplification circuitry  82  may increase (e.g., each by 0.1 dB or greater, 0.5 dB or greater, 1.0 dB or greater, 1.5 dB or greater, and so on, from an initial or standard gain measured at a specific temperature). As such, the processor  12  may operate or cause the distributed attenuators  162  and  164  to each attenuate (e.g., decrease or dampen the power of) the signal  80  (e.g., by up to 1 dB or more, 2 dB or more, 3 dB or more, and so on) in response to the decreased temperature. Moreover, the processor  12  may operate or cause the variable attenuator  160  to attenuate the signal  80  (e.g., by up to 5 dB or more, 10 dB or more, 15 dB or more, and so on) in response to the decreased temperature. 
     With the foregoing in mind, the variable attenuator  160  may correlate to or match impedance of the amplification circuitry  82 , provide a desirable frequency response (e.g., lower frequency droop), and/or provide lower gain attenuation error when attenuating the signal  80 . Accordingly, the amplification circuitry  82  may use the combination of variable attenuators (e.g., the variable attenuator  220 ) and distributed attenuators (e.g., the distributed attenuators  222  and  224 ) to provide the signal  80  to the RF mixer  84 , generally leveraging the advantages of each while mitigating the disadvantages of each. Although in the depicted embodiment, the variable attenuator  160  is coupled between the amplifier amplification and the RF mixer  84 , the variable attenuator  160  may be disposed on a different node of the amplification circuitry  82 . For example, in different embodiments, the variable attenuator  160  may be disposed on the node  166 , the node  168 , or a different node, in series with the cascaded amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106 , and the passive elements  108 . 
       FIG.  7    is a circuit diagram of the variable attenuator of the amplification circuitry of  FIG.  6   . As mentioned above, a variable attenuator may provide variable attenuation via variable resistors. In some cases, the variable attenuator may apply a dynamic range of attenuation (e.g., based on resistive switching) to compensate for the gain variations of the multiple amplifiers and transmission lines (or one amplifier) due to temperature. In different embodiments, the amplification circuitry  82  may use different circuits or implementations for the variable attenuator  160 . In some cases, a first switch  170  (e.g., MOSFET, transistor, resistors, or other viable components) of the variable attenuator  160  may receive a series control signal  172  from the processor  12  (e.g., via an output of the amplifier  106  and/or an input of the RF mixer  84  of  FIG.  6   ). That said, in different embodiments, the series control signal  172  of the variable attenuator  160  may receive the series control signal  172  via other cascaded elements (and/or nodes) of the amplification circuitry  82  (e.g., the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and  106 , and the passive elements  108 ). 
     The variable attenuator  160  may also include a second switch  174 . The second switch  174  may receive a first shunt control signal  176 . Moreover, the variable attenuator  160  may include a third switch  178 . The third switch  178  may receive a second shunt control signal  180 . In the depicted embodiment, the second switch  174  and the third switch  178  are coupled between the first switch  170  and the ground  130 . In some cases, the first switch  170 , the second switch  174 , and/or the third switch  178  may be configurable to be conductive or non-conductive (e.g., using MOSFETs). Alternatively or additionally, the first switch  170 , the second switch  174 , and/or the third switch  178  may be configurable to provide a variable resistance (e.g., using variable resistance transistors). 
     In any case, the processor  12  may provide the first shunt control signal  176  to the second switch  174  and the second shunt control signal  180  to the third switch  178  (e.g., based on a received and/or determined temperature of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108 ). Moreover, the processor  12  may use the look up table to determine the first shunt control signal  176  and the second shunt control signal  180  to provide to the switches  174 ,  178  based on temperature. In specific cases, the processor  12  may adjust the gain attenuation of the variable attenuator  160  by adjusting a variable resistance of the second switch  174 , the third switch  178 , or both. 
       FIG.  8    is a flowchart of a process for attenuating a received RF signal to compensate for gain variations of the amplification circuitry of  FIG.  4  or  6   . The method  190  may facilitate compensating for the gain variations at different nodes of the receiver  54  using distributed attenuators. Any suitable device (e.g., the controller circuitry) that may control components of the electronic device  10 , such as the processor  12 , may perform the method  190 . 
     For example, the processor  12  may use the method  190  to provide control signals to the distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118  of  FIG.  4   , the variable attenuator  160  of  FIG.  6   , and/or the distributed attenuators  162  and  164  of  FIG.  6   . Accordingly, the processor  12  may use the method  190  to compensate for the gain variation of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  108 , and/or the passive elements  108  due to temperature variation. In some embodiments, the method  190  may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory  14  or storage  16 , using the processor  12 . For example, the method  190  may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the electronic device  10 , one or more software applications of the electronic device  10 , and the like. 
     While the method  190  is 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. For example, although the method  190  is described with respect to the amplifier  100 , it should be appreciated that in additional or alternative cases, the method  190  may be similarly used for the amplifiers  102 ,  104 ,  106 , the passive elements  108 , and/or a combination of such elements of the amplification circuitry  82 . 
     In process block  192 , the processor  12  receives a temperature of the amplifier  100 . In some cases, the processor  12  may determine the temperature based on receiving one or more temperature measurements (e.g., from a temperature sensor) associated with the amplifier  100 . In process block  194 , the processor  12  determines whether the temperature of the amplifier  100  is equal to or above a threshold temperature. As mentioned above, higher temperature (e.g., than an initial or standard temperature) may cause a negative gain variation and a decreased total gain of the amplifier  100 . As such, in some cases, the threshold temperature may correspond to a temperature at which the amplifier  100  operates with a threshold low gain. For example, the threshold low gain may correspond to a low (e.g., minimum) total gain of the amplifier  100  when the amplifier  100  exhibits a high (e.g., maximum) negative gain variation. 
     In process block  196 , the processor  12  causes (e.g., by sending one or more control signals) one or more distributed attenuators and/or a variable attenuator to decrease gain attenuation (e.g., perform less gain attenuation) when the temperature of the amplifier  100  is equal to or above the threshold temperature. The one or more distributed attenuators may include the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 , and the variable attenuator may include the variable attenuator  160  described above. Moreover, in one example, the processor  12  may provide one or more control signals to idle at least one distributed attenuator and/or variable attenuator when the temperature of the amplifier  100  is equal to or above the threshold temperature (e.g., such that the gain provided by the one or more distributed attenuators and/or the variable attenuator is 0 dB). 
     In specific cases, one or more of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 , and/or the variable attenuator  160  may provide low (e.g., minimum) attenuation (e.g., 0 dB, near 0 dB) to the signal  80  when the temperature of the amplifier  100  is equal to or above the threshold temperature. However, the processor  12  may also consider the temperature of the other amplifiers  102 ,  104 ,  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  for providing the control signals for gain attenuation of the one or more of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 , and/or the variable attenuator  160 . For example, a first distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , or  164  may receive the control signals to provide low (e.g., minimum) attenuation based on a low temperature (e.g., minimum) of one or more associated amplifiers  102 ,  104 ,  106 , and/or the passive elements  108 . Moreover, a second distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , or  164  may receive the control signals to provide higher attenuation based on a higher temperature of one or more associated amplifiers  102 ,  104 ,  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  of the second distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , or  164 . 
     Moreover, in process block  198 , the processor  12  causes (e.g., by sending one or more control signals) the one or more distributed attenuators, and/or the variable attenuator to compensate for gain variation of the amplifier  100  when the temperature of the amplifier  100  is below the threshold temperature. As mentioned above, the gain variation of the amplifier  100  may increase when the temperature of the amplifier  100  decreases. As such, the total gain of the amplifier  100  may increase when the temperature of the amplifier  100  decreases. Accordingly, in some cases, the processor  12  may cause the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 , and/or the variable attenuator  160  to attenuate the signal  80  when the temperature of the amplifier  100  is below the threshold temperature. In some cases, one of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164  may compensate for the positive gain variation of the amplifier  100 . In alternative or additional cases, the variable attenuator  160 , and/or a combination of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 , and/or the variable attenuator  160  may compensate for the positive gain variation of the amplifier  100 . 
     In some embodiments, the processor  12  provides the control signals to cause the one or more of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 , and/or the variable attenuator  160  to apply a different amount of attenuation based on the temperature. For example, the processor  12  may provide different control signals to compensate for gain variations of the amplifier  100  having different temperatures. In some embodiments, the processor  12  may cause one of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and  164 , and the variable attenuator  160  to apply a different amount of attenuation than another one of the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and  164 , and the variable attenuator  160  due to different temperatures at these respective components. The processor  12  may provide the control signals to cause higher gain attenuation as the temperature decreases. In some cases, the processor  12  may use the lookup table, mentioned above and discussed below, to provide such control signals. 
       FIG.  9    is another flowchart of a method  200  for the electronic device  10  to amplify the signal  80  independently from the gain variations of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  caused by a temperature change, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The method  200  may facilitate compensating for the gain variations at different nodes of the receiver  54  using distributed attenuators. Similar to the method  190  described above, the method  200  may use the distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 , and/or the variable attenuator  160  to compensate for the gain variation of the amplifier  100 . 
     Any suitable device (e.g., the controller circuitry) that may control components of the electronic device  10 , such as the processor  12 , may perform the method  200 . In some embodiments, the method  200  may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory  14  or storage  16 , using the processor  12 . For example, the method  200  may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the electronic device  10 , one or more software applications of the electronic device  10 , and the like. While the method  200  is 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. 
     At process block  202 , the processor  12  receives a temperature of the amplifier  100 . In some cases, the processor  12  may determine the temperature based on receiving one or more temperature measurements (e.g., from a temperature sensor) associated with the amplifier  100 . At process block  204 , the processor  12  determines one or more control signals from a lookup table based on the temperature of the amplifier  100 . 
     In some cases, the lookup table may include specific set of attenuation values for different amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106  and/or the passive elements  108 . In additional or alternative cases, the electronic device  10  may include multiple lookup tables associated with the different amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106  and/or the passive elements  108 . The memory  14  and/or storage  16  may store the one or multiple lookup tables. Moreover, the lookup table may include attenuation values to compensate for the gain variations at different nodes  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  126 , and/or  128  of the amplification circuitry  82  at different temperatures using the distributed attenuators  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , and/or  118 . 
     Subsequently, at process block  206 , the processor  12  provides the one or more control signals to one or more of the distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 , and/or the variable attenuator  160 , or a combination thereof. Accordingly, the amplification circuitry  82  of the electronic device  10  may amplify the signal  80  by compensating for the gain variations of the amplifiers  100 ,  102 ,  104 , and/or  106 , and/or the passive elements  108  caused by a temperature change. 
     In different embodiments, the receiver  54  may include different combinations of distributed attenuator and/or variable attenuators, such as the embodiments of  FIGS.  4  and  6    discussed above, to compensate for the gain variations of the amplification circuitry  82  caused by temperature using distributed attenuators (e.g., the distributed attenuator  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  162 , and/or  164 ). 
     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). 
     It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20220208
Publication Date: 20241105
Grant Date: 20241105
Priority Date: 20220208
Inventors: SARKAR, SAIKAT
GUAN, XIANG
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04B1/1607", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/1638", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/163", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03G2201/708", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03G2201/106", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/123", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03F3/211", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/18", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/1638", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/163", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/18", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H03G3/3036", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/1607", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/16", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/1638", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/1607", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/18", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 87520474