PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11012164-B2
Application Number: US-201916585335-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Systems and methods for radio frequency head validation via antenna coupling or signal reflection

Abstract:
An electronic device has multiple transmitters to transmit multiple signals. The electronic device also has a receiver to receive a signal. Moreover, the electronic device has a memory to store instructions and a processor to execute the instructions. The instructions cause the processor to send a test transmission signal from a transmitter of the multiple of transmitters, receive the test transmission signal at the receiver, and determine a gain of the test transmission signal. In response to determining that the gain is within a threshold range of an initial gain, the instructions cause the processor to send an indication that the receiver is operating as expected.

Claims:
The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 send a plurality of transmission signals from a plurality of transmitter antennas of a plurality of transmitters; 
 receive the plurality of transmission signals at a receiver antenna of a receiver; 
 determine a strongest coupled transmission signal of the plurality of transmission signals at the receiver antenna; 
 determine a reference gain of the strongest coupled transmission signal at the receiver antenna and an associated transmitter of the plurality of transmitters; 
 send a test transmission signal from an associated transmitter antenna of the associated transmitter; 
 receive the test transmission signal at the receiver antenna; 
 determine a gain of the test transmission signal, wherein the gain comprises a measured energy of a signal at the receiver antenna; and 
 in response to determining that the gain is within a threshold range of the reference gain, send an indication that the receiver is operating as expected. 
 
     
     
       2. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transmitter antennas is configured to operate using a first polarity and the receiver antenna is configured to operate using a second polarity opposite the first polarity. 
     
     
       3. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the reference gain during a manufacturing process. 
     
     
       4. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the strongest coupled transmission signal based on a receiver automatic gain control of the receiver and a transmitter gain index of the associated transmitter. 
     
     
       5. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transmission signals at the receiver antenna corresponds to a plurality of receiver gain states, and wherein the strongest coupled transmission signal comprises one receiver gain state of the plurality of receiver gain states that shares a least number of data points with the plurality of receiver gain states. 
     
     
       6. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable instructions cause the one or more processors to send an indication that the receiver, the associated transmitter, or a combination thereof, are operating unexpectedly in response to determining that the gain is greater than or less than the threshold range of the reference gain. 
     
     
       7. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable instructions cause the one or more processors to send the plurality of transmission signals using beamforming techniques. 
     
     
       8. An electronic device, comprising:
 a plurality of antennas; 
 a plurality of transmitters configured to transmit a plurality of transmission signals to one or more of the plurality of antennas; 
 a receiver configured to receive a signal from one or more of the plurality of antennas; 
 a memory configured to store instructions; 
 a processor configured to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
 send a test transmission signal from a transmitter of the plurality of transmitters via one of the plurality of antennas; 
 receive the test transmission signal at the receiver via the one of the plurality of antennas, wherein the one of the plurality of antennas operates on a first polarity during transmission and operates on a second polarity during reception; 
 determine a gain of the test transmission signal, wherein the gain comprises a measured energy of a signal at the receiver; and 
 in response to determining that the gain is within a threshold range of a reference gain, send an indication that the receiver is operating as expected. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
 send the plurality of transmission signals from the plurality of transmitters via the plurality of antennas; 
 receive the plurality of transmission signals at the receiver via the one of the plurality of antennas; 
 determine a strongest coupled transmission signal of the plurality of transmission signals at the receiver; and 
 determine the reference gain of the strongest coupled transmission signal between the receiver and the transmitter of the plurality of transmitters. 
 
     
     
       10. The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to send the strongest coupled transmission signal from the transmitter and send a second transmission signal of the plurality of transmission signals from a second transmitter of the plurality of transmitters after the transmitter finishes transmitting the strongest coupled transmission signal. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein each transmitter of the plurality of transmitters is configured to operate on a horizontal polarity, and wherein the receiver is configured to operate on a vertical polarity. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to receive each transmission signal of the plurality of transmission signals one at a time at the receiver. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
 send a second transmission signal from the transmitter via the one of the plurality of antennas; 
 receive the second transmission signal from the transmitter and reflected by a first reflector, as a reflected transmission signal, at the receiver via the one of the plurality of antennas; 
 determine a second reference gain of the reflected transmission signal; 
 send a second test transmission signal from the transmitter via the one of the plurality of antennas; 
 receive the second test transmission signal from the transmitter and reflected by a second reflector at the receiver via the one of the plurality of antennas; 
 determine the gain of the second test transmission signal; and 
 in response to determining that the gain is within a threshold range of the second reference gain, send the indication that the receiver is operating as expected. 
 
     
     
       14. A system comprising:
 a radio frequency device comprising:
 a plurality of transmitter antennas of a plurality of transmitters; 
 a receiver antenna of a receiver; 
 a memory configured to store instructions; 
 a processor configured to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
 send a plurality of transmission signals from the plurality of transmitter antennas; 
 receive the plurality of transmission signals at the receiver antenna; 
 determine a strongest coupled transmission signal of the plurality of transmission signals at the receiver antenna; 
 determine a reference gain of the strongest coupled transmission signal between the receiver antenna and an associated transmitter antenna of an associated transmitter of the plurality of transmitters; 
 send a test transmission signal from the associated transmitter; 
 receive the test transmission signal at the receiver antenna; 
 determine a gain of the test transmission signal, wherein the gain comprises a measured energy of a signal at the receiver antenna; and 
 in response to determining that the gain is within a threshold range of the reference gain, send an indication that the receiver is operating as expected. 
 
 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of transmitter antennas is configured to operate using a first polarity and the receiver antenna is configured to operate using a second polarity opposite the first polarity. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to determine the reference gain during a manufacturing process. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of transmission signals at the receiver correspond to a plurality of receiver gain states, and wherein the strongest coupled transmission signal comprises one receiver gain state of the plurality of receiver gain states that shares least number of data points with the plurality of receiver gain states. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to send an indication that the receiver, the associated transmitter, or a combination thereof, are operating unexpectedly in response to determining that the gain is greater than or less than the threshold range of the reference gain. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to send the strongest coupled transmission signal from the associated transmitter antenna and send a second transmission signal of the plurality of transmission signals from a second transmitter antenna of a second transmitter of the plurality of transmitters after the associated transmitter finishes transmitting the strongest coupled transmission signal.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems and, more specifically, to testing radio functionality of a wireless communication device. 
     This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. 
     Many radio frequency (RF) transceiver devices are programmed to communicate on a range of frequencies and may be tuned to communicate on a particular frequency band. In particular, the devices may be tuned to communicate on an underutilized frequency band to offload device usage from more congested frequency bands. For example, the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band, which ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, may be an underutilized frequency band at a higher end of the radio spectrum. Fifth-generation (5G) cellular systems use the mmWave frequency band to offload data traffic. 
     However, communicating on the mmWave frequency band may result in high energy loss since the wavelength of the mmWave frequencies is small, making the mmWave band generally more susceptible to atmospheric and environmental interference in comparison to communicating using lower frequency bands (e.g., 1.8 GHz used for cellular signals, and 2.4 GHz or 5.0 GHz used for Wi-Fi signals). Various antennas and beamforming techniques may be used to overcome the high energy loss. In particular, beamforming techniques involve spatially directing wireless data transmission over multiple antennas for receiving and transmitting data, forming dense directional arrays to overcome transient signal degradation. Beamforming may also utilize a time division duplexing (TDD) communication scheme, which allows transmission and reception of signals during different time intervals for each of the device&#39;s antennas. 
     Often, dual-polarized antennas may be used to facilitate simultaneous transmission and reception of signals. Dual-polarized antennas allow transmitting signals from an antenna on a particular polarity and receiving signals at the antenna on an opposite polarity during the same time interval. Thus, a device operating using beamforming may be able to send and receive data during the same time interval, increasing throughput. However, due to any variety of reasons (including aging of components, extreme environmental factors, and the like), the device may not operate as intended. Due to the number of components (including the numerous antennas for beamforming) and software executing on the device, it may be difficult to determine the source of unintended operation. 
     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. 
     The present disclosure generally relates to systems and devices for validating radio functionality of a wireless communication device. In general, validation may include antenna coupling validation and/or a reflector validation. Both the antenna coupling validation and the reflector validation may include a first set of steps that may be performed during manufacturing testing (e.g., testing conducted at the factory and prior to commercial use) and a second set of steps that may be performed during commercial testing (e.g., testing conducted by technical support during consumer use). 
     For example, an electronic device performing the antenna coupling validation may have multiple transmitters to transmit multiple signals and a receiver to receive a signal. Moreover, the electronic device may have a memory to store instructions and a processor to execute the instructions. During commercial testing, the instructions may cause the processor to send a test transmission signal from a transmitter of the multiple of transmitters, receive the test transmission signal at the receiver, and determine a gain of the test transmission signal. In response to determining that the gain is within a threshold range of an initial gain, the instructions may cause the processor to send an indication that the receiver is operating as expected. 
     The initial gain may be determined during the manufacturing testing. During manufacturing testing, the instructions may cause the processor to send multiple transmission signals from the multiple transmitters, receive the multiple transmission signals at the receiver, determine a strongest coupled transmission signal of the multiple transmission signals, and determine the initial gain of the strongest coupled transmission signal and the transmitter of the multiple transmitters. 
     Moreover, the electronic device performing the reflector validation during the manufacturing process may include instructions that cause the processor to send a second transmission signal from the transmitter of the multiple transmitters. The instructions may also cause the processor to receive the second transmission signal from the transmitter and reflected by a first reflector at the receiver, and the instructions may cause the processor to determine a second initial gain of the reflected transmission signal. During the commercial testing, the instructions may also cause the processor to send a second test transmission signal from the transmitter of the multiple transmitters, receive the second test transmission signal from the transmitter and reflected by a second reflector at the receiver, and determine the gain of the second test transmission signal. In response to determining that the gain is within a threshold range of the second initial gain, the instructions may cause the processor to send the indication that the receiver is operating as expected. As such, the antenna coupling validation and/or the reflector validation may be used to test radio functionality of the electronic device. 
     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 in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an electronic device, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a notebook computer representing an embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of a handheld device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of another handheld device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of a desktop computer representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a front view and side view of a wearable electronic device representing another embodiment of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a radio frequency integrated circuit of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram of software communicating with a radio frequency head of the radio frequency integrated circuit of  FIG. 7 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 9  is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing an antenna coupling validation to determine whether antennas are operating as expected on the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  is a plot illustrating a selection of a gain reference used in the antenna coupling validation of  FIG. 9 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 11  is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing a reflector validation to determine whether antennas are operating as expected on the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 12  is a block diagram of a reflector validation system for the electronic device of  FIG. 1 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     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&#39; 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. 
     To determine components of a radio frequency (RF) device that are causing the device to operate in an unexpected manner (e.g., with decreased communication performance), embodiments presented herein describe radio frequency head validation. Validation may include self-validation tests, such that the device includes instructions to perform tests that are stored and carried out by the device. In some embodiments, validation may utilize information relating to the device&#39;s beamforming communication scheme to determine if a radio frequency head component performance (e.g., antenna performance) is within a threshold range. 
     In particular, an antenna coupling validation includes determining if a gain value of a signal transmitted from a particular transmitter chain (e.g., signal transmitted from an antenna on a particular polarity) that is coupling to a particular receiver chain (e.g., receiving signals on an antenna on the opposite polarity) is within a threshold gain range. As used herein, “couple” or “coupling” may refer to a transfer of energy or power from one medium to another. For example, coupling may include the transfer of electrical energy from a transmitter or transmitter chain (via a transmitting antenna) to a receiver or receiver chain (via a receiving antenna) in the radio frequency device. The gain may be a value determined during the manufacturing or device production process, such that each device may store a determined gain corresponding to each antenna of the device. A threshold gain range, which may be based on the stored gain, may be used to determine if the gain of the signal transmitted from the particular transmitter chain and is coupled to the receiver chain is within the threshold gain range. 
     Additionally or alternatively to the antenna coupling validation, the validation tests may include a reflector validation utilizing a reflective chamber to measure gain reflected from a particular transmitter chain to a particular receiver chain. The reflective chamber may include a reflector that reflects a transmitted signal back toward the device, and the gain of the reflected signal may be determined in the receiver chain. In this manner, an initial or expected gain of a signal transmitted from a particular transmitter chain to a particular receiver chain may be determined via a coupling or reflection validation test. 
     After the device has left the manufacturer (e.g., has been purchased by a consumer), the gain measured for the coupled transmission signal and/or the reflected signal may be compared to the threshold gain range. Determining whether the measured gain is within the threshold gain range may indicate whether the device component causing the radio frequency device to perform unexpectedly is internal or external to the transmitter and receiver chains. If the gain is not within the threshold, then the corresponding transmitter chain is causing the unexpected performance (e.g., transmitting antenna). In this manner, the validation test may streamline a manufacturer&#39;s device support process by isolating the radio frequency head as the reason for the unexpected radio frequency operations. If the gain is within the predetermined threshold, then the overall support process may quickly determine that at least the radio frequency head is functioning as expected, and thus, may provide a starting point for testing other aspects of the radio frequency device. Thus, using beamforming information to validate a beamforming component of a device may facilitate an efficient test process by isolating the radio frequency head and its components as the reason for unexpected operational characteristics and/or may provide a starting point for additional components to isolate for further analysis. 
     With the foregoing in mind, there are many suitable communication devices that may benefit from the embodiments for performing a radio frequency head validation test described herein. Turning first to  FIG. 1 , an electronic device  10  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include, among other things, one or more processor(s)  12 , memory  14 , nonvolatile storage  16 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , an input/output (I/O) interface  24 , a network interface  26 , a power source  28 , and a transceiver  30 . The various functional blocks shown in  FIG. 1  may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium) or a combination of both hardware and software elements. 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 electronic device  10 . 
     By way of example, the electronic device  10  may represent a block diagram of the notebook computer depicted in  FIG. 2 , the handheld device depicted in  FIG. 3 , the handheld device depicted in  FIG. 4 , the desktop computer depicted in  FIG. 5 , the wearable electronic device depicted in  FIG. 6 , or similar devices. It should be noted that the processor(s)  12  and other related items in  FIG. 1  may be embodied wholly or in part as software, software, hardware, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the processor(s)  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 . 
     In the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 , the processor(s)  12  may be operably coupled with a memory  14  and a nonvolatile storage  16  to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor(s)  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(s)  12  to enable the electronic device  10  to provide various functionalities. 
     For example, a gain or threshold gain range for transmission signals coupling from a particular transmitter chain to a particular receiver chain may be saved in the memory  14  and/or nonvolatile storage  16 . As previously discussed, the transceiver  30  of the device  10  may communicate using beamforming techniques, which may utilize multiple antennas. As such, a gain or threshold gain range (e.g., expected gain) may be stored for signals from the particular transmitter chain (e.g., active transmitting antenna of one or more antennas on a particular polarity) coupling to or reflected into to a particular receiver chain (e.g., active receiving antenna on an opposite polarity from transmitting antenna). 
     For example, the threshold gain range of a transmitting signal gain coupling to a receiver chain may be a value that identifies with various transmitter signals. As will be discussed in detail with respect to  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10 , the gain values may be determined during a factory setup and prior to commercial use (e.g., prior to testing conducted by technical support during consumer use). The gain or threshold gain range may be set at a level that does not cause perceivable interference, such that normal communication between electronic devices  10  are not interrupted (e.g., streaming a video on a mobile electronic device  10  without perceivable data buffering). In some embodiments, such as when multiple antennas may be able to transmit or receive signals, a gain and/or threshold gain range may be stored for each of the antennas that may transmit a signal and that may couple to a receiver antenna during the device communications. Thus, a gain and/or threshold gain range for each combination of transmitting antenna and receiving antenna may be stored in the memory  14  and/or nonvolatile storage  16 . Based on these stored gain values, the processor  12  may execute a software or program also stored on the memory  14  and/or nonvolatile storage  16  to determine whether a gain measured in real time for transmission signals from the particular transmitter chain to the particular receiver chain is within the respective threshold gain range for the particular transmitter chain and particular receiver chain combination. 
     In certain embodiments, the display  18  may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), which may allow users to view images generated on the electronic device  10 . In some embodiments, the display  18  may include a touch screen, which may allow users to interact 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 organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, or some combination of LCD panels and OLED panels. 
     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 . The network interface  26  may 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 an 802.11x Wi-Fi network, and/or for a wide area network (WAN), such as 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 5G New Radio (5G NR) cellular network. 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 GHz). The transceiver  30  of the electronic device  10 , which includes a transmitter and a receiver, 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 example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (WiMAX), mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WiMAX), asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T) and its extension DVB Handheld (DVB-H), ultra-Wideband (UWB), alternating current (AC) power lines, and so forth. As further illustrated, the electronic device  10  may include a power source  28 . The power source  28  may 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 device  10  may take the form of a computer, a portable electronic device, a wearable electronic device, or other type of electronic device. Such computers may include computers that are generally portable (such as laptop, notebook, and tablet computers) as well as computers that are generally used in one place (such as conventional desktop computers, workstations, and/or servers). In certain embodiments, the electronic device  10  in the form of a computer may be a model of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or Mac Pro® available from Apple Inc. By way of example, the electronic device  10 , taking the form of a notebook computer  10 A, is illustrated in  FIG. 2  in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The depicted computer  10 A may include a housing or enclosure  36 , a display  18 , input structures  22 , and ports of an I/O interface  24 . In one embodiment, the input structures  22  (such as a keyboard and/or touchpad) may be used to interact with the computer  10 A, such as to start, control, or operate a graphical user interface (GUI) or applications running on computer  10 A. For example, a keyboard and/or touchpad may allow a user to navigate a user interface or application interface displayed on display  18 . 
       FIG. 3  depicts a front view of a handheld device  10 B, which represents one embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  10 B may represent, for example, a portable phone, a media player, a personal data organizer, a handheld game platform, or any combination of such devices. By way of example, the handheld device  10 B may be a model of an iPod® or iPhone® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The handheld device  10 B may include an enclosure  36  to protect interior components from physical damage and to shield them from electromagnetic interference. The enclosure  36  may surround the display  18 . The I/O interfaces  24  may open through the enclosure  36  and may include, for example, 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., a universal serial bus (USB), or other similar connector and protocol. 
     User input structures  22 , in combination with the display  18 , may allow a user to control the handheld device  10 B. For example, the input structures  22  may activate or deactivate the handheld device  10 B, navigate user interface to a home screen, a user-configurable application screen, and/or activate a voice-recognition feature of the handheld device  10 B. Other input structures  22  may provide volume control, or may toggle between vibrate and ring modes. The input structures  22  may also include a microphone that may obtain a user&#39;s voice for various voice-related features, and a speaker that may enable audio playback and/or certain phone capabilities. The input structures  22  may also include a headphone input that may provide a connection to external speakers and/or headphones. 
       FIG. 4  depicts a front view of another handheld device  10 C, which represents another embodiment of the electronic device  10 . The handheld device  10 C may represent, for example, a tablet computer, or one of various portable computing devices. By way of example, the handheld device  10 C may be a tablet-sized embodiment of the electronic device  10 , which may be, for example, a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. 
     Turning to  FIG. 5 , a computer  10 D may represent another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 . The computer  10 D may be any computer, such as a desktop computer, a server, or a notebook computer, but may also be a standalone media player or video gaming machine. By way of example, the computer  10 D may be an iMac®, a MacBook®, or other similar device by Apple Inc. It should be noted that the computer  10 D may also represent a personal computer (PC) by another manufacturer. A similar enclosure  36  may be provided to protect and enclose internal components of the computer  10 D such as the display  18 . In certain embodiments, a user of the computer  10 D may interact with the computer  10 D using various peripheral input structures  22 , such as the keyboard  22 A or mouse  22 B, which may connect to the computer  10 D. 
     Similarly,  FIG. 6  depicts a wearable electronic device  10 E representing another embodiment of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  that may be configured to operate using the techniques described herein. By way of example, the wearable electronic device  10 E, which may include a wristband  43 , may be an Apple Watch® by Apple Inc. However, in other embodiments, the wearable electronic device  10 E may include any wearable electronic device such as, for example, a wearable exercise monitoring device (e.g., pedometer, accelerometer, heart rate monitor), or other device by another manufacturer. The display  18  of the wearable electronic device  10 E may include a touch screen display  18  (e.g., LCD, OLED display, active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display, and so forth), as well as input structures  22 , which may allow users to interact with a user interface of the wearable electronic device  10 E. 
     With the foregoing in mind,  FIG. 7  is block diagram of a radio frequency integrated circuit  50  of the electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the radio frequency integrated circuit  50  may communicate with, be coupled to, or be integrated into the transceiver  30  of the electronic device  10 . The radio frequency integrated circuit  50  may include a controller  52  (e.g., a network controller) having one or more processors  54  (e.g., which may include the processor  12  illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) and one or more memory and/or storage devices  56  (e.g., which may include the memory  14  and/or the nonvolatile storage  16  device illustrated in  FIG. 1 ). The one or more processors  54  may include multiple microprocessors, one or more “general-purpose” microprocessors, one or more special-purpose microprocessors, and/or one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICS), or some combination thereof. For example, the one or more processors  54  may include one or more reduced instruction set (RISC) processors. Moreover, the one or more processors  54  (e.g., microprocessors) may execute software programs and/or instructions to determine which antennas are transmitting and receiving during a particular time interval, the polarity of the respective antennas, whether a gain determined via a validation test performing during commercial testing (e.g., after the manufacturing process) for a particular transmitter chain and a particular receiver chain is within a threshold gain range, determine a particular component in a transceiver chain  60  and/or a receiver chain  62  that may be causing the electronic device  10  to be operating unexpectedly, and so on. 
     The one or more memory devices  56  may store information such as control software, look up indexes (e.g., including a gain value or threshold gain range), configuration data, etc. In some embodiments, the one or more processors  54  and/or the one or more memory devices  56  may be external to the controller  52  and/or the radio frequency integrated circuit  50 . The one or more memory devices  56  may include a tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable-medium, such as a volatile memory (e.g., a random access memory (RAM)) and/or a nonvolatile memory (e.g., a read-only memory (ROM)). The one or more memory devices  56  may store a variety of information and may be used for various purposes. For example, the one or more memory devices  56  may store machine-readable and/or processor-executable instructions (e.g., software or software) for the one or more processors  54  to execute, such as instructions for determining whether a gain is within threshold gain range, and so on. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more memory devices  56  may store radio frequency head validation test results and/or identified components that are performing unexpectedly. The one or more memory devices  56  may include one or more storage devices (e.g., nonvolatile storage devices) that may include read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, a hard drive, or any other suitable optical, magnetic, or solid-state storage medium, or a combination thereof. 
     The controller  52  may be electrically or communicatively coupled to a radio frequency head  58 . Generally, the radio frequency head  58  may include the transmitter (TX) chain  60  and the receiver (RX) chain  62 . Although the depicted embodiment illustrates multiple transmitter chains  60  and multiple receiver chains  62 , which represents a particular embodiment, it should be noted that the methods and systems described herein may also be performed and implemented with one or more of the depicted transmitter chains  60  and one or more of the depicted receiver chains  62 . 
     Each of the transmitter chains  60  and the receiver chains  62  may include components that facilitate transmission and/or reception of wireless signals, such as those sent and received between electronic devices  10  using mmWave communication technology or any other suitable communication protocol. When communicating on the mmWave frequencies, the electronic devices  10  may utilize beamforming techniques, which may include a time division duplex (TDD) system. As previously discussed, the time division duplex system may transmit signals during an interval and receive signals during another interval. To transmit and receive signals concurrently, the electronic device  10  may transmit signals over one or more antennas with a particular polarization (e.g., vertical polarity) and receive signals over one or more antennas (e.g., the same or different antennas) with a different polarization (e.g., horizontal polarity). 
     As shown, each of the transmitter chains  60  and the receiver chains  62  may include multiple electronic components, such as a phase shifter  70 , an amplifier  72  (e.g., power amplifier (PA) for the transmitter chain  60  and low noise amplifier (LNA) for the receiver chain  62 ), and an antenna  74 , to process signals for transmitting and receiving respectively. Additional components may include, but are not limited to, filters, mixers, and/or attenuators. These components may be tuned based on environmental conditions (e.g., expected noise), type of signal, device type, target gain for transmitting and receiving signals, and so forth. For example, a transmission signal from the transceiver  30  may be controlled by controller  52  and sent to a phase shifter  70  in a transmitter chain  50 . The transmission signal may then be modulated (e.g., phase-shifted) using the phase shifter  70 , which may work with other phase shifters  70  of the other transmitter chains  60 , to form beams of wireless signals that may be steered in a particular direction, such as towards another electronic device  10 . 
     In some embodiments, the signal from the transmitter chain  60  may loopback and couple to or be reflected onto components in the receiver chains  62 , such as the antenna  74  of the receiver chains  62 . As will be discussed in detail in  FIGS. 8-12 , the gain of a transmission signal coupled to or reflected into a receiver chain  62  may be used to determine whether the radio frequency head  58  is functioning as expected. This determination may assist in narrowing down which components of the electronic device  10  may be causing the electronic device  10  to not operate as expected. 
     The radio frequency integrated circuit  50  may also include software  80  that is communicatively coupled to the controller  52 . The controller  52  may control the radio frequency integrated circuit  50  based on the software  80 . In particular, a version of the software  80  may be used to update, add, and/or remove present configurations of the radio frequency integrated circuit  50 . For example, the configurations may include, but may not be limited to, the transmitter chain  60  and/or receiver chains  62  that are activated during beamforming, the components (e.g., antenna) of the respective chains that are activated, the settings for the particular components (e.g., phase shift of phase shifters  70  and/or amplification provided by the amplifiers  72 ) of the respective chains, and/or the threshold gain range. As such, the software  80  may also update the gain range, which may be used to indicate whether the radio frequency head  58  is operating as expected. 
     To illustrate the software  80  used to set a threshold gain range,  FIG. 8  is a block diagram of the software  80  communicating with the radio frequency head  58 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The radio frequency head  58  may be used to store a gain during the manufacturing process and/or to test the radio frequency head  58  during commercial use (e.g., testing conducted by technical support during consumer use) using the validation techniques described herein. In some embodiments, such as the depicted embodiment, the radio frequency head  58  may be integrated with the software  80  of  FIG. 8 . However, in other embodiments, the software  80  may be coupled to or communicate with the radio frequency head  58 . As shown, the radio frequency head  58  may include a first transmitter chain  60 A (TX V1 Chain), a second transmitter chain  60 B (TX H1 Chain), a first receiver chain  62 A (RX V1 Chain), and a second receiver chain  62 B (RX H1 Chain). It should be appreciated that the radio frequency head  58  may include a greater or fewer number of transmitter chains  60  and/or receiver chains  62  than depicted. 
     As previously mentioned, beamforming may use time division duplex communication, in which receiving signals and transmitting signals are allocated to different time slots for the same frequency band. As such, the flow of data transmission may be during different time intervals. However, to transmit and receive signals simultaneously, signals may be transmitted or received via transmitting and receiving antennas  74  of an antenna array  93 . The antennas  74  may transmit and receive signals on opposite polarities. To illustrate, the software  80  may include a vertical chain  84  and a horizontal chain  86 . The vertical chain  84  and horizontal chain  86  may be defined as a plane in which a signal is transmitted or received. The vertical chain  84  and the horizontal chain  86  may indicate the polarity for which a respective signal is transmitted or received, such as by a transmitter chain  60  and/or a receiver chain  62 . The vertical chain  84  and the horizontal chain  86  may indicate one or more transmitter chains  60  and one or more receiver chains  62  assigned to the particular polarities. 
     The vertical chain  84  may be associated with an input gain index (GI)  90 A, an input component  92 A (e.g., a write component), and a read component  94 A. Similarly, the horizontal chain  86  may be associated an input gain index  90 B, an input component  92 B, and a read component  94 B. The input gain index  90  may be a look up table for the respective chains (e.g., the vertical chain  84  and horizontal chain  86 ). For example, the input gain index  90  may store a gain (in decibels (dB)) or threshold gain range for a strongest coupling gain and/or reflected gain determined during a manufacturing process validation test, as will be discussed in detail in  FIG. 11  and  FIG. 12 . During a commercial test for the validation test, the input gain index  90  may reference (e.g., look up or query) the input gain index  90  to retrieve gain values (in decibels (dB)) for the threshold gain range. In some embodiments, the input gain index  90  may also include a transmitter or receiver gain for the respective chain, in which a transmitter or receiver gain is used to amplify a signal to be transmitted or received via the respective chains. 
     The input component  92  may receive one or more gain values for the respective chains during manufacturing testing (e.g., testing conducted at the factory and prior to commercial use) and during commercial testing (e.g., testing conducted by technical support during consumer use) of the validation tests. For example, during a manufacturing process, the strongest coupling gain value or a reflected gain for a particular chain may be determined as described in  FIGS. 8-12 . The input component  92  may receive the gains for coupled transmission signals from each of the transmitter chains, the determined strongest coupled gain, a threshold gain range for the strongest coupled gain, reflected gains, and/or a threshold gain range for reflected gains. The input component  92  may then communicate the gain to the input gain index  90 , which may be referenced during the commercial testing of the validation tests. During the commercial testing, the input component  92  may receive the gain measured at a particular receiver chain, which may be compared to the input gain index  90  to determine an operating status of the radio frequency head  58  (e.g., operating as expected if the gain for the coupled or reflected transmission signals to the particular receiver chain  62  is within the threshold gain range). 
     The read component  94  may read a gain and/or threshold gain range from the input gain index  90 . For example, during the manufacturer portion of the validation, a gain to transmit or receive signals may be read from the input gain index  90  and sent to the respective chain, such that signals communicated on the respective chains are amplified corresponding to the read gain. During commercial testing of the validation tests, the read component  94  may read the threshold gain range from the input gain index  90 , which may be subsequently compared to a gain measured for a respective chain. The threshold gain range may be referenced and then used to determine that the radio frequency head  58  is operating as expected. Based on updates to the radio frequency head  58  and/or environmental factors, the transmitter chain and receiver chain settings may change. As such, the input gain index  90 , the input component  92 , and the read component  94  for the respective chains may be updated correspondingly. 
     As previously mentioned, each radio frequency chain, such as the transmitter chain  60  and the receiver chain  62 , may communicate signals from the electronic device  10  to another device via a vertically polarized antenna  74  or a horizontally polarized antenna  74 . That is, data communicated between electronic devices  10  may be communicated over opposite polarized active antennas. While the radio frequency head  58  is described as having one active transmitter chain  60  and one active receiver chain  62  operating on opposite polarities, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the radio frequency head  58  may operate using multiple active transmitter chains  60  and multiple active receiver chains  62  on opposite polarities. 
     In the depicted embodiment, the first transmitter chain  60 A is the active transmitting chain  60  and the second receiver chain  62 B is the active receiving chain  62  of the radio frequency head  58  (as indicated by the dashed line boxes). The first transmitter chain  60 A may communicate with another electronic device  10  on the vertical chain  84  (e.g., over a vertically polarized antenna  74 ). Thus, signals received from the electronic device  10  may be communicated on the opposite polarity of the vertically polarized antenna  74  (e.g., on the horizontal polarity) during the same time interval. As such, the second receiver chain  62 B may communicate with the electronic device  10  on the horizontal chain  86 . The antenna  74  may be dual-polarized, such that the same antenna may send the transmission signals and receive the reception signals on opposite polarities. In some embodiments, however, two different antennas  74  may be enabled for opposite polarities and used to communicate the transmission and reception signals on the opposite polarities. 
     As shown, the depicted first transmitter chain  60 A may reference a gain index  96 A (GI), and a second transmitter chain  60 B may reference a gain index  96 B. The gain index  96  may include or reference the respective input gain index  90 . Similarly, the first receiver chain  62 A may be coupled to or communicate with a receiver automatic gain control  98 A (Rx AGC) and a second receiver chain  62 B may be coupled to or communicate with a receiver automatic gain control  98 B. The receiver automatic gain control  98  may include an amplifier regulating circuit that maintains a suitable amplitude for the receiver chain  62 . That is, amplification via one or more amplifiers (amplifier  72  of  FIG. 7 ) may be adjusted to provide a similar amplification for a received signal regardless of the signal strength, such that the average gain is equalized. To do so, the receiver automatic gain control  98  may also reference the input gain index  90  for the receiver gain for the respective receiver chain  62 . 
     Although the radio frequency head  58  may include multiple antennas  74 , an antenna  74  in a respective transmitter chain  60  may send signals on a particular polarity while an antenna  74  in a respective receiver chain  62  may receive signals on the opposite polarity. The disclosed electronic device  10  (e.g., via controller  52  of  FIG. 7 ) may activate or deactivate transmitter chains  60  and/or receiver chains  62 , and/or may set the transmitter chains  60  and/or the receiver chains  62  to operate on particular polarities to validate the transmitter chains  60  and/or the receiver chains  62 . For example, information indicating which transmitter chain(s)  60  and/or receiver chain(s)  62  are active and their respective polarity may be utilized to perform the manufacturing test and/or commercial test. In particular, this information may be used to determine a strongest gain coupling  95  between an active transmitter chain  60  on a polarity and an active receiver chain  62  on the opposite polarity during manufacturing testing. An initial gain value may be determined based on the strongest gain coupling. During commercial testing (e.g., during consumer use and after manufacturing), a threshold gain range may be determined based on the initial gain. A measured gain for a transmission signal coupling to the receiver may be compared to the threshold gain range to determine if the radio frequency head  58  is operating as expected (e.g., as determined during manufacturing). 
     To illustrate determining the strongest gain coupling  95  and using the determined strongest gain coupling  95  as an indication as to whether the radio frequency head  58  is operating as expected,  FIG. 9  is a flowchart of a method for performing an antenna coupling validation  100  to determine whether antennas are operating as expected according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Moreover,  FIG. 11  illustrates a flowchart illustrating a method for performing a reflector validation  160  to determine whether antennas are operating as expected, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Both the antenna coupling validation  100  and the reflector validation  160  may include a portion or steps that may be performed during manufacturing testing (e.g., testing conducted at the factory and prior to commercial use) and a portion that may be performed during commercial testing (e.g., testing conducted by technical support during consumer use). 
     The antenna coupling validation  100  and the reflector validation  160  may be performed by any suitable device that may control components of the radio frequency integrated circuit  50 , such as the radio frequency head  58  that includes the transceiver chains  60  and receiver chains  62 . For example, a suitable device may include the controller  52  of  FIG. 7 . While the antenna coupling validation  100  and the reflector validation  160  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. In some embodiments, the antenna coupling validation  100  may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the one or more memory devices  56 , using a processor, such as the one or more processors  54 . The processor  54  of the electronic device  10  may include instructions to perform the tests that are stored (e.g., in memory  56 ) and carried out by the electronic device  10 . 
     Now turning to  FIG. 9 , the processor  54  sends (process block  102 ) transmission signals from transmitters (e.g., transmitter chains  60 ). In some embodiments, the radio frequency head  58  may include multiple transmitter chains  60 , where each transmitter chain  60  sends a respective transmission signal from a respective antenna  74  (e.g., antenna  74  of a transmitter chain  60  of  FIG. 7 ). Each of the multiple transmission signals may be sent sequentially (e.g., the first transmitter chain  60 A of  FIG. 8  transmits a first signal, and, after the first transmitter chain  60 A finishes transmitting data, the second transmitter chain  60 B of  FIG. 8  transmits a second transmission signal). As previously mentioned, the transmitter chain  60  may transmit signals and the receiver chain  62  may receive signals simultaneously in a beamforming communication scheme, in which the antennas  74  for the respective chains are operating on opposite polarities. The polarities may include a horizontal polarity and a vertical polarity. As such, in some instances, while the transmitter chain  60  operates on the vertical polarity, the receiver chain  62  may operate on the horizontal polarity. Similarly, while the transmitter chain  60  operates on a horizontal polarity, the receiver chain  62  may operate on the vertical polarity. That is, the transmitting antenna and receiving antenna may not operate on the same polarity at a time. 
     To test coupling for another transmitter chain  60  of the radio frequency head  58 , the active transmitting chain  60  may be deactivated after performing the coupling test to subsequently activate the next transmitter chain  60  to be tested for the particular receiver chain  62 , and so forth. Although the following discussions describe the radio frequency head  58  with one active transmitter chain  60  and one active receiver chain  62 , which represents a particular embodiment, the methods may applied to the radio frequency head  58  having multiple active transmitter chains  60  and multiple active receiver chains  62  that are on opposite polarities. That is, while the receiver chain  62  operates on a particular polarity, the transmitter chains  60  may operate on the opposite polarity. In this manner, the transmitter chains  60  operate on the opposite polarity with respect to the receiver. Moreover, although the following discussions describe testing multiple transmitter chains  60  for coupling to a particular receiver chain  62 , which represents a particular embodiment, the methods described herein may be used to test coupling to other receiver chains  62  of the radio frequency head  58 , coupling received signals from receiver chains  62  to a particular transmitter chain  60 , coupling of the received signals to other transmitter chains  60 , and so forth. 
     The processor  54  receives (process block  104 ) each transmission signal at a receiver (e.g., receiver chain  62 ). After receiving the transmission signals (e.g., sequentially) from the transmitter chains  60 , the processor  54  determines (process block  106 ) the strongest coupled transmission signal from the transmitter chains  60 . 
     To illustrate the process for determining the strongest coupled transmission signal,  FIG. 10  is a plot  140  that illustrates a selection of a gain reference used in the antenna coupling validation during manufacturing of the device of the antenna coupling validation, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The gain reference may include the strongest coupled gain. The plot  140  depicts a receiver gain state  142  for each of the transmission signals coupled to a particular receiver. That is, a receiver gain state  142  (e.g., RX gain states 0-10) may be determined (sequentially) for each of the transmission signals transmitted and coupled to the particular receiver. The receiver gain state  142  may refer to the gain measured for a signal coupled to a receiver element of the particular receiver, such as to antenna  74  of  FIG. 9 . For example, when a transmitter of the radio frequency head  58  sends a signal, at least a portion of the transmission signal may be received at or coupled to an active receiver of the radio frequency head  58 . As such, the gain for the portion of the transmission signal coupled to the particular receiver may be determined (e.g., calculated or measured). As shown, the receiver gain state  142  may be indicated as a receiver automatic gain control  98  (e.g., a gain component of a received signal as represented by the y-axis) with respect to the transmitter gain index  96  (e.g., a gain component applied to a transmission sign as represented by the x-axis element). 
     To test the transmission signals for a gain and/or threshold gain range coupling to the particular receiver for validation purposes, one of the receiver gain states  142  may be selected. The selection may be based on the strongest coupling between a transmitter chain  60  and the particular receiver chain  62 , which, in some embodiments, may be defined as the most linear and/or identifiable receiver gain state  142 . The most identifiable receiver gain state  142  may refer to a receiver gain state  142  that has a variance in data points that act as a testable signature through the range of receiver gain states  142 . That is, the identifiable receiver gain state  142  may share the least number of data points with the other receiver gain states  142 . In some instances, there may be more than one receiver gain state  142  that that shares the least number of data points with the other receiver gain states  142 . In such instances, any of the receiver gain states  142  sharing the least number of data points may be selected as the most identifiable. In some embodiments, the data points for the most identifiable receiver gain state  142  may be linear or parallel the data points for the majority of the receiver gain states  142 . 
     The strongest coupled gain  144  (e.g., strongest gain coupling  95  of  FIG. 8 ) in the depicted embodiment is towards the middle of the receiver gain states  142  (e.g., receiver gain state  6 ) for the different transmission signals. That is, the strongest coupled gain  144  indicates the most identifiable coupling for the particular receiver and a transmission signal from the associated transmitters. As shown, the receiver gain states  142  may plateau or level out towards the top for high energy receiver gain states  142  and bottom range of receiver gain states  142  for low energy gain states  142 . As such, if a receiver gain state  142  towards the top (or bottom) of the plot  140  is selected as the strongest coupled gain  144 , such as a second gain state  146  (Rx Gain State  2 ), then the receiver may saturate the transmitter, such that energy or a change in energy may not be detected. As shown, receiver gain states  142  towards the top of the plot  140  may merge or be close together, such that detecting a difference between the second gain state  146  and the receiver gain states  142  towards the top of the plot may be difficult to determine. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that while the plot  140  illustrates a linear slope, which represents a particular embodiment, any identifiable curve is contemplated, such as sinusoidal, exponential, and/or parabolic relationships. 
     The strongest coupling may be characterized as having a gain that has the most identifiable variance (e.g., most identifiable receiver gain state  142 ) of energy coupled to the antenna  74  of the particular receiver&#39;s receiver chain  62 . As will be described herein, the strongest coupled gain may referred to an initial gain (as it is determined during an “initial” time at the manufacturer). During commercial testing, a subsequently determined test gain may be compared to the initial gain in order to determine that the coupled transmitter and receiver are operated as expected. 
     Turning back to  FIG. 9 , after determining the strongest coupled transmission signal (process block  106 ), the processor  54  determines (process block  108 ) an initial gain of the strongest coupled transmission signal and an associated transmitter. For example, the processor  54  may determine the gain associated with the strongest coupled gain state  144  of  FIG. 10 . The determination may be based on the automatic gain control  98  for the particular receiver and the transmitter gain index  96  for the particular transmitter. Moreover, since the transmission signals are tested sequentially, the processor  54  may identify the transmitter that is associated with the transmission signal sent during testing. The initial gain and information identifying the associated transmitter may be stored in the memory  56 . This information may be referenced during commercial testing to determine whether a measured gain for a transmission signal coupling to the receiver is within a threshold gain range that is based on the initial gain. That is, the steps of sending (process block  102 ) transmission signals from the transmitters, receiving (process block  104 ) the transmission signals at a receiver, determining (process block  106 ) a strongest coupled transmission signal, and determining (process block  108 ) the initial gain of the strongest coupled transmission signal and associated transmitter may be a portion of the antenna coupling validation  100  that is performed during manufacturing. 
     Since each electronic device  10  may be subject to varied use (e.g., based on consumer use and/or environmental factors), the manufacturing test of the antenna coupling validation  100  may be performed for each device. As such, the initial gain of the strongest coupled transmission signal and/or associated transmitter may vary for each tested electronic device  10 . In some instances, the initial gain and/or associated transmitter may be the same across multiple electronic devices  10  even though they may be tested individually. The following set of steps of the antenna coupling validation  100  may be performed during a commercial phase. For example, these steps may be performed to determine whether the radio frequency head  58  is operating as expected after the device is purchased (e.g., and in use) by a consumer. 
     During the commercial testing phase of the antenna coupling validation  100 , the processor  54  sends (process block  110 ) a test transmission signal from the associated transmitter. By way of example, if the electronic device  10  is not performing as expected, the receivers and transmitters of the electronic device  10  (including the particular receiver and the associated transmitter) may be tested to determine whether the radio frequency head  58  is performing as expected. Determining whether the radio frequency head  58  is performing as expected may help isolate or shorten general testing time that may otherwise include running tests for numerous feature and/or components of the electronic device  10  without a strategic starting point. Since the initial gain (e.g., gain of strongest coupled transmission signal) and the associated transmitter have been identified during the manufacturing process, sending the test signal from the particular associated transmitter may be an accurate starting point for determining if the radio frequency head  58  is operating as expected or as measured during the manufacturing testing. 
     After sending the test transmission signal, the processor  54  receives (process block  112 ) the test transmission signal at the receiver. In particular, an element, such as the antenna  74  of the receiver (e.g., receiver chain  62 ), may receive at least a portion of data from the test transmission signal to the antenna  74 . By way of example, the test transmission signal from the transmitter may transmit 80% of its intended signal while 20% of the signal is lost and/or coupled to other elements in the radio frequency head  58 . For example, 20% of the transmission signal may couple to the antenna  74  of the receiver. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that any suitable portion (e.g., 5%, 15%, 30%, and so forth) of the intended signal may couple to the antenna  74  of the receiver. 
     Upon the receiving the test transmission signal, the processor  54  determines (process block  114 ) the gain of the test transmission signal at the receiver. For example, the processor  54  may instruct the radio frequency integrated circuit  50  of  FIG. 7  to measure the gain of the energy at the antenna  74  of the particular receiver. The processor  54  then determines whether (decision block  116 ) the determined gain is within a threshold range of the initial gain. A threshold range may be determined based on, but not limited to, the initial gain determined during the manufacturing test, the type of electronic device  10 , device components (e.g., antenna, phase shifters, etc.), intended operation of the electronic device  10 , and/or environmental factors. If the determined gain is within the threshold range, then the processor  54  sends (process block  118 ) an indication that the receiver is operating as expected. For example, the processor  54  may transmit an indication to a graphical user interface (GUI) of the display  18  of the electronic device  10  that the receiver is operating as expected. Additionally or alternatively, the processor  54  may send the indication to memory  56  to store the information, the determined gain of the test transmission signal, the gain difference between the initial gain and the determined gain of the test transmission signal, and/or other information that may be measurable and/or useful in providing or streamlining the commercial testing process for the electronic device  10 . 
     On the other hand, if the determined gain is greater than or less than the threshold range of the initial gain, then the processor  54  sends (process block  120 ) an indication that the receiver is not operating as expected. The processor  54  may also send the indication to memory  56  to store the indication, the determined gain of the test transmission signal, the gain difference between the initial gain and the determined gain of the test transmission signal, and/or other information that may be measurable and/or useful in providing or narrowing the test process for the electronic device  10 . For example, such an indication may quickly indicate the particular receiver and/or the associated transmitter, and the components (e.g., antenna  74 , phase shifter  70 , amplifier  72  of  FIG. 7 ) in their respective chains, as the reason for the electronic device  10  to operate unexpectedly. Moreover, the indication may be used to selectively activate or deactivate components, such as deactivating the associated transmitter and instead, activating another transmitter of the electronic device  10 . Subsequently, the antenna coupling validation may be performed again with the transmitter and its associated initial gain as determined during the manufacturing process. 
     In addition to the antenna coupling validation  100 , the processor  54  performs the reflector validation  160 . To illustrate,  FIG. 11  is a flowchart of the method for performing the reflector validation  160  to determine whether antennas are operating as expected, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor  54  sends (process block  162 ) transmission signals from a transmitter (e.g., transmitter chain  60 ). As previously mentioned with respect to the antenna coupling validation  100  of  FIG. 9 , each transmitting chain  60  may send a respective transmission signal from its respective antenna  74  (e.g., antenna  74  of a transmitter chain  60  of  FIG. 7 ). 
     Each of the multiple transmission signals may be sent sequentially (e.g., the first transmitter chain  60 A of  FIG. 8  transmits a first signal, and, after the first transmitter chain  60 A finishes transmitting data, the second transmitter chain  60 B of  FIG. 8  transmits a second transmission signal). As previously mentioned, the transmitter chain  60  may transmit signals and the receiver chain  62  may receive signals simultaneously in a beamforming communication scheme, in which the antennas  74  for the respective chains are operating on opposite polarities. The polarities may include a horizontal polarity and a vertical polarity. As such, in some instances, while the transmitter chain  60  operates on the vertical polarity, the receiver chain  62  may operate on the horizontal polarity. Similarly, while the transmitter chain  60  operates on a horizontal polarity, the receiver chain  62  may operate on the vertical polarity. That is, the transmitting antenna and receiving antenna may not operate on the same polarity at a time. 
     In some embodiments, to test reflection for another transmitter chain  60  of the radio frequency head  58 , the active transmitting chain  60  may be deactivated after performing the reflector test to subsequently activate the next transmitter chain  60  to be tested, and so forth. Although the following discussions describe the radio frequency head  58  with one active transmitter chain  60  and one active receiver chain  62 , which represents a particular embodiment, the methods may applied to the radio frequency head  58  having multiple active transmitter chains  60  and multiple active receiver chains  62  that are on opposite polarities. That is, while the receiver chain  62  operates on a particular polarity, the transmitter chains  60  may operate on the opposite polarity. In this manner, the transmitter chains  60  operate on the opposite polarity with respect to the receiver. Moreover, although the following discussions describe testing multiple transmitter chains  60  for coupling to a particular receiver chain  62 , which represents a particular embodiment, the methods described herein may be used to test coupling to other receiver chains  62  of the radio frequency head  58 , coupling received signals from receiver chains  62  to a particular transmitter chain  60 , coupling of the received signals to other transmitter chains  60 , and so forth. 
     Next, the processor  54  receives (block  164 ) a reflected transmission signal at a receiver. That is, a portion of the transmission signal may be reflected off of a reflector and onto the particular receiver (e.g., receiver chain  62 ). The processor  54  then determines (process block  166 ) an initial gain of the reflected transmission signal. 
     To illustrate,  FIG. 12  is a block diagram of a reflector validation system  179  using a reflector  180  to test the radio frequency head  58 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. This test may be performed in a test chamber, such that the reflector  180  (e.g., a first reflector during the manufacturing process and a second reflector during the consumer use) and the radio frequency head  58  are enclosed in the chamber. As shown, the radio frequency head  58  (e.g., device under test (DUT)) may transmit the transmission signal on the horizontal polarity  86  and receive signals on the vertical polarity  84 . In some embodiments, the radio frequency head  58  may transmit the transmission signal on the vertical polarity  84  and receive signals on the horizontal polarity  86 . As shown, a portion of the transmitted signal  182  that is transmitted from the transmitter chain  60  may be reflected off of a reflector  180  in a test chamber. The portion may be referred to as a reflected signal  184  that is received by a receiver chain  62  of the receiver. Based on a distance between the tested active transmitter and active receiver, the amount of reflection and/gain of the reflected signal  184  may vary. By way of example, the reflected signal  184  may be greater between the transmitter and receiver when they are closest to each other. 
     The reflector  180  may be used to reflect the portion of the transmitted signal into the receiver chain  162 . Moreover, the reflector  180  may be shaped or dimensioned to more accurately direct the reflected signal  184  from transmitter to receiver. As such, the reflector  180  may be parabolic (e.g., having curved edges), straight (e.g., having a flat, uncurved surface), or have any other suitable shape. The reflector validation  160  may be used to identify whether the receiver is operating as expected. In some embodiments, as long as the receiver receives reflected signals  184  from the transmitter, the processor  54  may indicate that the receiver is operating as expected (e.g., receives data within an error rate threshold). In other embodiments, an initial gain for the reflected signal  184  may be determined to indicate expected gain for signals that are reflected onto and received by the receiver. The initial gain may be determined based on a measured gain measured at the antenna  74  of the receiver. For example, the radio frequency integrated circuit  50  of  FIG. 7  may measure the gain of the energy at the antenna  74  of the particular receiver. In other embodiments, an initial gain may be determined for each reflected signal  184  from respective transmitters. The initial gain for each of the reflected signals  184  may be stored (e.g., in memory  56 ) and referenced to determine whether the particular transmitter tested during commercial testing is operating as determined during the manufacturing test. That is, an initial gain may be determined and stored for each of the associated transmitters during manufacturer testing, the initial gain for each of the associated transmitters may be used to determine a threshold gain range during commercial testing, and then a measured gain for a transmission signal from each of the associated transmitters may be compared to the respective threshold gain range. 
     Since each electronic device  10  may be subject to varied use (e.g., based on consumer use and/or environmental factors), the reflector validation  160  may be performed during manufacturing for each device. As such, the initial gain of the reflected signal  184  may vary to the particular tested electronic device  10 . In some instances, the initial gain may be the same across multiple electronic devices  10  even though they are tested individually. The following set of steps of the reflector validation  160  may be performed during commercial testing. 
     During the commercial testing phase of the reflector validation  160 , the processor  54  sends (process block  168 ) a test transmission signal from the associated transmitter. By way of example, if the electronic device  10  is not performing as expected, the receivers and transmitters of the electronic device  10  (including the particular receiver and the associated transmitter) may be tested to determine whether the radio frequency head  58  is performing as expected. Determining whether the radio frequency head  58  is performing as expected may help isolate or shorten general testing time that may otherwise include running tests for numerous feature and/or component of the electronic device  10  without a strategic starting point. Since the initial gain was identified during the manufacturing process, sending the test signal from the transmitter may be an accurate starting point for determining if the radio frequency head  58  is operating as expected or as measured during the manufacturing process. 
     After sending the test transmission signal, the processor  54  receives (process block  170 ) the test transmission signal at the receiver. In particular, an element, such as the antenna  74  of the receiver (e.g., receiver chain  62 ), may receive at least a portion of data from the test transmission signal to the antenna  74 . By way of example, the test transmission signal from the transmitter may transmit 80% of its intended signal while 20% of the signal is lost and/or reflected onto other elements in the radio frequency head  58 . For example, 20% of the transmission signal may reflect onto the antenna  74  of the receiver. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that any suitable portion (e.g., 5%, 15%, 30%, and so forth) of the intended signal may reflect onto the antenna  74  of the receiver. 
     Upon the receiving the test transmission signal, the processor  54  determines (process block  172 ) gain of the test transmission signal at the receiver. For example, the radio frequency integrated circuit  50  of  FIG. 7  may be used to measure the gain of the energy at the antenna  74  of the particular receiver. The processor  54  then determines whether (decision block  174 ) the determined gain is within a threshold range of the initial gain. A threshold range may be determined based on, but not limited to, the initial gain determined during the manufacturing test, the type of electronic device  10 , device components (e.g., antenna, phase shifters, etc.), intended operation of the electronic device  10 , and/or environmental factors. 
     If the determined gain is within the threshold range, then the processor  54  sends (block  176 ) an indication that the receiver is operating as expected. For example, the processor  54  may transmit a signal that the receiver is operating as expected. For example, the processor  54  may transmit an indication to a graphical user interface (GUI) that may communicate with the electronic device  10  and/or to a GUI of the display  18  of the electronic device  10 . Additionally or alternatively, the processor  54  may send the indication to memory  56  to store the information, the determined gain of the test transmission signal, the gain difference between the initial gain and the determined gain of the test transmission signal, and/or other information that may be measurable and/or useful in providing or narrowing the commercial testing process for the electronic device  10 . 
     On the other hand, if the determined gain is greater than or less than the threshold range of the initial gain, then the processor  54  sends (process block  178 ) an indication that the receiver is not operating as expected. For this determination, the processor  54  may also send the indication to memory  56  to store the indication, the determined gain of the test transmission signal, the gain difference between the initial gain and the determined gain of the test transmission signal, and/or other information that may be measurable and/or useful in providing or narrowing the test process for the electronic device  10 . For example, such an indication may quickly indicate the particular receiver and/or the associated transmitter, and the components (e.g., antenna  74 , phase shifter  70 , amplifier  72  of  FIG. 7 ) in their respective chains, as the reason for the electronic device  10  to operate unexpectedly. Moreover, the indication may be used to selectively activate or deactivate components, such as deactivating the associated transmitter and instead, activating another transmitter of the electronic device  10 . Subsequently, the antenna coupling validation may be performed again with the transmitter and its associated initial gain as determined during the manufacturing process. 
     The antenna coupling validation  100  and reflector validation  160  for the radio frequency head  58  of the electronic device  10 , may provide an efficient test scheme for testing a portion (e.g., the radio frequency head  58 ) of the electronic device  10  to identify one or more device components of the radio frequency head  58  that cause the electronic device  10  to perform in an unexpected manner. Moreover, the antenna coupling validation  100  and reflector validation  160  may also provide a starting test point for efficiently determining the one or more device components that may not be part of the radio frequency head  58  and that cause the electronic device  10  to perform in an unexpected manner when the radio frequency head  58  is performing within the threshold. 
     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).

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20190927
Publication Date: 20210518
Grant Date: 20210518
Priority Date: 20190927
Inventors: EL-HASSAN, WASSIM
ALESH, BASSEL HUSAM
BHAMIDIPATI, SRINIVASA YASASVY SATEESH
GORMAN, DAPHNE IRENE
NAYAK, VINEET
ZHAO, Xuefeng
GONG, XIAOHUI
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04B17/13", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/23", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/19", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/0085", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/29", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/29", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B7/0617", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/13", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/19", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/13", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/19", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/0085", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B17/29", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B7/0617", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 75162227