DYNAMIC ANTENNA TUNING FOR MULTI-BAND MULTI-TRANSFER WIRELESS SYSTEMS

Abstract

A method for dynamically tuning an antenna circuit from user equipment (UE) in a multiband multi-carrier wireless system, wherein the method at the UE comprises: loading antenna frequency response information for two or more antenna tuning configurations into a UE memory; determining a first set of active receive carrier frequencies and a second set of active transmit carrier frequencies for a future time period, wherein i) the first set includes a first receive subcarrier (CC) and a second receive CC, and ii) the second set includes a transmit CC; determining a set of states characterizing current conditions of an uplink communication channel and current conditions of a downlink communication channel; and determining an optimal antenna tuning configuration.based on the first set of active receive carrier frequencies and the second set of active transmit carrier frequencies for the future time period, and the set of states that characterizes the current conditions of the uplink communication channel and the current conditions of the downlink communication channel; and dynamic tuning of the antenna circuit by the UE to the optimal antenna tuning configuration for the future time period, wherein: i) an antenna tuning control is coupled to the antenna tuning circuit, ii) the antenna tuning control tunes one or more physical antennas by determining values ​​for a variety of adjustable hardware components, iii) the transmit CC corresponds to one of the active transmit carrier frequencies of the second set, iv) the first receive CC is in a first band, v) the second receive CC is in a second band,andvi) the first band and the second band are associated with a carrier bundling (CA) protocol, and wherein the antenna tuning control computes an argument from a cost / gain function to determine the values ​​of the plurality of adjustable hardware components, based at least in part on:i) a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with the first receive CC, andii) a second RSSI associated with the second receive CC.

Description

AREA The described embodiments generally relate to wireless communications, and more specifically to processes for dynamically tuning antenna settings for multiband multicarrier systems. BACKGROUND In mobile communications, a multiband wireless device can refer to a mobile phone (or other wireless communication equipment) that supports multiple radio frequency (RF) bands. Each RF band spans a range of radio frequencies and includes several radio frequency channels. Some multiband mobile wireless devices can use a single carrier frequency for communication, while others can support multi-carrier communication using multiple frequency channels simultaneously. By supporting multiple radio frequency bands, multiband wireless devices enable roaming between different areas of the world where different wireless communication protocols may be used to provide mobile wireless services.When radio frequency bands are widely separated, parallel transmit and receive signal path circuits may be required, which can increase the cost, size, complexity, and power requirements of multiband wireless devices. Multiband wireless communications can directly influence the antenna design for the multiband wireless devices that support such communication. Basic elements of a radio system include a receiver, a transmitter (which, in combination with the receiver, can be called a transceiver), and one or more antennas for transmitting and receiving radio waves. Antenna characteristics can be based on specifications for the receiver and transmitter, such as bandwidth and carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the receiver and transmitter can operate on the same carrier frequency, so that an antenna in the wireless device may only require tuning to a single carrier frequency. First-generation (1G) mobile systems use a single carrier frequency for operations, for example, the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) in North America, which uses one carrier at 800 MHz. With the advancement to second-generation (2G) standards, dual-band radio frequency bands were introduced for mobile systems (TDMA, GSM, CDMA). Dual-band mobile devices operate using two radio frequency bands. Therefore, 2G wireless devices, such as user equipment (UE) and network equipment like a base transceiver station (BTS), may require a dual-band antenna system for operation.A dual-band antenna system for a mobile wireless device can be implemented using two separate antennas or can be implemented by combining several elements to generate an antenna that operates on two separate radio frequency bands. With the evolution of wireless communication standards, for example from 2G mobile systems to third-generation (3G) mobile systems, and with the requirement to provide wireless communication devices capable of connecting to wireless services worldwide, the complexity of antenna designs is continuously increasing. Multi-band mobile wireless devices have evolved from dual-band to tri-band to quad-band capabilities. For example, a quad-band wireless device can support four separate radio frequency bands, such as the 850 and 1900 MHz bands, typically used in the Americas (ITU Range 2), and the 900 and 1800 MHz bands, typically used in Europe and other regions. Some wireless communication devices that support both 2G and 3G wireless communication protocols support all four radio frequency bands. With the evolution to LTE / 4G (Long Term Evolution / fourth generation) wireless communication protocols, mobile wireless devices are required that support multiple radio frequency bands. Additionally, for advanced wireless communications, there is a growing demand for wireless systems that can utilize multiple radio carriers simultaneously. This requirement impacts both mobile wireless devices, such as UEs, and access network equipment, such as BTSs. Recent advancements in wireless communication protocols (such as LTE-Advanced protocols) provide carrier aggregation (CA), which can support simultaneous communication using up to five separate radio frequency carriers to achieve greater bandwidth and higher throughput.Additionally, Dual-SIM Dual-Ready (DSDS) and / or Dual-SIM Dual-Access (DSDA) wireless communication devices may require transmission and / or reception using at least two frequency channels simultaneously. The requirements of these applications can pose a significant challenge to the design of antennas for wireless communication devices, particularly antenna tuning. Therefore, there is a need for antennas that operate in a multi-band, multi-carrier environment and provide optimal performance across multiple radio frequency bands, while also adhering to principles regarding a specific form factor and / or cost. US Patent 2013 / 0 120 200 A1 discloses an active antenna system and an algorithm that enables dynamic tuning and optimization of antenna system parameters for a MIMO system, dynamically changing the correlation and isolation between antennas in the system to achieve higher throughput. When one or more antennas become loaded or detuned due to environmental changes, corrections to the correlation and / or isolation are made by selecting the optimal antenna radiation pattern and adjusting the electrical length and / or reactive loading of the transmission lines connecting the antennas. Multiple isolated magnetic dipole (IMD) antennas are arranged side-by-side and connected to a feed network that may include switches to adjust the phase length of the transmission lines connecting the antennas.The feed network incorporates filtering to improve the suppression of unwanted frequencies. Filtering can also be implemented in the antenna structure. US 2013 / 0 038 502 A1 reveals a control system for a radio circuit. US patent 2013 / 0 005 277 A1 discloses systems and procedures for adaptive antenna optimization. The US 2013 / 0 336 181 A1 reveals a front-end with dual antenna and integrated carrier aggregation. US 2009 / 0 121 963 A1 discloses adjustable matching circuits for transmitter and receiver bands, which are functions of transmitter metrics. WO 2013 / 052 277 A2 discloses adaptive adjustment of impedance matching circuits in a wireless device. US patent 2014 / 0 022 125 A1 discloses a method and a device for beam steering and antenna matching in a communications device. US 2006 / 0 183 431 A1 discloses systems and procedures for antenna matching for mobile stations in traffic conditions. US patent 2014 / 0 057 580 A1 discloses a programmable wireless communication device. CN 101133560 A discloses an antenna matching system and procedure for the communications service status of a mobile station. One of the tasks of embodiments of this description is to dynamically tune the antenna circuit to provide optimal performance for operation in multiple radio frequency bands. SUMMARY A key challenge in multiband multicarrier wireless systems lies in the design of their antenna circuitry. The antenna circuitry must be appropriately tuned for use across multiple radio frequency bands. One solution addressing this challenge is the design of a dynamically tunable antenna system for use in user equipment (UE). Such an antenna system may include an antenna tuning controller, an antenna tuning circuit, and a set of physical antennas. The antenna tuning controller may comprise a combination of baseband and front-end hardware and software. The antenna circuitry may collectively include the antenna tuning circuitry and the set of physical antennas.Based on a set of radio frequency bands of interest and communication channel characteristics, the antenna tuning control determines an optimal antenna tuning configuration and provides suitable parameters to the antenna tuning circuit. The antenna system configures and optimizes the antenna circuit's tuning for a future time period, which could be the next timeslot. The antenna tuning control uses a cost / gain function to calculate the optimal antenna tuning configuration. In antenna technology, the characteristics of an antenna can be determined by a cost function. The cost function associated with a specific antenna of interest quantifies a measure of improvement and provides a metric for optimizing the antenna tuning configuration.By varying parameters of the cost function, the performance of the dynamically tunable antenna can be adjusted, thereby determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration for the antenna circuit. The steps for determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration begin with a characterization of multiple antennas. The results of this characterization can be referred to as antenna frequency response information and can include a set of antenna frequency responses for each antenna tuning configuration. This antenna frequency response configuration information can be stored in the UE (User Environment). The UE can then collect the following additional information: 1) a set of active receive carrier frequencies and active transmit carrier frequencies for a future time period; and 2) a set of states characterizing the current conditions of an uplink communication channel and the current conditions of a downlink communication channel. Using the antenna tuning configuration information and the collected additional information, the UE can calculate values ​​for the cost / gain function.The cost / profit function can provide a basis for determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration. Another method for determining an optimal antenna tuning configuration for the UE comprises the following steps. The UE measures the signal strength of a set of carrier frequencies of interest. In some embodiments, the set of carrier frequencies of interest includes two or more active carrier frequencies for a future time period. In some embodiments, the two or more active carrier frequencies include one or more active transmit carrier frequencies and / or one or more active receive carrier frequencies. Based on the signal strength measurements, the UE determines a carrier frequency with the weakest signal strength. The UE then tunes the antenna circuit to optimize the signal strength of the carrier frequency with the weakest measured signal strength.This method can significantly improve the carrier frequency with the weakest measured signal strength, and the effect of antenna tuning on the performance of other carrier frequencies with stronger measured signal strengths is likely to be small. Therefore, the method can lead to an overall improvement in performance for the UE. This summary serves only to present some exemplary embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the subject matter described herein. Accordingly, it will be understood that the features described above are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Further features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, figures, and claims. Further aspects and advantages of the embodiments described here will become apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the principles of the described embodiments by means of an example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The described embodiments and their advantages can best be understood by referring to the following description, which is taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings are not necessarily to scale, and it is in no way intended that they restrict or exclude foreseeable modifications to them in form and detail that may be made by a person skilled in the art at the time of this disclosure. Fig. 1A shows a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication system according to some embodiments. Fig. 1B shows a schematic diagram of an RF circuit comprising a dynamically tunable antenna arrangement according to some embodiments. Fig. 2 shows an antenna frequency response according to some embodiments. Fig. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating a process for dynamically tuning the UE antenna according to some embodiments.Figure 4 shows a flowchart illustrating a further procedure for dynamically tuning the UE antenna according to some embodiments. Figure 5 shows a block diagram of a device that can be implemented in a wireless communication device according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Detailed reference is now made to exemplary embodiments, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing. Although the embodiments described in this description are sufficiently detailed to enable a person skilled in the art to implement the described designs in practice, it should be understood that these examples are not to be interpreted as overly restrictive or exhaustive. It should be understood that the following descriptions are not intended to limit the embodiments to a preferred embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended that alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as they may be included within the spirit and scope of the described embodiments as defined by the appended claims, are covered. Illustrative examples of dynamic selection of antenna tuner tuning in a mobile wireless device are provided here, based on a combination of antenna tuning configurations, receive and transmit frequencies, and downlink and uplink operating conditions. These examples are provided to add context to the subject matter of this disclosure and to aid in its understanding. It should be evident that the present description can be implemented in practice with or without some of the specific details described herein. Furthermore, various modifications and / or changes can be made to the subject matter described herein, as illustrated in the corresponding figures, to achieve similar benefits and results without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. According to the various embodiments described herein, the terms “wireless communication device,” “wireless device,” “mobile device,” “mobile station,” and “user equipment” (UE) may be used interchangeably to describe one or any number of ordinary consumer electronic devices capable of performing operations related to various embodiments of the disclosure. According to various implementations, any of these consumer electronic devices may refer to: a cellular phone or smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer or netbook computer, a media player, an e-book, a MiFi® device, as well as any other type of electronic computing device capable of fourth-generation (4G) LTE and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) communication.In various embodiments, these capabilities can allow a given UE to communicate within different types of 4G network cells, which can employ any type of LTE-based Radio Access Technology (RAT). Figure 1A depicts a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication system according to some embodiments. Specifications for LTE are provided by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). 3GPP unites six telecommunications standards development organizations (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TTA, TTC), known as "Organizational Partners," and provides its members with a stable environment to produce reports and specifications that define 3GPP technologies. The following description refers to methods for dynamic antenna tuning and related systems for multiband multicarrier wireless systems. A key challenge in a multiband, multicarrier wireless system lies in the design of its antenna array, including its antenna circuitry. The antenna circuitry must be appropriately tuned for use across multiple radio frequency bands. An array that addresses this challenge includes the design of a dynamically tunable antenna array for use in user equipment (UE). As described here, an antenna array may include an antenna tuning controller, an antenna tuning circuitry, and a set of physical antennas. The antenna tuning controller may comprise a combination of baseband and front-end hardware and software. In some embodiments, the antenna tuning controller includes software to determine one or more configurations for the antenna circuitry.The antenna tuning control can optimize the tuning of the antenna tuning circuit in a multiband multicarrier wireless system by determining the values ​​of components within the antenna tuning circuit. The term "antenna circuit" can refer to a combination of an antenna tuning circuit and a set of one or more physical antennas. Thus, in user equipment (UE), the antenna circuit can refer to the combination of the antenna tuning circuit and the set of physical antennas housed within the UE. The antenna tuning circuit can be coupled between an integrated radio frequency circuit (RF IC) and a transceiver front end, and one or more physical antennas. The antenna tuning circuit can include adjustable hardware components, such as adjustable capacitors and adjustable inductors. Based on a set of radio frequency bands of interest and communication channel conditions, the antenna tuning control determines an optimal antenna tuning configuration and provides suitable parameters to the antenna tuning circuit. The antenna tuning control uses a cost / gain function to calculate the optimal antenna tuning configuration. In antenna technology, the characteristics of an antenna can be determined by a cost function. The cost function associated with a specific antenna of interest quantifies a measure of improvement and provides a metric for optimizing the antenna tuning configuration. By varying parameters of the cost function, the performance of the dynamically tunable antenna system can be adjusted, thus determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration for the system. The steps for determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration begin with a characterization of multiple antennas, for example, two or more. The results of this characterization of the multiple antennas can be referred to as antenna frequency response information and can include a set of antenna frequency responses for each antenna tuning configuration. This antenna frequency response configuration information can be stored in the UE (Unified Environment). The UE then collects the following additional information: 1) a set of active receive and transmit frequencies for a future time period; and 2) a set of states characterizing the current conditions of an uplink communication channel and the current conditions of a downlink communication channel. Using the antenna tuning configuration information and the collected additional information, the UE can calculate the values ​​for the cost / gain function.The cost / profit function can provide the basis for determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration. Another method for determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration for the UE involves the following steps. The UE measures the signal strength of a set of active carrier frequencies of interest. Based on these measurements, the UE identifies the carrier frequency with the weakest signal strength. The UE then tunes the antenna circuit to optimize the signal strength of this carrier frequency. This method can significantly improve the performance of the carrier frequency with the weakest signal strength, and the effect of the antenna tuning on the performance of other carrier frequencies with stronger measured signal strengths is likely to be minimal. Therefore, this method can result in an overall performance improvement for the UE.As previously described, the evolution to LTE / 4G wireless communication protocols has introduced a multi-band requirement for mobile wireless devices. Additionally, the operation of a UE (User Equipment) according to LTE / 4G wireless communication protocols may require dynamic adjustment of radio frequency channels and / or radio frequency bands (i.e., groups of radio frequency channels) for each transmission, for example, at runtime or for a future time period. In some embodiments, the UE determines which radio frequency channels / bands will be used for the next (upcoming) transmission time period. For example, if LTE carrier bonding is implemented, the UE may need to dynamically adjust the antenna configuration while connected to a wireless network.Through carrier bundling, the UE can use multiple radio frequency channels in one or more radio frequency bands. To support a range of "global" radio frequency bands, an antenna tuner was introduced in the advanced antenna design. The antenna tuning settings can be predefined in a development lab environment and stored in a lookup table in a storage device (e.g., a memory) by (and / or associated with) the UE for retrieval and use during operation. During a "runtime," which may refer to the UE being powered on and operating, the UE can tune the antenna circuitry based on information retrieved from the lookup table for one or more carrier frequencies of interest.In this way, the UE can cover a wider range of radio frequencies using a partial coverage antenna array, which, while in use, is tuned to the carrier frequency of interest. However, such a static single-carrier design may not be optimal in a multi-band multi-carrier system, as the frequency response of the antenna array can vary significantly across different radio frequency bands for each carrier frequency of interest. Therefore, a dynamic antenna tuning method is proposed for multi-band multi-carrier systems to provide optimal performance across the multiple radio frequency bands, which vary based on the carrier frequencies used and / or fluctuating communication channel conditions, while also meeting form factor and cost specifications. Due to a number of limitations, including form factor constraints for the UE (Universal Environment), a given antenna design in the UE may only partially support multiband multicarrier systems. The main concerns can be summarized as follows: • Some antenna tuning designs may predetermine an antenna tuning configuration in the development lab, but they may not be adaptable to multiband multicarrier environments. • Some predetermined antenna tuning designs may not be scalable with respect to multiband multicarrier combinations. As the number of multiband multicarrier combinations increases, existing schemes may require additional configurations that must be predetermined in the development lab. This process can be inefficient during antenna design and development. • Some predetermined antenna tuning designs do not account for "radio" states, such as communication channel characteristics for a given antenna.Multiple wireless communication channels exist between the UE and the wireless network. Therefore, the design may not function well in a dynamically fluctuating communication channel environment. For example, it is assumed that a first carrier frequency f1 has a very strong signal, and a second carrier frequency f2 has a very weak signal. If the UE ignores the signal strengths of the carrier frequencies and uses a predetermined value to tune the antenna system, the overall system performance may be immediately affected. However, if the UE tunes the antenna circuit to compensate for the weak signal strength of the second carrier frequency f2, the impact on performance at the first carrier frequency f1 may be minimal, while the gain for the second carrier frequency f2 may be substantial.Therefore, optimizing the performance for one or more carrier frequencies that have the "worst" signal strengths when the antenna circuit is tuned can lead to better overall system performance. A method and device for improving performance in a UE by dynamically tuning an antenna circuit may include a hardware antenna tuning circuit, a baseband / radio frequency (BB / RF) antenna tuning control, and a set of physical antennas. The BB / RF antenna tuning control can dynamically adjust the hardware antenna tuning circuit during runtime (for example, for a future time period) for operation in a multiband multi-carrier and / or single-frequency carrier wireless system. Figure 1B shows an exemplary embodiment of an antenna device for dynamic antenna tuning. A specific antenna system and / or a set of physical antennas used in an antenna system may only partially support a set of radio frequency bands whose coverage may be required. Figure 2 represents a range of radio frequencies of interest, for example, from 700 MHz to 2600 MHz, and shows that an antenna frequency response (antenna gain) for an antenna system can vary significantly over this range. A specific antenna and / or antenna tuning circuit may not provide coverage for all radio frequency bands of interest. Different antenna circuit tunings can cause the frequency response of the antenna circuit to vary. For example, antenna tuning configurations A, B, and C result in different antenna frequency responses over the illustrated range of radio frequencies.One of the tasks of embodiments of this description is to dynamically tune the antenna circuit to provide optimal performance for operation in multiple radio frequency bands. A method for optimally tuning an antenna circuit begins with characterizing the frequency response of multiple antenna tuning configurations. An antenna tuning configuration can represent a state for a set of antennas, and each antenna tuning configuration can be considered a fixed antenna setup design. Upon startup (e.g., power-up) and / or waking from a sleep mode, a set of antenna tuning configuration information can be loaded into active memory in the mobile device (e.g., the UE). The mobile device can collect receiver and / or transmitter configuration information for a set of active radio frequencies and information about communication channel conditions for current uplink and / or current downlink communication channels.The mobile device can subsequently combine the communication channel information and the receiver / transmitter configuration information mathematically with the set of antenna tuning configuration information to select an optimal antenna tuning configuration. The BB / RF SW antenna tuning control can dynamically adjust the antenna tuning hardware during operation (for example, while the UE is in operation) to implement the optimal antenna tuning configuration. These and other embodiments are described below with reference to Figs. 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4 and 5. However, the person skilled in the art will readily recognize that the detailed description given here with regard to these figures serves only for explanatory purposes and is not to be interpreted as limiting. Fig. 1A illustrates a Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network 100, such as that specified by 3GPP, which may include user equipment (UE) 102 connected via one or more radio links 126 to one or more radio sectors 104 provided by a developed radio access network 122. Each radio sector 104 may represent a geographic area of ​​radio coverage, defined by an associated eNodeB 110 using a radio frequency channel operating at a selected frequency. In some embodiments, the radio sectors 104 may also be referred to as cells. Each eNodeB 110 may generate one or more radio sectors 104 to which the UE 102 may connect via one or more radio links 126. In some wireless networks 100, the UE 102 can be connected to two or more radio sectors 104 simultaneously.The multiple radio sectors 104 to which the UE 102 can be connected can originate from a single eNodeB 110 or from separate eNodeBs 110. A group of eNodeBs can be referred to as a developed Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access network (eUTRAN) 106. Typically, each eNodeB 110 in an eUTRAN 106 can include a set of radio frequency transmission and reception equipment mounted on an antenna mast and a radio control unit for controlling and processing the transmitted and received radio frequency signals. The eNodeB 110 of the eUTRAN 106 can manage the setup, maintenance, and release of the radio links 126 that connect the UE 102 to a developed radio access network 122.In some embodiments, the eNodeB 110 can provide access to a wireless network based on LTE technology, such as an LTE Wireless Network 100 and / or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) wireless network. However, it should be noted that various exemplary embodiments are not limited to application in the LTE Wireless Network 100. Radio resources forming the radio links 126 in the radio sectors 104 can be shared between multiple UEs 102 using a number of different multiplexing techniques, including time-division multiplexing, frequency-division multiplexing, code-division multiplexing, space-division multiplexing, and combinations thereof. A radio resource control (RRC) signaling link can be used to communicate between the UE 102 and the eNodeB 110 in the eUTRAN 106 of the developed radio access network 122, including requesting radio resources from multiple UEs 102 and dynamically allocating them. The UE 102 can be connected to the developed radio access network 128 via one or more radio sectors 104 simultaneously. The developed radio access network 122, which provides radio frequency air interface connections to the UE 102, also connects to a developed packet core network 120. The LTE wireless network 100 can be designed to operate exclusively as a packet-switched network. The developed packet core network 120 can include service gateways 112, which connect the developed radio access network 122 to public data network (PDN) gateways 116, which connect to external Internet Protocol (IP) networks 118. The eNodeBs 110 can also be connected to a mobility management entity (MME) 114, which can provide control over connections for the user equipment 102. The eNodeB 110 can control the allocation of radio resources for the radio links 126 to the user equipment 102.The eNodeB 110 can communicate radio paging messages to the user equipment 102, including paging messages to establish an RRC connection with the user equipment 102 and to transition from an RRC idle state to an RRC connected state. The eNodeB 110 can schedule radio resources for the UE 102 and provide indications of radio resource allocations using signaling messages communicated in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). The UE 102 can monitor the PDCCH to determine when radio resources are allocated to a specific UE 102 for a downlink transmission from the eNodeB 110 or for an uplink transmission to the eNodeB 110. The eNodeB 110 can also handle System Information Block (SIB) (English: System Information Block).: System Information Block (SIB) periodically sends messages to inform the UE 102 about the characteristics of radio sectors 104, and / or for services provided by the eNodeB 110. As previously mentioned, radio resources establishing the radio links 126 in radio sectors 104 can be shared between several UEs 102 using a number of different multiplexing techniques, including time-division multiplexing, frequency-division multiplexing, code-division multiplexing, space-division multiplexing, and combinations thereof. This multiplexing presents a significant challenge in tuning antennas in a multi-band, multi-carrier frequency environment. The transmitters and receivers located at UE 102 and at the eNodeBs 110 of radio sector 104 must perform their functions for multi-carrier frequencies in multiple frequency bands. The 3GPP has specified operation in 25 different radio frequency bands for Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems and 11 different radio frequency bands for Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems.These radio frequency bands cover a range of radio frequencies from 704 MHz to 3800 MHz. Furthermore, LTE-Advanced introduces a peak data rate requirement of 3 Gbps downlink and 1.5 Mbps uplink. This requirement can be met by increasing channel bandwidth using a technology called carrier aggregation (CA). Carrier aggregation increases channel bandwidth by combining multiple RF carriers. This allows application data to be transmitted and received using multiple RF carriers instead of a single carrier. Each individual RF carrier can be referred to as a component carrier (CC). Carrier aggregation can be applied in both the uplink and downlink directions. A component carrier can be used for either uplink communication, downlink communication, or only downlink communication. Similarly, user equipment can provide carrier bonding independently for receiving and transmitting. This means that one piece of user equipment can provide carrier bonding only in the downlink direction, while another piece of user equipment can provide carrier bonding in both the uplink and downlink directions. Carrier bonding can be used for both frequency-division duplex (FDD) and time-division duplex (TDD) systems. Carrier bonding in LTE-Advanced can be implemented with a number of subcarriers, for example, between two and five. Generally, each subcarrier can use a different radio frequency channel bandwidth. An LTE channel bandwidth can range from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. If the number of subcarriers is five and the bandwidth of each subcarrier is 20 MHz, the bonded channel bandwidth can exceed 100 MHz. Thus, a UE 102 can be configured to transmit to (and receive from) radio sector 104 using a channel bandwidth of 100 MHz. Additionally, 3GPP defines three general types of carrier bonding scenarios: contiguous intraband, non-contiguous intraband, and non-contiguous interband. In the case of intraband carrier bonding, the subcarriers are located within a single frequency band and can be contiguous or non-contiguous. The contiguous scenario means that the subcarriers are directly adjacent to each other. The non-contiguous scenario means that there may be a further channel bandwidth between the subcarriers, for example, a bandwidth of 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. In the case of the non-contiguous interband scenario, the subcarriers are located in different frequency bands. In LTE multiband environments, and especially with carrier aggregation, the challenge lies in designing a UE 102 antenna that is flexible and cost-effective while delivering good performance across a range of different configurations. One solution is to dynamically tune the antenna to adapt to the continuous changes in carrier frequencies and bandwidths. Fig. 1B depicts a radio frequency (RF) circuit 150. The RF circuit 150 can comprise a wireless circuit, which may include an RF integrated circuit (IC), such as a baseband processor, and a set of wireless front-end (FE) circuits 151. The RF IC and the FE 151 can be coupled to a set of dynamically tunable antenna tuning circuits 152, which in turn may be coupled to a hardware / software module to provide a baseband radio frequency (BB / RF) antenna tuning control 153. The antenna tuning circuit 152 can be coupled to a set of antennas, for example, physical antennas ANT1 162 and ANT2 163. The antenna tuning circuit 152 can comprise several passive components, at least some of which can be "tunable," that is, adjustable to different values. As shown in Fig.As shown in Figure 1B, the antenna tuning circuit 152 can comprise at least the following components: inductors L1 154, L2 155; resistors R1 156, R2 157; capacitors C1 158, C2 159, C3 160 and C4 161. A set of hardware components has been described previously. As shown, the inductors and capacitors of the antenna tuning circuit 152 can be dynamically adjustable in some embodiments. As shown in Fig. 1B, the BB / RF antenna tuning control 153 can provide inputs to the antenna tuning circuit 152. Based on these inputs, values ​​for the inductors L1 154, L2 155 and the capacitors C1 158, C2 159, C3 160 and C4 161 can be determined. The values ​​used for these tunable components, together with values ​​for the resistors R1 156, R2 157 and the characteristics of the physical antennas ANT1 162, ANT2 163, can determine the overall characteristics of the dynamically tuned antenna arrangement for the RF circuit 150. The antenna tuning circuit 152 represents an illustrative embodiment, and additional embodiments using fewer or more tunable components and / or fixed components can also be considered. Fig. 2 represents an antenna frequency response (or antenna gain) 200 for a set of different antenna states A, B, C, which can correspond to different configurations for an antenna system. An antenna state can be associated with an antenna tuning configuration. As shown in Fig. 2, the antenna tuning configuration B comprises different antenna gain values ​​at different radio frequencies in different radio frequency bands. For example: • In the 800 MHz radio frequency band, antenna state B has an antenna frequency response f1; • In the 1900 MHz radio frequency band, antenna state B has an antenna frequency response f2; and • In the 2500 MHz radio frequency band, antenna state B has an antenna frequency response f3. The aforementioned radio frequency bands are an example of different radio frequency bands that a wireless network operator can use to provide a 4G wireless service. For some 4G wireless services, the wireless network operator may require a UE 102 to be able to simultaneously access and tune the UE antenna setup to support these different radio frequency bands. As shown in Fig. 2, antenna state B exhibits a poor antenna frequency response in the 800 MHz radio frequency band. In comparison, antenna state B has a significantly higher antenna frequency response (gain) in the 1900 MHz and 2500 MHz radio frequency bands. Fig. 2 also shows two other antenna states, namely A and C. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the antenna frequency response differs considerably between antenna states A, B, and C.However, there are few radio frequency values ​​at which the antenna frequency response is the same for every antenna state. For example, state A and state B have approximately equivalent antenna frequency response values ​​near 1900 MHz. Fig. 3 depicts a flowchart 300 illustrating a process for dynamically tuning an antenna circuit in a UE 102 in a multi-band multi-carrier environment. The method comprises measuring the signal strength of a carrier frequency for two or more active (transmit and / or receive) carrier frequencies for a future time period, which may be the next timeslot; determining at which of the two or more active carrier frequencies the weakest signal strength is measured; and dynamically tuning the antenna arrangement to optimize the antenna frequency response (and therefore the signal strength after optimization) for the active carrier frequency at which the weakest signal strength is measured. In some embodiments, the future time period represents the next or subsequent time period within which transmissions and / or receptions of radio frequency signals may occur.According to flowchart 300, in a first step of the procedure, namely step 301, the signal strength of each of the active receive carrier frequencies and / or each of the active transmit carrier frequencies can be measured during a propagation delay and before a future time period. In a second step, namely step 302, based on data obtained in step 301, an active carrier frequency with the weakest signal strength is determined. In a third step, namely step 303, an antenna tuning configuration is selected in relation to the active carrier frequency determined to have the weakest signal strength.This procedure allows the active carrier frequency with the weakest measured signal strength to be improved by selecting an antenna tuning configuration that at least partially compensates for the weak signal strength of the "weakest" active carrier frequency. Furthermore, the selected antenna tuning configuration does not significantly affect the active carrier frequencies with stronger measured signal strengths. Thus, the antenna system can provide better overall performance. Steps 301, 302, and 303 can be repeated for each future time period. Fig. 4 shows a flowchart 400, which illustrates a process for dynamically tuning an antenna circuit of the UE 102 during operation in a multiband environment. The steps for selecting the optimal antenna tuning configuration may include at least the following: 1. Characterizing an antenna frequency response for each antenna tuning configuration, for example in the development lab (step 401), and storing the antenna frequency response information in the UE 102 (step 402). It is assumed that Aie represents an antenna frequency response associated with an antenna tuning configuration i, i ∈ I, where I represents a set of different antenna tuning configurations. 2.During the startup of a wireless circuit from the UE 102, for example, a baseband processor and / or another wireless processing circuit 506 (step 403), the UE 102 loads the antenna frequency response information into the memory 504 of the UE 102 (step 404) and uses the antenna frequency response information as an input to an antenna tuning control module (for example, the BB / RF antenna tuning control 153, as shown in Fig. 1B). 3. During normal operation, the UE 102 determines a set of transmit (Tx) and / or receive (Rx) frequencies that may be active during a future (for example, the next) time period (step 405). The set of transmit (Tx) and / or receive (Rx) frequencies may be a set of carrier frequencies. It is assumed that F denotes the set of active Tx / Rx carrier frequencies. 4.UE 102 determines a set of states for the UL / DL communication channel states, for example, information based on past, recent, and / or current communication channel states (Step 406). T and R are each assumed to denote the set of UL / DL communication channel states. 5. UE 102 determines an optimal antenna tuning configuration i* based on collected inputs (Step 407). H represents a cost / gain function; {Ai} represents the set of antenna frequency responses for the set of antenna tuning configurations I, where i represents a specific antenna tuning configuration i, i ∈ I; F represents the set of active Tx / Rx frequencies; while T and R each represent the set of conditions of a UL communication channel and conditions of a DL communication channel, respectively.By using calculations from the cost / gain function of equation (1), the optimal antenna tuning configuration i* can be determined. 6. The UE 102 applies the selected antenna tuning configuration i* to the antenna tuning hardware (step 408). The time for configuring and optimizing the antenna circuit tuning for a future time period can be defined as the time for executing steps 404, 405, 406, 407, and 408. In some embodiments, the execution time for configuring and optimizing the antenna circuit tuning can be less than 1 millisecond. Steps 404, 405, 406, 407, and 408 can be repeated for each future time period. In antenna design, the properties of an antenna can be determined by a cost function. The cost function, in relation to the specific antenna of interest, quantifies improvements and optimizations. By varying the parameters of the cost function, the antenna's performance can be adjusted, thus determining an optimal antenna tuning configuration. As mentioned in equation (1), the cost / gain function can be determined by parameters of the antenna frequency response for a set of two or more antenna tuning configurations {Ai}, a set of active transmit and / or receive frequencies {F}, and the set of states that characterizes the current conditions of the communication channel for the uplink and downlink communication channels {R, T}.The optimal antenna tuning configuration can be determined based on finding a value for i that maximizes the cost / gain function, for example, an argument of the maximum value (argmax) of the cost / gain function shown in equation (1). Methods for determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration can be implemented using different optimization criteria. This means that, based on a design objective, different cost / benefit functions can be used. Different design objectives can be employed, such as incorporating different combinations of receive and transmit carrier frequencies. For example, a UE 102 may need to support three distinct radio frequency bands, where one band can include both transmit and receive carrier frequencies, while the other two bands can contain only receive carrier frequencies. The combination of one or more active receive carrier frequencies and one or more active transmit carrier frequencies can be determined before any future time period. The carrier frequencies for these radio frequency bands are assumed to be represented by f1,t, f1,r, f2,r, f3,r (where the subscript "t" or "r" denotes a transmit carrier frequency or a receive carrier frequency, respectively), and their corresponding antenna gains for an antenna tuning configuration i, i ∈ I are represented by ai,1t, ai1r, ai,2r, ai,3r. The receive sensitivity and a current received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value for these carrier frequencies are assumed to be represented by (R1, RSSI1), (R2, RSSI2), and (R3, RSSI3); a maximum transmit power level and a current Tx power level are assumed to be represented by (Tmax1, T1); and an antenna coefficient is assumed to be represented by aid. A cost function for the antenna tuning configuration i, i ∈ I can be defined by: As shown by equation (2), a cost / gain function for a given antenna condition can be a function of the transmit power levels and the receive signal strengths. At higher transmit power levels and lower receive signal strengths, the value of the cost / gain function can increase. Thus, a method for balancing an antenna tuning between "better" and "worse" carrier frequencies can improve the performance of the antenna system. In some embodiments, the method can set weighting factors to emphasize a set of critical signal conditions. For example, if the receive signal strength and / or the transmit power levels are poor, different gains in a different antenna tuning configuration can be used to influence the performance. The aforementioned dynamic antenna tuning method can provide the following advantages for user equipment operating in a wireless network: • The method can determine an optimal antenna tuning configuration over a period of time (for example, for a specific current and / or future time period) that is "tuned" for a multiband multicarrier system. The method also provides dynamic antenna tuning operation for the user equipment in a single-frequency carrier system. • The method can accommodate a number of different multiband multicarrier combinations. The complexity of the dynamic antenna tuning method is minimally affected by changes in the number of radio frequency carriers used, and different combinations of radio frequency carriers can be accommodated by the dynamic antenna tuning method.The multi-band multi-carrier system can include different combinations of receive and transmit radio frequency carriers. The method can analyze uplink and downlink radio communication channel states to obtain information to assist in determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration, thus improving the overall performance of user equipment in a wireless network. The dynamic antenna tuning method can analyze receive carrier frequencies (Rx) and / or transmit carrier frequencies (Tx) separately to determine the optimal antenna tuning configuration. Accordingly, the dynamic antenna tuning method can optimize the performance of the user equipment based on a set of current, past, and / or predicted future transmit and / or receive communication channel states. In Fig. 2, the BB / RF antenna tuning controller 153 provides input parameters to the antenna tuning circuit 152 for dynamically tuning the antenna system. In one embodiment, the BB / RF antenna tuning controller 153 calculates the optimal antenna tuning configuration based on flowchart 400 of Fig. 4 and equation (1). In another embodiment, the BB / RF antenna tuning controller 153 calculates the optimal antenna tuning configuration based on flowchart 300 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows a block diagram of a device 500, which may be a section of the UE 102, according to some embodiments. The device of Fig. 5 may be configured to perform dynamic antenna tuning according to one or more embodiments. It will be acknowledged that the components, devices, or elements shown in and described in Fig. 5 may not be mandatory and thus some may be omitted in certain embodiments. In addition, some embodiments may include further or different components, devices, or elements beyond those shown in and described in Fig. 5. In some exemplary embodiments, the device 500 may include a processing circuit 506, which is configurable to perform actions according to one or more embodiments described herein. In this respect, the processing circuit 506 may be configured to perform and / or control one or more functionalities of the device 500 according to various embodiments, and may thus provide an element for performing functionalities of the device 500 according to various embodiments. The processing circuit 506 may be configured to perform data processing, application execution, and / or other processing and management services according to one or more embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 500, or one or more sections or one or more components thereof, such as the processing circuit 506, may comprise one or more chipsets, each of which may include one or more chips. The processing circuit 506 and / or one or more other components of the device 500 may therefore, in some cases, be configured to implement an embodiment on a chipset comprising one or more chips. In some exemplary embodiments, in which one or more components of the device 500 are implemented as a chipset, the chipset may be capable of enabling a computing device, for example, the UE 102, to operate in the wireless network 100 once implemented on the computing device, for example, the UE 102, or otherwise effectively coupled to it.Thus, for example, one or more components of the device 500 can provide a chipset configured to enable a computing device to communicate using one or more cellular wireless technologies. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 506 can include a processor 502, and in some embodiments, such as those shown in Fig. 5, it can further include a memory 504. The processing circuit 506 can communicate with or otherwise control a wireless circuit 510 and / or a channel estimation module 508. The Processor 502 can be implemented in a variety of forms. For example, the Processor 502 can be a hardware-based processing element of various types, such as a microprocessor, a coprocessor, a controller, or various other computing or processing devices that incorporate integrated circuits, such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), some combination thereof, or the like. Although depicted as a single processor, it will be understood that the Processor 502 can comprise multiple processors. These multiple processors can communicate operationally with each other and can be collectively configured to perform one or more functions of the Device 500, as described herein.In some embodiments, the processor 502 can be configured to execute instructions that may be stored in the memory 504 or that may be otherwise accessible to the processor 502. Thus, regardless of whether configured by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software, the processor 502 can be capable of performing operations according to various embodiments, provided it is configured accordingly. In some embodiments, the memory 504 may comprise one or more storage devices. The memory 504 may comprise fixed and / or removable storage devices. In some embodiments, the memory 504 may provide a non-volatile, computer-readable storage medium capable of storing computer program instructions that can be executed by the processor 502. In this respect, the memory 504 may be configured to store information, data, applications, instructions, and / or the like, enabling the device 500 to perform various functions according to one or more exemplary embodiments.In some embodiments, the memory 504 can communicate with one or more of the processor 502, the wireless circuit 510 or the channel estimation module 508, via one or more buses, to transmit information between components of the device 500. The device 500 may further include a wireless circuit 510. The wireless circuit 510 may be configured to enable the device 500 to transmit and receive wireless signals according to one or more wireless network technologies. Thus, the wireless circuit 510 may enable the device 500 to transmit signals to and receive signals from an eNodeB 110 (or equivalent) from a wireless network. In some embodiments, the wireless circuit 510 includes hardware and / or software modules to perform operations for converting digital data to and / or from analog wireless radio frequency waveforms. The device 500 may further comprise a channel estimation module 508. The channel estimation module 508 may be implemented as a different type of element, such as a circuit, hardware, a computer program product comprising computer-readable program instructions stored on a computer-readable medium (for example, the memory 504) and executed by a processing device (for example, the processor 502), or a specific combination thereof. In some embodiments, the processor 502 (or the processing circuit 506) may comprise or otherwise control the channel estimation module 508. The channel estimation module 508 may be configured to perform channel estimation according to one or more embodiments described herein and / or to otherwise control it. The RF circuit 150 of Fig. 1B can be a section of the device 500. (The device 500 can be a section of the UE 102). The BB / RF antenna tuning control 153 can be a section of a processing circuit 506 and a section of the channel estimation module 508. The BB / RF antenna tuning control 153 can be a section of the processor 502 and a section of the memory 504. Similarly, the antenna tuning circuit 152, the physical antennas ANT1 162 and ANT2 163, and the RF IC and front end 151 can be a section of the wireless circuit 510. In summary, a method for dynamically tuning an antenna circuit from user equipment (UE 102) in a multiband multi-carrier wireless system comprises the UE 102 loading antenna frequency response information for two or more antenna tuning configurations into a UE memory 504; determining a set of active receive carrier frequencies and active transmit carrier frequencies for a future time period; determining a set of states that characterizes the current conditions of an uplink communication channel and the current conditions of a downlink communication channel; and determining an optimal antenna tuning configuration based on the set of active receive carrier frequencies and transmit carrier frequencies for the future time period and the set of states that characterizes the current conditions of the uplink communication channel and the current conditions of the downlink communication channel.and dynamically adjusts the antenna circuitry of the UE 102 to the optimal antenna tuning configuration for the future time period. The procedure also includes determining the optimal antenna tuning configuration, which involves calculating a maximum argument (argmax) of a cost / gain function. The cost / gain function is calculated based on antenna frequency response information for each of two or more antenna tuning configurations; the set of active receive and transmit carrier frequencies for the future time period; and the set of states characterizing the current conditions of the uplink and downlink communication channels.The set of active receive carrier frequencies and active transmit carrier frequencies comprises a combination of one or more active receive carrier frequencies and / or one or more active transmit carrier frequencies, wherein the combination of the one or more active receive carrier frequencies and / or the one or more active transmit carrier frequencies is determined for a future time period. The preceding description, which serves for explanatory purposes, uses a specific nomenclature to provide a consistent understanding of the described embodiments. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the specific details are not necessary to implement the described embodiments in practice. Thus, the descriptions of the specific embodiments presented here are given for illustrative and descriptive purposes only. They are not intended to be exhaustive, nor are they intended to limit the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the aforementioned teaching.

Claims

A method for dynamically tuning an antenna circuit from user equipment (UE) in a multiband multi-carrier wireless system, wherein the method at the UE comprises: loading antenna frequency response information for two or more antenna tuning configurations into a UE memory; determining a first set of active receive carrier frequencies and a second set of active transmit carrier frequencies for a future time period, wherein i) the first set includes a first receive subcarrier (CC) and a second receive CC, and ii) the second set includes a transmit CC; determining a set of states characterizing current conditions of an uplink communication channel and current conditions of a downlink communication channel; and determining an optimal antenna tuning configuration.based on the first set of active receive carrier frequencies and the second set of active transmit carrier frequencies for the future time period, and the set of states that characterizes the current conditions of the uplink communication channel and the current conditions of the downlink communication channel; and dynamic tuning of the antenna circuit by the UE to the optimal antenna tuning configuration for the future time period, wherein: i) an antenna tuning control is coupled to the antenna tuning circuit, ii) the antenna tuning control tunes one or more physical antennas by determining values ​​for a variety of adjustable hardware components, iii) the transmit CC corresponds to one of the active transmit carrier frequencies of the second set, iv) the first receive CC is in a first band, v) the second receive CC is in a second band,andvi) the first band and the second band are associated with a carrier bundling (CA) protocol, and wherein the antenna tuning control computes an argument from a cost / gain function to determine the values ​​of the plurality of adjustable hardware components, based at least in part on:i) a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with the first receive CC, andii) a second RSSI associated with the second receive CC. Method according to claim 1, wherein the antenna tuning control further calculates the argument based on the antenna frequency response information for each of the two or more antenna tuning configurations. Method according to claim 1, wherein the argument is a function of a transmission power level. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises separately analyzing the first set and the second set to determine the optimal antenna tuning configuration. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of adjustable hardware components comprises adjustable capacitors and adjustable inductors. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more physical antennas comprise at least two physical antennas. Method according to claim 1, wherein: i) the first band is an 800 MHz band, and ii) the second band is a 1900 MHz band or a 2500 MHz band. A device for dynamically tuning an antenna circuit from user equipment (UE) in a multiband multicarrier wireless system, the device comprising: an antenna tuning circuit, wherein the antenna tuning circuit is coupled between an integrated radio frequency circuit (RF IC) and a front end of a transceiver and one or more physical antennas, the antenna tuning circuit comprising a plurality of adjustable hardware components, and an antenna tuning control, wherein the antenna tuning control is coupled to the antenna tuning circuit, the antenna tuning control tuning the antenna tuning circuit and the one or more physical antennas for a future time period with respect to: i) a first receive subcarrier (CC) in a first band, ii) a second receive CC in a second band, and iii) a transmit CC that is an active The transmission carrier frequency corresponds to,determined by determining values ​​for the adjustable hardware components of the antenna tuning circuit, wherein the first band and the second band are associated with a carrier bundling (CA) protocol, and wherein the antenna tuning control computes an argument from a cost / gain function to determine the values ​​of the adjustable hardware components, based at least partially on: i) a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with the first receive CC, and ii) a second RSSI associated with the second receive CC. The device according to claim 8, wherein the cost / profit function argument comprises: an antenna frequency response information for two or more antenna tuning configurations from the antenna circuit; and a set of states characterizing current conditions of an uplink communication channel. Device according to claim 8, wherein the execution time for configuring and optimizing the tuning of the antenna circuit is less than 1 millisecond. Device according to claim 8, wherein the adjustable hardware components comprise adjustable capacitors and adjustable inductors. Device according to claim 8, wherein the one or more physical antennas comprise at least two physical antennas. Device according to claim 8, wherein: i) the first band is an 800 MHz band, and ii) the second band is a 1900 MHz band or a 2500 MHz band. Non-volatile, computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions which, when executed by one or more processors implemented in a multi-band, multi-carrier wireless system in user equipment (UE), cause an antenna tuning controller in the UE to perform a procedure comprising: determining a first set of active receive carrier frequencies and a second set of active transmit carrier frequencies for a future time period, wherein i) the first set has a first receive subcarrier (CC) and a second receive CC, and ii) the second set has a transmit CC; determining a set of states that characterizes current conditions of an uplink communication channel and current conditions of a downlink communication channel; and determining an optimal antenna tuning configuration.based on the first set of active receive carrier frequencies and the second set of active transmit carrier frequencies for the future time period, and the set of states that characterizes the current conditions of the uplink communication channel and the current conditions of the downlink communication channel; and dynamic tuning of the antenna circuit by the UE to the optimal antenna tuning configuration for the future time period, wherein: i) the antenna tuning control is coupled to the antenna tuning circuit, ii) the antenna tuning control tunes one or more physical antennas by determining values ​​for a variety of adjustable hardware components, iii) the transmit CC corresponds to one of the active transmit carrier frequencies of the second set, iv) the first receive CC is in a first band, v) the second receive CC is in a second band,andvi) the first band and the second band are associated with a carrier bundling (CA) protocol, and wherein the antenna tuning control computes an argument from a cost / gain function to determine the values ​​of the plurality of adjustable hardware components, based at least in part on:i) a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with the first receive CC, andii) a second RSSI associated with the second receive CC. Non-volatile, computer-readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the adjustable hardware components comprise adjustable capacitors and adjustable inductors.

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