System and method for calibrating a transceiver

1. A method of operating a modular wide-range microwave transceiver, having precalibrated modules, comprising the steps of:

coupling the precalibrated modules to form a radio unit, each module having a module memory storing predetermined calibration values;

coupling the radio unit to a signal processing unit;

determining a first attenuation value by adjusting a first transmit attenuator to achieve a predetermined target output of a AGC detector, and storing the first attenuation value in a first module memory; and

when an RF loopback switch is coupled as part of the radio unit, determining a received signal level (RSL) correction factor and transmit output power correction factor based on a loop-back switch insertion loss.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying the transmit output power correction factor to correct output power at an antenna port.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first attenuation value comprises incrementing or decrementing the first attenuation value.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising coupling the radio unit to a diplexer.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the transmit output power correction factor is also based on a diplexer insertion loss.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the RSL correction factor is also based on a diplexer insertion loss.

7. A transceiver comprising:

a signal processing unit (SPU); and

a radio frequency (RF) unit operatively coupled to the SPU, the RF unit including a plurality of precalibrated modules, each precalibrated module of the plurality of precalibrated modules comprising a module memory, the plurality of precalibrated modules comprising:

a first precalibrated module configured to determine a modified attenuation value by adjusting a predetermined attenuation value until a target output of an AGC detector is within a predetermined target range and to store the modified attenuation value within the module memory,

a second precalibrated module configured to determine a loop-back switch insertion loss, and

a third precalibrated module configured to determine a received signal level (RSL) correction factor and an transmit output power correction factor based on the loop-back switch insertion loss.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the first precalibrated module is further configured to apply the output power correction factor to correct output power at an antenna port.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the predetermined attenuation value comprises incrementing or decrementing the predetermined attenuation value.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the transceiver further comprises a diplexer operationally coupled to the RF unit.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the transmit output power correction factor is also based on a diplexer insertion loss.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the RSL correction factor is also based on a diplexer insertion loss.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the second precalibration module is the third precalibration module.

14. A method of calibrating a transceiver, the method comprising:

determining if a voltage of an AGC detector is within a predetermined range;

modifying an attenuation factor until the voltage of the AGC detector is within the predetermined range;

storing the attenuation factor within a transceiver memory;

determining a transmit output power correction factor based, at least in part, on a loop-back switch insertion loss; and

applying the transmit output power correction factor to correct output power at an antenna port.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

coupling a plurality of precalibrated modules to form the RF unit, each precalibrated module of the plurality of precalibrated modules having a module memory, each module memory storing at least one predetermined calibration value; and

coupling the RF unit to a signal processing unit to form at least part of the transceiver.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the transceiver memory is the module memory within at least one precalibrated module of the plurality of precalibrated modules.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising coupling the RF unit to an RF loopback switch.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein modifying the attenuation factor comprises incrementing or decrementing the attenuation factor.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising coupling the RF unit to a diplexer.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the transmit output power correction factor is also based, at least in part, on a diplexer insertion loss.

21. The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining an RSL display correction factor based, at least in part, on the loop-back switch insertion loss.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the RSL display correction factor is also based, at least in part, on the diplexer insertion loss.