I/Q impairment calibration using a spectrum analyzer

1. A method for calibrating a quadrature modulator (QM), the method comprising:

(a) defining an image to signal ratio (ISR) characteristic of the QM as a function of:

a total equivalent gain imbalance (EGI) between an I-channel (IC) and a Q-channel (QC) of the QM; and

a total equivalent phase skew (EPS) between the IC and the QC;

(b) setting a baseband offset frequency for the QM;

(c) setting a carrier frequency for the QM;

(d) measuring a current ISR of the QM to obtain a first ISR value;

(e) defining a gain parameter based on the first ISR value;

(f) altering a system gain imbalance of the QM according to the gain parameter;

(g) measuring the current ISR of the QM subsequent to said altering to obtain a second ISR value; and

(h) obtaining the EGI of the QM from the first ISR value and the second ISR value.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising correcting the system gain imbalance according to the EGI.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(i) defining a phase parameter based on the first ISR value;

(j) subsequent to said obtaining the EGI, restoring the system gain imbalance to what it was prior to said altering the system gain imbalance of the QM according to the gain parameter;

(k) altering a system phase skew of the QM according to the phase parameter;

(l) measuring the current ISR of the QM subsequent to said altering the system phase skew to obtain a third ISR value; and

(m) obtaining the EPS from the first ISR value and the second ISR value.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising performing:

correcting the system gain imbalance according to the EGI; and

correcting the system phase skew according to the EPS.

5. The method of claim 4 ;

wherein said correcting the system gain imbalance comprises altering the system gain imbalance by applying a negative one multiple of the EGI to the QM; and

wherein said correcting the system phase skew comprises altering the system phase skew by applying a negative one multiple of the EPS to the QM.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

(n) correcting the system gain imbalance according to the EGI;

(o) correcting the system phase skew according to the EPS;

(p) measuring the current ISR of the QM to obtain a fourth ISR value subsequent to said correcting the system gain imbalance and said correcting the system phase skew;

(q) comparing the fourth ISR value to a specified ISR value to determine if the fourth ISR value is acceptable; and

in response to (q) indicating that the fourth ISR value is not acceptable, performing the following until (q) indicates that the fourth ISR value is acceptable:

setting the first ISR value to the fourth ISR value; and

performing (e) through (q).

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

(n) correcting the system gain imbalance according to the EGI;

(o) correcting the system phase skew according to the EPS;

(p) defining a carrier to signal ratio (CSR) characteristic of the QM as a function of a total equivalent offset in the IC (EOI) and a total equivalent offset in the QC (EOQ);

(q) measuring a current CSR of the QM to obtain a first CSR value;

(r) defining an IC offset parameter based on the first CSR value;

(s) altering an IC offset according to the IC offset parameter;

(t) measuring the current CSR of the QM subsequent to said altering the IC offset to obtain a second CSR value;

(u) obtaining the EOI of the QM from the first CSR value and the second CSR value.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising correcting the IC offset according to the EOI.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

(v) defining a QC offset parameter based on the first CSR value;

(w) subsequent to said obtaining the EOI, restoring the IC offset to what it was prior to said altering the IC offset according to the IC offset parameter;

(x) altering a QC offset according to the QC offset parameter;

(y) measuring the current CSR of the QM subsequent to said altering the QC offset to obtain a third CSR value; and

(z) obtaining the EOQ from the first CSR value and the second CSR value.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising performing:

correcting the IC offset according to the EOI; and

correcting the QC offset according to the EOQ.

11. The method of claim 10 ;

wherein said correcting the IC offset comprises altering the IC offset by applying a negative one multiple of the EOI to the QM; and

wherein said correcting the QC offset comprises altering the QC offset by applying a negative one multiple of the EOQ to the QM.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

(A) correcting the IC offset according to the EOI;

(B) correcting the QC offset according to the EOQ;

(C) measuring the current CSR of the QM to obtain a fourth CSR value subsequent to said correcting the IC offset and said correcting the QC offset;

(D) comparing the fourth CSR value to a specified CSR value to determine if the fourth CSR value is acceptable; and

in response to (D) indicating that the fourth CSR value is not acceptable, performing the following until (D) indicates that the fourth CSR value is acceptable:

setting the first CSR value to the fourth CSR value; and

performing (n) through (z) and (A) through (D).

13. A system comprising:

a quadrature modulation circuit (QMC) comprising an I-channel (IC) and a Q-channel (QC); and

a control block configured to control operations of the QMC, wherein the control block is configured to:

(a) define an image to signal ratio (ISR) characteristic of the QMC as a function of:

a total equivalent gain imbalance (EGI) between the IC and the QC; and

a total equivalent phase skew (EPS) between the IC and the QC;

(b) set a baseband offset frequency for the QMC;

(c) set a carrier frequency for the QMC;

(d) receive a measured current ISR of the QMC to obtain a first ISR value;

(e) define a gain parameter based on the first ISR value;

(f) alter a system gain imbalance of the QMC according to the gain parameter;

(g) receive a measured current ISR of the QMC subsequent to said altering to obtain a second ISR value; and

(h) obtain the EGI of the QMC from the first ISR value and the second ISR value.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the control block is further configured to:

(i) define a phase parameter based on the first ISR value;

(j) subsequent to obtaining the EGI, restore the system gain imbalance to what it was prior to the control block altering the system gain imbalance of the QM according to the gain parameter;

(k) alter a system phase skew of the QMC according to the phase parameter;

(l) receive a measured current ISR of the QMC subsequent to altering the system phase skew to obtain a third ISR value; and

(m) obtain the EPS from the first ISR value and the second ISR value.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the control block is further configured to:

(n) correct the system gain imbalance according to the EGI; and

(o) correct the system phase skew according to the EPS.

16. The system of claim 15 ;

wherein in correcting the system gain imbalance, the control block is further configured to apply a negative one multiple of the EGI to the QMC to alter the system gain imbalance; and

wherein in correcting the system phase skew, the control block is further configured to apply a negative one multiple of the EPS to the QMC to alter the system phase skew.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the control block is further configured to:

(p) receive a measured current ISR of the QMC to obtain a fourth ISR value subsequent to the control block correcting the system gain imbalance and the control block correcting the system phase skew;

(q) compare the fourth ISR value to a specified ISR value to determine if the fourth ISR value is acceptable; and

(r) if the fourth ISR value is not acceptable:

set the first ISR value to the fourth ISR value; and

perform (e) through (r).

18. A system comprising:

a quadrature modulation circuit (QMC) comprising an I-channel (IC) and a Q-channel (QC); and

a control block configured to control operations of the QMC, wherein the control block is configured to:

(a) define a carrier to signal ratio (CSR) characteristic of the QMC as a function of a total equivalent offset in the IC (EOI) and a total equivalent offset in the QC (EOQ);

(b) set a baseband offset frequency for the QMC;

(c) set a carrier frequency for the QMC;

(d) receive a measured current CSR of the QMC to obtain a first CSR value;

(e) define an IC offset parameter based on the first CSR value;

(f) alter an IC offset according to the IC offset parameter;

(g) receive a measured current CSR of the QMC subsequent to said altering the IC offset to obtain a second CSR value;

(h) obtain the EOI of the QMC from the first CSR value and the second CSR value.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the control block is further configured to:

(i) define a QC offset parameter based on the first CSR value;

(j) subsequent to obtaining the EOI, restore the IC offset to what it was prior to the control block altering the IC offset according to the IC offset parameter;

(k) alter a QC offset according to the QC offset parameter;

(l) receive a measured current CSR of the QMC subsequent to the control block altering the QC offset to obtain a third CSR value; and

(m) obtain the EOQ from the first CSR value and the second CSR value.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the control block is further configured to:

(n) correct the IC offset according to the EOI; and

(o) correct the QC offset according to the EOQ.

21. The system of claim 20 ;

wherein in correcting the IC offset, the control block is further configured to apply a negative one multiple of the EOI to the QMC to alter the IC offset; and

wherein in correcting the QC offset, the control block is further configured to apply a negative one multiple of the EOQ to the QMC to alter the QC offset.

22. The system of claim 20 , wherein the control block is further configured to:

(p) receive a measured current CSR of the QMC to obtain a fourth CSR value subsequent to the control block correcting the IC offset and the control block correcting the QC offset;

(q) compare the fourth CSR value to a specified CSR value to determine if the fourth CSR value is acceptable; and

(r) if the fourth CSR value is not acceptable:

set the first CSR value to the fourth CSR value; and

perform (e) through (r).

23. A system comprising:

a control block configured to control operations of a quadrature modulation circuit (QMC) comprising an I-channel and a Q-channel, wherein the control block is configured to:

receive a set of values corresponding to scalar measurements of signal-ratio characteristics of the QMC;

from the set of values, determine error values corresponding to system errors of the QMC; and

correct for the system errors in the QMC by applying inverse values of the error values in respective input paths of input signals of the I-channel and the Q-channel.

24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the scalar measurements of signal-ratio characteristics comprise one or more of:

scalar image-to-signal-ratio measurements; or

scalar carrier-to-signal-ratio measurements.

25. The system of claim 23 , wherein the system errors of the QMC comprise:

gain imbalance;

phase skew;

I-channel offset; and

Q-channel offset.

26. The system of claim 25 , wherein the scalar measurements of the signal-ratio characteristics of the QMC comprise:

scalar image-to-signal-ratio (ISR) measurements; and

scalar carrier-to-signal-ratio (CSR) measurements;

wherein the control block is configured to:

determine the error values corresponding to the gain imbalance and phase skew from the ISR measurements; and

determine the error values corresponding to the I-channel offset and the Q-channel offset from the CSR measurements.

27. The system of claim 26 , wherein the control block is configured to:

apply the inverse values of the error values corresponding to the gain imbalance, phase skew, and channel offsets in the respective input paths of the input signals of the I-channel and the Q-channel.

28. The system of claim 23 , further comprising a spectrum analyzer configured to take the scalar measurements of the signal-ratio characteristics of the QMC.

29. The system of claim 23 , wherein the QMC is comprised in a signal generator configured to generate an RF output based on the input signals of the I-channel and the Q-channel.

30. The system of claim 23 , wherein the control block comprises a computer system.

31. A method for controlling a quadrature modulation circuit (QMC) comprising an I-channel and a Q-channel, the method comprising:

receiving a set of values corresponding to scalar measurements of signal-ratio characteristics of the QMC;

determining, from the set of values, error values corresponding to system errors of the QMC; and

correcting for the system errors in the QMC by applying inverse values of the error values in respective input paths of input signals of the I-channel and the Q-channel.

32. The method of claim 31 , further comprising:

performing the scalar measurements to obtain the set of values.

33. The method of claim 32 , wherein said performing the scalar measurements comprises one or more of:

performing scalar image-to-signal-ratio (ISR) measurements; or

performing scalar carrier-to-signal-ratio (CSR measurements.

34. The method of claim 33 , wherein the system errors of the QMC comprise:

gain imbalance;

phase skew;

I-channel offset; and

Q-channel offset; and

wherein the method further comprises:

determining the error values corresponding to the gain imbalance and phase skew from the ISR measurements; and

determining the error values corresponding to the I-channel offset and the Q-channel offset from the CSR measurements.

35. The method of claim 34 , wherein said correcting for the system errors in the QMC comprises one or more of:

applying the inverse value of the error value corresponding to the gain imbalance in the respective input path of the input signal of the I-channel or the Q-channel;

applying the inverse value of the error value corresponding to the phase skew, in the respective input path of the input signal of the I-channel or the Q-channel;

applying the inverse value of the error value corresponding to the I-channel offset in the respective input path of the input signal of the I-channel; or

applying the inverse value of the error value corresponding to the Q-channel offset in the respective input path of the input signal of the Q-channel.