Granted Patent B2

US 9,128,177 · App. 13/904,131 · Granted Sep 8, 2015

Abstract

Claims (18)

1. An apparatus, comprising: a tunable duplexer selectively connected to an antenna, configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a group of at least two bands; a tunable transmit filter in the duplexer, capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the group, each of the at least two bands in the group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the group, having an inductance value that approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the group; and a second tunable duplexer selectively connected to the antenna, configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a second group of at least two bands, the second duplexer comprising a tunable transmit filter capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the second group, each of the at least two bands in the second group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the second group, having a higher inductance value than the inductance value in the first said group, which approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the second group.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a tunable receive filter in the second duplexer, capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass receive frequency signals of the at least two bands in the second group.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a third tunable duplexer selectively connected to the antenna, configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a third group of at least two bands having a negative duplex offset.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising: a tunable transmit filter in the third duplexer, capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the third group; and a tunable receive filter in the third duplexer, capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass receive frequency signals of the at least two bands in the third group.

5. An apparatus, comprising: a tunable duplexer selectively connected to an antenna, configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a group of at least two bands; a tunable transmit filter in the duplexer, capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the group, each of the at least two bands in the group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the group, having an inductance value that approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the group; and wherein the tunable duplexer is selectively connected to a high-band antenna, configured to transmit and receive high-band radio frequency communication signals in the group of at least two bands, and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the group, having a lower inductance value that approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the group; and a second tunable duplexer selectively connected to the high-band antenna, configured to transmit and receive high-band radio frequency communication signals in a second group of at least two bands, the second duplexer comprising a tunable transmit filter capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the second group, each of the at least two bands in the second group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the second group, having a higher inductance value than the lower inductance value in the first said group, which approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the second group.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising: a third tunable duplexer selectively connected to a low-band antenna that is a lower-band antenna than the high-band antenna, configured to transmit and receive low-band radio frequency communication signals in a third group of at least two bands, the third duplexer comprising a tunable transmit filter capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the third group, each of the at least two bands in the third group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the third group, having a lower inductance value that approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the third group.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising: a fourth tunable duplexer selectively connected to the low-band antenna, configured to transmit and receive low-band radio frequency communication signals in a fourth group of at least two bands, the fourth duplexer comprising a tunable transmit filter capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the fourth group, each of the at least two bands in the fourth group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the fourth group, having a higher inductance value than the lower inductance value in the third group, which approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the fourth group.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising: a fifth tunable duplexer selectively connected to the low-band antenna, configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a fifth group of at least one band having a negative duplex offset.

9. the apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a transceiver having at least one tunable broadband I/O port coupled to the tunable duplexer.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a switch matrix coupled to the tunable duplexer; and a broad-band tunable transceiver having single-port coupled to the switch matrix.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: wherein the bands are at lest one of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) frequency division duplex (FDD) communication bands and Long Term Evolution (LTE) frequency division duplex (FDD) communication bands in a cellular telecommunications network.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: wherein the apparatus is a cellular telephone handset configured to operate in diverse geographical regions having diverse communication bands available.

13. An apparatus, comprising: a tunable duplexer selectively connected to an antenna, configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a group of at least two bands; a tunable transmit filter in the duplexer, capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the group, each of the at least two bands in the group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the group, having an inductance value that approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the group; a second tunable duplexer selectively connected to the antenna, configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a second group of at least two bands, the second duplexer comprising a tunable transmit filter capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the second group, each of the at least two bands in the second group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the second group, having a higher inductance value than the inductance value in the first said group, which approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the second group; a location determination module in the apparatus, configured to determine a current geographical region for the apparatus, in which regional radio frequency communication bands are known to be available in the current geographical region; and a processor in the apparatus, coupled to the location determination module and the tunable duplexer, configured to provide control signals to adjust band pass characteristics at least the tunable transmit filter in the tunable duplexer, based on the regional radio frequency communication bands known to be available in the determined current geographical region.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising: wherein the location determination module in the apparatus, is at least one of a user interface or a global position system (GPS) receiver, configured to receive data identifying a current geographical region for the apparatus; and the processor in the apparatus, is configured to download the known available regional radio frequency communication bands for the current geographical region, from a remote server.

15. A method, comprising: determining, by an apparatus, that a first plurality of bands of radio frequency communication and a second plurality of bands of radio frequency communication are available for wireless communication in a current geographical region; determining, by the apparatus, that communication signals in a group of at least two bands of the first plurality of bands, are capable of being passed by a tunable transmit filter of a first tunable duplexer, based on the tunable transmit filter being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to the group of at least two bands of the first plurality; determining, by the apparatus, that communication signals of at least two bands of the second plurality of bands, are capable of being passed by a second tunable transmit filter of a second tunable duplexer, based on the second tunable transmit filter being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to the at least two bands of the second plurality; connecting, by the apparatus, the at least two bands of the first plurality of bands, to the first tunable duplexer and the at least two bands of the second plurality of bands, to the second tunable duplexer; and wherein the second tunable duplexer is configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a second group of at least two bands, the second duplexer comprising a tunable transmit filter capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the second group, each of the at least two bands in the second group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the second group, having a higher inductance value than the inductance value in the first said group, which approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the second group.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising: wherein the bands are at lest one of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) frequency division duplex (FDD) communication bands and Long Term Evolution (LTE) frequency division duplex (FDD) communication bands in a cellular telecommunications network; and wherein the apparatus is a mobile telephone handset configured to operate in diverse geographical regions having diverse communication bands available.

17. A computer program product comprising computer executable program code recorded on a computer readable, non-transitory storage medium, the computer executable program code comprising: code for determining, by an apparatus, that a first plurality of bands of radio frequency communication and a second plurality of bands of radio frequency communication are available for wireless communication in a current geographical region; code for determining, by the apparatus, that communication signals in a group of at least two bands of the first plurality of bands, are capable of being passed by a tunable transmit filter of a first tunable duplexer, based on the tunable transmit filter being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to the group of at least two bands of the first plurality; code for determining, by the apparatus, that communication signals of at least two bands of the second plurality of bands, are capable of being passed by a second tunable transmit filter of a second tunable duplexer, based on the second tunable transmit filter being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to the at least two bands of the second plurality; code for connecting, by the apparatus, the at least two bands of the first plurality of bands, to the first tunable duplexer and the at least two bands of the second plurality of bands, to the second tunable duplexer for wireless communication by the apparatus in the current geographical region; and wherein the second tunable duplexer is configured to transmit and receive radio frequency communication signals in a second group of at least two bands, the second duplexer comprising a tunable transmit filter capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass the at least two bands in the second group, each of the at least two bands in the second group having a positive duplex offset and each of the at least two inductance values that correspond respectively to the at least two bands in the second group, having a higher inductance value than the inductance value in the first said group, which approximately matches the inductance values corresponding respectively to the other bands in the second group.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a tunable receive filter in the duplexer, capable of being tuned to have an inductance value approximately matching at least two inductance values corresponding respectively to pass receive frequency signals of the at least two bands in the group.

Assignments (11)