Self-calibrating system architecture for magnetic distortion compensation

1. An electronic system comprising:

a magnetometer;

a plurality of spaced-apart calibration coils proximate to the magnetometer;

first circuitry configured to excite the calibration coils;

second circuitry in the magnetometer configured to measure a first magnetic field vector in a vicinity of the magnetometer that is generated by the excited calibration coils during a calibration phase, and measure a second magnetic field vector in the vicinity of the magnetometer during a non-calibration phase;

third circuitry configured to:

generate sensitivity values during the calibration phase based on the first magnetic field vector measurement and a baseline magnetic field vector; and

compensate the second magnetic field vector during the non-calibration phase using the sensitivity values to generate a compensated magnetic field vector.

2. The electronic system of claim 1 , wherein the third circuitry is further configured to:

calculate a heading of the electronic system using the compensated magnetic field vector; and

provide the heading to one or more applications running on the electronic system.

3. The electronic system of claim 1 , wherein the third circuitry is one or more microprocessors or microprocessor cores.

4. The electronic system of claim 1 , wherein the magnetometer and the calibration coils are placed on a printed circuit board, and a first pair of calibration coils are aligned with a first axis of the magnetometer in a first plane- and a second pair of calibration coils are aligned with a second axis of the magnetometer in a second plane that is orthogonal to the first axis.

5. The electronic system of claim 4 , wherein the calibration coils are configured to minimize cross-axis magnetic fringe fields.

6. The electronic system of claim 4 , wherein the calibration coils are placed near edges of the printed circuit board to maximize coverage area for calibration.

7. The electronic system of claim 4 , wherein the first pair of calibration coils are placed equidistance from the magnetometer, and the second pair of calibration coils are placed equidistance from the magnetometer.

8. The electronic system of claim 1 , wherein the baseline magnetic field vector has a magnitude that is determined by at least one of coil design or a distance between the calibration coils and the magnetometer.

9. The electronic system of claim 1 , wherein the third circuitry is further configured to: determine a level of system magnetic noise; and

initiate the calibration phase if the system magnetic noise is less than a threshold system magnetic noise.

10. A method comprising:

exciting, by first circuitry of an electronic system, a plurality of spaced-apart calibration coils proximate to a magnetometer of the electronic system;

measuring, by second circuitry of the magnetometer, a first magnetic field vector in a vicinity of the magnetometer that is generated by the excited calibration coils;

generating, by third circuitry of the electronic system, sensitivity values based on the first magnetic field vector measurement and a baseline magnetic field vector;

determining, by the third circuitry, that the electronic system is in a non-calibration phase;

measuring, by the second circuitry, a second magnetic field vector in the vicinity of the magnetometer that is generated when the calibration coils are not excited; and

compensating, by the third circuitry, the second magnetic field vector using the sensitivity values to generate a compensated magnetic field vector.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

calculating, by one or more processors, a heading of the electronic system using the compensated magnetic field vector; and

providing, by the one or more processors, the heading to one or more applications running on the electronic system.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the magnetometer and the calibration coils are placed on a printed circuit board, and a first pair of calibration coils are aligned with a first axis of the magnetometer in a first plane and a second pair of calibration coils are aligned with a second axis of the magnetometer in a second plane that is orthogonal to the first axis.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the calibration coils are configured to minimize cross-axis magnetic fringe fields.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the calibration coils are placed near edges of the printed circuit board to maximize coverage area for calibration.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first pair of calibration coils are placed equidistance from the magnetometer, and the second pair of calibration coils are placed equidistance from the magnetometer.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the baseline magnetic field vector has a magnitude that is determined by at least one of coil design or a distance between the calibration coils and the magnetometer.

17. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

determining, by one or more processors, a level of system magnetic noise; and

initiating, by the one or more processors, a calibration phase if the system magnetic noise is less than a threshold system magnetic noise.

18. An electronic system comprising:

means for exciting a plurality of spaced-apart calibration coils proximate to a magnetometer of the electronic system;

means for measuring a first magnetic field vector in a vicinity of the magnetometer that is generated by the excited calibration coils;

means for generating sensitivity values based on the first magnetic field vector measurement and a baseline magnetic field vector;

means for determining that the electronic system is in a non-calibration phase;

means for measuring a second magnetic field vector in the vicinity of the magnetometer that is generated when the calibration coils are not excited; and

means for compensating the second magnetic field vector using the sensitivity values to generate a compensated magnetic field vector.