Granted Patent B2

US 9,396,370 · App. 13/870,270 · Granted Jul 19, 2016

Inventors: Marco Schwarzmueller (Heilbronn, DE); Ulrich Grosskinsky (Neudenau, DE); Wolfgang Schneider (Bietigheim-Bissingen, DE)

Assignee: Atmel Corporation

G06K7/10316G06K7/10465

Abstract

Claims (71)

1. A device comprising:

a resonant circuit comprising an antenna, the resonant circuit being configured to transmit, via the antenna, a first carrier signal and output a second carrier signal based on the first carrier signal;

a receiver comprising a receiver input coupled to the resonant circuit and configured to receive the second carrier signal, the receiver comprising a receiver output; and

a compensation circuit comprising a compensation output coupled to the receiver input and a compensation input coupled to the receiver output, wherein the compensation circuit is configured to perform first operations comprising:

receiving, at a first time, a first receiver output signal from the receiver output;

generating a compensation signal based on the first receiver output signal; and

outputting the compensation signal to the receiver input so that the receiver input receives a carrier compensation signal summing the second carrier signal and the compensation signal,

wherein the second carrier signal comprises a first component based on the first carrier signal and a second component based on a backscattered signal including information from a transponder, the second component being smaller than the first component, and

wherein the compensation signal is configured to compensate the first component of the second carrier signal so that the carrier compensation signal is substantially based on the backscattered signal.

2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a decoder coupled to the receiver output and configured to receive, at a second time, a second receiver output signal and decode the second receiver output signal, wherein the second receiver output signal is based on the carrier compensation signal.

3. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a damping circuit coupled between the resonant circuit and the compensation circuit, wherein the damping circuit is configured to perform second operations comprising:

adjusting the second carrier signal with a first damping ratio; and

after the compensation circuit generates the compensation signal, adjusting a new second carrier signal with a second damping ratio,

wherein the first damping ratio has a higher value than the second damping ratio.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the first operations further comprises:

when the carrier compensation signal is based on the second carrier signal adjusted with the first damping ratio, generating the compensation signal based on the first receiver output signal; and

when the carrier compensation signal is based on the new second carrier signal adjusted with the second damping ratio, outputting the compensation signal generated when the carrier compensation signal is based on the second carrier signal adjusted with the first damping ratio.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the backscattered signal is based on a change of a circuit of the transponder.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first carrier signal and the compensation signal are phase synchronous.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the sum of the amplitude value of the first component of the second carrier signal and the amplitude value of the compensation signal is substantially identical to zero.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the backscattered signal is coded using a Manchester coded modulation.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the antenna includes a first inductor and the transponder includes a second inductor, and wherein the resonant circuit interacts with the transponder through magnetic energy coupling between the first inductor and the second inductor.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first carrier signal is coded by reducing amplitude of the first carrier signal for a gap and coding data into a time distance between two adjacent gaps.

11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the receiver comprises:

an analog-to-digital converter for converting an analog signal of the carrier compensation signal to a digital signal; and

a demodulator coupled to the analog-to-digital converter for demodulating the digital signal.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the compensation circuit comprises:

a compensator for calculating amplitude and phase of the first receiver output signal and generating a digital compensation signal based on the calculated amplitude and phase of the first receiver output signal; and

a digital-to-analog converter coupled to the compensator for converting the digital compensation signal to the compensation signal.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the compensator includes a phase and amplitude controllable digital sine wave generator.

14. The device of claim 3 , wherein the adjusted second carrier signal with the first damping ratio is substantially based on the first component of the second carrier signal, and

wherein the compensation circuit is configured to:

analyze the first receiver output signal to determine the first component of the second carrier signal; and

generate the compensation signal based on the determined first component of the second carrier signal and the second damping ratio.

15. A system comprising:

a device, comprising:

a resonant circuit comprising an antenna, the resonant circuit being configured to transmit, via the antenna, a first carrier signal and output a second carrier signal including information from a transponder;

a receiver comprising a receiver input coupled to the resonant circuit and configured to receive the second carrier signal, the receiver comprising a receiver output;

a compensation circuit comprising a compensation output coupled to the receiver input and a compensation input coupled to the receiver output, wherein the compensation circuit is configured to perform first operations comprising:

receiving, at a first time, a first receiver output signal from the receiver output;

generating a compensation signal based on the first receiver output signal; and

outputting the compensation signal to the receiver input so that the receiver input receives a carrier compensation signal summing the second carrier signal and the compensation signal,

wherein the second carrier signal comprises a first component based on the first carrier signal and a second component based on a backscattered signal including the information from the transponder, the second component being smaller than the first component, and

wherein the compensation signal is configured to compensate the first component of the second carrier signal so that the carrier compensation signal is substantially based on the backscattered signal; and

a control system coupled to the receiver output, the control system configured to perform second operations comprising:

receiving, at a second time after the first time, a second receiver output signal from the receiver output, the second receiver output signal based on the carrier compensation signal; and

retrieving, from the second receiver output signal, the information from the transponder.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the device further comprises a decoder coupled between the receiver output and the control system for decoding the second receiver output signal.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the device further comprises a damping circuit coupled between the resonant circuit and the compensation circuit,

wherein the damping circuit is configured to:

adjust the second carrier signal with a first damping ratio; and

after the compensation circuit generates the compensation signal, adjust a new second carrier signal with a second damping ratio, wherein the first damping ratio has a higher value than the second damping ratio, and

wherein the compensation circuit is configured to:

analyze the first receiver output signal to determine the first component of the second carrier signal; and

generate the compensation signal based on the determined first component of the second carrier signal and the second damping ratio.

18. A method comprising:

transmitting, via an antenna, a first carrier signal;

obtaining a second carrier signal based on the first carrier signal;

generating, at a first time, a first receiver output signal based on the second carrier signal;

generating a compensation signal based on the first receiver output signal; and

obtaining a carrier compensation signal by summing the second carrier signal and the compensation signal,

wherein the second carrier signal comprises a first component based on the first carrier signal and a second component based on a backscattered signal including information from a transponder, the second component being smaller than the first component, and

wherein the compensation signal is configured to compensate the first component of the second carrier signal so that the carrier compensation signal is substantially based on the backscattered signal.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising generating a second receiver output signal, at a second time after the first time, based on the carrier compensation signal.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising decoding the second receiver output signal.

21. The method of claim 18 , comprising:

adjusting the second carrier signal with a first damping ratio such that the adjusted second carrier signal with the first damping ratio is substantially based on the first component of the second carrier signal; and

analyzing the first receiver output signal to determine the first component of the second carrier signal;

generating the compensation signal based on the determined first component of the second carrier signal and a second damping ratio, wherein the first damping ratio has a higher value than the second damping ratio;

adjusting a new second carrier signal with the second damping ratio; and

obtaining the carrier compensation signal by summing the new adjusted second carrier signal with the second damping ratio and the compensation signal.

Assignments (18)

Continuity (1)