Patents by Inventor Joonhoi Hur

Joonhoi Hur has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20220413094
    Abstract: An electronic device may include a processor and wireless circuitry with transmit and receive antennas. Radar circuitry may use the transmit and receive antennas to perform spatial ranging on external objects farther than a threshold distance (e.g., 1-2 cm) from the transmit antenna. The wireless circuitry may include a voltage standing wave ration (VSWR) sensor coupled to the transmit antenna to detect the presence of objects within the threshold distance from the transmit antenna. This may serve to cover a blind spot for the radar circuitry near to the transmit antenna. The VSWR sensor may gather background VSWR measurements when other wireless performance metric data for the wireless circuitry is within a predetermined range of satisfactory values. The background VSWR measurements may be subtracted from real time VSWR measurements to perform accurate and robust ultra-short range object detection near to the transmit antenna.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2022
    Publication date: December 29, 2022
    Inventors: Joonhoi Hur, Bernhard Sogl, Jochen Schrattenecker, Andreas Menkhoff, Bin Xiao, Lucas Calderin, Andre Hanke, Harald Pretl, Rastislav Vazny
  • Patent number: 11539387
    Abstract: Systems and methods for extracting polarized sub-signals from a dual-polarized signal includes isolating the polarized sub-signals using one or more filters. When a single filter is used to derive a first sub-signal, analog interference cancellation may be used to derive the second sub-signal. When two filters are used, the first and second sub-signals may each be derived using a corresponding filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Rastislav Vazny, Joonhoi Hur
  • Patent number: 11522742
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate to reducing or substantially eliminating an insertion loss caused by isolating a transmit circuit from a receive circuit of an electronic device. To do so, an isolation circuit may be disposed between the transmit circuit and the receive circuit. The isolation circuit may have a first signal path and a second signal path. A first portion of the signal may propagate along the first signal path and a second portion of the signal may propagate along the second signal path. A phase shifter may be disposed on the first signal path to shift a phase of the first portion to match a phase of the second portion. The phase-shifted first portion may be combined with the second portion to reduce or substantially eliminate an insertion loss caused by the isolation circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Oliver Georg Dorn, Björn Lenhart, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220381895
    Abstract: An electronic device may include wireless circuitry having a set of two or more antennas coupled to voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) sensors. The VSWR sensors may gather VSWR measurements from radio-frequency signals transmitted using the set of antennas. The antennas may be disposed on one or more substrates and/or may be formed from conductive portions of a housing. Control circuitry may process the VSWR measurements to identify the ranges between each of the antennas in the set of antennas and an external object. The control circuitry may process the ranges to identify an angular location of the external object with respect to the device. The control circuitry may adjust subsequent communications based, adjust the direction of a signal beam produced by a phased antenna array, identify a user input, or perform any other desired operations based on the angular location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Inventors: Joonhoi Hur, Andreas Menkhoff, Bernhard Sogl, Jochen Schrattenecker, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220381900
    Abstract: An electronic device may include a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) sensor disposed along a radio-frequency transmission line between a signal generator and an antenna. The VSWR sensor may gather VSWR measurements from radio-frequency signals transmitted by the signal generator over the transmission line. Control circuitry may identify a variation in the VSWR measurements over time and may compare the variation to a threshold value to determine whether an external object in the vicinity of the antenna is animate or inanimate. The control circuitry may reduce the maximum transmit power level of the antenna when the external object is animate and may maintain or increase the maximum transmit power level when the external object is inanimate. This may serve to maximize the wireless performance of the electronic device while also ensuring that the device complies with regulatory limits on radio-frequency energy exposure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Inventors: Joonhoi Hur, Andreas Menkhoff, Bernhard Sogl, Jochen Schrattenecker, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220311471
    Abstract: An electrical balance duplexer has multiple impedance gradients and multiple impedance tuners. The electrical balance duplexer transmits an outgoing signal from a transmitter during a transmission mode when a first set of impedance gradients of the multiple impedance gradients is operating in a first impedance state and a first set of impedance tuners of the multiple impedance tuners is operating in a second state. The electrical balance duplexer isolates the outgoing signal from a receiver during the transmission mode when a second set of impedance gradients of the multiple impedance gradients and a second set of impedance tuners of the multiple impedance tuners are operating in the second impedance state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventors: Oliver Georg Dorn, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220302900
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for reducing insertion loss and/or swapping transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) frequencies in an electrical balance duplexer (EBD) used in a transceiver device for frequency division duplexing (FDD) applications are provided. Feed-forward receiver path from the antenna to a low noise amplifier (LNA) and a feed-forward path from the antenna to a power amplifier (PA) of the EBD may be used for reducing insertion loss of the RX and TX signals. In some embodiments, switches may be used to selectively alter operational modes for varied levels of isolation and/or swapping of TX and RX frequencies.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2022
    Publication date: September 22, 2022
    Inventors: Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny, Ronald W. Dimpflmaier
  • Publication number: 20220303107
    Abstract: Systems and method are described for improving electrical isolation between a transmission signal and receiver circuitry of a transceiver communicating over one or more wireless networks via one or more shared antennas. The transceiver may include isolation circuitry to facilitate isolation of the transmission signal from the receiver circuitry. However, a leakage current of the transmission signal and noise signals may appear at the receiver circuitry. Presence of the leakage current or the noise signals in the receiver circuitry may cause interference with the reception signal. As such, the isolation circuitry may benefit from additional isolation between the transmission signal and the receiver circuitry to reduce an effect of the leakage current and the noise signals on the reception signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2022
    Publication date: September 22, 2022
    Inventors: Nedim Muharemovic, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220291338
    Abstract: An electronic device may include a processor and wireless circuitry with transmit and receive antennas. Radar circuitry may use the transmit and receive antennas to perform spatial ranging on external objects farther than a threshold distance (e.g., 1-2 cm) from the transmit antenna. The wireless circuitry may include a voltage standing wave ration (VSWR) sensor coupled to the transmit antenna to detect the presence of objects within the threshold distance from the transmit antenna. This may serve to cover a blind spot for the radar circuitry near to the transmit antenna. The VSWR sensor may gather background VSWR measurements when other wireless performance metric data for the wireless circuitry is within a predetermined range of satisfactory values. The background VSWR measurements may be subtracted from real time VSWR measurements to perform accurate and robust ultra-short range object detection near to the transmit antenna.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2021
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Inventors: Joonhoi Hur, Bernhard Sogl, Jochen Schrattenecker, Andreas Menkhoff, Bin Xiao, Lucas Calderin, Andre Hanke, Harald Pretl, Rastislav Vazny
  • Patent number: 11438131
    Abstract: An electrical balance duplexer (EBD) may be used to isolate a transmitter and receiver that share a common antenna. By using impedance gradients to provide impedances that cause balance-unbalance transformers (balun) of the EBD to cut-off access to the common antenna rather than duplicate the antenna impedance, the EBD is balanced. Such cut-offs may have a lower insertion loss than an EBD that merely duplicates the antenna impedance to separate the differential signals of the receiver/transmitter from the common mode signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Nedim Muharemovic, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Patent number: 11424900
    Abstract: Systems and method are described for improving electrical isolation between a transmission signal and receiver circuitry of a transceiver communicating over one or more wireless networks via one or more shared antennas. The transceiver may include isolation circuitry to facilitate isolation of the transmission signal from the receiver circuitry. However, a leakage current of the transmission signal and noise signals may appear at the receiver circuitry. Presence of the leakage current or the noise signals in the receiver circuitry may cause interference with the reception signal. As such, the isolation circuitry may benefit from additional isolation between the transmission signal and the receiver circuitry to reduce an effect of the leakage current and the noise signals on the reception signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Nedim Muharemovic, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220229155
    Abstract: An electronic device may include radar circuitry. Control circuitry may calibrate the radar circuitry using a multi-tone calibration signal. A first mixer may upconvert the calibration signal for transmission by a transmit antenna. A de-chirp mixer may mix the calibration signal output by the first mixer with the calibration signal as received by a receive antenna or loopback path to produce a baseband multi-tone calibration signal. The baseband signal will be offset from DC by the frequency gap. This may prevent DC noise or other system effects from interfering with the calibration signal. The control circuitry may sweep the first mixer over the radio frequencies of operation of the radar circuitry to estimate the power droop and phase shift of the radar circuitry based on baseband calibration signal. Distortion circuitry may distort transmit signals used in spatial ranging operations to invert the estimated power droop and phase shift.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Inventors: Jochen Schrattenecker, Bernhard Sogl, Andreas Menkhoff, Joonhoi Hur, Harald Pretl, Christian Mayer, Andreas Langer, Rastislav Vazny
  • Patent number: 11368342
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate to reducing or substantially eliminating an insertion loss caused by isolating a transmit circuit from a receive circuit of an electronic device. To do so, an isolation circuit may be disposed between the transmit circuit and the receive circuit. The isolation circuit may have a first signal path and a second signal path. A first portion of the signal may propagate along the first signal path and a second portion of the signal may propagate along the second signal path. A phase shifter may be disposed on the first signal path to shift a phase of the first portion to match a phase of the second portion. The phase-shifted first portion may be combined with the second portion to reduce or substantially eliminate an insertion loss caused by the isolation circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Oliver Georg Dorn, Björn Lenhart, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Patent number: 11368181
    Abstract: An electrical balance duplexer has multiple impedance gradients and multiple impedance tuners. The electrical balance duplexer transmits an outgoing signal from a transmitter during a transmission mode when a first set of impedance gradients of the multiple impedance gradients is operating in a first impedance state and a first set of impedance tuners of the multiple impedance tuners is operating in a second state. The electrical balance duplexer isolates the outgoing signal from a receiver during the transmission mode when a second set of impedance gradients of the multiple impedance gradients and a second set of impedance tuners of the multiple impedance tuners are operating in the second impedance state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Oliver Georg Dorn, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220182079
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate to isolating a receiver circuit of an electronic device from a transmission signal and leakage of the transmission signal. To do so, an isolation circuit is disposed between the receiver circuit and a transmission circuit. The isolation circuit may include multiple variable impedance devices and one or more antennas. The impedances of the variable impedance devices may be balanced such that a signal at a particular frequency or within a particular frequency band can pass through or is blocked by the isolation circuit. The isolation circuit may include one or more double balanced duplexers to achieve the improved isolation. The isolation circuit may also increase bandwidth available for wireless communications of the electronic device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2022
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Inventors: Nedim Muharemovic, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Patent number: 11356078
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for reducing insertion loss and/or swapping transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) frequencies in an electrical balance duplexer (EBD) used in a transceiver device for frequency division duplexing (FDD) applications are provided. Feed-forward receiver path from the antenna to a low noise amplifier (LNA) and a feed-forward path from the antenna to a power amplifier (PA) of the EBD may be used for reducing insertion loss of the RX and TX signals. In some embodiments, switches may be used to selectively alter operational modes for varied levels of isolation and/or swapping of TX and RX frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny, Ronald W. Dimpflmaier
  • Patent number: 11309860
    Abstract: Embodiments presented herein relate to isolating a receiver circuit of an electronic device from a transmission signal and from a noise signal at a frequency range of a received signal. To do so, an isolation circuit is disposed between the receiver circuit and a transmission circuit. The isolation circuit may include multiple variable impedance devices and one or more antennas. The impedances of the variable impedance devices and the one or more antennas may be balanced such that the receiver circuit is effectively removed from the transceiver circuitry and isolated from the transmission signal. The impedance of the variable impedance devices and the one or more antennas may also be configured to isolate the receiver circuit from a noise signal generated at the transmission circuit having a frequency in the range of the receive signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Oliver Georg Dorn, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220116009
    Abstract: Embodiments presented herein relate to isolating a receiver circuit of an electronic device from a transmission signal and from a noise signal at a frequency range of a received signal. To do so, an isolation circuit is disposed between the receiver circuit and a transmission circuit. The isolation circuit may include multiple variable impedance devices and one or more antennas. The impedances of the variable impedance devices and the one or more antennas may be balanced such that the receiver circuit is effectively removed from the transceiver circuitry and isolated from the transmission signal. The impedance of the variable impedance devices and the one or more antennas may also be configured to isolate the receiver circuit from a noise signal generated at the transmission circuit having a frequency in the range of the receive signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2021
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Oliver Georg Dorn, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220116008
    Abstract: Embodiments presented herein relate to isolating a receiver circuit of an electronic device from a transmission signal and from a noise signal at a frequency range of a received signal. To do so, an isolation circuit is disposed between the receiver circuit and a transmission circuit. The isolation circuit may include multiple variable impedance devices and one or more antennas. The impedances of the variable impedance devices and the one or more antennas may be balanced such that the receiver circuit is effectively removed from the transceiver circuitry and isolated from the transmission signal. The impedance of the variable impedance devices and the one or more antennas may also be configured to isolate the receiver circuit from a noise signal generated at the transmission circuit having a frequency in the range of the receive signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2020
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Oliver Georg Dorn, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny
  • Publication number: 20220109552
    Abstract: Systems and method are described for improving electrical isolation between a transmission signal and receiver circuitry of a transceiver communicating over one or more wireless networks via one or more shared antennas. The transceiver may include isolation circuitry to facilitate isolation of the transmission signal from the receiver circuitry. However, a leakage current of the transmission signal and noise signals may appear at the receiver circuitry. Presence of the leakage current or the noise signals in the receiver circuitry may cause interference with the reception signal. As such, the isolation circuitry may benefit from additional isolation between the transmission signal and the receiver circuitry to reduce an effect of the leakage current and the noise signals on the reception signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2020
    Publication date: April 7, 2022
    Inventors: Nedim Muharemovic, Joonhoi Hur, Rastislav Vazny