ACT: Adaptive Calibration Test for Performance Enhancement and Increased Testability of Wireless RF Front-Ends

In this paper, a novel adaptive calibration technique for advanced RF front-ends is proposed in which sensors are implanted in the transmitter and the observed device test response to a special calibration test is compared against the known golden response to the same. Tuning ´knobs´ which are built into the circuit are then used to minimize the error between the observed response and the golden response using an iterative tuning approach. In addition to circuit-level tuning, adaptive digital compensation techniques are employed in the baseband processor. It is shown that this results in increased transmit signal dynamic range over existing techniques and accurate loopback testing of the transceiver modules.