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Apple patents switchable circuitry to measure wireless signal strength

Apple describes a component for electronic devices that monitors the power of radio-frequency signals being transmitted. The design uses a specific arrangement of metal windings and switches to tap into the signal path without disrupting the main transmission. Control circuitry adjusts these switches to change how the measurement circuitry reads the signal data.

Why it mattersThis is a technical improvement to internal hardware that helps devices accurately monitor their own wireless transmissions, which is a routine part of maintaining stable connectivity.

In the filing’s own words

An electronic device may include transmit path that carries a signal. A reconfigurable signal coupler may be disposed on the transmit path and may include a signal path and a coupled path. Measurement circuitry may use the signal coupler to measure power of the signal. The signal path may be formed from at least a first winding in a first metallization layer. The coupled path may be formed from at least a second winding in a second metallization layer, a third winding in a third metallization layer, and a stack of additional windings surrounded by the first, second, and third windings. The signal coupler may include first and second conductors and a switch between the first and second conductors. Control circuitry may adjust switches in the signal coupler to switch between using the first and second conductors or only the second conductor in the coupled path.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. Circuitry comprising: a signal source; an output node; a transmission line coupled between the signal source and the output node; a signal coupler disposed on the transmission line, wherein the signal coupler has a coupled node and an isolated node and includes a signal path in the transmission line, first and second conductors extending along the signal path, the first conductor extending from a first end to a second end opposite the first end, and the second conductor extending from a third end to a fourth end opposite the third end, a first switch that couples the first conductor to the second conductor, and a second switch that couples the coupled node to a first terminal at the first end of the first conductor and that couples the coupled node to a second terminal at the third end of the second conductor; and measurement circuitry communicatively coupled with the coupled node and configured to measure a radio-frequency signal on the transmission line using the signal coupler.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
Wireless circuitry with reconfigurable signal coupler
Patent number
US12732286B2
Application number
18826796
Filed
Sep 6, 2024
Granted
Sep 8, 2026
Inventors
4
Claims
20

Classified under

H04B 17/14 Electricity & electronicsH04B 1/401 Electricity & electronicsH04B 1/48 Electricity & electronicsH04B 3/46 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.