Atmel Corporation

Atmel Germany Gmbh

Atmel Automotive Gmbh

Daniel Moser

Helmut Moser

Martin Fischer

Werner Blatz

Thomas Janz

Michael Sagebiel

Jan Knopf

Thomas Saile

In some implementations, an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit comprises: a pre-divider circuit operable to pre-divide an input signal according to a pre-divider circuit setting and output a pre-divided signal; a pre-amplifier operable to pre-amplify the pre-divided signal and output a pre-amplified signal; a post-divider circuit operable to post-divide the pre-amplified signal according to a post-divider circuit setting; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) operable to generate a digital data stream from the post-divided signal; logic operable to sample the digital data stream; determine a pre-divider circuit setting and a post-divider circuit setting based on the sampled data stream; set the pre-divider circuit and the post-divider circuit based on the determined settings; and generate a received signal strength value based on the pre-divider circuit setting and the post-divider circuit setting.

Automatic gain control for received signal strength indication

A method includes generating an input voltage for an operational amplifier from a received electromagnetic signal in a receiver unit by an input resistance and generating an output voltage by the operational amplifier by a fixed amplification factor. The input voltage is changed until the output voltage lies within a predefined interval that includes the value of the reference voltage. The input voltage is tapped at a divider node of a voltage divider. The gate voltage of the MOS transistor, operating within a nonlinear range and connected to the divider node, is changed to adjust the output voltage to the reference voltage such that a forward resistance of the transistor is changed nonlinearly. A field strength value received by the receiver unit is determined from a comparison of the value of the present gate voltage with quantities assigned to stored gate voltage values.

Method for obtaining field strength information

A passive entry and/or passive go system and am associated operating method is provided. According to an embodiment of the invention, the following steps are performed in an electronic key of the passive entry and/or passive go system: generation of a reference input value, supplying the antenna circuit with the reference input value, measurement of the characteristic parameters, while the antenna circuit is supplied with the reference input value, storage of the characteristic parameters, measurement of a first output value of the antenna circuit, and determination of the field strength from the first output value and the characteristic parameters, whereby an effect of the characteristic parameters on the field strength is compensated. Use, for example, in motor vehicles.

Passive entry and/or passive go system and associated operating method

A method for obtaining field strength information from a received electromagnetic signal by a receiver unit, in which an input voltage is generated for an operational amplifier from the received signal in the receiver unit by an input resistance and an output voltage is generated by the operational amplifier by a fixed amplification factor. The input voltage is changed until the output voltage lies within a predefined interval that includes the value of the reference voltage, and hereby the input voltage is tapped at a divider node of a voltage divider and to adjust the output voltage to the reference voltage the gate voltage of the MOS transistor, operating within a nonlinear range, and connected to the divider node is changed in such a way that the forward resistance of the MOS transistor is changed substantially logarithmically and the field strength value received by the receiver unit is determined from a comparison of the value of the present gate voltage with the quantities assigned to the gate voltage values in a memory.

A method for obtaining field strength information from a received electromagnetic signal by a receiver unit is provided, whereby an input voltage for an operational amplifier is generated from the received signal in the receiver unit by means of an input resistance realized as a voltage divider circuit and an output voltage is generated by the operational amplifier by means of a fixed amplification factor. The input voltage is changed until the output voltage lies within a predefined interval that includes the value of the reference voltage. The input voltage is tapped at the voltage divider circuit and, to change the input voltage at the voltage divider circuit, which has a plurality of divider nodes and a constant resistance value, a divider node is selected and a partial voltage is tapped. The field strength value received by the receiver unit is determined from a comparison of a quantity assigned to the selected divider node.

Method and Circuit Arrangement for Field Strength Determination and Integrated Circuit is provided. In the method of the invention for determining the field strength of a carrier signal at an antenna of an antenna circuit of an electronic key, whereby the antenna circuit generates an output value, which is a function of the field strength and a function of characteristic parameters of the antenna circuit, comprises the steps: generation of a reference input value, supplying the antenna circuit with the reference input value, measurement of the characteristic parameters, while the antenna circuit is supplied with the reference input value, storage of the characteristic parameters, measurement of a first output value of the antenna circuit, and determination of the field strength from the first output value and the characteristic parameters, whereby an effect of the characteristic parameters on the field strength is compensated. Use, for example, in motor vehicles.

Method and circuit arrangement for field strength determination and integrated circuit

A circuit arrangement is provided for a power supply to a transponder including an antenna resonant circuit and a downstream rectifier circuit for receiving and for rectifying an electromagnetic signal, a charging capacitor connected downstream on the output side of the rectifier circuit to provide a first supply voltage, with a tuning circuit for tuning the antenna resonant circuit to its resonance frequency, and with an auxiliary voltage source, which is designed to provide a second supply voltage, lower than the first supply voltage, for supplying the tuning circuit. A method is also provided for supplying power to a transponder with a first supply voltage, as well as a transponder having a circuit arrangement for a power supply.

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Korntal-Muenchingen, Germany

Daniel Moser