Antennas having symmetrical switching architecture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10468756-B2
Application number	US-201815940772-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 29, 2018
Priority date	Sep 22, 2016
Publication date	Nov 5, 2019
Grant date	Nov 5, 2019

Abstract

An electronic device may include wireless circuitry with antennas. An antenna resonating element arm for an antenna may be formed from conductive housing structures running along the edges of the device. The antenna may have first and second antenna feeds and multiple adjustable components that bridge a slot between the antenna resonating element and an antenna ground. Control circuitry may control the adjustable components and selectively activate one of the first and second feeds at a given time to place the antenna in first, second, or third operating modes. The control circuitry may determine which operating mode to use based on information indicative of the operating environment of the device. By switching between the operating modes, the control circuitry may shift current hot spots across the length of the resonating element arm to ensure satisfactory performance of the antenna in a variety of operating conditions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
peripheral conductive housing structures, wherein a segment of the peripheral conductive housing structures extends between first and second dielectric-filled gaps in the peripheral conductive housing structures;
an antenna that comprises the segment, an antenna ground separated from the segment by a slot, a switch coupled between a first point on the segment and the antenna ground, an adjustable component coupled between a second point on the segment and the antenna ground, a first antenna feed coupled between a third point on the segment and the antenna ground, and a second antenna feed coupled between a fourth point on the segment and the antenna ground; and
control circuitry coupled to the antenna and configured to place the antenna into a selected one of:
a first state in which the first antenna feed is active, the second antenna feed is inactive, and the switch is closed, and
a second state in which the first antenna feed is inactive, the second antenna feed is active, the switch is open, and the adjustable component tunes a frequency response of the antenna.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
an additional adjustable component coupled between a fifth point on the segment and the antenna ground.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 , wherein the first point is interposed between the first dielectric-filled gap and the second point, the second point is interposed between the first and third points, the third point is interposed between the second and fourth points, the fourth point is interposed between the third point and the second dielectric-filled gap, and the fifth point is interposed between the third point and the second dielectric-filled gap.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the first point is interposed between the first dielectric-filled gap and the second point, the second point is interposed between the first and third points, the third point is interposed between the second and fourth points, and the fourth point is interposed between the third point and the second dielectric-filled gap.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 4 , further comprising:
sensor circuitry configured to gather sensor data, wherein the control circuitry is configured to place the antenna into the selected one of the first and second states based on the sensor data.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 5 , wherein the sensor circuitry comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of: an accelerometer, a compass, an impedance sensor, and a gyroscope.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 4 , wherein the electronic device has a first edge and a second edge that is different from the first edge, the first gap is formed in the peripheral conductive structures along the first edge, and the second gap is formed in the peripheral conductive structures along the second edge.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 4 , wherein the frequency response comprises a resonance at frequencies within a cellular telephone communications band.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , wherein the cellular telephone communications band comprises frequencies between 700 MHz and 960 MHz.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
a display having a display cover layer mounted to the peripheral conductive housing structures; and
a rear housing wall, wherein the peripheral conductive housing structures surround a periphery of the electronic device and extend from the rear housing wall to the display cover layer.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the adjustable component comprises a switchable inductor.

12. An electronic device, comprising:
peripheral conductive housing sidewalls; and
an antenna, wherein the antenna comprises:
a segment of the peripheral conductive housing sidewalls having opposing ends defined by first and second gaps in the peripheral conductive housing sidewalls,
an antenna ground separated from the segment by a slot,
a switch coupled between a first point on the segment and the antenna ground across the slot,
a first antenna tuning component coupled between a second point on the segment and the antenna ground across the slot,
a first antenna feed coupled between a third point on the segment and the antenna ground across the slot,
a second antenna feed coupled between a fourth point on the segment and the antenna ground across the slot, and
a second antenna tuning component coupled between a fifth point on the segment and the antenna ground across the slot, wherein the first point is interposed between the first gap and the second point, the second point is interposed between the first and third points, the third point is interposed between the second and fourth points, and the fourth and fifth points are both interposed between the third point and the second gap.

13. The electronic device defined by claim 12 , further comprising:
control circuitry configured to adjust the first and second antenna tuning components to tune a frequency response of the antenna.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , further comprising:
sensor circuitry configured to generate sensor data, wherein the control circuitry is configured to toggle the switch and to adjust the first and second antenna tuning components based on the sensor data.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 , wherein the sensor circuitry comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of:
an accelerometer, a compass, and impedance sensor, and a gyroscope.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 12 , further comprising:
control circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to place the antenna into a selected one of:
a first operating mode in which the first antenna feed is enabled and the second antenna feed is disabled, and
a second operating mode in which the first antenna feed is disabled and the second antenna feed is enabled.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 16 , wherein the switch is closed in the first mode of operation and open in the second mode of operation.

18. An antenna comprising:
an antenna ground;
a conductive segment having a first end separated from the antenna ground by a first gap and an opposing second end separated from the antenna ground by a second gap, wherein a dielectric slot extends between the conductive segment and the antenna ground from the first gap to the second gap;
a switch coupled between a first point on the conductive segment and the antenna ground across the slot;
a first antenna feed coupled between a second point on the conductive segment and the antenna ground, the first point being interposed between the first gap and the second point; and
a second antenna feed coupled between a third point on the conductive segment and the antenna ground, wherein the second point is interposed between the first and third points, the third point is interposed between the second point and the second gap, and the antenna is operable in:
a first mode in which the first antenna feed is active, the second antenna feed is inactive, and the switch forms a short circuit between the conductive segment and the antenna ground, and
a second mode in which the first antenna feed is inactive, the second antenna feed is active, and the switch forms an open circuit between the conductive segment and the antenna ground.

19. The antenna defined in claim 18 , further comprising:
a tunable component coupled between a four

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Han Xu
• Han Liang
• Mow Matthew A
• Tsai Ming-Ju

Classifications

• H01Q9/42

  with folded element, the folded parts being spaced apart a small fraction of the operating wavelength · CPC title

• H01Q5/328

  between a radiating element and ground · CPC title

• H01Q5/335

  at the feed, e.g. for impedance matching · CPC title

• H01Q21/28

  Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems {(multiple beam H01Q25/00)} · CPC title

• H01Q13/106

  Microstrip slot antennas (patch antenna elements H01Q9/0407) · CPC title