Electronic device slot antennas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10916832-B2
Application number	US-201815900610-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 20, 2018
Priority date	Feb 20, 2018
Publication date	Feb 9, 2021
Grant date	Feb 9, 2021

Abstract

An electronic device may include first, second, and third antennas and conductive housing structures. The first, second, and third antennas may each include slots having open ends defined by gaps in the conductive housing structures. The second antenna may be interposed between the first and third antennas. The first and second antennas may convey signals at the same frequencies. The third antenna may convey signals at a lower frequency than the first and second antennas. A switch may be coupled across the third slot and may have a first state at which the switch forms a closed end of the third slot and a second state at which the third slot has two opposing open ends. Control circuitry may selectively activate one of two feeds for the third antenna and may adjust the switch so that the third antenna exhibits satisfactory antenna efficiency regardless of environmental conditions for the device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a conductive layer;
an elongated housing having first and second opposing housing ends and having peripheral conductive structures surrounding the conductive layer;
first, second, and third dielectric-filled gaps in the peripheral conductive structures;
a first antenna located at the first housing end, wherein the first antenna includes a first slot between the conductive layer and the peripheral conductive structures and a first antenna feed coupled across the first slot, the first slot having an open end defined by the first dielectric-filled gap;
a second antenna located at the first housing end, wherein the second antenna includes a second slot between the conductive layer and the peripheral conductive structures and a second antenna feed coupled across the second slot, the second slot having an open end defined by the second dielectric-filled gap;
a first conductive structure that couples the conductive layer to the peripheral conductive structures and that defines closed ends of the first and second slots;
a third antenna located at the first housing end, wherein the third antenna includes a third slot between the conductive layer and the peripheral conductive structures and a third antenna feed coupled across the third slot, the third slot having an open end defined by the third dielectric-filled gap; and
a second conductive structure that couples the conductive layer to the peripheral conductive structures and that defines a closed end of the third slot.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
radio-frequency transceiver circuitry coupled to the first, second, and third antenna feeds, wherein the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry is configured to concurrently convey radio-frequency signals at a first frequency over the first and second antennas using a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) scheme, and the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry is configured to convey radio-frequency signals at a second frequency that is lower than the first frequency over the third antenna.

3. The electronic device defined in claim further comprising:
a first conductive structure that couples the conductive layer to the peripheral conductive structures and that separates the first slot from the second slot; and
a second conductive structure that couples the conductive layer to the peripheral conductive structures and that separates the second slot from the third slot.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the second conductive structure comprises a conductive portion of an electronic component selected from the group consisting of: a camera module and a data port.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the peripheral conductive structures comprise first, second, and third conductive walls, the second conductive wall extends from the first conductive wall to the third conductive wall, the first conductive wall extends parallel to the third conductive wall, the first dielectric-filled gap is formed in the first conductive wall, and the second dielectric-filled gap is formed in the second conductive wall.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 5 , wherein the third dielectric-filled gap is formed in the third conductive wall.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 5 , wherein the third dielectric-filled gap is formed in the second conductive wall, the second conductive structures being coupled to a portion of the second conductive wall that is interposed between the second and third dielectric-filled gaps.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 7 , further comprising:
a fourth dielectric-filled gap formed in the third conductive wall, wherein a segment of the peripheral conductive structures extends from the third dielectric-filled gap to the fourth dielectric-filled gap.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , further comprising:
a switch coupled between an end of the segment at the fourth dielectric-filled gap and the conductive layer, wherein the switch has a first state in which the third slot has an additional open end at the fourth dielectric-filled gap and a second state in which the end of the segment is shorted to the conductive layer through the switch.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 , wherein third antenna feed comprises a first positive antenna feed terminal coupled to a first location on the segment, the third antenna further comprising:
a first adjustable component coupled across the third slot and having a first terminal coupled to a second location on the segment;
a fourth antenna feed coupled across the third slot, wherein the fourth antenna comprises a second positive antenna feed terminal coupled to a third location on the segment;
a second adjustable component coupled across the third slot and having a second terminal coupled to a fourth location on the segment, wherein the first location is interposed between the third dielectric-filled gap and the second location, the second location is interposed between the first and third locations, the third location is interposed between the second and fourth locations, and the fourth location is interposed between the third location and the fourth dielectric-filled gap; and
control circuitry configured to activate a selected one of the third and fourth antenna feeds at a given time.

11. An electronic device comprising:
a housing having a peripheral conductive wall;
a dielectric-filled gap in the peripheral conductive wall that divides the peripheral conductive wall into first and second segments, wherein the first segment has a first end at the dielectric-filled gap and a second end that opposes the first end;
an antenna ground separated from the peripheral conductive wall by a slot;
a first antenna having a first antenna feed coupled between a first location on the first segment and the antenna ground across the slot;
a second antenna having a second antenna feed coupled between a second location on the first segment and the antenna ground across the slot;
a first adjustable component coupled between a third location on first segment and the antenna ground, wherein the third location is interposed between the second location and the first end;
a second adjustable component coupled between a fourth location on first segment and the antenna ground, wherein the fourth location is interposed between the first location and the second end;
a third antenna having a third antenna feed coupled between the second segment and the antenna ground across the slot, wherein the second antenna is interposed between the first and third antennas.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 , further comprising:
a first conductive structure that bridges the slot and couples the antenna ground to the first segment, wherein the first conductive structure is interposed between the first and second antenna feeds and the second antenna feed is interposed between the conductive structure and the dielectric-filled gap.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 , further comprising:
a second conductive structure that bridges the slot and couples the antenna ground to the second segment, wherein the second conductive structure is interposed between the dielectric-filled gap and the third antenna feed.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the first antenna feed comprises a first positive antenna feed terminal, the second antenna feed comprises a second positive antenna feed terminal, the third antenna feed comprises a third positive antenna feed terminal, the first adjustable component has a first terminal coupled t

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Azad Umar
• Rajagopalan Harish
• Garrido Lopez David
• Gomez Angulo Rodney A
• Pascolini Mattia

Classifications

• H01Q21/28

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

• H01Q1/243 Primary

  with built-in antennas · CPC title

• H01Q9/42

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

• H01Q21/064

  using horn or slot aerials (slotted waveguides arrays H01Q21/005) · CPC title

• H01Q1/523

  between antennas of an array · CPC title