Electronic devices having multi-band antenna structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10944153-B1
Application number	US-201916556026-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 29, 2019
Priority date	Aug 29, 2019
Publication date	Mar 9, 2021
Grant date	Mar 9, 2021

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with an antenna having a resonating element. The resonating element may have first and second arms extending from opposing sides of a feed. The first arm may have a fundamental mode that radiates in a first communications band such as a 5.0 GHz wireless local area network band. The second arm may have a fundamental mode that radiates in a second communications band such as one or more cellular ultra-high bands. The second resonating element arm may have a harmonic mode that radiates in first and second ultra-wideband (UWB) communications bands. The antenna may include a tunable component that is adjustable between first and second states. The second arm may radiate in the first UWB communications band while the tunable component is in the first state and in the second UWB communications band while the tunable component is in the second state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
an antenna having an antenna feed and first and second resonating element arms extending from opposing sides of the antenna feed;
a first radio-frequency transceiver coupled to the antenna feed and configured to convey, using the antenna, first non-ultra-wideband signals in a first communications band, the first resonating element arm being configured to radiate in the first communications band;
a second radio-frequency transceiver coupled to the antenna feed and configured to convey, using the antenna, second non-ultra-wideband signals in a second communications band that is lower than the first communications band, the second resonating element arm being configured to radiate in the second communications band; and
a third radio-frequency transceiver coupled to the antenna feed and configured to convey, using the antenna, ultra-wideband signals in an ultra-wideband communications band that is higher than the first communications band, the second resonating element arm being configured to radiate in the ultra-wideband communications band.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the second resonating element arm has a fundamental mode configured to radiate in the second communications band and a harmonic mode configured to radiate in the ultra-wideband communications band.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the antenna further comprises:
ground structures; and
a tunable component coupled between the second resonating element arm and the ground structures, wherein the tunable component is adjustable between first and second tuning states and the second resonating element arm is configured to radiate in the ultra-wideband communications band while the tunable component is in the first tuning state.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the third radio-frequency transceiver is configured to convey, using the antenna, additional ultra-wideband signals in an additional ultra-wideband communications band that is higher than the first communications band and lower than the ultra-wideband communications band, the second resonating element arm being configured to radiate in the additional ultra-wideband communications band while the tunable component is in the second tuning state.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 4 , wherein the ultra-wideband communications band comprises a first frequency between 7750 MHz and 8250 MHz and the additional ultra-wideband communications band comprises a second frequency between 6250 MHz and 6750 MHz.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 5 , wherein the first non-ultra-wideband signals comprise wireless local area network (WLAN) signals and the first communications band comprises a third frequency between 5180 MHz and 5850 MHz.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 6 , wherein the second non-ultra-wideband signals comprise cellular telephone signals and the second communications band comprises a fourth frequency between 3400 MHz and 3700 MHz.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 4 , wherein the tunable component comprises a capacitor and a switch coupled in series between the second resonating element arm and the ground structures, the switch being open in the first tuning state and closed in the second tuning state.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , wherein the tunable component further comprises:
an additional capacitor coupled in parallel with the capacitor between the second resonating element arm and the ground structures; and
an inductor coupled in parallel with the capacitor and the additional capacitor between the second resonating element arm and the ground structures.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 , wherein the tunable component further comprises an additional switch coupled in series with the additional capacitor between the second resonating element arm and the ground structures.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , further comprising:
an impedance matching network coupled to the antenna feed, the impedance matching network comprising:
an additional capacitor coupled between the second resonating element arm and the ground structures, and
an inductor coupled between the second resonating element arm and the ground structures, the antenna feed being interposed between the additional capacitor and the inductor.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 4 , wherein the tunable component comprises an inductor and a switch coupled in series between the second resonating element arm and the ground structures, the switch being closed in the first tuning state and open in the second tuning state.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
ground structures;
peripheral conductive housing structures that are separated from the ground structures by a slot, wherein the first and second resonating element arms of the antenna overlap the slot; and
an additional antenna having a third resonating element arm formed from a segment of the peripheral conductive housing structures, an additional antenna feed coupled to the segment, and a tunable component coupled between the segment and the ground structures, wherein the second radio-frequency transceiver is coupled to the additional antenna feed and configured to convey, using the additional antenna, third non-ultra-wideband signals in a third communications band that is lower than the second communications band, the third resonating element arm being configured to radiate in the third communications band.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the second resonating element arm is configured to induce, on a portion of the segment, an antenna current in the ultra-wideband communications band, the portion of the segment being configured to contribute to radiation by the antenna in the ultra-wideband communications band.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the electronic device has a front face and a rear face, the electronic device further comprising:
a display at the front face and mounted to the peripheral conductive housing structures;
a housing wall at the rear face and mounted to the peripheral conductive housing structures; and
first, second, and third ultra-wideband antennas aligned with respective first, second, and third openings in the ground structures, wherein the third radio-frequency transceiver is configured to transmit the ultra-wideband signals through the housing wall at the rear face using the first, second, and third ultra-wideband antennas, the antenna being configured to receive the ultra-wideband signals through the housing wall at the rear face and a portion of the display at the front face.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the opposing sides of the antenna feed comprise a first side of the antenna feed, and the first resonating element arm comprises a first segment extending from the first side of the antenna feed, a second segment having a first end extending at a non-parallel angle from the first segment, and a third segment extending at a non-parallel angle from a second end of the second segment.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 16 , wherein the antenna comprises:
a return path that couples the first segment to the antenna ground, wherein the opposing sides of the antenna feed comprise a second side of the antenna feed, and the second resonating element arm has a fourth segment that extends from the second side of the antenna feed, a fifth segment having a first end extending at a non-parallel angle from the fourth segm

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Yarga Salih
• Zhong Jingni
• Avser Bilgehan
• Pascolini Mattia

Classifications

• H01Q5/371

  Branching current paths · CPC title

• H01Q5/25

  Ultra-wideband [UWB] systems, e.g. multiple resonance systems; Pulse systems · CPC title

• H01Q1/243 Primary

  with built-in antennas · CPC title

• H01Q5/30

  Arrangements for providing operation on different wavebands · CPC title