Method and electronic device for sensing grip using director of antenna module

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11418230-B2
Application number	US-202017027080-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2020
Priority date	Sep 23, 2019
Publication date	Aug 16, 2022
Grant date	Aug 16, 2022

Abstract

Disclosed is an electronic device that may sense the proximity of a user by using a director of an antenna module as an electrode of a grip sensor without a separate sensor for detecting the user's proximity, thereby enabling efficient use of the internal space of the electronic device without having to secure a space for mounting a separate sensor. The electronic device may also reduce the power of a transmission signal by a preset back-off value in response to sensing the user's proximity, thereby minimize an adverse effect of electromagnetic waves on the human body caused by signal transmission.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a housing including a front cover, a rear cover facing in a direction opposite to the front cover, and a side member surrounding a space between the front cover and the rear cover;
at least one antenna module arranged in the space and including:
a printed circuit board (PCB) disposed in the space and including a first surface and a second surface facing in a direction opposite to the first surface, and at least partially including a ground layer;
at least one conductive antenna disposed on the first surface of the PCB or disposed close to the first surface in an internal space of the PCB;
at least one conductive portion disposed around the conductive antenna; and
a wireless communication circuit disposed on the second surface of the PCB and configured to transmit and/or receive a radio signal having a frequency between 3 gigahertz (GHz) and 100 GHz through at least one antenna element;

at least one grip sensor circuit disposed in the space and electrically connected to the at least one conductive portion; and
at least one processor operatively connected to the at least one antenna module and the at least one grip sensor circuit,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain a grip related signal from the at least one conductive portion included in the at least one antenna module, determine whether the electronic device is gripped through the grip sensor circuit based on the obtained signal, and control operations of the at least one antenna module in response to the grip.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one conductive portion of the at least one antenna module includes a director that improves radiation performance for a transmission signal.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to measure an amount of current change in the conductive portion through the grip sensor circuit, and determine whether the electronic device is gripped based on the measured current change amount.

4. The electronic device of claim 3 , further comprising a memory configured to store a reference value for maximum permissible exposure (MPE),
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to compare the measured current change amount with the reference value and determine a level of power supplied to the at least one antenna module to be less than the reference value.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
detect an object that is in close proximity to or in contact with the electronic device based on the at least one conductive portion;
measure a distance between the electronic device and the object; and
control power supplied to the at least one antenna module based on the measured distance.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine that less power is supplied to the at least one antenna module as the measured distance decreases.

7. The electronic device of claim 5 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to detect a first direction in which the object approaches, and control power of a first transmission signal radiated toward the detected first direction.

8. The electronic device of claim 7 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a level of power of the first transmission signal radiated toward the first direction to be less than a level of power of a second transmission signal radiated toward a second direction opposite to the first direction.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one grip sensor circuit is independently formed inside the electronic device in correspondence with the at least one antenna module; and
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine whether the electronic device is gripped by using the at least one grip sensor circuit electrically connected to the at least one conductive portion.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to select at least one antenna module to be used as a radiator in response to the grip, and control power supplied to the selected at least one antenna module.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one conductive portion is shorted to the ground layer of the PCB, and
wherein an amount of current change is measured according to a grip on the electronic device.

12. An electronic device comprising:
a housing including a front cover, a rear cover facing in a direction opposite to the front cover, and a side member surrounding a space between the front cover and the rear cover;
at least one first antenna module arranged in the space and including:
a printed circuit board (PCB) disposed in the space and including a first surface and a second surface facing in a direction opposite to the first surface, and at least partially including a ground layer;
at least one conductive antenna disposed on the first surface of the PCB or disposed close to the first surface in an internal space of the PCB;
at least one conductive portion disposed around the conductive antenna; and
a wireless communication circuit disposed on the second surface of the PCB and configured to transmit and/or receive a radio signal having a frequency between 3 gigahertz (GHz) and 100 GHz through at least one antenna element;

at least one second antenna module arranged in the space and configured to transmit and/or receive a radio signal having a frequency between 700 hertz (Hz) and 3 GHz through at least one antenna element;
at least one grip sensor circuit arranged in the space and electrically connected to the at least one conductive portion included in the at least one first antenna module and at least one conductive portion included in the at least one second antenna module; and
at least one processor operatively connected to the at least one first antenna module, the at least one second antenna module, and the at least one grip sensor circuit,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain a first signal related to a grip from the at least one conductive portion included in the at least one first antenna module, obtain a second signal related to a grip from the at least one conductive portion included in the at least one second antenna module, identify a grip pattern on the electronic device based on the first signal and the second signal, and control operations of the first antenna module and the second antenna module based on the identified grip pattern.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control power of a first transmission signal associated with the first antenna module and power of a second transmission signal associated with the second antenna module according to the identified grip pattern.

14. The electronic device of claim 13 ,
wherein the conductive portion of the at least one first antenna module includes a director that improves radiation performance for the first transmission signal.

15. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
measure a change in a first current corresponding to the conductive portion of the at least one first antenna module;
measure a change in a second current corresponding to the conductive portion of the at least one second antenna module; and
identify a grip pattern on the electronic device based on the measured changes in the first current and the second c

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Noh Janghwan
• Jeon Seunggil
• Park Chanyoul
• Huh Jaeyoung

Classifications

• H04M2250/12

  including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion · CPC title

• H04M2201/34

  Microprocessors · CPC title

• H04M1/026

  Details of the structure or mounting of specific components · CPC title

• H01Q1/243

  with built-in antennas · CPC title

• H04B1/3838 Primary

  Arrangements for reducing RF exposure to the user, e.g. by changing the shape of the transceiver while in use · CPC title