Electronic devices having side-mounted antenna modules

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11552402-B2
Application number	US-202017098108-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2020
Priority date	Jul 2, 2020
Publication date	Jan 10, 2023
Grant date	Jan 10, 2023

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with a sidewall and an antenna module pressed against an interior surface of the sidewall. The module may include a phased antenna array. The sidewall may have apertures aligned with respective antenna in the array. The antennas may convey radio-frequency signals in first and second frequency bands greater than 10 GHz and with vertical and horizontal polarizations. Each aperture may include a corresponding cavity with non-linear cavity walls. The antennas may excite resonant cavity modes of the cavities that cause the cavities to radiate the radio-frequency signals as waveguide radiators. At the same time, the apertures may form a smooth impedance transition between the antennas and free space for the radio-frequency signals of both the horizontal and vertical polarizations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device having opposing first and second faces, a periphery, and an interior, the electronic device comprising:
a housing having a housing wall at the first face of the electronic device and having peripheral conductive housing structures that run around the periphery, wherein the peripheral conductive housing structures have an interior surface at the interior of the electronic device;
a display mounted to the peripheral conductive housing structures at the second face of the electronic device;
a set of apertures in the peripheral conductive housing structures; and
an antenna module pressed against the interior surface of the peripheral conductive housing structures, wherein the antenna module comprises:
a phased antenna array having a set of patch antennas configured to convey radio-frequency signals at a frequency greater than 10 GHz through the set of apertures, wherein each patch antenna in the set of patch antennas is aligned with a respective aperture in the set of apertures.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the set of patch antennas are configured to convey the radio-frequency signals with first and second orthogonal polarizations.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 , wherein each aperture in the set of apertures has a width and a length that is greater than the width.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the electronic device has a length, a width that is less than the length, and a height that is less than the width, the width of each aperture in the set of apertures extending parallel to the height of the electronic device, and the length of each aperture in the set of apertures extending parallel to the length of the electronic device.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the peripheral conductive housing structures have an exterior surface opposite the interior surface, each aperture in the set of apertures comprising a respective cavity having cavity walls that extend from the interior surface to the exterior surface.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 5 , wherein the cavity is wider at the exterior surface than at the interior surface.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 6 , wherein the antenna module further comprises:
a substrate for the phased antenna array;
ground traces in the substrate; and
fences of conductive vias that surround each of the patch antennas in the set of patch antennas and that extend from the ground traces to the interior surface of the peripheral conductive housing structures, wherein the fences of conductive vias are aligned with the cavity walls.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 6 , further comprising:
a dielectric substrate in the cavity; and
a dielectric cover layer overlapping the dielectric substrate, wherein the dielectric cover layer has a first surface that contacts the dielectric substrate and an opposing second surface at an exterior of the electronic device.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , wherein the dielectric substrate has a first dielectric constant and the dielectric cover layer has a second dielectric constant that is greater than the first dielectric constant.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 , wherein the dielectric cover layer is configured to form a quarter wave impedance transformer at the frequency.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the antenna module further comprises:
a substrate for the phased antenna array, wherein the set of patch antennas comprises stacked patch elements in the substrate.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 , wherein the set of patch antennas is configured to convey the radio-frequency signals in a first frequency band that includes frequencies between 24 and 30 GHz and in a second frequency band that includes frequencies between 37 and 40 GHz.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 , wherein the set of patch antennas is configured to excite resonant cavity modes of the set of apertures in the first and second frequency bands and with the first and second orthogonal polarizations.

14. An electronic device having a periphery, an interior, and an exterior, the electronic device comprising:
peripheral conductive housing structures that extend along the periphery, wherein the peripheral conductive housing structures have a first surface at the interior and a second surface at the exterior of the electronic device;
first and second apertures in the peripheral conductive housing structures, wherein the first and second apertures comprise non-linear cavity walls extending from the first surface to the second surface of the peripheral conductive housing structures; and
a phased antenna array configured to convey radio-frequency signals at a frequency greater than 10 GHz, wherein the phased antenna array comprises a first antenna resonating element aligned with the first aperture and a second antenna resonating element aligned with the second aperture.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 , further comprising:
a first injection-molded plastic substrate in the first aperture;
a second injection-molded plastic substrate in the second aperture; and
a dielectric cover layer that overlaps the first and second apertures.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 14 , further comprising:
a dielectric substrate, wherein the first and second antenna resonating elements are on the dielectric substrate;
first fences of conductive vias extending through the dielectric substrate, wherein the first fences of conductive vias are aligned with the non-linear cavity walls of the first aperture and laterally surround the first antenna resonating element; and
second fences of conductive vias extending through the dielectric substrate, wherein the second fences of conductive vias are aligned with the non-linear cavity walls of the second aperture and laterally surround the second antenna resonating element.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 14 , wherein the first and second apertures have a first length at the first surface and a second length at the second surface, the second length being greater than the first length.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 17 , wherein the first and second apertures have a width at the second surface, the width being orthogonal to and less than the second length.

19. An electronic device comprising:
a conductive housing sidewall;
a phased antenna array on a dielectric substrate that is pressed against the conductive housing sidewall, wherein the phased antenna array comprises a set of antennas configured to radiate at a frequency greater than 10 GHz;
a set of waveguides in the conductive housing sidewall and aligned with the set of antennas in the phased antenna array, wherein the set of waveguides are configured to:
exhibit resonant cavity modes that radiate in response to an excitation at the frequency by the set of antennas, and
match an impedance of the set of antennas to a free space impedance external to the electronic device.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 19 , wherein the set of antennas are configured to radiate at the frequency in first and second orthogonal polarizations, each waveguide in the set of waveguides has a length that is configured to match, to the free space impedance, a first impedance of the set of antennas associated with the first polarization, and each waveguide in the set of waveguides has a width that is configured to match, to the free space imp

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Edwards Jennifer M
• Rupakula Bhaskara R
• Rajagopalan Harish
• Avser Bilgehan
• Paulotto Simone
• Pascolini Mattia

Classifications

• H01Q1/243 Primary

  with built-in antennas · CPC title

• H01Q9/0407

  Substantially flat resonant element parallel to ground plane, e.g. patch antenna (dipole H01Q9/285; monopole H01Q9/40) · CPC title

• H01Q13/0258

  Orthomode horns (orthomode transducers H01P1/161) · CPC title

• H01Q21/28

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

• H01Q21/08

  the units being spaced along or adjacent to a rectilinear path {(waveguide fed H01Q21/0037)} · CPC title