Electronic devices having millimeter wave ranging capabilities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11762075-B2
Application number	US-202017074259-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2020
Priority date	Feb 21, 2018
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

An electronic device such as a wristwatch may be provided with a phased antenna array for conveying first signals at a first frequency between 10 GHz and 300 GHz and a non-millimeter wave antenna for conveying second signals at a second frequency below 10 GHz. The device may include conductive housing sidewalls and a display. Conductive structures in the display and the conductive housing sidewalls may define a slot element in the non-millimeter wave antenna. The phased antenna array may be mounted within the slot element, aligned with a spatial filter in the display, or aligned with a dielectric window in the conductive housing sidewalls. Control circuitry may process signals transmitted by the phased antenna array and a reflected version of the transmitted signals that has been received by the phased antenna array to detect a range between the device and an external object.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wristwatch comprising:
a housing configured to receive a wrist strap;
a display mounted to the housing and having conductive display structures, wherein the conductive display structures are separated from a portion of the housing by a slot;
wireless circuitry in the housing and configured to generate radio-frequency signals at a frequency between 10 GHz and 300 GHz; and
a phased antenna array in the housing that is coupled to the wireless circuitry and that is configured to transmit the radio-frequency signals, wherein the phased antenna array is disposed within the slot.

2. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a touch screen display.

3. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , wherein the portion of the housing comprises a conductive housing sidewall, the display comprises a display module and a display cover layer that covers the display module, and the display module is configured to display images through the display cover layer, the phased antenna array being mounted between the conductive housing sidewall and the display module and configured to transmit the radio-frequency signals through the display cover layer.

4. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
a non-millimeter wave antenna formed from the slot.

5. The wristwatch defined in claim 4 , further comprising:
a radio-frequency transceiver in the housing and coupled to the non-millimeter wave antenna, wherein the radio-frequency transceiver is configured to generate additional radio-frequency signals at an additional frequency below 10 GHz and the non-millimeter wave antenna is configured to transmit the additional radio-frequency signals.

6. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
control circuitry in the housing and coupled to the wireless circuitry, wherein the wireless circuitry is configured to receive a reflected version of the transmitted radio-frequency signals that has been reflected off of an external object and received by the phased antenna array, and the control circuitry is configured to identify a range between the wristwatch and the external object based on the transmitted radio-frequency signals and the reflected version of the transmitted radio-frequency signals.

7. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , wherein the phased antenna array comprises a one-dimensional array of antennas.

8. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , wherein the phased antenna array has a longitudinal axis that is aligned with a longitudinal axis of the slot.

9. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , wherein the portion of the housing comprises a conductive housing wall, a dielectric window is formed in the conductive housing wall, and the phased antenna array is configured to transmit the radio-frequency signals through the dielectric window.

10. The wristwatch defined in claim 9 , further comprising:
an additional phased antenna array mounted within the slot.

11. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
an additional phased antenna array; and
a spatial filter in the conductive display structures, wherein the spatial filter has a pass band that includes the frequency and the additional phased antenna array is configured to transmit additional radio-frequency signals at the frequency through the spatial filter in the conductive display structures.

12. The wristwatch defined in claim 1 , wherein the portion of the housing comprises a conductive housing wall and a dielectric window is formed in the conductive housing wall, the wristwatch further comprising:
an additional phased antenna array mounted within the housing and configured to transmit additional radio-frequency signals at an additional frequency between 10 GHz and 300 GHz through the dielectric window.

13. An electronic device comprising:
a housing having conductive housing sidewalls and a rear housing wall;
a display having conductive display structures and mounted to the conductive housing sidewalls, the display and the rear housing wall forming opposing faces of the electronic device;
an antenna formed from the conductive housing sidewalls; and
a phased antenna array mounted within a dielectric window in the conductive housing sidewalls, wherein the antenna is configured to convey first radio-frequency signals at a first frequency below 10 GHz and the phased antenna array is configured to convey second radio-frequency signals at a second frequency between 10 GHz and 300 GHz.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the electronic device is a wristwatch, the electronic device further comprising:
a transmitter and a receiver coupled to the phased antenna array, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the second radio-frequency signals and the receiver is configured to receive a reflected version of the second radio-frequency signals that is received by the phased antenna array; and
a switch having a first terminal coupled to the transmitter, a second terminal coupled to the receiver, and a third terminal coupled to the phased antenna array, wherein the switch is configured to couple a selected one of the transmitter and the receiver to the phased antenna array at a given time.

15. An electronic device comprising:
a housing having a conductive housing sidewall;
a display mounted to the housing and having conductive display structures and a display cover layer that overlaps the conductive display structures, wherein the conductive display structures are separated from the conductive housing sidewall by a slot;
a phased antenna array configured to convey radio-frequency signals through the display cover layer, wherein the phased antenna array is disposed within the slot; and
wireless circuitry in the housing and coupled to the phased antenna array.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 , wherein the phased antenna array is configured to convey the radio-frequency signals at a frequency greater than 10 GHz.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 15 , wherein the conductive display structures and the conductive housing sidewall form an antenna.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Nath Jayesh
• Paulotto Simone
• Martinis Mario
• Da Costa Bras Lima Eduardo Jorge
• Ruaro Andrea
• Di Nallo Carlo
• Mow Matthew A
• Pascolini Mattia

Classifications

• H01Q1/50 Primary

  Structural association of antennas with earthing switches, lead-in devices or lightning protectors · CPC title

• G01S7/006 Primary

  using shared front-end circuitry, e.g. antennas (G01S13/765, G01S13/825 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01Q21/22 Primary

  Antenna units of the array energised non-uniformly in amplitude or phase, e.g. tapered array or binomial array · CPC title

• G01S13/08 Primary

  Systems for measuring distance only (indirect measurement G01S13/46) · CPC title

• H01Q13/10

  Resonant slot antennas · CPC title