Electronic Devices Having Multi-Frequency Ultra-Wideband Antennas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020411986-A1
Application number	US-201916456856-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 28, 2019
Priority date	Jun 28, 2019
Publication date	Dec 31, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with an antenna for receiving signals in first and second ultra-wideband communications bands. The antenna may include a first arm that radiates in the first band and a second arm that radiates in the second band. The antenna may be fed by a stripline. A microstrip may couple the stripline to the first and second arms and may be configured to match the impedance of the stripline to the impedance of the first and second arms in the first and second bands, respectively. Sets of antennas tuned to different frequencies may be fed by the same transmission line and may collectively exhibit a relatively wide bandwidth. A conductive shielding layer or other conductive components may be layered over the antennas to mitigate cross-polarization interference at the antennas.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device comprising:
a dielectric substrate; an antenna having first and second resonating element arms formed from conductive traces on the dielectric substrate, a first positive antenna feed terminal coupled to the first resonating element arm, and a second positive antenna feed terminal coupled to the second resonating element arm, wherein the first resonating element arm is configured to radiate in a first ultra-wideband communications band and the second resonating element arm is configured to radiate in a second ultra-wideband communications band that is higher than the first ultra-wideband communications band; a first radio-frequency transmission line on the dielectric substrate; and a second radio-frequency transmission line on the dielectric substrate, wherein the second radio-frequency transmission line couples the first radio-frequency transmission line to the first and second positive antenna feed terminals and comprises:
a first signal trace segment configured to match an impedance of the first radio-frequency transmission line to an impedance of the first positive antenna feed terminal in the first ultra-wideband communications band, and
a second signal trace segment configured to match the impedance of the first radio-frequency transmission line to an impedance of the second positive antenna feed terminal in the second ultra-wideband communication band.

2 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the first signal trace is configured to form an open circuit in the second ultra-wideband communications band and the second signal trace is configured to form an open circuit in the first ultra-wideband communications band.

3 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the first radio-frequency transmission line comprises a signal conductor and the second radio-frequency transmission line comprises a third signal trace segment coupled to the signal conductor, the first and second signal trace segments extending from opposing sides of the third signal trace segment.

4 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the first signal trace segment has a first length extending from the third signal trace segment to the first positive antenna feed terminal and a first width perpendicular to the first length, the second signal trace segment has a second length extending from the third signal trace segment to the second positive antenna feed terminal and a second width perpendicular to the second length, the first length and the first width are configured to match the impedance of the first radio-frequency transmission line to the impedance of the first positive antenna feed terminal in the first ultra-wideband communications band, and the second length and the second width are configured to match the impedance of the first radio-frequency transmission line to the impedance of the second positive antenna feed terminal in the second ultra-wideband communications band.

5 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 , further comprising:
ground traces on the dielectric substrate; and a fence of conductive vias extending from the conductive traces to the ground traces through the dielectric substrate, wherein the fence of conductive vias separates the first resonating element arm from the second resonating element arm.

6 . The electronic device defined in claim 5 , wherein the third signal trace segment is aligned with the fence of conductive vias.

7 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the first radio-frequency transmission line comprises a stripline transmission line and the second radio-frequency transmission line comprises a microstrip transmission line.

8 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 , the dielectric substrate comprising a flexible printed circuit substrate having a plurality of layers, wherein the first, second, and third signal trace segments and the signal conductor are patterned on the same layer of the plurality of layers.

9 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 , further comprising:
a grounded shielding ring extending around the first and second resonating element arms.

10 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the first ultra-wideband communications band comprises a 6.5 GHz ultra-wideband communications band, the second ultra-wideband communications band comprising an 8.0 GHz ultra-wideband communications band.

11 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
a display having a display cover layer that forms a front face of the electronic device; a dielectric cover layer that forms a rear face of the electronic device; a conductive support plate overlapping the dielectric cover layer and having an opening, wherein the dielectric substrate and the antenna are mounted within the opening, the antenna being configured to radiate through the dielectric cover layer; and a conductive shielding layer that covers the opening and that is electrically coupled to the conductive support plate.

12 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
a dielectric cover layer that forms a face of the electronic device; a conductive support plate on the dielectric cover layer and having an opening; and a plastic shim on the dielectric cover layer and in the opening, wherein a surface of the plastic shim lies flush with a surface of the conductive support plate, the dielectric substrate is mounted to the surface of the plastic shim, and the antenna extends across the opening.

13 . An electronic device comprising:
a dielectric substrate; a radio-frequency transmission line on the dielectric substrate; and first, second, third, and fourth antennas on the dielectric substrate and coupled to the radio-frequency transmission line, wherein the first antenna is configured to exhibit a first response peak at a first frequency in a first ultra-wideband communications band, the second antenna is configured to exhibit a second response peak at a second frequency in the first ultra-wideband communications band, the second frequency is different from the first frequency, the third antenna is configured to exhibit a third response peak at a third frequency in a second ultra-wideband communications band that is lower than the first ultra-wideband communications band, the fourth antenna is configured to exhibit a fourth response peak at a fourth frequency in the second ultra-wideband communications band, and the fourth frequency is different from the third frequency.

14 . The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the first ultra-wideband communications band comprises a 8.0 GHz ultra-wideband communications band, the second ultra-wideband communications band comprises an 6.5 GHz ultra-wideband communications band, the first frequency is between 7.7 GHz and 8.0 GHz, the second frequency is between 8.0 GHz and 8.3 GHz, the third frequency is between 6.2 GHz and 6.5 GHz, and the fourth frequency is between 6.5 GHz and 6.8 GHz.

15 . The electronic device defined in claim 13 , further comprising first, second, third, fourth, and fifth signal traces on the dielectric substrate, the first and second signal traces are coupled to and extend from opposing sides of a signal conductor for the radio-frequency transmission line, the first signal trace is coupled to a first positive antenna feed terminal on the first antenna, the third signal trace is coupled to a second positive antenna feed terminal on the second antenna, the second signal trace is coupled to a third positive antenna feed terminal on the third antenna, the fourth positive antenna feed terminal is co

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Cooper Aaron J
• Tayebi Amin
• Di Nallo Carlo
• Le Vinh T

Classifications

• H01Q5/335

  at the feed, e.g. for impedance matching · CPC title

• H01Q5/25 Primary

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

• H01Q1/243

  with built-in antennas · CPC title

• H01Q1/38

  formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support {(patch antennas H01Q9/0407; microstrip dipole antennas H01Q9/065; microstrip slot antennas H01Q13/106; transmission line microstrip antennas H01Q13/206; manufacturing reflecting surfaces using insulating material for supporting the reflecting surface  H01Q15/142)} · CPC title

• H01Q21/30

  Combinations of separate antenna units operating in different wavebands and connected to a common feeder system · CPC title