Patent Grant
7893877
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna for wireless network, and more particularly to an antenna for WWAN and an integrated antenna for WWAN and WLAN.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Along with the rapid progress of wireless communication technology, various multi-frequency communication products emerge competitively one after another. Thus, wireless communication products have gradually become one part of daily life. Almost all the new products have been provided with the wireless transmission function to satisfy people's requirements. Notebook computers often require data transmission, and wireless transmission has the advantage of eliminating troubles in wiring and setting. Therefore, the arrangement of an antenna is required in order to achieve wireless transmission. However, the wide acceptance of notebook computers with wireless transmission relies heavily on their appearance, size, and performance. Accordingly, a favorable antenna design and the suitable placement of the antenna are especially important.
A conventional antenna arrangement for notebook computers, for example, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,400B1, in which one or more antennae 11, 12 are disposed around a screen 10 of a notebook computer 1, as shown in
Therefore, it is necessary to provide an integrated antenna that can be simultaneously used in WWAN and WLAN at the same time, in order to solve the above problems.
The present invention is directed to provide an integrated antenna for WWAN and WLAN. The integrated antenna comprises a ground metal plane, a WWAN antenna, and a WLAN antenna. The WWAN antenna is connected to the ground metal plane and comprises a first radiating metal strip and a second radiating metal strip. The first and second radiating metal strips are used to induce a first resonance mode and a second resonance mode respectively. The WLAN antenna is connected to the ground metal plane and comprises a third radiating metal strip and a fourth radiating metal strip. The third and fourth radiating metal strips are used to induce a third resonance mode and a fourth resonance mode respectively.
The integrated antenna of the present invention is disposed inside a wireless electronic device. The ground metal plane of the integrated antenna can independently provide a grounding effect, and can be selectively connected to a ground end of the wireless electronic device or not. Therefore, the integrated antenna can be mounted on any part of the wireless electronic device, and also have stable electrical characteristics.
The integrated antenna of the present invention has the functions of both WWAN and WLAN, and can be used in WWAN and WLAN at the same time. The integrated antenna of the present invention further has an auxiliary ground metal plane that can be bent and folded, thus saving space to satisfy the requirements of customers and provide the preferred grounding effect and radiation effect.
The integrated antenna 3 is provided with at least one fixing portion for fixing the integrated antenna 3 to the screen frame 22. In this embodiment, the fixing portion is two through holes 39 (referring to
The first radiating metal strip 32 is longer than the second radiating metal strip 33, and thus the frequency of the second resonance mode is higher than that of the first resonance mode. The frequency of the first resonance mode is 850 MHz and 900 MHz, and the frequency of the second resonance mode is 1575 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz, or 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2000 MHz, wherein 1575 MHz is suitable for GPS.
The WWAN antenna 31 further includes a first connecting metal strip 34 for connecting the first radiating metal strip 32 and the second radiating metal strip 33 to the ground metal plane 30. The first radiating metal strip 32 and the second radiating metal strip 33 extend in two opposite directions substantially parallel to the ground metal plane 30 and are spaced at a distance. Thus, the WWAN antenna 31 assumes a T-shape.
The WLAN antenna 35 is connected to the ground metal plane 30 and includes a third radiating metal strip 36 and a fourth radiating metal strip 37. The third and fourth radiating metal strips 36, 37 are used to induce a third resonance mode and a fourth resonance mode respectively. The third radiating metal strip 36 is longer than the fourth radiating metal strip 37, and thus the frequency of the fourth resonance mode is higher than that of the third resonance mode. The frequency of the third resonance mode is 2.4 GHz, and the frequency of the fourth resonance mode is 5 GHz.
The WLAN antenna 35 further includes a second connecting metal strip 38 for connecting the third radiating metal strip 36 and the fourth radiating metal strip 37 to the ground metal plane 30. The third radiating metal strip 36 and the fourth radiating metal strip 37 extend in two opposite directions, substantially parallel to the ground metal plane 30 and are spaced at a distance. Thus, the WLAN antenna 35 assumes a T-shape.
Therefore, the integrated antenna 3 of the present invention can be applied to frequencies of WWAN (for example, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1575 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz, or 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2000 MHz) and frequencies of WLAN (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) at the same time.
The integrated antenna 3 for WWAN and WLAN in the first embodiment of the present invention can only be used in WWAN by deleting the WLAN antenna, thus becoming an antenna 3i for WWAN, as shown in
In the fourth embodiment, the first radiating metal strip 32c and the second radiating metal strip 33c of the WWAN antenna 31c extend toward the WLAN antenna 35c. In other applications, the WWAN antenna can extend in a direction opposite to the WLAN antenna. Moreover, in the fourth embodiment, the third radiating metal strip 36c and the fourth radiating metal strip 37c of the WLAN antenna 35c extend toward the WWAN antenna 31c. In other applications, the WLAN antenna may extend in a direction opposite the WWAN antenna. Similarly, in other embodiments mentioned above, the direction of the extension of F-shaped WWAN antenna or WLAN antenna is not limited to that in the figure and can be opposite that shown in the figure. The integrated antenna 3c for WWAN and WLAN in the fourth embodiment of the present invention can only be used in WWAN by deleting the WLAN antenna 35c, thus becoming an antenna for WWAN.
Referring to
In the integrated antenna 3, the ground metal plane 30 is disposed on a bottom surface. The first connecting metal strip 34 of the WWAN antenna 31 extends from one side of the ground metal plane 30 and is disposed on a first side surface. The first radiating metal strip 32 and the second radiating metal strip 33 of the WWAN antenna 31 are disposed on a top surface which is opposite the bottom surface. The WWAN antenna 31 further includes an extending metal strip 40 disposed on a second side surface which is opposite the first side surface. The WLAN antenna 35 is disposed on the first side surface, and the first connecting metal strip 34 is disposed on the same side surface. Therefore, the integrated antenna 3 is appreciably a cuboid with air as the medium.
The integrated antenna of the present invention can be applied to WWAN and WLAN at the same time. The size of the integrated antenna is within 100×11×5.8 mm3, and is small in volume and thus can be disposed in a wireless electronic device. Moreover, the ground metal plane of the integrated antenna can independently provide a grounding effect and can be selectively connected to a ground end of the wireless electronic device or not. Therefore, the integrated antenna can be mounted on any part of the wireless electronic device, and also have stable electrical characteristic.
The ground metal plane 30g is disposed on a bottom surface 51 of the substrate 50. The first connecting metal strip 34g of the WWAN antenna 31g extends from one side of the ground metal plane 30g, and is disposed on a first side surface 52 of the substrate 50. The first radiating metal strip 32g and the second radiating metal strip 33g of the WWAN antenna 31g are disposed on a top surface 53 of the substrate 50, in which the top surface is opposite the bottom surface 51. The extending metal strip 40g of the WWAN antenna 31g is disposed on a second side surface 54 of the substrate 50 in which the second side surface is opposite the first side surface 52. The WLAN antenna 35g is disposed on the first side surface 52 of the substrate 50. The substrate 50 can be a printed circuit board (PCB) or a ceramic substrate.
The integrated antenna 3g of the eighth embodiment of the present invention adopts the substrate 50 as the medium, which is different from the integrated antenna 3 in the first embodiment that uses air as the medium. Therefore, in the second, third, and fourth embodiments of the present invention, air is adopted as the medium, and in the eighth embodiment, a substrate is used as the medium. The integrated antenna 3g for WWAN and WLAN in the eighth embodiment of the present invention can only be used in WWAN by deleting the WLAN antenna 35g, thus becoming an antenna for WWAN.
The ground metal plane 30h, WWAN antenna 31h, and WLAN antenna 35h are formed on a surface 61 of the FPCB 60. The ground metal plane 30h is disposed at the bottom of the surface 61 of the FPCB 60. The first connecting metal strip 34h of the WWAN antenna 31h extends upward from one side of the ground metal plane 30h. The first radiating metal strip 32h and the second radiating metal strip 33h of the WWAN antenna 31h extend upward from the first connecting metal strip 34h. The WWAN antenna 31h further includes an extending metal strip 40h extending from the junction of the first and second radiating metal strips 32h, 33h. The WLAN antenna 35h extends upward from the side of the ground metal plane 30h, and is disposed between the WWAN antenna 31h and the ground metal plane 30h.
Referring to
After the FPCB 60 is bent into a cuboid, the interior thereof still contains air. Thus, the integrated antenna 3h of the ninth embodiment of the present invention adopts the FPCB 60 and air as the medium, which is different from the integrated antenna 3 in the first embodiment that uses air as the medium. Moreover, in the second, third, and fourth embodiments of the present invention, air is adopted as the medium, and in the ninth embodiment, an FPCB and air is used as the medium.
The integrated antenna 3h of the ninth embodiment also has the functions of WWAN and WLAN. In addition, with its bendable characteristic, the FPCB 60 can be bent and folded into a predetermined shape, so as to be disposed in a wireless electronic device, and thereby the mounting of the antenna is more flexible. The integrated antenna 3h for WWAN and WLAN in the ninth embodiment of the present invention can only be used in WWAN by deleting the WLAN antenna 35h, thus becoming an antenna for WWAN.
According to the above description on the tenth and eleventh embodiment, whatever the WWAN assumes a T-shape or F-shape, or the WLAN assumes a T-shape or F-shape, the WLAN antenna and the WWAN antenna may be not overlapped in the space, and the WLAN antenna can be mounted on the right side or the left side of the WWAN antenna.
The first radiating metal strip 32m further comprises a first prolonging metal strip 71 for prolonging the length of the first radiating metal strip 32m. The first prolonging metal strip 71 is mounted on the first side surface of the integrated antenna 3m. The second radiating metal strip 33m further comprises a second prolonging metal strip 72 for prolonging the length of the second radiating metal strip 33m. The second prolonging metal strip 72 is mounted on the first side surface of the integrated antenna. The first prolonging metal strip and the second prolonging metal strip may be mounted on the second side of the integrated antenna.
In this embodiment, the WLAN antenna 35m is mounted on the second side surface of the integrated antenna 3m. Therefore, in the first embodiment to the eleventh embodiment, the WLAN antenna does not be limited to be mounted on the first side surface, and the WLAN antenna can be mounted on the second side surface of the integrated antenna.
The integrated antenna 3m further comprises a coupling metal strip 73. The coupling metal strip 73 is mounted on the first side surface at a corresponding position below the first radiating metal strip 32m (the first prolonging metal strip 71) for lowering the frequency of the first resonance mode. The coupling metal strip may be mounted on the first side surface at a corresponding position below the second radiating metal strip (the second prolonging metal strip). The coupling metal strip may be mounted on the a second side surface of the integrated antenna.
The integrated antenna 3m for WWAN and WLAN in the twelfth embodiment of the present invention can only be used in WWAN by deleting the WLAN antenna 35m, thus becoming an antenna for WWAN.
While several embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, various modifications and improvements can be made by those skilled in the art. The embodiment of the present invention is therefore described in an illustrative, but not restrictive, sense. It is intended that the present invention may not be limited to the particular forms as illustrated, and that all modifications which maintain the spirit and scope of the present invention are within the scope as defined in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 94138184 A | Oct 2005 | TW | national |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20070096999 A1 | May 2007 | US |
