This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 104108217 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Mar. 13, 2015, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The disclosure relates to an antenna module and an antenna structure thereof, more particularly to an antenna module and an antenna structure thereof applied in a wireless access point (WAP or AP).
From the early twenty-first century till now, wireless access points are cheap and easily installed so they are widely and rapidly used. The wireless access point can avoid some problems caused by wired signal transmission. For example, Ethernet cables are used to perform signal transmission for electronic devices, such as personal computers or notebooks, but are hard to arranged neatly, so they are easily entangled and even easily look messy. For example, when a user attempts to install a new wired network in a building that was not constructed for wired networks, modifications to this building will have to be made in order to dispose cables of the wired network. Therefore, establishing wireless networks by wireless access points can provide users with more convenience in use.
With the popularization of mobile electronic devices, wireless access points often function as access points for electronic devices which are moving. Therefore, wireless access points may meet some problems such as a narrow reception range (known as network convergence) and incorrect direction to receive signals.
According to one or more embodiments, the disclosure provides an antenna structure. In one embodiment, the antenna structure includes a baseboard, a plurality of secondary antenna units, and a primary antenna unit. The baseboard has an irregular shape and is electrically connected to a ground terminal. Each of the secondary antenna units vertically extends from a different edge of the baseboard, includes a secondary signal fed-in portion for receiving a secondary current, and is configured to provide a secondary current path with the baseboard. When the secondary current flows along the secondary current path, a secondary radiation field is formed. The primary antenna unit vertically extends from another edge of the baseboard, includes a primary signal fed-in portion for receiving a primary current, and is configured to provide a primary current path with the baseboard. The secondary antenna units are around the primary antenna unit. When the primary current flows along the primary current path, a primary radiation field is formed. The antenna structure is configured to receive and transmit wireless signals in a direction through a directional radiation field produced by combining the primary radiation field and at least one of the secondary radiation fields together.
According to one or more embodiments, the disclosure provides an antenna module. In one embodiment, the antenna module includes an antenna structure and a plurality of switches. The antenna structure includes a baseboard, a plurality of secondary antenna units, and a primary antenna unit. The baseboard has an irregular shape and is electrically connected to a ground terminal. Each of the secondary antenna units vertically extends from a different edge of the baseboard, includes a secondary signal fed-in portion for receiving a secondary current, and is configured to provide a secondary current path with the baseboard. When the secondary current flows along the secondary current path, a secondary radiation field is formed. The primary antenna unit vertically extends from another edge of the baseboard, includes a primary signal fed-in portion for receiving a primary current, and is configured to provide a primary current path with the baseboard. The secondary antenna units are around the primary antenna unit. When the primary current flows along the primary current path, a primary radiation field is formed. Each of the switches has one terminal electrically connected to the secondary signal fed-in portion of one of the plurality of secondary antenna units, and another terminal for receiving the secondary current. Each of the plurality of switches is configured to allow the secondary current to flow into one of the secondary antenna units when turned on. The antenna module is configured to receive and transmit wireless signals in a direction through to a directional radiation field produced by combining the primary radiation field and at least one of the secondary radiation fields together when at least one of the plurality of switches is turned on.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein:
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawings.
The disclosure provides an antenna structure illustrated in
The antenna structure 1 includes a baseboard 10, a plurality of secondary antenna units 11a to 11d, and a primary antenna unit 12. The baseboard 10 has, for example, a regular or irregular shape that can be designed according to a mechanism design for a system or an electronic device, which the antenna structure 1 is disposed on.
The secondary antenna units 11a to 11d vertically extend from different edges of the baseboard 10, respectively. In other words, each of the secondary antenna units 11a to 11d is sufficiently vertical to the baseboard 10 and connected to an edge of the baseboard 10. With regard to the relative positions of the secondary antenna units 11a to 11d shown in
In order to concisely clarify the relative orientation of the antenna structure in each figure, the relative orientation of the antenna structure is indicated by a relative coordinate system with axes. For example, a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system with x-axis, y-axis and z-axis is shown at the lower right side of
The baseboard 10 is considered as a ground plate when electrically connected to an external ground terminal. The primary antenna unit 12 includes a primary signal fed-in portion 122 for receiving a primary current. The primary antenna unit 12 and the baseboard 10 work together to provide a primary current path to the antenna structure 1. When the primary current is fed into the antenna structure 1 from the primary signal fed-in portion 122 and flows along the primary current path, a primary radiation field forms on the antenna structure 1 for the antenna structure 1 to receive or transmit wireless signals with the first frequency. Each of the secondary antenna units 11a to 11d includes a secondary signal fed-in portion, e.g. relative one of the secondary signal fed-in portions 112a to 112d, for receiving a secondary current. Each of the secondary antenna units 11a to 11d and the baseboard 10 form a secondary current path for the antenna structure 1. When the secondary currents are fed in the antenna structure 1 from the secondary signal fed-in portions 112a to 112d respectively and flow along their corresponding secondary current paths, secondary radiation fields form on the antenna structure 1.
When the primary current and at least one secondary current are fed in the antenna structure 1 at the same time and respectively flow along the primary current path and the corresponding secondary current path, the primary radiation field and the secondary radiation field will form on the antenna structure 1 and the secondary radiation field will affect the primary radiation field. Therefore, the radiation pattern of the primary radiation field will change, and the primary radiation field and the secondary radiation field combine to form a directional radiation field. This directional radiation field indicates a certain orientation, that is, the energy of the directional radiation field gathers together along the certain orientation. When receiving or transmitting wireless signals through the directional radiation field, the antenna structure 1 may receive or transmit these signals traveling along a certain orientation more efficiently and the received/transmitted wireless signals may have better quality.
The shape of the primary antenna unit 12 and the shape of the secondary antenna unit are different, thereby affecting the impedance matching for the primary antenna unit 12 and the secondary antenna unit. Therefore, when the primary current and the secondary current flow along their corresponding current path, the radiation pattern and frequency of the primary antenna unit 12 are different from the radiation pattern and frequency of the secondary antenna unit in response to the different impedances.
As shown in
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Each of the secondary antenna units 11a′ to 11d′ includes one of U-shaped components 110a′ to 110d′, one of secondary signal fed-in portions 112a′ to 112d′, and one of extension portions 114a′ to 114d′. The U-shaped components 110a′ to 110d′ are sufficiently parallel to the baseboard 10′. The extension portion vertically extends from a branch of the corresponding U-shaped component toward the baseboard 10′ and is sufficiently vertical to the baseboard 10′ and the corresponding U-shaped component and connected to the baseboard 10′. The secondary signal fed-in portion vertically extends from another branch of the corresponding U-shaped component toward the baseboard 10′ along a second direction, i.e. the z axis. The secondary signal fed-in portions 112a′ to 112d′, as shown in
In the foregoing embodiments, the disclosure designs the shape of each antenna unit to make the antenna structure have a desired impedance and a desired radiation pattern for receiving or transmitting wireless signals having a desired frequency. In these or some embodiments, the disclosure also makes the antenna module have a desired radiation pattern by controlling the secondary current fed in the antenna structure. The following embodiments will be illustrated based on the antenna module including the antenna structure 1′.
Please refer to
Each of the switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ has two terminals. One of the two terminals of each of the switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ is electrically connected to one terminal of one of the extension portions 114a′ to 114d′, which is close to the baseboard 10′ while the other terminal of each of the switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ is electrically connected to another terminal of one of the extension portions 114a′ to 114d′, which is far from the baseboard 10′. The switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ are selectively turned on to allow the secondary current flowing along the current path formed by the corresponding secondary antenna unit and the baseboard 10′. For example, when the switch SW_a′ is turned on, a secondary current flows along the current path formed by the secondary antenna unit 11a′ and the baseboard 10′ and a secondary radiation field then forms on the secondary antenna unit 11a′. The relationships between the switch SW_b′ and the secondary antenna unit 11b′, between the switch SW_c′ and the secondary antenna unit 11c′ and between the switch SW_d′ and the secondary antenna unit 11d′ can be deduced by analogy and thus, will not be repeated hereinafter.
The operations of the switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ are independent to each other. Therefore, the operations of the secondary antenna units 11a′ to 11d′ are independent to each other to make one or more secondary radiation fields formed according to the operations of the switches SW_a′ to SW_d′. In other words, the number of turned-on ones of the switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ can be set for controlling the number of secondary radiation fields formed and the orientation thereof and even deciding the directional radiation field. For example, the switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ are, but not limited to, switching diodes or metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET).
In an exemplary embodiment based on the antenna module 2 including the antenna structure 1′, the radiation pattern produced by the antenna module 2 is varied according to the number of turned-on switches and the orientations of the turned-on switches. The secondary antenna units 11a′ to 11d′ are respectively considered as the first, second, third and fourth secondary antenna units 11a′ to 11d′ in order, and the switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ respectively corresponding to the first, second, third and fourth secondary antenna units 11a′ to 11d′ are respectively considered as the first, second, third and fourth sub switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ in order. The radiation pattern produced by the antenna structure 1′ is 3D irregular spherical. To concisely clarify the disclosure, the following various embodiments of radiation pattern are 2D radiation patterns obtained by observation along a line of sight that is sufficiently vertical to the baseboard 10′. Such a line of sight is the foregoing second direction.
Please refer to
When the first, second, third and fourth switches SW_a′ to SW_d′ are turned off, the primary current flows along the primary current path and no secondary current is fed in any of the secondary antenna units 11a′, 11b′, 11c′ and 11d′ of the antenna structure 1′. Accordingly, the primary radiation field of the antenna structure 1′ has the first radiation pattern, as shown in
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In view of the foregoing embodiments of radiation pattern in
In another embodiment, the antenna module 2 turns on more than one of the switches to form a directional radiation field having a certain radiation pattern, for example, a sixth radiation pattern as shown in
Accordingly, the disclosure provides an antenna module and an antenna structure thereof. The antenna structure includes the primary antenna unit for producing a primary radiation field according to the fed-in primary signal, and the secondary antenna units for producing one or more secondary radiation fields according to one or more fed-in secondary signals. The antenna module includes the foregoing antenna structure and the switches for selectively being turned on, so that the one ore more secondary currents are fed into one or more of the secondary antenna units to form one or more secondary radiation fields. By the switching on/off of the switches, the antenna module selectively produces one or more secondary radiation fields having different secondary radiation patterns to form a directional radiation pattern indicating a desired direction. Therefore, the direction of data transmission is changed according to a user's position. The disclosure may have a higher quality of signal communication and a higher utility when applied to a smart antenna.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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104108217 | Mar 2015 | TW | national |