This application claims the benefit of priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 111129678, filed on Aug. 8, 2022. The entire content of the above identified application is incorporated herein by reference.
Some references, which may include patents, patent applications and various publications, may be cited and discussed in the description of this disclosure. The citation and/or discussion of such references is provided merely to clarify the description of the present disclosure and is not an admission that any such reference is “prior art” to the disclosure described herein. All references cited and discussed in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties and to the same extent as if each reference was individually incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an antenna module, a metamaterial, and an electronic device, and more particularly to an antenna module, a metamaterial, and an electronic device capable of improving the ability to penetrate the medium.
With the development of fifth-generation mobile communication, applications of millimeter-waves (mmWave) are continually developed and innovated, such as that of a mmWave radar with gesture recognition function. However, due to the high frequency of the mmWave, the penetration ability of the mmWave is easily limited by the surrounding environment. For example, when the mmWave passes through a medium such as glass, reflection and refraction will occur, which severely affects the antenna pattern and phase, thereby affecting the accuracy of gesture recognition.
Therefore, how to improve the ability of the mmWave to penetrate the medium by improving the design of the antenna structure, so as to overcome the above-mentioned problems, has become one of the important issues to be solved in the related field.
In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacy the present disclosure provides an antenna module, a metamaterial, and an electronic device, which can address an issue of the ability of the mmWave to penetrate the medium being easily limited.
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides an antenna module, which includes a substrate, at least one radiating element, and a metamaterial structure. The at least one radiating element and the metamaterial structure are disposed on the substrate and located on a same side of the substrate. The metamaterial structure includes a metamaterial substrate, a plurality of first metal conductors, and a plurality of second metal conductors. The metamaterial substrate has a first surface and a second surface disposed opposite to each other, and the second surface faces the at least one radiating element. The first metal conductors are disposed on the first surface and spaced apart at intervals from each other. The second metal conductors are disposed on the second surface and spaced apart at intervals from each other. The first metal conductors respectively correspond to the second metal conductors, and shapes of the first metal conductors are different from shapes of the second metal conductors.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a metamaterial structure suitable for an antenna module, and the antenna module is used for providing an operating frequency. The metamaterial structure includes a metamaterial substrate, a plurality of first metal conductors, and a plurality of second metal conductors. The metamaterial substrate has a first surface and a second surface disposed opposite to each other. The first metal conductors are disposed on the first surface and spaced apart at intervals from each other. The second metal conductors are disposed on the second surface and spaced apart at intervals from each other. The first metal conductors respectively correspond to the second metal conductors, and shapes of the first metal conductors are different from shapes of the second metal conductors.
In yet another aspect, the present disclosure provides an electronic device, which includes a housing, a glass material layer, and an antenna module. The glass material layer is disposed at the housing. The antenna module is disposed in the housing. The antenna module includes a substrate, at least one radiating element, and a metamaterial structure. The at least one radiating element and the metamaterial structure are disposed on the substrate and located on a same side of the substrate. The metamaterial structure includes a metamaterial substrate, a plurality of first metal conductors, and a plurality of second metal conductors. The metamaterial substrate has a first surface and a second surface disposed opposite to each other. The second surface faces the at least one radiating element. The first metal conductors are disposed on the first surface and spaced apart at intervals from each other, and the first metal conductors contact the glass material layer. The second metal conductors are disposed on the second surface and spaced apart at intervals from each other. The first metal conductors respectively correspond to the second metal conductors, and shapes of the first metal conductors are different from shapes of the second metal conductors.
Therefore, in the antenna module, the metamaterial, and the electronic device provided by the present disclosure, the metamaterial structure has a metamaterial substrate, a plurality of first metal conductors, and a plurality of second metal conductors respectively disposed on the first surface and the second surface, which can improve the ability of the mmWave to penetrate the medium, thereby reducing the effect of the medium on the radiation characteristics and radiation patterns of the antenna module.
These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of the embodiment taken in conjunction with the following drawings and their captions, although variations and modifications therein may be affected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.
The described embodiments may be better understood by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present disclosure is more particularly described in the following examples that are intended as illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Like numbers in the drawings indicate like components throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural reference, and the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on”. Titles or subtitles can be used herein for the convenience of a reader, which shall have no influence on the scope of the present disclosure.
The terms used herein generally have their ordinary meanings in the art. In the case of conflict, the present document, including any definitions given herein, will prevail. The same thing can be expressed in more than one way. Alternative language and synonyms can be used for any term(s) discussed herein, and no special significance is to be placed upon whether a term is elaborated or discussed herein. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms is illustrative only, and in no way limits the scope and meaning of the present disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the present disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given herein. Numbering terms such as “first”, “second” or “third” can be used to describe various components, signals or the like, which are for distinguishing one component/signal from another one only, and are not intended to, nor should be construed to impose any substantive limitations on the components, signals or the like.
In addition, the term “connect” or “connected” in the context of the present disclosure means that there is a physical connection between two elements, and the two elements are directly or indirectly connected. The term “couple” or “coupled” in the context of the present disclosure means that two elements are separate from each other and have no physical connection therebetween, and an electric field energy generated by one of the two elements excites an electric field energy generated by another one of the two elements.
Referring to
Referring to
In addition, the antenna module M further includes a first absorber P1, a second absorber P2, and a third absorber P3. The second absorber P2 and the third absorber P3 are disposed on the first absorber P1. The substrate 1, the four radiating elements 2, and the metamaterial structure 3 are disposed between the second absorber P2 and the third absorber P3. The absorbers (the first absorber P1, the second absorber P2, and the third absorber P3) are used to absorb the electromagnetic wave emitted by the radiating element 2 as the transmitter, such that the electromagnetic wave is concentrated and emitted toward the glass material layer S. For example, the absorbers are made of rubber or electromagnetic wave-suppressing material, but the present disclosure is not limited to the material, shapes, quantities, and forms of the absorbers.
As shown in
According to the above description, the metamaterial substrate 33 are disposed on the substrate 1, and the first surface 331 is attached to the glass material layer S. Therefore, the first metal conductors 31 directly contact the glass material layer S. The second surface 332 of the metamaterial substrate 33 faces the antenna array. The antenna array and the second surface 332 of the metamaterial substrate 33 are not in contact with each other. The antenna array and the second surface 332 of the metamaterial substrate 33 are spaced apart from each other by an air gap G. That is to say, the second metal conductors 32 are in direct contact with the air. It is worth mentioning that, in another embodiment, the antenna array can also directly contact the second surface 332 of the metamaterial substrate 33, i.e, there can be no air gap G between the antenna array and the second surface 332 of the metamaterial substrate 33.
It should be noted that ways of forming the air gap G are not limited in the present disclosure. For example, as shown in
The first surface and the second surface are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined thickness W, and a width of the air gap G is less than twice the predetermined thickness W. In this embodiment, the width of the air gap G is 0.12 mm Accordingly, the present disclosure can perform the impedance matching on the glass material layer S through the structural design of the metamaterial structure 3 and the air gap G, such as to counteract the effect of the glass material layer S on the radiation characteristic and the radiation patterns of the antenna module M. Further, the higher the distribution density of the first metal conductors 31 on the first surface 331 of the metamaterial substrate 33, and the higher the distribution density of the second metal conductors 32 on the second surface 332 of the metamaterial substrate 33, the stronger the penetration ability of the electromagnetic wave will be.
The principles for designing the antenna module M and the metamaterial structure 3 thereof are further described. As shown in
However, the aforementioned details are disclosed for exemplary purposes only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The first metal conductors 31 and the second metal conductors 32 are respectively equivalent to two parallel equivalent capacitors in the equivalent circuit. Accordingly, the present disclosure can adjust the capacitances of the two parallel equivalent capacitors through the simulation of the equivalent circuit to perform impedance matching.
Moreover, shapes of the first metal conductors 31 are different from shapes of the second metal conductors 32. In this embodiment, each of the first metal conductors 31 is formed to have a cross-shaped structure, and each of the second metal conductors 32 is formed to have two ring structures are concentric and not in contact with each other. In addition, referring to
Moreover, in the present disclosure, an area of each of the first metal conductors 31 is less than an area of the corresponding one of the second metal conductors 32, and the area of the metal conductors (the first metal conductors 31 and the second metal conductors 32) is proportional to the equivalent capacitance. Therefore, the equivalent capacitance of the first metal conductor 31 is smaller than the equivalent capacitance of the corresponding second metal conductor 32 through the area of each of the first metal conductors 31 being less than the area of the corresponding one of the second metal conductors 32, such that the matching effect is improved.
Referring to
Referring to
For example, the antenna module M in the present disclosure can be applied to a gesture recognition radar, which is a mmWave radar with gesture recognition function. The antenna module M transmits a signal to a to-be-detected object (such as a human) through one of the radiating elements 2 serving as the transmitter in the antenna array, and the signal is reflected by the to-be-detected object and further received by the other three of the radiating elements 2. Then, the antenna module M is used to recognize gestures of the to-be-detected object. As shown in
Referring to
Referring to
In conclusion, the antenna module M, the metamaterial structure 3 and the electronic device D provided by the present disclosure can perform the impedance matching on the glass material layer S through the structural design of the metamaterial structure 3 and the air gap G, thereby reducing a loss of the electromagnetic wave caused by the reflection or refraction of the electromagnetic wave penetrating the glass material layer S, and offset the effect of the glass material layer S on the radiation characteristic and the radiation pattern of the antenna array.
Moreover, the linearity of the phase difference in a range of the elevation angle θ=60° to −60° between the two radiating elements 2 used as the receivers in the antenna array can be improved by the different distribution configurations of the unit cells 3U of the metamaterial structure 3, so as to improve the accuracy of the gesture recognition function.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the disclosure and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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111129678 | Aug 2022 | TW | national |