The subject matter herein generally relates to wireless communications, to an antenna structure, and an electronic device using the antenna structure.
Antennas are for receiving and transmitting wireless signals at different frequencies. However, the antenna structure is complicated and occupies a large space in an electronic device, which makes miniaturization of the electronic device problematic.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.
Implementations of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts have been exaggerated to better show details and features of the present disclosure.
Several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now be presented.
The term “coupled” is defined as connected, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components, and is not necessarily limited to physical connections. The connection can be such that the objects are permanently connected or releasably connected. The term “substantially” is defined to be essentially conforming to the particular dimension, shape, or other feature that the term modifies, such that the component need not be exact. For example, “substantially cylindrical” means that the object resembles a cylinder, but can have one or more deviations from a true cylinder. The term “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described combination, group, series, and the like.
The present disclosure is described in relation to an antenna structure and an electronic device using same.
In this embodiment, the electronic device 200 may use one or more of the following communication technologies: BLUETOOTH communication technology, global positioning system (GPS) communication technology, WI-FI communication Technology, global system for mobile communications (GSM) communication technology, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) communication technology, long term evolution (LTE) communication technology, 5G communication technology, SUB-6G communication technology, and other future communication technologies.
As illustrated in
The side frame 111 is a structure which is substantially a rectangular frame. The side frame 111 is made of metal or other conductive materials. The back board 112 is positioned at a periphery of the side frame 111. The back board 112 is made of metal or other conductive materials. In other embodiments, the back board 112 can also be made of insulating materials, such as glass, plastic, ceramics and other materials.
In this embodiment, an opening (not shown) is defined on a side of the side frame 111 away the back board 112, for receiving the display unit 201 of the electronic device 200. The display unit 201 has a display plane, and the display plane is exposed through the opening. The display unit 201 can be combined with a touch sensor to form a touch screen. The touch sensor can also be called a touch panel or a touch-sensitive panel.
In this embodiment, the system ground plane 113 is made of metal or other conductive materials. The system ground plane 113 is configured for grounding the antenna structure 100.
The middle frame 114 is substantially a rectangular sheet. The middle frame 114 is made of metal or other conductive materials. A shape and size of the middle frame 114 are slightly less than those of the system ground plane 113. The middle frame 114 is stacked on the system ground plane 113. In this embodiment, the middle frame 114 is a metal sheet. The middle frame 114 is used to support the display unit 201, provide electromagnetic shielding, and improve mechanical strength of the wireless communication device 200.
As illustrated in
The frame body is made at least partially out of metal material. In this embodiment, the frame body is the side frame 111 of the electronic device 200. The side frame 111 includes at least a first portion 115, a second portion 116, and a third portion 117. The first portion 115 is a bottom end of the electronic device 200. That is, the first portion 115 is a bottom metallic frame of the electronic device 200. The antenna structure 100 constitutes a lower antenna of the electronic device 200. The second portion 116 and the third portion 117 are positioned opposite to each other, they may be equal in length and longer than the first portion 115. The second portion 116 and the third portion 117 are the metallic side frames of the electronic device 200.
The side frame 111 defines at least one gap. In this embodiment, the side frame 111 defines three gaps, namely, a first gap 120, a second gap 121, and a third gap 122. In detail, the first gap 120 is defined in the first portion 115. The second gap 121 is defined in the second portion 116. The third gap 122 is defined in the third portion 117. The third gap 122 is closer to the first gap 120 than it is to the second gap 121.
In this embodiment, the first gap 120, the second gap 121, and the third gap 122 all penetrate and interrupt the side frame 111. The at least one gap divides the side frame 111 into at least two radiation portions. In this embodiment, the first gap 120, the second gap 120, and the third gap 121 divide the side frame 111 into two radiation portions, namely a first radiation portion F1 and a second radiation portion F2. In this embodiment, the side frame 111 between the first gap 120 and the second gap 121 forms the first radiation portion F1. The side frame 111 between the first gap 120 and the third gap 122 forms the second radiation portion F2.
That is, the first radiation portion F1 is formed at a right lower corner of the electronic device 200, namely, the first radiation portion F1 is formed by a portion of the first portion 115 and a portion of the second portion 116. The second radiation portion F2 is formed at a left lower corner of the electronic device 200, namely, the second radiation portion F2 is formed by a portion of the first portion 115 and a portion of the third portion 117. A radiating electrical length of the first radiation portion F1 is greater than that of the second radiation portion F2.
In this embodiment, when a width of either the second gap 121 or the third gap 122 is less than 2 millimeters (mm), radiation efficiency of the antenna structure 100 is affected. Therefore, the widths of the second gap 121 and the third gap 122 are generally not less than 2 mm. Additionally, the greater the width of the first gap 120, the better the efficiency of the antenna structure 100. Then, in this embodiment, considering an overall aesthetic appearance of the electronic device 200 in addition to radiation efficiency of the antenna structure 100, the respective widths of the second gap 121 and the third gap 122 can be set to 2 mm. A width of the first gap 120 can be set to 7.25 mm.
In this embodiment, the first feed point 12 is positioned on the first radiation portion F1 and on the second portion 116. The first feed point 12 may be electrically connected to a first signal feed source 202 by means of an elastic sheet, a microstrip line, a strip line, or a coaxial cable, to feed current and signals to the first radiation portion F1.
The second feed point 13 is positioned on the second radiation portion F2 and on the third portion 117. The second feed point 13 may be electrically connected to a second signal feed source 203, to feed current and signals to the second radiation portion F2.
The first switch point 15 is arranged on the first radiation portion F1 and on the first portion 115. The second switch point 17 is arranged on the second radiation portion F2 and on the first portion 115. In this embodiment, the first switch point 15 is disposed at the end of the first radiation portion F1 close to the first gap 120, and is grounded through a first switch circuit 150. The second switch point 17 is disposed at the end of the second radiation portion F2 close to the first gap 120 and is grounded through a second switch circuit 170. That is, in this embodiment, the first switch point 15 and the second switch point 17 are arranged in the first portion 115 at intervals, are located at the two ends of the first gap 120, and are grounded through a switch circuit.
When the second feed point 13 supplies a current, the current will flow through the portion of the second radiation portion F2 located at the first portion 115, towards the first gap 120 (path P3), to excite a third working mode and generate a radiation signal in a third radiation frequency band. When the second feed point 13 supplies a current, the current also flows through the portion of the second radiation portion F2 located at the third portion 117, towards the third gap 122 (path P4), to excite a fourth working mode and generate a radiation signal in a fourth radiation frequency band.
In this embodiment, the first working mode includes a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) low frequency mode. The second working mode includes an LTE-A middle frequency mode and an LTE-A high-frequency mode. The third working mode includes an LTE-A middle frequency mode and an ultra-middle frequency (UMB) mode. The fourth working mode includes an LTE-A middle frequency mode and an LTE-A high-frequency mode.
As illustrated in
In this embodiment, a circuit structure and a working principle of the second switch circuit 170 are similar to those of the first switch circuit 150, except that the second switch circuit 170 is used to adjust the frequencies of the third radiation frequency band. The middle frequency deviation of the third radiation frequency band can be controlled to cover the UMB frequency band (1427-1510 MHz, applied in Japan), which will not be repeated here.
As illustrated in
In this embodiment, the first gap 120, the second gap 121, the third gap 122, and the slot 123 are all filled with an insulating material (such as plastic, rubber, glass, wood, ceramic, etc., not being limited to these).
In this embodiment, as illustrated in
In this embodiment, the antenna structure 100 further includes a first ground point 18 and a second point 19. The first ground point 18 is positioned on the second portion 116 of the side frame 111 corresponding to the first slit 124. One end of the first ground point 18 crosses the first slit 124 and is grounded. The second ground point 19 is positioned on the third portion 117 of the frame 111 corresponding to the second slit 125. One end of the second ground point 19 crosses the second slit 125 and is grounded.
As illustrated in
At the same time, when the second feed point 13 supplies a current, to flow through the portion of the second radiation portion F2 located in the third portion 117 and to the third gap 122, the current is also coupled to the second slit 125 through the third gap 122. In this way, the second slit 125 couples and resonates a mode with tunability and better antenna efficiency, so that the frequencies of the second radiation portion F2 can also cover 1427-2690 MHz.
In this embodiment, the first switch circuit 150 and the second switch circuit 170 are located on either side of the first slot 120, and can be used to adjust a resonance frequency of the corresponding radiation portion, further improving a frequency coverage of the antenna structure 100. For example, the first switch circuit 150 is used to adjust the low frequency band of the first radiation portion F1. The second switch circuit 170 is used to adjust the middle and high frequency bands of the second radiation portion F2.
In addition, the first switch circuit 150 and the second switch circuit 170 are also used to increase isolation between the two radiation portions. Generally, when two radiation portions work in the same frequency band, mutual interference may be generated between them. In this embodiment, by providing the first switch circuit 150 and the second switch circuit 170, when one of the two radiation portions, such as the first radiation portion F1, works in a certain frequency band (such as the middle and high frequency bands), the switch circuit (such as the second switch circuit 170) can be used to switch another radiation portion (for example, the operating frequency band of the second radiation portion F2), thereby effectively improving the isolation between the two radiation portions. In terms of switching to a certain frequency by directly setting the antenna tuner at the feeding point in the prior art, the cost of the antenna structure 100 of this disclosure is lower.
In this embodiment, since the middle and high frequency radiation of the first radiation portion F1 is located in the second portion 116, and the middle and high frequency radiation of the second radiation portion F2 is located in the third portion 117, the two radiation elements are thereby arranged at intervals. That is, a low frequency radiation is arranged between the two middle and high frequency radiations, so that the isolation between them is improved.
In this embodiment, the antenna structure 100 can be adapted to an electronic device 200 having a full screen, a narrow frame, a folding screen, or a dual screen.
In this embodiment, the first gap 120 is defined on the first portion 115, which makes it less susceptible to the close proximity of the hand of a user when holding device 200 in his hand.
As illustrated in
In this embodiment, the electronic device 200 includes at least four electronic components, namely first to fourth electronic components 21-24. The first to fourth electronic components 21-24 are located on the circuit board 20.
In this embodiment, the first electronic component 21 is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface module. The first electronic component 21 is located between the first gap 120 and the second portion 116. The second electronic component 22 is a loudspeaker. The second electronic component 22 is disposed between the first electronic component 21 and the second portion 116. The third electronic component 23 is a microphone. The third electronic component 23 is disposed corresponding to the first gap 120. The fourth electronic component 24 is a vibrating-alert device (Vibrator). The fourth electronic component 24 is disposed between the first gap 120 and the third portion 117.
As described above, in this embodiment, the frame body of the antenna structure 100 is directly formed by the side frame 111 of the electronic device 200. That is, the housing (i.e., frame) of the electronic device 200 is made of metal, and the antenna structure 100 makes use of such metal frame. Of course, in other embodiments, the antenna structure 100 is not limited to being a metal frame which is made to function as an antenna, and it may also be other antenna forms, such as a mode decoration antenna (MDA). For example, as illustrated in
The antenna structure 100 defines at least one gap (such as the first gap 120, the second gap 121, and the third gap 122) on the side frame 111, to create at least two radiation portions from the side frame 111. The antenna structure 100 also provides the first switch point 15 and the second switch point 17 at the two ends of the first gap 120. In this way, multiple frequency bands, such as a low frequency band, a middle frequency band, and a high frequency band can be covered by different switching methods, which meets the carrier aggregation (CA) application of LTE-A. Compared with that of a general metal back, the radiation of the antenna structure 100 can achieve wider frequencies. Specifically, the antenna structure 100 can cover 600-960 MHz at low frequency band, 1427-15100 MHz at ultra-middle frequency band, 1710-2170 MHz at middle frequency band, and 2300-2690 MHz at high frequency band.
Furthermore, by setting in place the first switch point 15 and the second switch point 17, the mutual coupling state between the two radiation portions of the antenna structure 100 can be effectively controlled, and isolation of the two radiation portions can be effectively improved and the efficiency of each one is improved.
At the same time, by providing the first slit 124 and the second slit 125, independent modes with resonance tunability and good antenna efficiency can be generated through coupling. The antenna structure 100 of this disclosure increases the middle frequency bandwidth, has better antenna efficiency, has MIMO characteristics, and can also cover the frequency bands of global frequency bands.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present technology have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the present disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in the detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of the parts within the principles of the present disclosure, up to and including the full extent established by the broad general meaning of the terms used in the claims. It will therefore be appreciated that the embodiments described above may be modified within the scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202010280641.2 | Apr 2020 | CN | national |