Patent Grant
10396428
A variety of vehicles, such as automobiles and aircraft, carry radio equipment to send or receive signals with other devices. The vehicles may include antennas that are integrated into the vehicle or attached to the vehicle. To communicate with the other devices, the radio equipment may be connected to antennas. The vehicles may include objects that interfere with the radio device sending and receiving the signals.
The present disclosure described herein is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the accompanying figures. For simplicity and clarity of illustration, features illustrated in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some features may be exaggerated relative to other features for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference labels have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.
In the following description, various aspects of the illustrative implementations will be described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative implementations. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the illustrative implementations.
Vehicles, such as automobiles and aircraft, may carry radio equipment to send or receive signals. The radio equipment may include antennas to send and receive the signals. Conventionally, the antennas for the vehicles are mounted to an outer surface of the vehicle. For example, an automobile may include a whip antenna or a fin antenna mounted to the body of the vehicle to send or receive signals. However, the whip antenna or the fin antenna may be unattractive and a vulnerable protruding feature on the roof of a vehicle. Additionally, a performance of the whip antenna or fin antenna may deteriorate as materials, such as dirt, build up on the whip antenna or the fin antenna.
Alternatively, the vehicle may include a window antenna that is attached to or integrated into a window of the vehicle. The window of the vehicle may offer protection from the obstacles and may be removed from surroundings metal objects that may interfere with the antenna. The window antenna may include conductive strips located on the glass surface of die window. The conductive strips may be arranged in a pattern as an antenna to send and receive signals from the radio equipment.
A conventional window antenna is a planar dipole antenna. The planar dipole antenna may be limited by type and direction of the radiation pattern. For example, the radiation pattern of the planar dipole antenna may be a toroidal pattern. When the planar dipole antenna is embedded in a windshield that is swept back at approximately a 45 degree angle, the radiation pattern of a signal may be directed toward the sky at a 45 degree angle. When the radio equipment is a smartphone that communicates with antennas of a tower mounted base station that are typically 100 meters or less above the ground, the from the planar dipole antenna may substantially miss the antenna at the base station.
The present disclosure addresses the above-mentioned and other deficiencies by providing for a window antenna with a beam-shaped radiation pattern to direct a signal, transmitted from the window antenna, in a given direction. The window antenna may include a dipole antenna element and resonators that control a radiation pattern of the signal. The window antenna may shape the beam to increase a gain of the antenna and reduce a signal loss of the antenna. The beam may be a radiation pattern of the signal.
The transparent layer 104 may be a layer of glass material, plastic material, polymethyl methacrylate material (such as Plexiglass™), and so forth. For example, the transparent layer 104 may be a glass material that relatively low loss and has a stable permittivity. In one example, the transparent layer 104 may be relatively thin, such as 4 millimeters (mm) thick.
In one implementation, the antenna structure 100 may be part of a window of a vehicle, such as a car, a truck, a bus, a train, and so forth. For example, the antenna structure 100 may be part of a layer of glass used in a windshield, backlight, side window, or skylight of a vehicle. In another implementation, the antenna structure 100 may be part of a window in an office building or a house. In another implementation, the antenna structure 100 may be part of a window in an aircraft, such as an airplane or helicopter. In another implementation, the antenna structure 100 may be part of a visor in a helmet.
The transparent layer 102 can enable an individual to see through the transparent layer 102 from a first side of the transparent layer 102 to a second side of the transparent layer 102. For example, the transparent layer 102 may be part of a windshield of a car that enables a driver to see from an inside the car to an outside of the car. In one implementation, a plane wave or radio signal may be transmitted by the antenna structure 100.
The antenna structure 108 may be part of a laminated structure. For example, the laminated structure may be laminated glass, such as safety glass, used in an automobile, aircraft, or skyscraper that holds together when it shatters. For example, in the event that the first transparent layer 104 breaks, the first transparent layer 104 is held in place by the interlayer 112. The interlayer 112 may be a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) material or an ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) material that is located between the first transparent layer 104 and the second transparent layer 114. The interlayer 112 bonds the first transparent layer 104 and the second transparent layer 114 together even when the first transparent layer 104 and/or the second transparent layer 114 is broken. For example, the interlayer 112 may prevent the first transparent layer 104 and/or the second transparent layer 114 from breaking up into large sharp pieces of material that may become a hazard.
The antenna structure 108 may also include the film 110. In one implementation, the film 110 may be made of metallic material, metal alloy material, ceramic material, or dielectric material that is an infrared barrier. In another implementation, the film 110 may a transparent layer or substrate impregnated with indium, tin oxides, noble metals, and so forth. The film 110 may be substantially transparent.
In another implementation, the film 110 may be a conductive material that may block at least a portion of the light spectrum, such as an infrared portion of the light spectrum. For example, infrared (IR) light, such as sunlight, may travel through transparent material, such as glass material, plastic material, polymethyl methacrylate material, or acrylic material. The film 110 may reduce an amount of infrared light in the sunlight that travels through the transparent material. The film 110 may also allow a second portion of the light spectrum, such as visible light, to pass through the film.
In one example, a vehicle may include windows to allow a passenger or driver to view the world outside the vehicle. Infrared light from sunlight may pass through the windows and strike interior surfaces of the vehicle. The infrared light may be absorbed by the interior surfaces of the vehicle and cause the interior surfaces of the vehicle to heat up. The film 110 may be applied to the first transparent layer 104, the interlayer 112, or the second transparent layer 114 to absorb or block IR light and reduce an amount of IR light that travels into the interior of the vehicle. The layer that the film 110 is applied to is not intended to be limiting. For example, the film 110 may be applied to a first or second side of the antenna element 102, the first transparent layer 104, the interlayer 112, the second antenna element 106, and/or the second transparent layer 114 to block IR light.
In one implementation, the film 110 may be a coating that may be applied to the first transparent layer 104 or the second transparent layer 114. In one example, the film 110 may be a metallic coating that may be sprayed onto the first transparent layer 104. In another example, the film 110 may be an IR reflective coating that is sputtered onto the first transparent layer 104. In another implementation, the film 110 may be a strip of material that may be applied to the first transparent layer 104. For example, one side of the film 110 may include an adhesive that may be stuck to the first transparent layer 102 by an adhesive. For example, the film 110 may be applied to the first side of the transparent layer 102 or the second side of the transparent layer 102.
In one implementation, the first transparent layer 104 may be 2.1 mm thick, the interlayer 112 may be 0.76 mm thick, the film 110 may be 42 nanometers (nm) thick, and the second transparent layer 114 may be 2.1 mm thick. In one example, a thickness of the first antenna element 102, the second antenna element 106, or the combined thickness of the first antenna element 102 and the second antenna element 106 may range from approximately 2 micrometers (um) to 200 um based on the material of the first antenna element 102 and/or the second antenna element 106, the process of manufacturing the first antenna element 102 and/or the second antenna element 106 (such as printing on a circuit board or stamping the material), a frequency of operation of the first antenna element 102 and/or the second antenna element 106, or a skin depth in the conductive material for first antenna element 102 and/or the second antenna element 106 at the frequency of operation.
In another implementation, a loss tangent of the first transparent layer 104 may be 0.01, a loss tangent of the second transparent layer 114 may be 0.01, and a loss tangent of interlayer 112 may be 0.05. In another implementation, a dielectric constant of the first transparent layer 104 may be 7, a dielectric constant of the second transparent layer 114 may be 7, and a dielectric constant of the interlayer 112 may be 3.
The dipole antenna structure 202 may include a first dipole antenna element 208 and a second dipole antenna element 210. The first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210 may be substantially similar conductive elements. For example, the first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210 may be two halves of the dipole antenna structure 202. In one implementation, the first dipole antenna element 208 may be a metal wire, a rod, and so forth. In another implementation, the first dipole antenna element 208 may be conductive material that is a square shape, a rectangle shape, a circular shape, and so forth. The second dipole antenna element 210 may be the same material and shape as the first dipole antenna element 208. In another implementation, the first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210 may be bilaterally symmetrical, where the first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210 are located on the same plane and axis 212 and are mirror images of each other.
The dipole antenna structure 202 may be located on an outer surface of the first transparent layer 104. For example, the outer surface of the first transparent layer 104 may be an interior surface of a vehicle windshield and the dipole antennas structure 202 may be located on the interior of the vehicle windshield.
A feed point 214 may be connected to the first dipole antenna element 208 or the second dipole antenna element 210. In one implementation, the feed point 214 may be connected to a center of the dipole antenna structure 202 where the first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210 connect. In another implementation, the first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210 may be separated by a gap at the feed point 214 where a transmission line is connected to the first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210. The feed point 214 may be connected to a transmitter and may drive a current from the transmitter to the first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210.
The first split ring resonator 204 may be located on a first side of the dipole antenna structure 202. For example, the first split ring resonator 204 may be located on the first side of the dipole antenna structure 202 approximate to the second dipole antenna element 210. The first split ring resonator 204 may include a first resonating element 216 and a second resonating element 218. The first resonating element 216 may be coplanar to the dipole antenna structure 202 and separated by a gap 220. In one example, a size of the gap 220 may vary in relation to an operating frequency of the dipole antenna structure 202. In another example, a size of the gap 220 may range from approximately 100 um to 500 um. In one implementation, the first resonating element 216 may be approximate to the second dipole antenna element 210. The dipole antenna structure 202 and the first resonating element 216 may be magnetically coupled to an applied electromagnetic field, where the current of the dipole antenna structure 202 induces a current at the first resonating element 216.
The second resonating element 218 may be located on a plane that is parallel to the plane where the first resonating element 216 is located. In one implementation, the second resonating element 218 may be located between the first transparent layer 104 and the second transparent layer 114. For example, the second resonating element 218 may be located between layers of safety glass. The second resonating element 218 may also align with the first resonating element 216 along a z-axis 228 protruding from the transparent layers 104 and 114. In one implementation, the second resonating element 218 may be coated with silver. In another implementation, the second resonating element 218 may be sputtered onto the first transparency layer 104 or the second transparency layer 114 and a portion of the second resonating element 218 may be removed. For example, the portion of the second resonating element 218 may be removed by a laser.
The first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218 may be mirror images of each other centered around the z-axis 228 on different planes. The first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218 may be enclosed loops with gaps 230 and 232 in them at opposite ends, respectively. In one example, the gap 230 may be a split in the loops where a first end of the first resonating element 216 is separated from a second end by an empty space. In another example, the gap 232 may be a split in the loops where a first end of the second resonating element 218 is separated from a second end by an empty space. With the gaps 230 and 232, the first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218 may be C-shaped structures.
In one example, the first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218 may be made of nonmagnetic metal, such as copper. The first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218 may be magnetically coupled by an applied electromagnetic field between the first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218. In another example, as current is feed at the feed point 214, the current flows along the edges of the first dipole antenna element 208 and the second dipole antenna element 210. The magnetic fields traverse the gap 220 between the first and second resonating elements 216 and 218 and the dipole antenna structure 202 to induce a current at first resonating element 216. A magnetic field at the first resonating element 216 induces a current at the second resonating element 218. The current at the second resonating element 218 generates a signal that is transmitted to another device.
The magnetic coupling may be broadside coupling between the first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218. For example, the gap 230 of the first resonating element 216 and the gap 232 of the second resonating element 218 may induce a current at the second resonating element 218. In one example, the first split ring resonator 204 may have a phase point that is different than the dipole antenna structure 202.
The first transparent layer 104 may increase an efficiency and gain of the antenna structure 200 by propagating a signal via the magnetic coupling through the first transparent layer 104. For example, the first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218 coupling through the first transparent layer 104 may increase a performance of the antenna structure 200 because the magnetic coupling through the glass may have less loss than the radiating of a field through the air. The glass may have less loss because the first transparent layer 104 may act as a substrate for magnetic coupling.
A shape and size of the first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218 is not intended to be limiting. For example, the first resonating element 216 or the second resonating element 218 may be a square shape, a circle shape, or other geometric shapes that have a resonant frequency that will couple to the dipole antenna structure 202.
The second split ring resonator 206 may be located on a second side of the dipole antenna structure 202. The second split ring resonator 206 may otherwise have the same structure as the first split ring resonator 206, as discussed above.
The electromagnetically coupled first split ring resonator 204 and second split ring resonator 206 may steer the beam transmitted by the antenna structure 200. In one implementation, the first resonating element 216 and the second resonating element 218 are coupled to the dipole antenna structure 202 to provide the beam shaping of a radiation pattern of the antenna structure 200. For example, the antenna structure 200 may tilt a radiation pattern of the antenna structure 200 downward or upward by approximately 45 degrees, as discussed below.
The type of the antenna and resonators of the antenna structure 200 is not intended to be limiting. For example, rather than a dipole antenna structure, the antenna structure 200 may include a loop antenna that couples two loop-shaped elements that are located between the glass layers.
In one implementation, different frequency resonators may create a wideband or multiband capability for the antenna structure 200. In another implementation, a narrowband or wideband capability of the antenna structure 200 may vary for different shapes and dimensions of dipole antenna structures and split ring resonators. In another implementation, a frequency of a signal may scale with a size of the antenna structure 200. In one example, a size of the antenna structure 200 or elements of the antenna structure 200 may scale with a frequency of operation the antenna structure 200. In another example, the frequency of operation may vary with a thickness of the first transparent layer 104 and/or second transparent layer 114, such as a thickness of glass. In another implementation, the antenna structure 200 may include multiple antennas connected to different transceivers for different frequencies.
In one implementation, the first antenna structure 304 and the second antenna structure 308 may have the same structure as the antenna structure 200 in
An orientation of the first antenna structure 304 or the second antenna structure 305 may determine an angle of the plane at which the first antenna structure 304 or the second antenna structure 308 radiates a beam. For example, the first antenna structure 304 may be connected to a first transparent layer 104 and a second transparent layer 114 as in
The first antenna structure 304 may have a first orientation where the first dipole antenna element 208 may be located above the second dipole antenna element 210 relative to a top of a vehicle 302. The window 300 may be tilted or swept backward at a negative 45-degree angle relative to a Y-axis. When the first antenna structure 304 is in the first orientation, the first antenna structure 304 may shape the beam to radiate at a positive 45-degree angle relative to the angle of the window 300. The positive 45-degree angle of the beam-shaped signal 306 may substantially offset the negative 45-degree angle of the window 300 so that the signal 306 may radiate along the X-axis, e.g., parallel to the ground. In one implementation, the first antenna structure 304 may radiate a signal 306 at an angle that is approximately parallel to the ground when a device connected to the first antenna structure 304 is communicating with a base station or tower. The base station or tower may be a cellular communication tower that is approximately at ground level. For example, a cellular tower may sit on the horizon and may be approximately 200 feet tall. When the signal 306 from first antenna structure 304 radiates at an angle approximately parallel to the horizon, the angle first antenna structure 304 is aligned with the cellular tower.
The second antenna structure 308 may be the same antenna structure as the first antenna structure 304 but with an 180-degree orientation. For example, the second antenna structure 308 may have a second orientation where the first dipole antenna element 208 may be located below the second dipole antenna element 210 relative to a top of the vehicle 302. When the second antenna structure 308 is in the second orientation, the second antenna structure 308 may shape the beam to radiate at a negative 45-degree angle relative to the angle of the window 300. The negative 45-degree angle of the beam-shaped signal 310 may substantially offset the negative 45-degree angle of the window 300 so that the signal 310 may radiate along the Y-axis, e.g., perpendicular to the ground. In one implementation, the second antenna structure 308 may radiate a signal 310 at an angle that is approximately perpendicular to the ground when the device connected to the second antenna structure 306 is communicating with a satellite, such as a cellular communication satellite or a GPS satellite that is approximately perpendicular to the ground.
The offsetting of the signal at a desired angle may improve a performance of the first antenna structure 304or second antenna structure 308 by shaping the beam to be directed in the desired direction. Directing the shaped beam in the desired direction may increase the link margin of the signal and increases a gain of the signal in the desired direction. The link margin may indicate a difference between a sensitivity of a receiver (i.e., the received power at which the receiver will stop working) and an actual amount of power of the signal received at the receiver. For example, a 15 dB link margin means that the receiver may tolerate an additional 15 dB of attenuation between a transmitter and a receiver and still receive the signal without a relatively high bit error rate.
The number of antenna structures connected to the window 300 is not intended to be limiting. For example, a single antenna structure or multiple antenna structures may be connected to the window 300. Additionally, a rotation angle of the first antenna structure 304 and the second antenna structure 308 is not intended to be limiting. For example, the first antenna structure 304 and the second antenna structure 308 may be rotated at different angles to radiate signals at defined angles.
Various operations are described as multiple discrete operations, in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present disclosure, however, the order of description may not be construed to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.
The terms “over,” “above” “under,” “between,” and “on” as used herein refer to a relative position of one material layer or component with respect to other layers or components. For example, one layer disposed above or over or under another layer may be directly in contact with the other layer or may have one or more intervening layers. Moreover, one layer disposed between two layers may be directly in contact with the two layers or may have one or more intervening layers. In contrast, a first layer “on” a second layer is in direct contact with that second layer. Similarly, unless explicitly stated otherwise, one feature disposed between two features may be in direct contact with the adjacent features or may have one or more intervening layers. The words “example” or “exemplary” are used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “example' or “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the words “example” or “exemplary” is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X includes A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X includes A; X includes B; or X includes both A and B, then “X includes A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims may generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Moreover, use of the term “an implementation” or “one implementation” throughout is not intended to mean the same implementation or implementation unless described as such. The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc. as used herein are meant as labels to distinguish among different elements and may not necessarily have an ordinal meaning according to their numerical designation.
It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into many other different systems of applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
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