This application is a U.S. National Stage of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2016/083776 filed on May 28, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communications terminal.
A multiple-input multiple-output (Multi-input Multi-output, MIMO) antenna adopts a design of multiple antennas that separately transmit and receive a signal, to increase a data throughput and a transmission distance of an antenna system. Therefore, MIMO antennas are widely applied in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, UMTS), a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) communications system, and a Wi-Fi communications system.
Among factors that affect MIMO antenna performance, an isolation between multiple antennas and antenna design space restrain each other. As communications terminals such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, and a smartwatch are becoming ultra-thin, usually only small space is available for antenna design inside a terminal. For the MIMO antenna, however, small space means a short spatial distance between multiple antennas, and the isolation and radiation performance of the multiple antennas cannot be ensured. Therefore, a design of implementing a high-isolation MIMO antenna in small design space is key to improving radiation performance of the MIMO antenna and communication performance of a communications terminal.
In view of prior-art problems, embodiments of the present invention provide a communications terminal, in which two separate feeds are used to generate currents orthogonal to each other to excite a same radiator to implement a MIMO antenna. This implements the design of a MIMO antenna in small design space while ensuring a good isolation of the MIMO antenna.
A first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a communications terminal, including an antenna. The antenna includes a circuit board, a radiator, a first feed, a first coupling structure, a second feed, and a second coupling structure. The radiator is disposed around an outer edge of the circuit board, and a ring-shape slot is formed between the outer edge of the circuit board and the radiator. The first feed is electrically connected to the first coupling structure, the first coupling structure is coupled to the radiator along a first direction, and a current in a first polarization direction is formed on the circuit board by using the radiator and the ring-shape slot. The second feed is electrically connected to the second coupling structure, the second coupling structure is coupled to the radiator along a second direction, and a current in a second polarization direction is formed on the circuit board by using the radiator and the ring-shape slot. A specific included angle is formed between the first direction and the second direction.
The first feed and the second feed are disposed on the circuit board of the communications terminal, and the two feeds excite, by means of separate feeding, the radiator to work in a MIMO antenna mode. Because the two feeds share the radiator, a volume of a MIMO antenna can be reduced effectively. In addition, the first feed is coupled to the radiator by using the first coupling structure, a current in the first polarization direction is formed on the circuit board, the second feed is coupled to the radiator by using the second coupling structure, and a current in the second polarization direction is formed on the circuit board. Therefore, the antenna has a high isolation.
With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation of the first aspect, the first coupling structure includes a first feed-in end and a first radiation arm, the first feed is electrically connected to the first radiation arm by using the first feed-in end, and a first coupling capacitor is formed between the first radiation arm and the radiator; and the second coupling structure includes a second feed-in end and a second radiation arm, the second feed is electrically connected to the second radiation arm by using the second feed-in end, and a second coupling capacitor is formed between the second radiation arm and the radiator.
With reference to the first aspect, in a second possible implementation of the first aspect, the first coupling structure includes a first coupling circuit, where one end of the first coupling circuit is electrically connected to the first feed, and the other end of the first coupling circuit is electrically connected to the radiator, to feed a current from the first feed into the radiator by means of coupling; and the second coupling structure includes a second coupling circuit, where one end of the second coupling circuit is electrically connected to the second feed, and the other end of the second coupling circuit is electrically connected to the radiator, to feed a current from the second feed into the radiator by means of coupling.
The first coupling circuit and the second coupling circuit are disposed to flexibly adjust a magnitude of the current coupled to the radiator by the first feed and/or the second feed. This facilitates adjustment of a resonance frequency and bandwidth of the antenna. Further, in comparison with a distributed capacitive coupling solution used in the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in this implementation, the feed-in ends or the radiation arms do not need to be disposed, and production costs of the antenna can be reduced.
With reference to the first aspect, the first possible implementation of the first aspect, or the second possible implementation of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation of the first aspect, a side of the circuit board opposite to the first coupling structure includes a first protrusion part, and a first capacitive load groove is formed between the first protrusion part and the radiator; a side of the circuit board opposite to the second coupling structure includes a second protrusion part, and a second capacitive load groove is formed between the second protrusion part and the radiator; and the first capacitive load groove and the second capacitive load groove are configured to implement capacitive loading between the radiator and the circuit board.
The first protrusion part and the second protrusion part are disposed on the circuit board to implement capacitive loading between the radiator and the circuit board. This helps improve the isolation of the antenna in different working modes and radiation performance of the antenna.
With reference to the third possible implementation of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the first aspect, the first protrusion part is electrically connected to the radiator by using a first tuned circuit, and/or the second protrusion part is electrically connected to the radiator by using a second tuned circuit, and the first tuned circuit and/or the second tuned circuit are/is configured to adjust a radiation property of the antenna.
The first tuned circuit between the first protrusion part and the radiator and/or the second tuned circuit between the second protrusion part and the radiator are/is disposed. Therefore, a magnitude of a coupled current between the first protrusion part and the radiator can be adjusted by using the first tuned circuit, and/or a magnitude of a coupled current between the second protrusion part and the radiator can be adjusted by using the second tuned circuit. This facilitates adjustment of the resonance frequency and the bandwidth of the antenna.
With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to the fourth possible implementations of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation of the first aspect, the circuit board further includes at least one opening and/or at least one stub, and the opening and/or the stub are/is disposed on an edge of the circuit board and are/is configured to adjust the isolation of the antenna in a first working mode and a second working mode.
The opening and/or the stub are disposed on the edge of the circuit board. This can improve the isolation of the antenna in different working modes, and help improve the radiation performance of the antenna.
With reference to the fifth possible implementation of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation of the first aspect, the circuit board includes two openings and two stubs. The two openings are disposed on opposite edges of the circuit board, the two stubs are disposed on opposite edges of the circuit board, and a line connecting the two stubs is orthogonal to a line connecting the two openings.
The line connecting the two openings is configured to be orthogonal to the line connecting the two stubs. This can further improve the isolation of the antenna in different working modes, and therefore improve the radiation performance of the antenna.
With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to the sixth possible implementations of the first aspect, in a seventh possible implementation of the first aspect, the current in the first polarization direction and the current in the second polarization direction are mutually quasi-orthogonal and complementary.
The current in the first polarization direction and the current in the second polarization direction are mutually quasi-orthogonal and complementary. Therefore, a coupling between the current in the first polarization direction and the current in the second polarization direction can be reduced. This improves an isolation of the radiator in the MIMO antenna mode and helps improve the radiation performance of the antenna.
With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to the seventh possible implementations of the first aspect, in an eighth possible implementation of the first aspect, the antenna further includes a dielectric layer, the dielectric layer is disposed at a bottom of the circuit board, and an outer edge of the dielectric layer is connected to the radiator for adjusting a radiation property of the antenna.
With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to the eighth possible implementations of the first aspect, in a ninth possible implementation of the first aspect, the circuit board is of a round pie structure and the radiator is of a ring structure; or the circuit board is of a rectangular block structure and the radiator is of a rectangular bezel structure; or the circuit board is of an oval pie structure and the radiator is of an oval ring structure.
A second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a communications terminal, including an antenna. The antenna includes a circuit board, a radiator, a first feed, a first coupling structure, a second feed, and a second coupling structure. The radiator is disposed around an outer edge of the circuit board, and a ring-shape slot is formed between the outer edge of the circuit board and the radiator. The first feed is electrically connected to the first coupling structure and the second coupling structure. The first coupling structure is coupled to the radiator along a first direction, the second coupling structure is coupled to the radiator along a second direction, and a specific included angle is formed between the first direction and the second direction. A phase shifter is disposed between the first feed and the first coupling structure or between the first feed and the second coupling structure, and is configured to phase-shift a current from the first feed by a preset angle, so as to trigger a circular polarization working mode of the antenna.
The phase shifter is disposed between the first feed and the first coupling structure or between the first feed and the second coupling structure, so that the communications terminal can phase-shift the current fed in by the first feed to the first coupling structure or the second coupling structure for a specific angle, to facilitate the circular polarization working mode of the antenna. In comparison with the antenna provided in the first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, the antenna in this aspect can be implemented by using only one feed and one phase shifter, features low costs and easy implementation, and can support more antenna working modes.
With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation of the second aspect, the phase shifter is a 90-degree phase shifter and the preset angle is 90 degrees; or the phase shifter is a 270-degree phase shifter and the preset angle is 270 degrees.
The phase shifter is set to be a 90-degree or 270-degree phase shifter, so that the current from the first feed can be phase-shifted for 90 degrees or 270 degrees, and then a 90-degree phase difference is caused between a current fed into the radiator by the first coupling structure and a current fed into the radiator by the second coupling structure. The circular polarization working mode of the antenna can be implemented without changing the radiator, the circuit board, the first coupling structure, and the second coupling structure. This enriches working modes of the antenna.
With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation of the second aspect, the antenna further includes a dielectric layer, the dielectric layer is disposed at a bottom of the circuit board, and an outer edge of the dielectric layer is connected to the radiator for adjusting a radiation property of the antenna.
With reference to the second aspect, the first possible implementation of the second aspect, or the second possible implementation of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation of the second aspect, the circuit board is of a round pie structure and the radiator is of a ring structure; or the circuit board is of a rectangular block structure and the radiator is of a rectangular bezel structure; or the circuit board is of an oval pie structure and the radiator is of an oval ring structure.
To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments.
The following describes technical solutions in embodiments of the present invention with reference to accompanying drawings.
Referring to both
The communications terminal 100 may be a smartwatch, a smart band, or the like. The radiator 15 may be a metal frame of the communications terminal 100. A slot antenna is formed between the radiator 15 and the circuit board 11 by using the ring-shape slot S. In the communications terminal 100, the first feed 17 and the second feed 19 are disposed on the circuit board 11, and the two feeds excite, by means of separate feeding, the antenna 10 to work in a multi-input multi-output (Multi-input Multi-output, MIMO) antenna mode. It may be understood that the first excitation current and the second excitation current have a same frequency and phase. For example, in this embodiment, the first excitation current and the second excitation current may be currents with a frequency being 2.4 GHz to 2.484 GHz and a same phase, and are used to excite the antenna 10 to work in the MIMO antenna mode at a Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz band. Alternatively, the first excitation current and the second excitation current may be currents with a frequency being 2.5 GHz to 2.69 GHz and a same phase, and are used to excite the antenna 10 to work in the MIMO antenna mode at an LTE Band 7.
The two feeds share the radiator 15, so that a volume of a MIMO antenna can be effectively reduced. That is, in limited antenna design space, a form of sharing a radiator can be used to implement the MIMO antenna, so as to mitigate an effect of design space on the MIMO antenna. In addition, the first feed 17 is coupled to the radiator 15 by using the first coupling structure 171, and a current in the first polarization direction is formed on the circuit board 11 by using the radiator 15 and the ring-shape slot S. The second feed 19 is coupled to the radiator 15 by using the second coupling structure 191, and a current in the second polarization direction is formed on the circuit board 11 by using the radiator 15 and the ring-shape slot S. Moreover, the first polarization direction and the second polarization direction are quasi-orthogonal. Therefore, an isolation of the antenna 10 in the MIMO antenna mode can be effectively improved. It may be understood that by means of adjusting feed-in positions of the first feed 17 and the second feed 19 on the radiator 15, a relationship between the current in the first polarization direction and the current in the second polarization direction can be adjusted, and then the isolation of the antenna 10 in the MIMO antenna mode is adjusted.
Referring to
That the current in the first polarization direction and the current in the second polarization direction are quasi-orthogonal to each other means: a flow direction of the current in the first polarization direction on the circuit board 11 is approximately perpendicular to a flow direction of the current in the second polarization direction on the circuit board 11. That the current in the first polarization direction and the current in the second polarization direction are complementary to each other means: a position in which the current in the first polarization direction on the circuit board 11 reaches its greatest magnitude is exactly a position in which the current in the second polarization direction on the circuit board drops to its least magnitude, and therefore the currents are mutually complementary. For example, a magnitude of the current in the first polarization direction is the least in a position A shown in
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In an optional implementation, the antenna may be of a square structure shown in
In an optional implementation, the antenna may be of a rectangular structure shown in
It may be understood that the various antenna shapes shown in
What is disclosed above is merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and certainly is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some of processes that implement the foregoing embodiments and equivalent modifications made in accordance with the claims of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.
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PCT/CN2016/083776 | 5/28/2016 | WO | 00 |
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WO2017/205998 | 12/7/2017 | WO | A |
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