Patent Application
20230117264
This application claims the benefit of priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 110138286, filed on Oct. 15, 2021. 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 electronic device and an antenna module, and more particularly to an electronic device and an antenna module without antenna clearance.
With the rapid advancement in technology, consumers have higher expectations for electronic devices like notebook computers. The electronic devices are not only designed to be thinner and lighter, they are also designed to use metal housing for enforcing the structural strength.
Moreover, in order to satisfy consumer's need to use the electronic device anywhere, any time, the electronic device is usually implemented with a multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) antenna system, which means multiple antennas are placed in limited space inside the electronic device for operating at difference broadband frequencies, such as LTE or WLAN. In general, antenna clearance is arranged around the antenna system, in other words, no metal is allowed around the antenna system. However, manufacturing cost would increase, and there would be a conflict with the metal housing design which is used to enforce structural strength and to meet the thin and light requirement.
In view of overcoming the above deficiencies, how to improve the structural design so as to provide an antenna design with zero clearance and in integrated with the bezel of metal housing has become an important issue to be solved in this field.
In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacies, the present disclosure provides an electronic device and an antenna module.
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides an electronic device that includes a metal housing, a carrier board, a feeding element, a radiating element, and a first parasitic radiating element. The metal housing has a slot and a first upper edge portion. The slot has an open end, and the first upper edge portion is located at an upper edge above where the slot is positioned in the metal housing. The carrier board is disposed in the metal housing. The radiating element is disposed on the carrier board, and a vertical projection of the radiating element on the metal housing at least partially overlaps the slot. The radiating element includes a feeding portion that is connected to the feeding element. The first parasitic radiating element is disposed on the carrier board and is connected or coupled to the first upper edge portion, and one side of the first parasitic radiating element is close to an edge of the open end. The radiating element is fed with a signal to generate at least one resonant mode, and the radiating element is coupled to the slot to least excite at least another resonant mode.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides an antenna module disposed in a metal housing. The metal housing has a slot with an open end and a first closed end. The metal housing includes a first upper edge portion and a second upper edge portion, and the first upper edge portion and the second upper edge portion are disposed at an upper edge above where the slot is positioned in the metal housing and are disposed respectively at two sides of the open end. The first upper edge portion is located between the open end and the first closed end. The antenna module includes a carrier board, a feeding element, a radiating element, and a first parasitic radiating element. The radiating element is disposed on the carrier board and includes a feeding portion connected to the feeding element. A vertical projection of the radiating element on the metal housing at least partially overlaps the slot. The first parasitic radiating element is disposed on the carrier board and is connected or coupled to the first upper edge portion. One side of the first parasitic radiating element is close to an edge of the open end. The radiating element is fed with a signal through the feeding element to generate at least one resonant mode, and the radiating element is coupled to the slot to excite at least another resonant mode.
Therefore, in the electronic device and the antenna module provided by the present disclosure, by virtue of the first parasitic radiating element being arranged on the carrier board, the first parasitic radiating element being connected or coupled to the first upper edge portion, and one side of the first parasitic radiating element being close to the edge of the open end, the first parasitic radiating element is used to increase the upper edge area of the slot antenna, and so the radiation characteristic of the antenna module is improved.
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 “or”, as used herein, should include any one or a combination of the associated enlisted items, as the case may be. The term “connect” in the context of the present disclosure means there is a physical connection between two elements and is directly or indirectly connected. The term “couple” in the context of the present disclosure means there is no physical connection between two separated elements, and the two elements are instead connected by their electric field energy where the electric field energy generated by the current of one element excites the electric field energy of the other element.
Referring to
Referring to
The antenna module A includes a carrier board 1, a feeding element 2, a radiating element 3, and a first parasitic radiating element 4. The carrier board 1 is arranged in the metal housing M. The radiating element 3 is arranged on the carrier board 1, and a vertical projection of the radiating element 3 on the metal housing M at least partially overlaps the slot S. The first parasitic radiating element 4 is arranged on the carrier board 1. The radiating element 3 includes a feeding portion 30, and the feeding portion 30 is connected to the feeding element 2. The radiating element 3 is therefore fed with a signal through the feeding element 2 to generate a resonant mode, and the radiating element is further coupled to the slot S to excite another resonant mode. The carrier board 1 in this embodiment, as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Moreover, the radiating element 3 is fed with a signal through the feeding element 2 to generate a first resonant mode P1 and a second resonant mode P2. The resonant path of the first resonant mode P1 is formed by the feeding portion 30 and the first radiating portion 31, and the resonant path of the second resonant mode P2 is formed by the feeding portion 30 and the second radiating portion 32. The first resonant mode P1 and the second resonant mode P2 cover an operating frequency band that ranges from 3300 MHz to 5925 MHz. In addition, the center frequency of the first resonant mode P1 is 5500 MHz, and the length of the resonant path of the first resonant mode P1 is equal to a quarter of the wavelength of the center frequency (5500 MHz) of the operating frequency band covered by the first resonant mode P1. The center frequency of the second resonant mode P2 is 4000 MHz, and the length of the resonant path of the second resonant mode P2 is equal to a quarter of the wavelength of the center frequency (4000 MHz) of the operating frequency band covered by the second resonant mode P2.
Furthermore, there is a gap G between the radiating element 3 and the first upper edge portion E1. The gap G is the shortest distance between the radiating element 3 and the inner surface of the metal housing M, and the width of the gap is preferably between 0.5 mm and 2 mm. The radiating element 3 excites the slot S through the gap G so as to form an open slot antenna structure with the slot S. In particular, the radiating element 3 is coupled to the slot S to excite a third resonant mode P3 and a fourth resonant mode P4. The resonant path of the third resonant mode P3 is formed in the slot S along the region between the open end S0 and the first closed end S1. The resonant path of the fourth resonant mode P4 is formed in the slot S along the region between the open end S0 and the second closed end S2. In other words, the resonant path of the third resonant mode P3 is the resonant path between the open end S0 and the first closed end S1, and the resonant path of the fourth resonant mode P4 is the resonant path between the open end S0 and the second closed end S2. The third resonant mode P3 and the fourth resonant mode P4 cover an operating frequency band with a frequency range between 1805 MHz and 2690 MHz. The operating frequency band of the fourth resonant mode P4 is higher than the operating frequency band of the third resonant mode P3, and thus the length of the resonant path of the third resonant mode P3 is greater than the length of the resonant path of the fourth resonant mode P4. Furthermore, the lowest frequency of the third resonant mode P3 is 1805 MHz, and the length of the resonant path of the third resonant mode P3 is equal to one quarter of the wavelength of the lowest frequency (1805 MHz) in the operating frequency band covered by the third resonant mode P3. The lowest frequency of the fourth resonant mode P4 is 2600 MHz, and the length of the resonant path of the fourth resonant mode P4 is equal to one quarter of the wavelength of the lowest frequency (2600 MHz) in the operating frequency band covered by the fourth resonant mode P4. Additionally, the set distance H between the first closed end S1 and the second closed end S2 is less than one quarter of the wavelength of the lowest frequency covered by the third resonant mode P3.
It should be noted that a vertical projection of the first radiating portion 31 on the metal housing M at least partially overlaps the open end S0 of the slot S. Thus, the operating frequency band of the fourth resonant mode P4 excited by the radiating element 3 coupling the slot S meets the range of 1805 MHz to 2690 MHz, and the fourth resonant mode P4 has a better gain.
The corresponding center frequencies of the first resonant mode P1, the second resonant mode P2, the third resonant mode P3, and the fourth resonant mode P4 can be adjusted by changing the positioning of the open end S0, the first closed end S1, and the second closed end S2, namely changing the size of the slot S, or by changing the lengths of the first radiating portion 31 and the second radiating portion 32 of the radiating element 3. Hence, through the configuration of the antenna module A and the slot S in the metal housing M, the operating frequency bands ranging from 1805 MHz to 2690 MHz and from 3300 MHz to 5925 MHz are provided to meet the broadband operating requirement of LTC and sub-6G frequencies.
As shown in
Referring to
Referring to
However, the aforementioned details are disclosed for exemplary purposes only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Referring to
It is to be noted that even though the present disclosure is able to achieve the slot S size reduction by adjusting the frequency range of the third resonant mode P3 or the fourth resonant mode P4 to shift toward lower frequency through the placement of the parasitic radiating element on the first upper edge portion E1 or the second upper edge portion E2, placing the parasitic radiating element on the first upper edge portion E1 would be more optimal in reducing the slot S size than placing the parasitic radiating element on the second upper edge portion E2. As shown in
In conclusion, by placing the first parasitic radiating element 4 on the carrier board 1 with one side of the first parasitic radiating element 4 close to the open end S0 and connecting or coupling the first parasitic radiating element 4 to the first upper edge portion E1, the electronic device D and the antenna module A provided by the present disclosure are able to utilize the parasitic radiating element 4 to increase the upper edge area of the open slot antenna structure so that the radiation characteristic of the antenna module A is improved to obtain better radiation efficiency.
Furthermore, because the slot S is provided on the side bezel, namely the second side M2, of the metal housing M in the present disclosure, the area of the upper edge of the slot S can only include the area of the first upper edge portion E1 and the second upper edge portion E2 in this configuration, which is less than half of the second side M2. However, the lower edge area of the slot S includes the remaining area of the second side M2 area less the slot S area and plus the bottom side area, namely the area of the third side M3 with the metallic region. In other words, the difference between the upper edge area and the lower edge area of the slot S is so great that the radiation characteristic of the open slot antenna structure would be poor. Hence, through the placement of the first parasitic radiating element 4, and also the placement of the second parasitic radiating element 5, the upper edge area of the open slot antenna structure is increased with the region enclosed by the first parasitic radiating element 4 and the second parasitic radiating element 5. Hence, the radiation characteristic of the open slot antenna structure is improved, and better radiation efficiency is obtained.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110138286 | Oct 2021 | TW | national |
