Patent Grant
12206176
This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with wireless communications circuitry.
Electronic devices often include wireless communications circuitry. For example, cellular telephones, computers, and other devices often contain antennas and wireless transceivers for supporting wireless communications. It may be desirable to support wireless communications in millimeter wave and centimeter wave communications bands. Millimeter wave communications, which are sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency (EHF) communications, and centimeter wave communications involve communications at frequencies of about 10-300 GHz.
Operation at these frequencies can support high throughputs but may raise significant challenges. For example, radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies are characterized by substantial attenuation and/or distortion during signal propagation through various mediums. In addition, if care is not taken, the antennas can be undesirably bulky and the presence of conductive electronic device components can make it difficult to incorporate circuitry for handling millimeter and centimeter wave communications into the electronic device. It can also be difficult to provide satisfactory wireless coverage at these frequencies within a full sphere around the electronic device.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved wireless communications circuitry such as communications circuitry that supports millimeter and centimeter wave communications.
An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry and a housing. The housing may have peripheral conductive housing structures and a rear wall. A display may be mounted to the peripheral conductive housing structures opposite the rear wall. A front-facing phased antenna array may radiate at frequencies greater than 10 GHz through the display. A rear-facing phased antenna array may radiate at frequencies greater than 10 GHz through the rear wall.
The front-facing phased antenna array may include a front-facing dielectric resonator antenna. The rear-facing phased antenna array may include a rear-facing dielectric resonator antenna. The front-facing and rear-facing dielectric resonator antennas may share a dielectric resonating element. The dielectric resonating element may include a dielectric column disposed within an opening in a printed circuit board. The dielectric column may be embedded within a dielectric overmold. The dielectric resonating element may be fed using at least a first feed probe for the front-facing dielectric resonator antenna and a second feed probe for the rear-facing dielectric resonator antenna. The antennas may also share a feed probe. The first feed probe may excite a volume of the dielectric column between the first feed probe and the display to radiate through the display. The second feed probe may excite a volume of the dielectric column between the second feed probe and the rear wall to radiate through the rear wall.
The dielectric column may have a geometry that helps to isolate the front-facing dielectric resonator antenna from the rear-facing dielectric resonator antenna. For example, the dielectric column may include a notch between the first feed probe and the second feed probe or the feed probes may be disposed within the notch. The feed probes may additionally or alternatively have inverted orientations. Additional feed probes may be used for covering additional polarizations. In this way, the device may include phased antenna arrays for covering an entire sphere around the device while occupying a minimal amount of volume within the device.
An electronic device such as electronic device 10 of
Device 10 may be a portable electronic device or other suitable electronic device. For example, device 10 may be a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a somewhat smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, pendant device, headphone device, earpiece device, headset device, or other wearable or miniature device, a handheld device such as a cellular telephone, a media player, or other small portable device. Device 10 may also be a set-top box, a desktop computer, a display into which a computer or other processing circuitry has been integrated, a display without an integrated computer, a wireless access point, a wireless base station, an electronic device incorporated into a kiosk, building, or vehicle, or other suitable electronic equipment.
Device 10 may include a housing such as housing 12. Housing 12, which may sometimes be referred to as a case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of these materials. In some situations, parts of housing 12 may be formed from dielectric or other low-conductivity material (e.g., glass, ceramic, plastic, sapphire, etc.). In other situations, housing 12 or at least some of the structures that make up housing 12 may be formed from metal elements.
Device 10 may, if desired, have a display such as display 14. Display 14 may be mounted on the front face of device 10. Display 14 may be a touch screen that incorporates capacitive touch electrodes or may be insensitive to touch. The rear face of housing 12 (i.e., the face of device 10 opposing the front face of device 10) may have a substantially planar housing wall such as rear housing wall 12R (e.g., a planar housing wall). Rear housing wall 12R may have slots that pass entirely through the rear housing wall and that therefore separate portions of housing 12 from each other. Rear housing wall 12R may include conductive portions and/or dielectric portions. If desired, rear housing wall 12R may include a planar metal layer covered by a thin layer or coating of dielectric such as glass, plastic, sapphire, or ceramic (e.g., a dielectric cover layer). Housing 12 may also have shallow grooves that do not pass entirely through housing 12. The slots and grooves may be filled with plastic or other dielectric materials. If desired, portions of housing 12 that have been separated from each other (e.g., by a through slot) may be joined by internal conductive structures (e.g., sheet metal or other metal members that bridge the slot).
Housing 12 may include peripheral housing structures such as peripheral structures 12W. Conductive portions of peripheral structures 12W and conductive portions of rear housing wall 12R may sometimes be referred to herein collectively as conductive structures of housing 12. Peripheral structures 12W may run around the periphery of device 10 and display 14. In configurations in which device 10 and display 14 have a rectangular shape with four edges, peripheral structures 12W may be implemented using peripheral housing structures that have a rectangular ring shape with four corresponding edges and that extend from rear housing wall 12R to the front face of device 10 (as an example). In other words, device 10 may have a length (e.g., measured parallel to the Y-axis), a width that is less than the length (e.g., measured parallel to the X-axis), and a height (e.g., measured parallel to the Z-axis) that is less than the width. Peripheral structures 12W or part of peripheral structures 12W may serve as a bezel for display 14 (e.g., a cosmetic trim that surrounds all four sides of display 14 and/or that helps hold display 14 to device 10) if desired. Peripheral structures 12W may, if desired, form sidewall structures for device 10 (e.g., by forming a metal band with vertical sidewalls, curved sidewalls, etc.).
Peripheral structures 12W may be formed of a conductive material such as metal and may therefore sometimes be referred to as peripheral conductive housing structures, conductive housing structures, peripheral metal structures, peripheral conductive sidewalls, peripheral conductive sidewall structures, conductive housing sidewalls, peripheral conductive housing sidewalls, sidewalls, sidewall structures, or a peripheral conductive housing member (as examples). Peripheral conductive housing structures 12W may be formed from a metal such as stainless steel, aluminum, alloys, or other suitable materials. One, two, or more than two separate structures may be used in forming peripheral conductive housing structures 12W.
It is not necessary for peripheral conductive housing structures 12W to have a uniform cross-section. For example, the top portion of peripheral conductive housing structures 12W may, if desired, have an inwardly protruding ledge that helps hold display 14 in place. The bottom portion of peripheral conductive housing structures 12W may also have an enlarged lip (e.g., in the plane of the rear surface of device 10). Peripheral conductive housing structures 12W may have substantially straight vertical sidewalls, may have sidewalls that are curved, or may have other suitable shapes. In some configurations (e.g., when peripheral conductive housing structures 12W serve as a bezel for display 14), peripheral conductive housing structures 12W may run around the lip of housing 12 (i.e., peripheral conductive housing structures 12W may cover only the edge of housing 12 that surrounds display 14 and not the rest of the sidewalls of housing 12).
Rear housing wall 12R may lie in a plane that is parallel to display 14. In configurations for device 10 in which some or all of rear housing wall 12R is formed from metal, it may be desirable to form parts of peripheral conductive housing structures 12W as integral portions of the housing structures forming rear housing wall 12R. For example, rear housing wall 12R of device 10 may include a planar metal structure and portions of peripheral conductive housing structures 12W on the sides of housing 12 may be formed as flat or curved vertically extending integral metal portions of the planar metal structure (e.g., housing structures 12R and 12W may be formed from a continuous piece of metal in a unibody configuration). Housing structures such as these may, if desired, be machined from a block of metal and/or may include multiple metal pieces that are assembled together to form housing 12. Rear housing wall 12R may have one or more, two or more, or three or more portions. Peripheral conductive housing structures 12W and/or conductive portions of rear housing wall 12R may form one or more exterior surfaces of device 10 (e.g., surfaces that are visible to a user of device 10) and/or may be implemented using internal structures that do not form exterior surfaces of device 10 (e.g., conductive housing structures that are not visible to a user of device 10 such as conductive structures that are covered with layers such as thin cosmetic layers, protective coatings, and/or other coating/cover layers that may include dielectric materials such as glass, ceramic, plastic, or other structures that form the exterior surfaces of device 10 and/or serve to hide peripheral conductive housing structures 12W and/or conductive portions of rear housing wall 12R from view of the user).
Display 14 may have an array of pixels that form an active area AA that displays images for a user of device 10. For example, active area AA may include an array of display pixels. The array of pixels may be formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode display pixels or other light-emitting diode pixels, an array of electrowetting display pixels, or display pixels based on other display technologies. If desired, active area AA may include touch sensors such as touch sensor capacitive electrodes, force sensors, or other sensors for gathering a user input.
Display 14 may have an inactive border region that runs along one or more of the edges of active area AA. Inactive area IA of display 14 may be free of pixels for displaying images and may overlap circuitry and other internal device structures in housing 12. To block these structures from view by a user of device 10, the underside of the display cover layer or other layers in display 14 that overlap inactive area IA may be coated with an opaque masking layer in inactive area IA. The opaque masking layer may have any suitable color. Inactive area IA may include a recessed region or notch that extends into active area AA (e.g., at speaker port 16). Active area AA may, for example, be defined by the lateral area of a display module for display 14 (e.g., a display module that includes pixel circuitry, touch sensor circuitry, etc.).
Display 14 may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass, clear plastic, transparent ceramic, sapphire, or other transparent crystalline material, or other transparent layer(s). The display cover layer may have a planar shape, a convex curved profile, a shape with planar and curved portions, a layout that includes a planar main area surrounded on one or more edges with a portion that is bent out of the plane of the planar main area, or other suitable shapes. The display cover layer may cover the entire front face of device 10. In another suitable arrangement, the display cover layer may cover substantially all of the front face of device 10 or only a portion of the front face of device 10. Openings may be formed in the display cover layer. For example, an opening may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate a button. An opening may also be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate ports such as speaker port 16 or a microphone port. Openings may be formed in housing 12 to form communications ports (e.g., an audio jack port, a digital data port, etc.) and/or audio ports for audio components such as a speaker and/or a microphone if desired.
Display 14 may include conductive structures such as an array of capacitive electrodes for a touch sensor, conductive lines for addressing pixels, driver circuits, etc. Housing 12 may include internal conductive structures such as metal frame members and a planar conductive housing member (sometimes referred to as a conductive support plate or backplate) that spans the walls of housing 12 (e.g., a substantially rectangular sheet formed from one or more metal parts that is welded or otherwise connected between opposing sides of peripheral conductive housing structures 12W). The conductive support plate may form an exterior rear surface of device 10 or may be covered by a dielectric cover layer such as a thin cosmetic layer, protective coating, and/or other coatings that may include dielectric materials such as glass, ceramic, plastic, or other structures that form the exterior surfaces of device 10 and/or serve to hide the conductive support plate from view of the user (e.g., the conductive support plate may form part of rear housing wall 12R). Device 10 may also include conductive structures such as printed circuit boards, components mounted on printed circuit boards, and other internal conductive structures. These conductive structures, which may be used in forming a ground plane in device 10, may extend under active area AA of display 14, for example.
In regions 22 and 20, openings may be formed within the conductive structures of device 10 (e.g., between peripheral conductive housing structures 12W and opposing conductive ground structures such as conductive portions of rear housing wall 12R, conductive traces on a printed circuit board, conductive electrical components in display 14, etc.). These openings, which may sometimes be referred to as gaps, may be filled with air, plastic, and/or other dielectrics and may be used in forming slot antenna resonating elements for one or more antennas in device 10, if desired.
Conductive housing structures and other conductive structures in device 10 may serve as a ground plane for the antennas in device 10. The openings in regions 22 and 20 may serve as slots in open or closed slot antennas, may serve as a central dielectric region that is surrounded by a conductive path of materials in a loop antenna, may serve as a space that separates an antenna resonating element such as a strip antenna resonating element or an inverted-F antenna resonating element from the ground plane, may contribute to the performance of a parasitic antenna resonating element, or may otherwise serve as part of antenna structures formed in regions 22 and 20. If desired, the ground plane that is under active area AA of display 14 and/or other metal structures in device 10 may have portions that extend into parts of the ends of device 10 (e.g., the ground may extend towards the dielectric-filled openings in regions 22 and 20), thereby narrowing the slots in regions 22 and 20. Region 22 may sometimes be referred to herein as lower region 22 or lower end 22 of device 10. Region 20 may sometimes be referred to herein as upper region 20 or upper end 20 of device 10.
In general, device 10 may include any suitable number of antennas (e.g., one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more, etc.). The antennas in device 10 may be located at opposing first and second ends of an elongated device housing (e.g., at lower region 22 and/or upper region 20 of device 10 of
Portions of peripheral conductive housing structures 12W may be provided with peripheral gap structures. For example, peripheral conductive housing structures 12W may be provided with one or more dielectric-filled gaps such as gaps 18, as shown in
In order to provide an end user of device 10 with as large of a display as possible (e.g., to maximize an area of the device used for displaying media, running applications, etc.), it may be desirable to increase the amount of area at the front face of device 10 that is covered by active area AA of display 14. Increasing the size of active area AA may reduce the size of inactive area IA within device 10. This may reduce the area behind display 14 that is available for antennas within device 10. For example, active area AA of display 14 may include conductive structures that serve to block radio-frequency signals handled by antennas mounted behind active area AA from radiating through the front face of device 10. It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide antennas that occupy a small amount of space within device 10 (e.g., to allow for as large of a display active area AA as possible) while still allowing the antennas to communicate with wireless equipment external to device 10 with satisfactory efficiency bandwidth.
In a typical scenario, device 10 may have one or more upper antennas and one or more lower antennas. An upper antenna may, for example, be formed in upper region 20 of device 10. A lower antenna may, for example, be formed in lower region 22 of device 10. Additional antennas may be formed along the edges of housing 12 extending between regions 20 and 22 if desired. An example in which device 10 includes three or four upper antennas and five lower antennas is described herein as an example. The antennas may be used separately to cover identical communications bands, overlapping communications bands, or separate communications bands. The antennas may be used to implement an antenna diversity scheme or a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna scheme. Other antennas for covering any other desired frequencies may also be mounted at any desired locations within the interior of device 10. The example of
A schematic diagram of illustrative components that may be used in device 10 is shown in
Control circuitry 28 may include processing circuitry such as processing circuitry 32. Processing circuitry 32 may be used to control the operation of device 10. Processing circuitry 32 may include on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, host processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, central processing units (CPUs), etc. Control circuitry 28 may be configured to perform operations in device 10 using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware, and/or software. Software code for performing operations in device 10 may be stored on storage circuitry 30 (e.g., storage circuitry 30 may include non-transitory (tangible) computer readable storage media that stores the software code). The software code may sometimes be referred to as program instructions, software, data, instructions, or code. Software code stored on storage circuitry 30 may be executed by processing circuitry 32.
Control circuitry 28 may be used to run software on device 10 such as internet browsing applications, voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) telephone call applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, etc. To support interactions with external equipment, control circuitry 28 may be used in implementing communications protocols. Communications protocols that may be implemented using control circuitry 28 include internet protocols, wireless local area network protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols—sometimes referred to as WiFi®), protocols for other short-range wireless communications links such as the Bluetooth® protocol or other WPAN protocols, IEEE 802.11ad protocols, cellular telephone protocols, MIMO protocols, antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols, antenna-based spatial ranging protocols (e.g., radio detection and ranging (RADAR) protocols or other desired range detection protocols for signals conveyed at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies), etc. Each communication protocol may be associated with a corresponding radio access technology (RAT) that specifies the physical connection methodology used in implementing the protocol.
Device 10 may include input-output circuitry 24. Input-output circuitry 24 may include input-output devices 26. Input-output devices 26 may be used to allow data to be supplied to device 10 and to allow data to be provided from device 10 to external devices. Input-output devices 26 may include user interface devices, data port devices, sensors, and other input-output components. For example, input-output devices may include touch screens, displays without touch sensor capabilities, buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, speakers, status indicators, light sources, audio jacks and other audio port components, digital data port devices, light sensors, gyroscopes, accelerometers or other components that can detect motion and device orientation relative to the Earth, capacitance sensors, proximity sensors (e.g., a capacitive proximity sensor and/or an infrared proximity sensor), magnetic sensors, and other sensors and input-output components.
Input-output circuitry 24 may include wireless circuitry such as wireless circuitry 34 for wirelessly conveying radio-frequency signals. While control circuitry 28 is shown separately from wireless circuitry 34 in the example of
Wireless circuitry 34 may include millimeter and centimeter wave transceiver circuitry such as millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38. Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 may support communications at frequencies between about 10 GHz and 300 GHz. For example, millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 may support communications in Extremely High Frequency (EHF) or millimeter wave communications bands between about 30 GHz and 300 GHz and/or in centimeter wave communications bands between about 10 GHz and 30 GHz (sometimes referred to as Super High Frequency (SHF) bands). As examples, millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 may support communications in an IEEE K communications band between about 18 GHz and 27 GHz, a Ka communications band between about 26.5 GHz and 40 GHz, a Ku communications band between about 12 GHz and 18 GHz, a V communications band between about 40 GHz and 75 GHz, a W communications band between about 75 GHz and 110 GHz, or any other desired frequency band between approximately 10 GHz and 300 GHz. If desired, millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 may support IEEE 802.11ad communications at 60 GHz (e.g., WiGig or 60 GHz Wi-Fi bands around 57-61 GHz), and/or 5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems (5G) New Radio (NR) Frequency Range 2 (FR2) communications bands between about 24 GHz and 90 GHz. Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 may be formed from one or more integrated circuits (e.g., multiple integrated circuits mounted on a common printed circuit in a system-in-package device, one or more integrated circuits mounted on different substrates, etc.).
Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 (sometimes referred to herein simply as transceiver circuitry 38 or millimeter/centimeter wave circuitry 38) may perform spatial ranging operations using radio-frequency signals at millimeter and/or centimeter wave frequencies that are transmitted and received by millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38. The received signals may be a version of the transmitted signals that have been reflected off of external objects and back towards device 10. Control circuitry 28 may process the transmitted and received signals to detect or estimate a range between device 10 and one or more external objects in the surroundings of device 10 (e.g., objects external to device 10 such as the body of a user or other persons, other devices, animals, furniture, walls, or other objects or obstacles in the vicinity of device 10). If desired, control circuitry 28 may also process the transmitted and received signals to identify a two or three-dimensional spatial location of the external objects relative to device 10.
Spatial ranging operations performed by millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 are unidirectional. If desired, millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 may also perform bidirectional communications with external wireless equipment such as external wireless equipment 10 (e.g., over a bi-directional millimeter/centimeter wave wireless communications link). The external wireless equipment may include other electronic devices such as electronic device 10, a wireless base station, wireless access point, a wireless accessory, or any other desired equipment that transmits and receives millimeter/centimeter wave signals. Bidirectional communications involve both the transmission of wireless data by millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 and the reception of wireless data that has been transmitted by external wireless equipment. The wireless data may, for example, include data that has been encoded into corresponding data packets such as wireless data associated with a telephone call, streaming media content, internet browsing, wireless data associated with software applications running on device 10, email messages, etc.
If desired, wireless circuitry 34 may include transceiver circuitry for handling communications at frequencies below 10 GHz such as non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 36. For example, non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 36 may handle wireless local area network (WLAN) frequency bands (e.g., Wi-Fi® (IEEE 802.11) or other WLAN communications bands) such as a 2.4 GHz WLAN band (e.g., from 2400 to 2480 MHz), a 5 GHz WLAN band (e.g., from 5180 to 5825 MHz), a Wi-Fi® 6E band (e.g., from 5925-7125 MHz), and/or other Wi-Fi® bands (e.g., from 1875-5160 MHz), wireless personal area network (WPAN) frequency bands such as the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® band or other WPAN communications bands, cellular telephone frequency bands (e.g., bands from about 600 MHz to about 5 GHz, 3G bands, 4G LTE bands, 5G New Radio Frequency Range 1 (FR1) bands below 10 GHz, etc.), near-field communications frequency bands (e.g., at 13.56 MHz), satellite navigation frequency bands (e.g., a GPS band from 1565 to 1610 MHz, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) band, a BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) band, etc.), ultra-wideband (UWB) frequency bands that operate under the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol and/or other ultra-wideband communications protocols, communications bands under the family of 3GPP wireless communications standards, communications bands under the IEEE 802.XX family of standards, and/or any other desired frequency bands of interest. The communications bands handled by the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry may sometimes be referred to herein as frequency bands or simply as “bands,” and may span corresponding ranges of frequencies. Non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 36 and millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 may each include one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive radio-frequency components, switching circuitry, transmission line structures, and other circuitry for handling radio-frequency signals.
In general, the transceiver circuitry in wireless circuitry 34 may cover (handle) any desired frequency bands of interest. As shown in
In satellite navigation system links, cellular telephone links, and other long-range links, radio-frequency signals are typically used to convey data over thousands of feet or miles. In Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® links at 2.4 and 5 GHz and other short-range wireless links, radio-frequency signals are typically used to convey data over tens or hundreds of feet. Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 may convey radio-frequency signals over short distances that travel over a line-of-sight path. To enhance signal reception for millimeter and centimeter wave communications, phased antenna arrays and beam forming (steering) techniques may be used (e.g., schemes in which antenna signal phase and/or magnitude for each antenna in an array are adjusted to perform beam steering). Antenna diversity schemes may also be used to ensure that the antennas that have become blocked or that are otherwise degraded due to the operating environment of device 10 can be switched out of use and higher-performing antennas used in their place.
Antennas 40 in wireless circuitry 34 may be formed using any suitable antenna types. For example, antennas 40 may include antennas with resonating elements that are formed from stacked patch antenna structures, loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures, slot antenna structures, planar inverted-F antenna structures, monopole antenna structures, dipole antenna structures, helical antenna structures, Yagi (Yagi-Uda) antenna structures, hybrids of these designs, etc. In another suitable arrangement, antennas 40 may include antennas with dielectric resonating elements such as dielectric resonator antennas. If desired, one or more of antennas 40 may be cavity-backed antennas. Different types of antennas may be used for different bands and combinations of bands. For example, one type of antenna may be used in forming a non-millimeter/centimeter wave wireless link for non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 36 and another type of antenna may be used in conveying radio-frequency signals at millimeter and/or centimeter wave frequencies for millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38. Antennas 40 that are used to convey radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies may be arranged in one or more phased antenna arrays.
A schematic diagram of an antenna 40 that may be formed in a phased antenna array for conveying radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies is shown in
In another suitable arrangement, antenna 40 may be a probe-fed antenna that is fed using a feed probe. In this arrangement, antenna feed 44 may be implemented as a feed probe. Signal conductor 46 may be coupled to the feed probe. Radio-frequency transmission line 42 may convey radio-frequency signals to and from the feed probe. When radio-frequency signals are being transmitted over the feed probe and the antenna, the feed probe may excite the resonating element for the antenna (e.g., may excite electromagnetic resonant modes of a dielectric antenna resonating element for antenna 40). The resonating element may radiate the radio-frequency signals in response to excitation by the feed probe. Similarly, when radio-frequency signals are received by the antenna (e.g., from free space), the radio-frequency signals may excite the resonating element for the antenna (e.g., may excite electromagnetic resonant modes of the dielectric antenna resonating element for antenna 40). This may produce antenna currents on the feed probe and the corresponding radio-frequency signals may be passed to the transceiver circuitry over the radio-frequency transmission line.
Radio-frequency transmission line 42 may include a stripline transmission line (sometimes referred to herein simply as a stripline), a coaxial cable, a coaxial probe realized by metalized vias, a microstrip transmission line, an edge-coupled microstrip transmission line, an edge-coupled stripline transmission lines, a waveguide structure, combinations of these, etc. Multiple types of transmission lines may be used to form the transmission line path that couples millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 to antenna feed 44. Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, phase shifter circuitry, amplifier circuitry, and/or other circuitry may be interposed on radio-frequency transmission line 42, if desired.
Radio-frequency transmission lines in device 10 may be integrated into ceramic substrates, rigid printed circuit boards, and/or flexible printed circuits. In one suitable arrangement, radio-frequency transmission lines in device 10 may be integrated within multilayer laminated structures (e.g., layers of a conductive material such as copper and a dielectric material such as a resin that are laminated together without intervening adhesive) that may be folded or bent in multiple dimensions (e.g., two or three dimensions) and that maintain a bent or folded shape after bending (e.g., the multilayer laminated structures may be folded into a particular three-dimensional shape to route around other device components and may be rigid enough to hold its shape after folding without being held in place by stiffeners or other structures). All of the multiple layers of the laminated structures may be batch laminated together (e.g., in a single pressing process) without adhesive (e.g., as opposed to performing multiple pressing processes to laminate multiple layers together with adhesive).
Antennas 40 in phased antenna array 54 may be arranged in any desired number of rows and columns or in any other desired pattern (e.g., the antennas need not be arranged in a grid pattern having rows and columns). During signal transmission operations, radio-frequency transmission lines 42 may be used to supply signals (e.g., radio-frequency signals such as millimeter wave and/or centimeter wave signals) from millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 (
The use of multiple antennas 40 in phased antenna array 54 allows beam steering arrangements to be implemented by controlling the relative phases and magnitudes (amplitudes) of the radio-frequency signals conveyed by the antennas. In the example of
Phase and magnitude controllers 50 may each include circuitry for adjusting the phase of the radio-frequency signals on radio-frequency transmission lines 42 (e.g., phase shifter circuits) and/or circuitry for adjusting the magnitude of the radio-frequency signals on radio-frequency transmission lines 42 (e.g., power amplifier and/or low noise amplifier circuits). Phase and magnitude controllers 50 may sometimes be referred to collectively herein as beam steering circuitry (e.g., beam steering circuitry that steers the beam of radio-frequency signals transmitted and/or received by phased antenna array 54).
Phase and magnitude controllers 50 may adjust the relative phases and/or magnitudes of the transmitted signals that are provided to each of the antennas in phased antenna array 54 and may adjust the relative phases and/or magnitudes of the received signals that are received by phased antenna array 54. Phase and magnitude controllers 50 may, if desired, include phase detection circuitry for detecting the phases of the received signals that are received by phased antenna array 54. The term “beam” or “signal beam” may be used herein to collectively refer to wireless signals that are transmitted and received by phased antenna array 54 in a particular direction. The signal beam may exhibit a peak gain that is oriented in a particular pointing direction at a corresponding pointing angle (e.g., based on constructive and destructive interference from the combination of signals from each antenna in the phased antenna array). The term “transmit beam” may sometimes be used herein to refer to radio-frequency signals that are transmitted in a particular direction whereas the term “receive beam” may sometimes be used herein to refer to radio-frequency signals that are received from a particular direction.
If, for example, phase and magnitude controllers 50 are adjusted to produce a first set of phases and/or magnitudes for transmitted radio-frequency signals, the transmitted signals will form a transmit beam as shown by beam B1 of
Each phase and magnitude controller 50 may be controlled to produce a desired phase and/or magnitude based on a corresponding control signal 52 received from control circuitry 28 of
When performing wireless communications using radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies, the radio-frequency signals are conveyed over a line of sight path between phased antenna array 54 and external communications equipment. If the external object is located at point A of
Device 10 may include multiple phased antenna arrays 54 such as a rear-facing phased antenna array 54-1. As shown in
Phased antenna array 54-1 may be mounted to a substrate such as substrate 64. Substrate 64 may be an integrated circuit chip, a flexible printed circuit, a rigid printed circuit board, or other substrate. Substrate 64 may sometimes be referred to herein as antenna module 64. If desired, transceiver circuitry (e.g., millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry 38 of
The field of view of phased antenna array 54-1 is limited to the hemisphere under the rear face of device 10. Display module 68 and other components 58 (e.g., portions of input-output circuitry 24 or control circuitry 28 of
In order to mitigate these issues and provide coverage through the front face of device 10, a front-facing phased antenna array may be mounted within peripheral region 66 of device 10. The antennas in the front-facing phased antenna array may include dielectric resonator antennas. Dielectric resonator antennas may occupy less area in the X-Y plane of
In order to further optimize space within device 10 while providing a full sphere of wireless coverage around device 10, the dielectric resonator antennas in peripheral region 66 may include front-facing dielectric resonator antennas (e.g., in a front-facing phased antenna array of dielectric resonator antennas) and rear-facing dielectric resonator antennas (e.g., in a rear-facing phased antenna array of dielectric resonator antennas). The front-facing dielectric resonator antennas may convey radio-frequency signals through display cover layer 56 and within the hemisphere over the front face of device 10 (display 14). The rear-facing dielectric resonator antennas may convey radio-frequency signals through dielectric portions of rear housing wall 12R and within the hemisphere under the rear face of device 10 (rear housing wall 12R). In these examples, device 10 may also include phased antenna array 54-1 for providing additional coverage within the hemisphere under the rear face of device 10 or phased antenna array 54-1 may be omitted, thereby saving additional space within device 10. In order to allow for front-facing and rear-facing dielectric resonator antennas to fit within peripheral region 66 (e.g., without requiring device 10 to be excessively thick in the Z-dimension), the front-facing dielectric resonator antennas and the rear-facing dielectric resonator antennas may share dielectric resonating elements.
Antennas 40F and 40R may each be dielectric resonator antennas that share a single dielectric resonating element 92. Dielectric resonating element 92 may be mounted to a substrate such as printed circuit 74. Printed circuit 74 may be a rigid printed circuit board or a flexible printed circuit, as examples. Printed circuit 74 has a lateral area (e.g., in the X-Y plane of
Printed circuit 74 may include multiple stacked dielectric layers. The dielectric layers may include polyimide, ceramic, liquid crystal polymer, plastic, and/or any other desired dielectric materials. Conductive traces may be patterned onto the top surface of printed circuit 74, the bottom surface of printed circuit 74, and/or on the dielectric layers within printed circuit 74. Some of the conductive traces may be held at a ground potential to form ground traces (e.g., part of the antenna ground) for front-facing antenna 40F and rear-facing antenna 40R. The ground traces may be coupled to a system ground in device 10 (e.g., using solder, welds, conductive adhesive, conductive tape, conductive brackets, conductive pins, conductive screws, conductive clips, combinations of these, etc.). For example, the ground traces may be coupled to peripheral conductive housing structures 12W, conductive portions of rear housing wall 12R, or other grounded structures in device 10.
Printed circuit 74 may include one or more openings such as opening 76. Dielectric resonating element 92 may be mounted within opening 76 (e.g., dielectric resonating element 92 may protrude through opening 76). Front-facing antenna 40F may be fed using one or more radio-frequency transmission lines formed on and/or embedded within printed circuit 74. Rear-facing antenna 40R may also be fed using one or more radio-frequency transmission lines formed on and/or embedded within printed circuit 74. The radio-frequency transmission lines have ground conductors (e.g., ground conductor 48 of
Dielectric resonating element 92 may be formed from a column (pillar) of dielectric material mounted within opening 76 in printed circuit 74. Dielectric resonating element 92 may be embedded within (e.g., laterally surrounded by) a dielectric substrate such as dielectric overmold 86. While a non-zero clearance is shown between dielectric overmold 86 and circuit board 74 in
Dielectric resonating element 92 may have a first (bottom) surface 82 facing rear housing wall 12R. Rear housing wall 12R may include conductive material. A slot such as slot 70 may be formed in the conductive material of rear housing wall 12R at a location overlapping dielectric resonating element 92. A dielectric antenna window such as dielectric antenna window 72 may be mounted to rear housing wall 12R and may cover slot 70. Additionally or alternatively, a dielectric cover layer may cover the entire rear surface of device 10 (rear housing wall 12R). Slot 70 may sometimes also be referred to herein as opening 70 or antenna window 70.
Dielectric resonating element 92 may have a second (top) surface 84 at display 14. Top surface 84 may be laterally interposed between display module 68 and peripheral conductive housing structures 12W (e.g., part of dielectric resonating element 92 may be located within gap 96 between display module 68 and peripheral conductive housing structures 12W, which forms part of the inactive area of display 14). Dielectric resonating element 92 may have vertical sidewalls 94 that extend from top surface 84 to bottom surface 82. Dielectric resonating element 92 may have a longitudinal axis 98 (e.g., parallel to the Z-axis) that runs through the center of both top surface 84 and bottom surface 82. Longitudinal axis 98 may be, for example, the longest rectangular dimension of dielectric resonating element 92. Dielectric resonating element 92 may have a height (measured parallel to longitudinal axis 98) measured from top surface 84 to bottom surface 82. Dielectric resonating element 92 may also have a length (measured parallel to the X-axis) and a width (measured parallel to the Y-axis) that are each less than the height of dielectric resonating element 92.
Dielectric resonating element 92 may have a central axis 100 that passes through longitudinal axis 98 and that divides (e.g., bisects) the height of dielectric resonating element 92. Central axis 100 is oriented orthogonal to longitudinal axis 98. Central axis 100 need not bisect the height of dielectric resonating element 92. Central axis 100 may separate the portion of dielectric resonating element 92 used to form front-facing antenna 40F from the portion of dielectric resonating element 92 used to form rear-facing antenna 40R. The operating (resonant) frequency of front-facing antenna 40F may be selected by adjusting the dimensions of dielectric resonating element 92 above central axis 100. Similarly, the operating (resonant) frequency of rear-facing antenna 40R may be selected by adjusting the dimensions of dielectric resonating element 92 below central axis 100. The geometry of dielectric resonating element 92 below central axis 100 may also have some effect on the operating frequency of front-facing antenna 40F and/or the geometry of dielectric resonating element 92 above central axis 100 may also have some effect on the operating frequency of rear-facing antenna 40R.
Dielectric resonating element 92 may be formed from a column of dielectric material having a first dielectric constant εr1. Dielectric constant εr1 may be relatively high (e.g., greater than 10.0, greater than 12.0, greater than 15.0, greater than 20.0, between 15.0 and 40.0, between 10.0 and 50.0, between 18.0 and 30.0, between 12.0 and 45.0, etc.). In one suitable arrangement, dielectric resonating element 92 may be formed from zirconia or a ceramic material. Other dielectric materials may be used to form dielectric resonating element 92 if desired.
Dielectric overmold 86 may be formed from a material having dielectric constant εr2. Dielectric constant εr2 may be less than dielectric constant εr1 of dielectric resonating element 92 (e.g., less than 18.0, less than 15.0, less than 10.0, between 3.0 and 4.0, less than 5.0, between 2.0 and 5.0, etc.). Dielectric constant εr2 may be less than dielectric constant εr1 by at least 10.0, 5.0, 15.0, 12.0, 6.0, etc. In one suitable arrangement, dielectric overmold 86 may be formed from molded plastic (e.g., injection-molded plastic). Other dielectric materials may be used to form dielectric overmold 86 or dielectric overmold 86 may be omitted if desired. The difference in dielectric constant between dielectric resonating element 92 and dielectric overmold 86 may help to establish a radio-frequency boundary condition between dielectric resonating element 92 and dielectric overmold 86 from bottom surface 82 to top surface 84. This may configure dielectric resonating element 92 to serve as a waveguide for propagating radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies.
Dielectric resonating element 92 may radiate radio-frequency signals when excited by the signal conductor(s) for the radio-frequency transmission line(s) in printed circuit 74. The antennas formed from dielectric resonating element 92 may be fed using radio-frequency feed probes such as feed probes 78. Feed probes 78 may form part of the antenna feeds for front-facing antenna 40F and rear-facing antenna 40R (e.g., antenna feed 44 of
As shown in
The signal traces in printed circuit 74 may convey radio-frequency signals to and from feed probes 78. Feed probes 78 may electromagnetically couple the radio-frequency signals on the signal traces into dielectric resonating element 92. The feed probe 78 for front-facing antenna 40F may couple radio-frequency signals into dielectric resonating element 92 that excite one or more electromagnetic modes of dielectric resonating element 92 located predominantly between central axis 100 and top surface 84 (e.g., radio-frequency cavity or waveguide modes between around central axis 100 and top surface 84). When excited by the feed probe 78 for front-facing antenna 40F, these electromagnetic modes of dielectric resonating element 92 may configure the dielectric resonating element to serve as a waveguide that propagates the wavefronts of radio-frequency signals 88 along the length of dielectric resonating element 92 (e.g., in the direction of the Z-axis of
For example, during signal transmission, the feed probe 78 for front-facing antenna 40F may couple the radio-frequency signals on the signal traces into dielectric resonating element 92. This may serve to excite one or more electromagnetic modes of the volume of dielectric resonating element 92 between around central axis 100 and top surface 84, resulting in the propagation of radio-frequency signals 88 up the length of dielectric resonating element 92 and to the exterior of device 10 through display cover layer 56. Similarly, during signal reception, radio-frequency signals 88 may be received through display cover layer 56. The received radio-frequency signals may excite the electromagnetic modes of dielectric resonating element 92 between top surface 84 and around central axis 100, resulting in the propagation of the radio-frequency signals down the length of dielectric resonating element 92. The feed probe 78 for front-facing antenna 40F may couple the received radio-frequency signals onto a corresponding radio-frequency transmission line on printed circuit 74, which passes the radio-frequency signals to the millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry in device 10.
Similarly, the feed probe 78 for rear-facing antenna 40R may couple radio-frequency signals into dielectric resonating element 92 that excite one or more electromagnetic modes of dielectric resonating element 92 located predominantly between central axis 100 and bottom surface 82 (e.g., radio-frequency cavity or waveguide modes between around central axis 100 and bottom surface 82). When excited by the feed probe 78 for rear-facing antenna 40R, these electromagnetic modes of dielectric resonating element 92 may configure the dielectric resonating element to serve as a waveguide that propagates the wavefronts of radio-frequency signals 90 along the length of dielectric resonating element 92 (e.g., in the direction of the Z-axis of
For example, during signal transmission, the feed probe 78 for rear-facing antenna 40R may couple the radio-frequency signals on the signal traces into dielectric resonating element 92. This may serve to excite one or more electromagnetic modes of the volume of dielectric resonating element 92 between around central axis 100 and bottom surface 82, resulting in the propagation of radio-frequency signals 90 down the length of dielectric resonating element 92 and to the exterior of device 10 through dielectric antenna window 72 and slot 70. Similarly, during signal reception, radio-frequency signals 90 may be received through antenna window 72 and slot 70. The received radio-frequency signals may excite the electromagnetic modes of dielectric resonating element 92 between bottom surface 82 and around central axis 100, resulting in the propagation of the radio-frequency signals up the length of dielectric resonating element 92. The feed probe 78 for rear-facing antenna 40R may couple the received radio-frequency signals onto a corresponding radio-frequency transmission line on printed circuit 74, which passes the radio-frequency signals to the millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry in device 10. The relatively large difference in dielectric constant between dielectric resonating element 92 and dielectric overmold 86 may allow dielectric resonating element 92 to convey radio-frequency signals 88 and 90 with a relatively high antenna efficiency (e.g., by establishing a strong boundary between dielectric resonating element 92 and dielectric overmold 86 for the radio-frequency signals). The relatively high dielectric constant of dielectric resonating element 92 may also allow the dielectric resonating element 92 to occupy a relatively small volume compared to scenarios where materials with a lower dielectric constant are used.
The dimensions of feed probes 78 may be selected to help match the impedance of the radio-frequency transmission lines in printed circuit 74 to the impedance of dielectric resonating element 92. Each feed probe 78 may be located on a respective sidewall 94 of dielectric resonating element 92 to provide antennas 40F and 40R with a desired linear polarization (e.g., a vertical or horizontal polarization). If desired, multiple feed probes 78 may be formed on multiple sidewalls 94 of dielectric resonating element 92 to configure antennas 40F and 40R to cover multiple orthogonal linear polarizations at once. The phase of each feed probe may be independently adjusted over time to provide the antenna with other polarizations such as an elliptical or circular polarization if desired. Feed probes 78 may sometimes be referred to herein as feed conductors 78, feed patches 78, or probe feeds 78. Dielectric resonating element 92 may sometimes be referred to herein as a dielectric radiating element, dielectric radiator, dielectric resonator, dielectric antenna resonating element, dielectric column, dielectric pillar, radiating element, or resonating element.
In this way, dielectric resonating element 92 may be used to form both a front-facing antenna 40F for a front-facing phased antenna array and a rear-facing antenna 40R for a rear-facing phased antenna array in device 10. If desired, printed circuit 74 may include a respective opening 76 for each dielectric resonating element 92.
In the example of
The example of
As shown in
In the example of
If desired, notches such as notches 110 may be formed in sidewalls 94 at or around central axis 100. The geometry of notches 110 may help to isolate the electromagnetic modes of dielectric resonating element 92 used to propagate radio-frequency signals 88 for front-facing antenna 40F from the electromagnetic modes of dielectric resonating element 92 used to propagate radio-frequency signals 90 for rear-facing antenna 40R. If desired, feed probes 78F and 78R may each be coupled to dielectric resonating element 92 within notches 110 (e.g., feed probes 78F and 78R may be mounted within notches 110).
In order to further isolate front-facing antenna 40F from rear-facing antenna 40R, feed probes 78F and 78R may be mounted to dielectric resonating element 92 with opposing (e.g., inverted or flipped) orientations. In the example of
The example of
The example of
Sidewalls 94 may have other shapes. If desired, the same feed probe may be used to feed both the front and rear-facing antennas (e.g., where the feed probe is positioned at a particular location on the dielectric resonating element and has a particular shape that, when combined with the geometry of the dielectric resonating element, the feed probe excites separate front and rear-facing electromagnetic modes of the dielectric resonating element to allow the front and rear-facing antennas to be independently operated).
The examples of
Device 10 may gather and/or use personally identifiable information. It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.
The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.
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