Patent Application
20180212310
This Application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 106102373 filed on Jan. 23, 2017, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
The disclosure generally relates to a mobile device, and specifically, to a mobile device for improving the performance of antenna radiation.
With the progress being made in mobile communication technology, mobile devices such as portable computers, mobile phones, tablet computers, multimedia players, and other hybrid functional mobile devices have become common. To satisfy the demands of users, mobile devices can usually perform wireless communication functions. Some functions cover a large wireless communication area; for example, mobile phones using 2G, 3G, and LTE (Long Term Evolution) systems and using frequency bands of 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, and 2500 MHz. Some functions cover a small wireless communication area; for example, mobile phones using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth systems and using frequency bands of 2.4 GHz, 5.2 GHz, and 5.8 GHz.
A conventional mobile device usually includes an antenna and a sensing pad, which are separate from each other, so as to support wireless communication and adjustment of radiation power. However, since there is limited space in a mobile device, the aforementioned antenna and sensing pad may be very close to each other, and this can lead to interference and poor radiation efficiency of the antenna. Accordingly, there is a need to design a novel mobile communication device for solving the problems of the prior art.
In a preferred embodiment, the disclosure is directed to a mobile device including an antenna element, a first sensing metal element, a second sensing metal element, and a metal connection line. The antenna structure covers an operation frequency band. The metal connection line is coupled between the first sensing metal element and the second sensing metal element. The metal connection line has a resonant frequency which is not within the operation frequency band of the antenna element.
In some embodiments, the metal connection line has a meandering structure.
In some embodiments, the total length of the metal connection line is substantially equal to 0.25 wavelength or 0.5 wavelength of the resonant frequency.
In some embodiments, the operation frequency band of the antenna element is a mobile communication frequency band.
In some embodiments, the antenna element is adjacent to the first sensing metal element, the second sensing metal element, and the metal connection line.
In some embodiments, the antenna element is disposed between the first sensing metal element and the second sensing metal element.
In some embodiments, a notch region is defined by the first sensing metal element, the second sensing metal element, and the metal connection line. The antenna element is positioned in the notch region.
In some embodiments, each of the first sensing metal element and the second sensing metal element substantially has a rectangular shape.
In some embodiments, the mobile device further includes an FPCB (Flexible Printed Circuit board). The metal connection line is disposed on the FPCB.
In some embodiments, the metal connection line includes one or more first traces, one or more second traces, and one or more via elements. The first traces are disposed on an upper surface of the FPCB. The second traces are disposed on a lower surface of the FPCB. The via elements are formed in the FPCB, and are coupled between the first traces and the second traces.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In order to illustrate the purposes, features and advantages of the invention, the embodiments and figures of the invention are described in detail below.
Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms “include” and “comprise” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but not limited to . . . ”. The term “substantially” means the value is within an acceptable error range. One skilled in the art can solve the technical problem within a predetermined error range and achieve the proposed technical performance. Also, the term “couple” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical connection. Accordingly, if one device is coupled to another device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections.
The type and shape of the antenna element 110 are not limited in the invention. For example, the antenna element 110 may be a monopole antenna, a dipole antenna, a loop antenna, a helical antenna, a patch antenna, or a chip antenna. In some embodiments, the antenna element 110 may include two or more sub-antenna elements, so as to form an antenna array.
The antenna element 110 is adjacent to the first sensing metal element 120, the second sensing metal element 130, and the metal connection line 140. For example, the antenna element 110 may be disposed between the first sensing metal element 120 and the second sensing metal element 130. Specifically, a notch region 150 may be defined by the first sensing metal element 120, the second sensing metal element 130, and the metal connection line 140. The notch region 150 may be substantially a rectangular clearance region. The antenna element 110 may be positioned in the notch region 150. The width of a first gap G1 between the antenna element 110 and the first sensing metal element 120 may be larger than at least 3 mm. The width of a second gap G2 between the antenna element 110 and the metal connection line 140 may be larger than at least 3 mm. The width of a third gap G3 between the antenna element 110 and the second sensing metal element 130 may be larger than at least 3 mm. The above gap sizes are arranged for reducing the undesired mutual coupling effect between each sensing element and the antenna element 110.
The first sensing metal element 120 and the second sensing metal element 130 are configured to detect an SAR (Specific Absorption Rate). For example, each of the first sensing metal element 120 and the second sensing metal element 130 may be substantially a rectangular metal plate or a square metal plate. When a human body (or a conductor) approaches the first sensing metal element 120 or the second sensing metal element 130, an effective capacitance is generated between the first sensing metal element 120 or the second sensing metal element 130 and the human body. At this time, the first sensing metal element 120 and the second sensing metal element 130 may generate a low-frequency signal, which includes the information of the aforementioned effective capacitance. The low-frequency signal may be transmitted further to a sensor chip coupled to the first sensing metal element 120 or the second sensing metal element 130 (not shown). The sensor chip can calculate the distance between the human body and the antenna element 110 by analyzing the low-frequency signal, so as to calculate the corresponding SAR. Then, the sensor chip may further fine-tune the output power of the antenna element 110 according to the corresponding SAR, so that the output power meets the requirements established by communication laws.
To reduce the manufacturing cost, the metal connection line 140 is coupled between the first sensing metal element 120 and the second sensing metal element 130, and therefore the first sensing metal element 120 and the second sensing metal element 130 can share a single sensor chip. That is, both the first sensing metal element 120 and the second sensing metal element 130 may be coupled through the metal connection line 140 to the same sensor chip (not shown). The antenna element 110 is configured to cover an operation frequency band, which may be a mobile communication frequency band, such as a LTE (Long Term Evolution) frequency band or a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) frequency band. In some embodiments, the metal connection line 140 has a meandering structure, and the total length of the metal connection line 140 is substantially equal to 0.25 wavelength or 0.5 wavelength (i.e., λ/4 or λ/2) of its resonant frequency (the total length of the metal connection line 140 may be measured when it stretches out and becomes a straight line). Preferably, the resonant frequency of the metal connection line 140 is not within the operation frequency band of the antenna element 110, so as to prevent the radiation performance of the antenna element 110 from being negatively affected.
Among the mobile device 100, the metal connection line 110 often extends adjacent to the antenna element 110. As a result, the length of the metal connection line 110 is approximately equal to the length of the antenna element 110, and their resonant modes tend to overlap with each other. The invention proposes a novel design, in which the resonant frequency of the metal connection line 140 is entirely different from the operation frequency band of the antenna element 110, and therefore the radiation gain of the antenna element 110 is effectively improved.
The invention proposes a novel mobile device. In comparison to the conventional design, the invention has at least the advantages of: (1) minimizing the size of the antenna element, (2) improving the radiation gain of the antenna element, (3) preventing the sensing metal element and the metal connection line from resonating with the antenna element, and (4) reducing the total manufacturing cost. Therefore, the invention is suitable for application in a variety of small-size mobile communication devices.
Note that the above element sizes, element shapes, and frequency ranges are not limitations of the invention. An antenna designer can adjust these settings or values according to different requirements. It should be understood that the mobile device of the invention is not limited to the configurations of
Use of ordinal terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having the same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the invention. It is intended that the standard and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosed embodiments being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 106102373 | Jan 2017 | TW | national |
