This application claims the benefit of Taiwan Application Serial No. 107110286, filed Mar. 26, 2018, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an antenna for a mobile device.
As mobile communication technology has continued to develop, mobile devices have become increasingly popular. Such devices include, for example, portable computers, mobile phones, multimedia players, and other hybrid portable electronic devices. In order to meet popular demand, mobile devices are configured for wireless communication. Some wireless communication configurations provide long-range coverage, while other wireless communication configurations provide short-range coverage. Example long-range communication coverage configurations include mobile phones that use 2G, 3G, and Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems in the 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, and 2500 MHz bands. Example short-range communication coverage configurations include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth systems that use the 2.4 GHz, 5.2 GHz, and 5.8 GHz frequency bands.
To achieve aesthetically pleasing mobile devices, designers often incorporate metal components including, e.g., metal case components. However, such metal components can detrimentally impact an antenna supporting wireless communication in the aforesaid bands, thereby reducing the overall communication performance of the mobile device. It is therefore desirable to provide a mobile device and associated antenna structure that addresses problems related to metal components incorporated in mobile device designs.
In one embodiment there is provided a mobile device including a first nonconductive support member, a second nonconductive support member adjacent to, and lower than, the first nonconductive supporting member, and an antenna structure that includes a first radiating portion disposed on the first nonconductive support member, a second radiating portion disposed on the first nonconductive support member and extending in a direction opposite to the first radiating portion, a feeding element, and a connecting portion disposed on the first nonconductive support member and the second nonconductive support member that couples the first radiating portion and the second radiating portion to each other and to the feeding element, wherein the first nonconductive support member is part of a visible outside edge portion of the mobile device.
In an embodiment, the connecting portion comprises a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion, the second connecting portion coupling the first radiating portion and the second radiating portion to each other, and the first connecting portion coupling the feeding element to the second connecting portion. The first connecting portion may be disposed on the first nonconductive support member and the second nonconductive support member, and the second connecting portion is disposed on the first nonconductive support member
The feeding element may be disposed on the second nonconductive support member.
The mobile device may further include a display having a display frame surrounding the display, wherein the display frame is disposed in a notch created by a difference in height between the first nonconductive support member and the second nonconductive support member.
The antenna structure may be configured to resonate at a low frequency band, a first high frequency band and a second high frequency band. The low frequency band may be between 2400 MHz and 2500 MHz, the first high frequency band may be between 5000 MHz and 5300 MHZ, and the second high frequency band may be between 5300 MHz and 5700 MHz.
In an embodiment, the mobile device is a laptop computer.
A stripe-like gap may be created between the first radiating portion and at least a portion of the feeding element.
The mobile device may further include a coaxial cable having an inner conductor and an outer conductor, the inner conductor couple to a feed point of the feeding element, and the outer conductor couple to a ground plane of the mobile device.
Embodiments are described herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
As noted, a mobile device 100 may be, e.g., a smart phone, a notebook computer, or a notebook computer. As shown in
The first nonconductive support member 110 and the second nonconductive support member 120 may be made of, e.g., a plastic material. In one embodiment, the first nonconductive support member 110 may form part of an “appearance edge portion” of the mobile device 100, i.e., a visible outside edge portion of the mobile device 100 that a user can directly observe with his/her eye. The second nonconductive support member 120 may be an antenna placement platform or a display placement platform, on which an antenna structure or a display can be disposed.
The first nonconductive support member 110 and the second nonconductive support member 120 are adjacent to each other and have different heights in the Z-axis. For example, the height H1 of the first nonconductive support member 110 may be greater than the height H2 of the second nonconductive support member 120. In one possible embodiment, height H1 may be more than twice the height H2. In the instant description, the word “adjacent” may mean that the distance between two corresponding elements is less than a predetermined distance (for example, 1 mm or less), and may also mean that the two corresponding elements are in direct contact with each other.
In addition, the first nonconductive support member 110 and the second nonconductive support member 120 may have different widths on the Y-axis. For example, the width W1 of the first nonconductive support member 110 may be smaller than the width W2 of the second nonconductive support member 120.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the shapes of the first nonconductive support member 110 and the second nonconductive support member 120 are not limited to the shapes depicted in the figures, but can be modified according to different needs.
The antenna structure 130 may be made of a metal material, and may be configured as follows. The antenna structure 130 includes a feeding element 140, a first connecting portion 150, a second connecting portion 160, a first radiating portion 170, and a second radiating portion 180. The antenna structure 130 has a three-dimensional structure and is formed on the first nonconductive support member 110 and the second nonconductive support member 120 having the aforementioned height difference. For example, the second connecting portion 160, the first radiating portion 170, and the second radiating portion 180 may be distributed only on the first nonconductive support member 110, the feeding element 140 may be only distributed on the second nonconductive support member 120, and the first connecting portion 150 may be distributed on the first nonconductive support element 110 and the second nonconductive support element 120 at the same time.
In some embodiments, a metal-free region 190 is formed between one edge 111 of the first nonconductive support member 110 and one of the second connecting element 160, the first radiating portion 170, and the second radiating portion 180. The metal-free region 190 may be formed as an elongated rectangle having an equal width W3.
The feeding element 140 may substantially assume an L-shape. The feeding element 140 has a first end 141 and a second end 142. The first end 141 of the feeding element 140 is coupled to a feeding point FP. A signal source (not shown) may be coupled to the feeding point FP. The first connecting portion 150 may substantially assume a rectangular shape, and the second connecting portion 160 may also substantially assume another rectangular shape. The width W4 of the first connecting portion 150 may be greater than the width W5 of the second connecting portion 160. The first connecting portion 150 is coupled to the second end 142 of the feeding element 140. The second connecting portion 160 is coupled to the first connecting portion 150. Both the first connecting portion 150 and the second connecting portion 160 are substantially between the first radiating portion 170 and the second radiating portion 180.
The first radiating portion 170 may substantially have a straight stripe or bar shape. The first radiating portion 170 has a first end 171 and a second end 172. The first end 171 of the first radiating portion 170 is coupled to the feeding element 140 via the second connecting portion 160 and the first connecting portion 150. The second end 172 of the first radiating portion 170 is an open end. A gap G1 may be formed between the first radiating portion 170 and the feeding element 140, which may substantially assume an elongated straight stripe, or rectangular, shape. The second radiating portion 180 may substantially assume another straight stripe shape. The second radiating portion 180 has a first end 181 and a second end 182. The first end 181 of the second radiating portion 180 is coupled to the feeding element 140 through the second connecting portion 160 and the first connecting portion 150. The second end 182 of the second radiating portion 180 is an open end. The length L2 of the second radiating portion 180 is shorter than the length L1 of the first radiating portion 170. The width of each of the first radiating portion 170 and the second radiating portion 180 may be the same as the width W5 of the second connecting portion 160. The second end 172 of the first radiating portion 170 and the second end 182 of the second radiating portion 180 may extend in different or opposite directions. For example, the second end 172 of the first radiating portion 170 may extend in the +X axis direction, and the second end 182 of the second radiating portion 180 may extend in the −X axis direction.
In some embodiments, the mobile device 100 is a convertible mobile device and is operable in either a notebook mode or a tablet mode. While operating in either the notebook mode or the tablet mode, the antenna structure 130 of the mobile device 100 can have similar operating performance as described below.
Referring to
The principle of antenna operation of the mobile device 100 may be described as follows. The feeding element 140, the first connecting portion 150, the second connecting portion 160, and the first radiating portion 170 can jointly excite a fundamental resonant mode to form the aforementioned low frequency band FBL. The feeding element 140, the first connecting portion 150, the second connecting portion 160, and the first radiating portion 170 can further jointly generate a higher-order resonant mode to form the aforementioned first high-frequency band FBH1 (two times the low frequency). The feeding element 140 and the first connecting portion 150 may jointly excite and generate a resonant mode to form the aforementioned second high frequency band FBH2. A combination of the first connecting portion 150 and the second connecting portion 160 can be used to fine tune the low frequency band FBL, the first high frequency band FBH1, and impedance matching for the second high frequency band FBH2 to simultaneously increase the antenna structure 130's high and low frequency bandwidth. Further, the combination of one of the second connecting portion 160 and the second radiating portion 180 can be used to fine tune the impedance matching for the first high frequency band FBH1 and the second high frequency band FBH2 to increase the high frequency bandwidth of the antenna structure 130.
In one implementation, the size of the components of the mobile device 100 are as follows. A total radiation length may be defined as including the feeding element 140, the first connecting portion 150, the second connecting portion 160, and the first radiating portion 170 (i.e., from the first end 141, past the second end 142, the first connecting portion 150, and the second connecting portion 160). The total length of the connecting portion 160, the first end 171, and the second end 172 may be substantially equal to 0.5 wavelength (λ/2) of the low-frequency band FBL. The total length of the feeding element 140 and the first connecting portion 150 (i.e., the total length from the first end 141, the second end 142, and the junction of the first connecting portion 150 and the second connecting portion 160) may be approximately equal to 0.5 wavelength (λ/2) of the second high-frequency band FBH2.
The height H1 of the first nonconductive support member 110 may be about 3 mm. The height H2 of the second nonconductive support member 120 may be between 1.2 mm and 1.4 mm, inclusive. The width W1 of the first nonconductive support member 110 may be about 2 mm. The width W2 of the second nonconductive support member 120 may be about 4.5 mm. The width W3 of the metal-free region 190 may be between 1 mm and 1.2 mm, inclusive. The length L1 of the first radiating portion 170 may be approximately four times the length L2 of the second radiating portion 180. The length L3 of each of the first connecting portion 150 and the second connecting portion 160 may be between 3 mm and 5 mm, inclusive. The total width (W4+W5) of the first connecting portion 150 and the second connection portion 160 may be between 3 mm and 4 mm, inclusive. The width of the gap G1 may be between 1 mm and 2 mm, inclusive.
In the mobile device 100 of the present invention, the antenna structure 130 can serve as a hidden antenna. That is, the antenna structure 130 can be integrated with the appearance edge portion of the mobile device 100 (e.g., the first nonconductive support member 110 may correspond to the “thickness” side of the mobile device 100). As will be seen with reference to
It is noted that the metal-free region 190 on the first nonconductive support member 110 may be reserved for use in adhering (or gluing) an appearance mechanism element of the mobile device 100. In such a design, the total width of the antenna structure 130 on the Y axis and the total height on the Z axis can be effectively reduced, so that desired miniaturization of the mobile device 100 can be achieved. The disclosed antenna structure 130 has good impedance matching and no additional antenna placement platform is needed. As such, the present invention can reduce manufacturing costs in connection with radio frequency (RF) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) solutions. At the same time, the overall weight of the mobile device 100 may be reduced.
In the embodiments of
A source (not shown) may be coupled to the feed point FP via coaxial cable 540 to excite antenna structure 130. Coaxial cable 540 includes a center conductor 541 and a conductive sheath 542. The center conductor 541 of the coaxial cable 540 is coupled to the feed point FP. Conductive sheath 542 of coaxial cable 540 is coupled to metal back cover 550 via metal foil 560. It is noted that the coaxial cable 540 is disposed between the display 510 and the second non-conducting support member 120 and is adjacent the metal back cover 550. Such a design can hide the coaxial cable 540 in the internal space of the mobile device 500, so as to avoid interference of the coaxial cable 540 with the antenna structure 130 and other elements of the mobile device 500. The metal foil 560 can be a grounded copper foil, which can be attached to the conductor housing 542 of the coaxial cable 540 and extend to the metal back cover 550. The metal back cover 550 is adjacent the first nonconductive support member 110, the second nonconductive support member 120, the antenna structure 130, and the display 510, so that the metal back cover 550 can be considered as a ground plane of the antenna structure 130. In this design, the metal back cover 550 does not interfere with the radiation pattern of the antenna structure 130, but can further enhance the radiation efficiency of the antenna structure 130.
Thus, the present invention proposes a novel mobile device that includes a hidden antenna structure. Such an antenna structure can be integrated with the metal back cover (piece A) or the display frame (piece B), and can effectively utilize the space of the appearance edge portion of the mobile device and its adjacent portion. In general, the present invention has at least a small size, a wide frequency band, a reduced manufacturing cost, reduced overall weight, and an aesthetically pleasing appearance for a mobile device, and is therefore very suitable for use in a variety of narrow-frame (thin) mobile communication devices.
The above description is intended by way of example only.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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107110286 A | Mar 2018 | TW | national |
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Number | Date | Country |
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201703350 | Jan 2017 | TW |
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TW Office Action, dated Mar. 8, 2019, 6 pages. |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20190296438 A1 | Sep 2019 | US |