Patent Application
20060099993
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable hand-held electronic device and, more particularly, to a cover having a movable section with an antenna.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
A current trend with portable hand-held mobile telephones is towards providing the telephones with metallic covers. Metallic covers makes antenna design very challenging since metallic covers act like a Faraday box. Thus, no radiation is going in or out from the terminal. With multimedia devices becoming more and more multifunctional in a radio communications perspective, new area(s) for the antennas are needed. Lower frequency radio signals need more distance from a ground plane of the device to work properly. These radio systems include, for example, AM-radio, FM-radio and DVB-H digital television signals. It has been studied several years to integrate an FM antenna inside of a mobile telephone, but with no success. When more distance is gained from a ground plane then the internal antenna performance is increased towards external FM-antenna performance. Currently, FM-radio reception in a multifunction mobile telephone device is done with an external antenna by using headset wires as an antenna.
The Nokia model 7700 Mobile Media Terminal, available from Nokia Corporation of Finland, provides mobile telephone features as well as Internet browsing and FM radio reception. In current Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), movable protective covers are sometimes provided which do not have any other function other than to protect a display screen. Protective covers are widely used in PDA devices to protect expensive display units. This is one of the biggest risks in media devices; how to make display protection easily and cheaply.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a portable hand-held electronic device is provided including a first section having electronic circuitry with a ground plane and a first antenna adapted to communicate with a mobile telephone system; and a second section movably connected to the first section. The second section includes a second frequency antenna forming a non-cellular telephone antenna. The previously mentioned AM, FM and DVB systems are operating with lower frequencies than currently widely used cellular telephone systems. All other than cellular communication systems are considered as a non-cellular systems. Currently, the following non-cellular systems have been integrated into mobile terminals: GPS (Global Positioning System), Bluetooth connectivity, WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) and new systems will be integrated in the future. The second antenna is operably coupled to the electronic circuitry in the first section, and the second antenna is movable with the second section away from the ground plane as the second section is moved relative to the first section.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a protective cover for a portable hand-held electronic device is provided comprising a first cover section which is sized and shaped to cover at least a portion of the portable hand-held electronic device; a movable section adapted to move relative to the first cover section at a movable junction; a first non-cellular antenna connected to the movable section to move with the movable section; and a connection extending from the non-cellular antenna through the movable junction for connection to electronic circuitry in the portable hand-held electronic device. The non-cellular antenna is adapted to be moved away from the first cover section when the movable section is moved away from the first cover section to thereby move the non-cellular antenna away from a ground plane of the portable hand-held electronic device located inside the first cover section.
In accordance with one method of the present invention, a method of assembling a portable hand-held electronic device is provided comprising providing a main section of the portable hand-held electronic device with a first cellular mobile telephone antenna and a ground plane; providing a cover of the portable hand-held electronic device with a movable section having a second frequency non-cellular telephone antenna; and coupling the second antenna to electronic circuitry in the main section of the portable hand-held electronic device through a movable connection of the movable section to the main section, wherein the movable section is adapted to be moved away from the main section to move the second antenna away from the ground plane.
The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring to
In the embodiment shown in
The device 10 preferably also comprises components for communication with at least one additional communications system. The additional communications system preferably communicates by a wireless link on a radio frequency which may operate with lower that the radio frequency used for the mobile telephone communications system. For example, the device 10 can comprise a Frequency Modulation (FM) radio receiver, and/or a Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) receiver, such as DVB-H or DVB-T receiver. As another example, the device could alternatively or additionally comprise a Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) system. The device 10 may also comprise an antenna 21 for sending and/or receiving communication signals in this additional communications system. In this case the signals can be combined from the antennas 21 and 28. The suitable signal combination can be done either as an antenna diversity combination or as an antenna selection. The antenna selection means that stronger antenna signal is selected. The antenna selection is used if the alternative antenna is not at place, or antenna 21 is used if there is no antenna 28. The diversity combination means that both antenna signals are used for future signal processing. The actual combination can be done with several criteria as a maximum ratio combining, direct summing, summing the power of the signals, etc. The mobile telephone antenna 18 is not adapted to send or receive the non-cellular frequency communication signals of the additional communications system. Instead, the antenna connector 26 is adapted to connect at least one second antenna 28 (see
Referring now also to
The second cover section 34 comprises a flap which is adapted to fold over the opening 38 at a rotatable or folding joint or junction 40 between the first and second cover sections 32, 34. Thus, the second cover section 34 can protect the display 14 and keys 16 when the second cover section is located in a closed, folded position over the first cover section 32. The second cover section 34, in addition to functioning as a protective cover for the display 14 and keys 16, also performs another function. In particular, the second cover section 34 comprises the second antenna 28. The second antenna 28 is a non-cellular antenna. Specifically, the second antenna 28 is tuned to communicate over a frequency different than the mobile telephone antenna 18, For example, the second antenna 28 could comprise an FM radio antenna, a DVB antenna, or an RF-ID antenna. In a preferred embodiment, the second antenna 28 comprises a flexible printed wiring board (FPWB), such as a flex cable. Flex cables, such as flexible flat conductor cable (FFC) or flexible printed circuit cable (FPC) are generally well known. The present invention can use a flex cable as the antenna 28. In an alternate embodiment, the antenna 28 could comprise an ordinary PWB which functions as the antenna rather than a flexible PWB. As another alternative, any suitable type of antenna could be used as the second antenna 28.
The cover 30 could be comprised of any suitable material such as fabric, leather, or a plastic or polymer member(s), or a combination of materials. The second antenna 28 is preferably inserted into the second cover section 34 or the second cover section can be formed over the second antenna 28. A connection 42 extends from the second antenna 28 to an electrical connector 44 in the first cover section 32. The connection 42 extends across the junction 40 and is adapted to bend without breaking when the second cover section 34 is moved relative to the first cover section 32 between its open and closed positions. The junction 40 could comprise a hinge and the connection 42 could be adapted to withstand the mechanical forces present during opening and closing of the hinge 40.
The connector 44 is adapted to connect to the antenna connector 26 of the device 10 when the device 10 is inserted into the receiving area 36. Thus, when the device 10 is inserted into the cover 30 the second antenna 28 is coupled with the electronics in the device 10. When the device 10 is inserted into the cover 30 the second antenna 28 combines with the electronic circuitry in the device 10 for sending and/or receiving communication signals with the second frequency additional communications system, such as receiving and playing FM radio broadcast signals and/or DVB television broadcast signals.
In one embodiment of the invention antenna 28 can operate with the same frequency as normal cellular antenna. However, it is a problem when two antennas are operating at the same frequency. If the antennas are too close to each other or there is not enough antenna isolation between the antennas, over all air interface performance is degraded. This is due to a phenomena where one antenna is transmitting a signal and second antenna in the same device is receiving a transmitted signal and feeding this signal to ground. No radiation is transmitted to the base station at all. It is advantageous that a diversity antenna is not close to another antenna operating at the same frequency.
In this case the antenna 28 can be used as a diversity antenna for cellular communications. This kind of diversity antenna for cellular communications is will be a cellular operator requirement. The diversity antenna increases the cell range. This way, less base stations are needed to cover a wider geographical area. When the diversity antenna is used, better sensitivity can be reached. This is advantageous for CDMA systems since terminal sensitivity has direct impact on how many users may talk at the same time. With better sensitivity, more users or better data rates for the users can be provided. The cellular signal from the antennas 18 and 28 can be combined in several ways. The easiest way is make an antenna selection based upon which antenna has the stronger signal.
Referring also to
Referring now to
The protective cover 50 generally comprises a fabric and or leather cover with a first section 56 and a second section 58. The first section 56 substantially surrounds the device 48 with suitable openings for the user to see the display 52 and access the control buttons 54. The second section 58 comprises a flap attached to the top back side of the first section 56.
In this embodiment, the second section 58 comprises pockets which can be used to hold items such as credit cards 62. However, in an alternate embodiment, the pockets need not be provided. The second section 58 also comprises a second antenna 64. The second antenna 64 is a non-cellular antenna. Specifically, the second antenna 64 is tuned to communicate over other frequency than the mobile telephone antenna in the device 48. For example, the second antenna 64 could comprise a FM radio antenna, a DVB television antenna, or an RF-ID antenna. In a preferred embodiment, the second antenna 64 comprises a flexible printed wiring board (PWB), such as a flex cable. The protective cover 50 comprises an antenna connector 66 which connects the second antenna 64 to the electronic circuitry in the device 48 when the device is inserted into the receiving area of the first section 56. The second antenna 64 could be provided to supplement or switch from a smaller, non-cellular frequency antenna already existing in the device 48.
Referring now to
The second section 76 in addition to forming a desk stand for the protective cover also comprises a second antenna 86. The second antenna 86 is a non-cellular antenna. Specifically, the second antenna 86 is tuned to communicate over another frequency different than the mobile telephone antenna in the device 70 (i.e., lower than 450 Mhz for example). For example, the second antenna 86 could comprise a FM radio antenna, a DVB television antenna, or an RF-ID antenna. The device 70 comprises an electrical connector which is connected to the second antenna 86 when the device 70 is inserted into the first section 74. The device 70 comprises a metal housing. Thus, location of the second antenna 86 outside of the metal housing allows better reception by the antenna. The metal housing also forms a portion of a ground plane for the device 70. Thus, movement of the second section 76 to its open position moves the second antenna 86 away from the ground plane of the device 70 for better reception and/or transmission of lower frequency signals (i.e., below 450 Mhz for example). In another embodiment, the second antenna 86 could be located in the flap 78. In other embodiment the flap 78 could include the second antenna 86 and the flap 78 could be opened to the position of the second section 76 shown in the figure. In this case, the second section 76 could be the same part as the flap 78 which can be moved from a display protection position to a desk stand position.
Referring now to
The second section 94 is pivotably connected to the first section 92 by a hinge system 110. The second section 94 comprises a housing 112 preferably comprised of a molded plastic or polymer material. In this embodiment, the second section 94 comprises two antennas 114, 116 therein. The antennas 114, 116 are attenuated or tuned to frequencies lower than the mobile telephone frequencies of the antenna 100. In a preferred embodiment, the antennas 114, 116 are also attenuated or tuned to two frequencies which are different from each other. For example, the antenna 114 could be tuned to FM radio broadcast frequencies and the antenna 116 could be tuned to DVB television frequencies. The antennas 114, 116 are connected to the electronic circuitry 96 in the first section 92 by connections 118, 120 which through the hinge system 110.
The can comprise placing a non-cellular antenna(s) with a protective cover to a display. The protective cover can be made from non-metallic material (i.e., fabric, leather, plastics or polymer material) and the antenna itself can be made as a flexible Printed Wiring Board (PWB), such as a flex cable, or as normal PWB.
The invention can comprise placing one or more non-cellular antennas into the protective cover for a display. This kind of protective cover can be used in a PDA device to protect an expensive display unit. The idea of the invention can be embodied by integrating one or more antennas with a protective flap. It is advantageous to make the antenna protective cover open such as by a flap movement to create more distance to the ground plane of the mobile terminal. This is needed especially in digital TV reception (Digital Video Broadcast; DVB-T or DVB-H) since in future expected products antenna performance for digital TV will be needed to be improved.
The non-cellular antenna can be in a credit card flap, but this might not be desirable since credit cards may degrade antenna performance. When the non-cellular antenna design opening is done smartly, then the non-cellular antenna can be used for other purposes, such as a desk stand of the device in TV usage. This can improve TV reception. This way the non-cellular antenna can be moved far from the terminal ground plane.
According to one aspect of the invention, the opening part of a cover is an antenna part, and several antennas can be integrated to this section of the device. Examples of most probably non-cellular antennas are FM-radio, DVB-H and Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) antennas which can be placed to this section of the product. The antenna feeding signals need to be routed to and/or from the flap part, such as similar to signal routing done in the Nokia Communicator products sold by Nokia Corporation or other clam shell type mobile telephone or expandable/collapsible type electronic device having a mobile phone capability. A bottom connector can also be provided which can be used as a connector for an external FM-antenna (such as a headset antenna).
With the present invention, the protective cover has more functions than just an extra moving part. More antenna area is provided in a movable cover section for the antenna and, more importantly, the lower frequency antenna(s) can be moved away from the ground plane of the mobile telephone terminal. The protective cover can be designed as a desk stand which provides a good position for digital TV reception. Signals to and from the antenna cover are preferably routed via a hinge system. With the present invention a shared antenna functionality can be provided between an antenna of the device and the antenna in the openable part (such as a cover or an openable part of the device). Cellular telephone antenna diversity can be provided with multiple antennas in a single device or a device and cover combination. Features of the present invention (namely a second different frequency antenna in a movable part such as a cover for example) could also be used with other non-cellular connections, such as GPS, WLAN and Bluetooth for example.
It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
