Computing devices include wireless antennas to transmit information between electronic devices that are not physically connected to one another. Antennas wirelessly communicate with other antennas through a wireless network. Different wireless networks include different communication protocols and the antennas that are a part of a wireless network communicate in compliance with those protocols. One example of a wireless network is a wireless local area network (WLAN). Another example of a wireless network is a global positioning system (GPS) network. A computing device includes a respective antenna for each wireless network through which it communicates. For example, an electronic device with a Wi-Fi antenna may transmit and receive data via the Wi-Fi network. If the electronic device includes a GPS antenna it may also communicate via a GPS network.
The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of the principles described herein and are part of the specification. The illustrated examples are given merely for illustration, and do not limit the scope of the claims.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.
Computing devices include any number of antennas to facilitate wireless communication. For example, a computing device may include a Wi-Fi antenna which allows the electronic device to transmit and receive information via a Wi-Fi network. As another example, the computing device may include an LTE antenna that allows the computing device to transmit and receive information via an LTE network. As yet another example, the computing device may include a global positioning system (GPS) antenna to determine, transmit, and receive position information for the computing device and other computing devices.
While wireless communication has undoubtedly shaped the way in which society communicates with one another, some characteristics limit their more thorough implementation. For example, to increase network coverage, access points, base stations, and GPS satellites are generally placed at high elevation positions above electronic device users. Accordingly, to increase signal strength, a computing device antenna may be pointed in a generally upward direction. However, antennas in computing devices may be static, meaning that they don't move relative to the computing device in which it is housed. Accordingly, as the orientation of the computing device changes, it may be the case that an antenna is directed in a sub-optimal direction for communication with the receiving device, i.e., access point, base station, and/or GPS satellite, which communicates with the antenna.
Take for example, a laptop computing device. The orientation of the antenna may be different when the laptop is in an open mode as compared to when the laptop is in a tablet mode. Accordingly, antenna position may be selected for maximum radiation when in one particular position. However, the computing device and antenna may be operated in a variety of other positions. While in any of these other positions, the antenna may be pointed in a sub-optimal direction for which wireless performance is compromised. Accordingly, the present specification describes computing devices with antennas that ensure a desired position of the antenna, even as the computing device is moved between different positions.
Specifically, the present specification describes a computing device with a housing and a rotatable antenna disposed within the housing. The rotatable antenna is to rotate such that a direction of radiation for the rotatable antenna is maintained in a single direction as the housing rotates.
In another example, the computing device includes the housing and the rotatable housing disposed within the housing. As before, in this example, the rotatable antenna is to rotate such that a direction of radiation is maintained in a single direction as the housing rotates. In this example, a weighted portion of the rotatable antenna maintains the direction of radiation in the single direction as the housing rotates.
In another example, the computing device includes the housing and the rotatable housing disposed within the housing. In this example, the rotatable antenna is magnetic. A magnet disposed in the housing is to rotate the rotatable antenna when the rotatable antenna is within a magnetic field of the magnet.
As used in the present specification and in the appended claims, the term “normal” as in a normal direction refers to a direction that is perpendicular to a surface at a given point. For example, the normal direction from a conductive pattern refers to a direction that is perpendicular from the surface of the conductive pattern.
Turning now to the figures,
The computing device 100 includes a housing 102 that houses the various components of the computing device 100. In some examples, the housing 102 may include a hinge. For example, the computing device 100 may be a laptop computer with an upper half to house a display device and a bottom half to house an input device such as a keyboard and/or a touch sensitive surface.
The computing device 100 also includes a rotatable antenna 104 that is disposed within the housing 102. That is, the rotatable antenna 104 is not external to the housing 102 and connected via a port, but is rather integrated with the housing 102. In one particular example, the rotatable antenna 104 is disposed entirely within the housing 102 of the computing device 100.
As described above, the rotatable antenna 104 allows the computing device 100 to wirelessly communicate with other devices. As such, the rotatable antenna 104 is associated with a direction of radiation. The direction of radiation refers to the direction from which radio frequency (RF) signals are emitted from the rotatable antenna 104. In general, this direction of radiation is normal to a radiating portion of the rotatable antenna 104. The direction of radiation is maintained in desired directions via the rotatable antenna 104. For example, the direction of radiation may be maintained in an upward direction, which may be a desired direction for communication with receiving devices such as an access point, a base station, or a GPS satellite. In an example, the upward direction may refer to a direction away from a surface of the earth, or opposite the force of gravity. In another example, the direction of radiation may be maintained away from the housing 102. For example, if an antenna 104 is disposed in a base of a laptop computing device and the laptop is shut, an upwardly pointing antenna 104 may experience signal degradation due to the impedance of transmission via the lid of the laptop blocking the antenna. Accordingly, the rotatable antenna 104 is to rotate such that a direction of radiation is maintained in a desired direction, and in some examples a single direction, as the housing 102 rotates.
The rotatable antenna 104 may be any variety of types, wherein a type indicates a wireless network that the rotatable antenna 104 is associated with. For example, the rotatable antenna 104 may be a Wi-Fi antenna, an LTE antenna, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) antenna, a wireless local area network (WLAN) antenna, or a GPS antenna. While particular reference is made to specific types of antenna, the rotatable antenna 104 may be of any of a variety of types to communicate via any number of wireless networks. Moreover, while the computing device 100 is depicted with a single rotatable antenna 104, the computing device 100 may include multiple rotatable antennas 104 disposed within the housing 102 such that the computing device 100 may communicate via a variety of wireless protocols.
Surrounding the inner rod 206 is an outer shell 210. The outer shell 210 includes a conductive pattern 212 formed on the outside surface of the outer shell 210. The conductive pattern 212 may be a radiator for the rotatable antenna 104. Radio frequency waves are emitted normal, that is perpendicular and away, from this conductive pattern 212. That is, a maximum antenna radiation is in a direction normal to the conductive pattern 212. Similar to the inner rod, the outer shell 210 may be a plastic body such as ABS plastic doped with a metallic compound. In this example, the conductive pattern 212 may be formed via laser direct structuring (LDS) on the outer shell 210 body. In this example, a laser may transfer the conductive pattern 212 directly onto the molded outer shell 210 body. That is, the material of the outer shell 210 may be ABS plastic doped with a conductive material. Specifically, where the laser beam hits the plastic, the metal additive forms the conductive pattern 212. As depicted in
As depicted in
That is, in this example, the rotatable antenna 104 directs the direction of radiation upward for those scenarios where a desired transmitting and receiving is upward, for example, when transmitting and receiving from base stations, access points, and GPS satellites which may be higher in elevation than the computing device 100. That is, to provide enhanced coverage, receiving devices such as base stations and access points may be placed at higher positions. Accordingly, to enhance the communication with these highly positioned receiving devices, it may be desirable to maintain the direction of radiation upward. To have the direction of radiation facing these high elevation positions, the rotatable antenna 104 may have different weight distributions. For example, a weighted portion 314 of the outer shell 210 may be heavier than other portions of the outer shell. Accordingly, when the computing device 100 rotates, the outer shell 210 rotates relative to the computing device 100 housing 102 due to the force of gravity pulling the weighted portion 314 down. As depicted in
The weighted portion 314 may be formed in any variety of ways. For example, the weighted portion 314 may be doped with a metal material that is heavier than remaining portions of the outer shell 210. Such a material may be metallic and may be selected so as to not interfere with the antenna signal transmission. In this example, the outer shell 210 may be formed by a dual-injection molded process. During one process, an ABS material doped with the heavier material to form the weighted portion 314 is injected into a mold, followed by injection of a less densely doped ABS for remaining portions of the outer shell 210.
In another example, material of the weighted portion 314 is a different material than remaining portions of the rotatable antenna 104. That is, rather than injecting ABS doped with the heavier material, the heavier material itself may be injected into a mold, followed by injection of the conductive material-infused ABS which forms the remaining portions of the outer shell 210 and from which the conductive pattern 212 is formed.
In this example, the rotatable antennas 104-1, 104-2 may be disposed in the upper half 516 of the housing 102. Note that while
As described above, the rotatable antennas 104 may be disposed within the housing 102. In
Specifically, as depicted in
As depicted in
As the computing device 100 continues along its rotational path through to a tablet mode as depicted in
Thus, the present computing device 100 ensures a desired antenna position throughout the various rotational positions of the computing device 100. In this example, this is performed by weighting a portion of a freely-rotating outer shell 210 of a rotatable antenna 104 to ensure the direction of radiation is in a desired direction.
In this example, the computing device 100 includes a magnet 724 disposed in the housing 102. The magnet 724 rotates the rotatable antenna 104 when the rotatable antenna 104 is within a magnetic field of the magnet 724. That is, in this example, rather than being rotated by the force of gravity, the rotatable antenna 104 is rotated by a magnetic force.
In this example, the rotatable antenna 104 is rotatable to keep the direction of radiation pointed away from the housing 102. That is, antennas that are directed towards the housing 102 may have reduced performance as the housing 102 body as well as components within the housing 102 may impede the transmission and reception of RF waves. Accordingly, by ensuring that the direction of radiation is away from the housing 102, wireless communication is enhanced by reducing the effect of impeding bodies on the RF transmission.
Take as an example, when a laptop computer is in a closed position. In this example, were the rotatable antenna 104 to point upward, communication may be impeded by the lid of the laptop computer. Accordingly, a magnet 724 directs the rotatable antenna 104 away from the lid and instead directs it outward such that wireless communication is not impeded by the upper half of the computing device 100 nor the components found in the upper half.
In some examples, the weighted portion 314 may have a magnetic polarization that is different than the magnetic polarization of the other portions of the rotatable antenna 104. That is, as described above, the weighted portion 314 may have a magnetic pole designated as a south pole, “S” and remaining portions of the outer shell 210 may have a magnetic pole designated as a north pole, “N”. Once the magnet 724 is placed near the outer shell 210, the compelling force of the magnet 724 may rotate the outer shell 210 as the outer shell 210 is not fixed to the inner rod 206. Accordingly, as the outer shell 210 rotates, so does the conductive pattern 212 and the associated direction of radiation.
The weighted portion 314 may be magnetized in any variety of ways. For example, the weighted portion 314 may be doped with magnetic particles. In this example, the outer shell 210 may be formed by a dual-injection molded process. During one process, an ABS material is doped with the heavier material to form the weighted portion 314 and also with magnetic particles to magnetize the weighted portion 314. This heavier and magnetic fluid is injected into a mold, followed by injection of a less densely doped ABS without magnetic particles for remaining portions of the outer shell 210.
In this example, the rotatable antenna 104 is disposed in the bottom half 518 of the housing 102. Note that while
As described above, the rotatable antenna 104 may be disposed within the housing 102. In
However, as depicted in
Accordingly, as depicted in
A similar effect is depicted in
In this example, an upper half 516 of the computing device 100 may block transmission of waves out of the rotatable antenna 104 as depicted in
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2020/055705 | 10/15/2020 | WO |