Patent Application
20240223234
The present disclosure relates to a substrate connection structure for a communication device mounted on a vehicle.
Communication devices are becoming increasingly multi-functional, and necessary communication functions are selected by dividing communication device substrates and combining the substrates.
According to at least one embodiment, a substrate connection structure for a vehicle-mounted communication device includes a network access device having at least a wireless communication function a main substrate on which the network access device is mounted, an antenna be used for the wireless communication performed by the network access device, and an RF connector, which is mounted on the main substrate, connected to the antenna. The main substrate is connected to a sub substrate having an optional communication function via a coaxial connector in a vertically overlapping manner. The antenna is used for the optional communication function performed by the sub substrate. The antenna is connected to the optional communication function via the coaxial connector when the main substrate is connected to the sub substrate.
The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
The above and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
To begin with, examples of relevant techniques will be described.
In general, as vehicles become more multi-functional, variety of types of wireless communications carried out in vehicles is also increasing, and the number of communication devices installed therein also tends to increase accordingly. Therefore, in order to reduce the mounting space and weight of these devices, integration of communication devices such as telephones, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and GNSS (i.e., Global Navigation Satellite System) is being promoted. Furthermore, since wireless communication system specifications differ from country to country, patterns of combining communication functions are increasing.
For example, to accommodate such an increase in the number of communication function combination patterns, a communication device in a first comparative example is modularized and mounted on a sub substrate to accommodate differences in broadcast frequencies and specifications of each country for radio tuners installed in vehicles, and the sub substrate connected to a main substrate can be replaced. Furthermore, a communication device of a second comparative example is designed to be smaller and thinner in a configuration in which a sub substrate on which a wireless module is similarly mounted is mounted on a main device.
However, in the communication device of the first comparative example, since two antenna connectors for the tuner are mounted on the sub substrate, space is required to align the connectors on the sub substrate, and an overall size of the communication device becomes large.
In addition, the communication device of the second comparative example has a thinner profile by mounting a short coaxial connector on the sub substrate, but it has a configuration in which the external antenna is connected to the coaxial connector from a top or bottom of the product. Therefore, the benefits of thinning cannot be fully obtained.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a substrate connection structure for a vehicle-mounted communication device includes a network access device having at least a wireless communication function a main substrate on which the network access device is mounted, an antenna be used for the wireless communication performed by the network access device, and an RF connector, which is mounted on the main substrate, connected to the antenna. The main substrate is connected to a sub substrate having an optional communication function via a coaxial connector in a vertically overlapping manner. The antenna is used for the optional communication function performed by the sub substrate. The antenna is connected to the optional communication function via the coaxial connector when the main substrate is connected to the sub substrate.
With this configuration, there is no need to provide a connector for connecting an optional antenna for communication on the sub substrate, so the sub substrate can be configured to be compact. The main substrate and the sub substrate overlap vertically when the sub substrate is connected to the main substrate. Therefore, a thickness of a structure connected to the main substrate and the sub substrate can be reduced.
As shown in
The main substrate 1 is mounted a NAD (i.e., Network Access Device) 3, a main connector 4 for connecting various communication interfaces (I/F) with an outside, and RF connectors 151, 152 to which antennas are connected, and circuit components 6. The NAD 3 is a functional unit that performs general cellular wireless communication.
Further, the main substrate 1 is equipped with a first coaxial connector 7F for transmitting high frequency signals between it and the sub substrate 2. The coaxial connector 7F is for example a coaxial connector for board-to-board connection. The RF connectors 151, 152 are connected to the first coaxial connector 7F by a wiring pattern.
On the other hand, on a surface of the sub substrate 2, a wireless module 8, which is a functional unit that performs V2X (i.e., Vehicle to X) communication, is mounted. There are two methods of the V2X, DSRC and C-V2X, and a communication frequency is, for example, from several 100 MHz to several GHz. Further, on a back surface of the sub substrate 2, a second coaxial connector 7M connected to the first coaxial connector 7F of the main substrate 1 is mounted.
In addition, as shown in
A backup battery (i.e., BUB) 19 is connected to the main substrate 1 via a power supply connector 20. A power from a BUB 19 supplies backup power to each electronic component of the main substrate 1 and the sub substrate 2 via the BUB controller 21 and a power supply unit 22.
The Wi-Fi module 13 is connected to the antennas 231, 232 for the Wi-Fi communication, and the Wi-Fi module 13 communicates with the CPU 11 within the main substrate 1. Although not shown in
Furthermore, an audio I/F 27 is connected to the NAD 3 via a codec 28, and an IMU (i.e., Inertial Measurement Unit) 29, an eSIM 30 that is a SIM (i.e., Subscriber Identity Module) card are also connected. The NAD 3 communicates with the CPU 11. The CPU 11 are connected to an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface 31 indicated as “ETH PHY” in
As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the SCU 50, the sub substrate 2, which is equipped with an optional communication function, is vertically connected to the main substrate 1, which is equipped with at least a cellular communication function, via the coaxial connector 7. That is, the main substrate and the sub substrate are connected to each other in an overlapping state in an up-down direction. The main substrate 1 is equipped with the RF connectors 151, 152 for connecting antennas 241, 242 used for the wireless communication performed by the communication function of the NAD 3 and the sub substrate 2. The antennas 241, 242 are connected to the wireless module 8 of the sub substrate 2 via the coaxial connector 7 when the sub substrate 2 is connected to the main substrate 1.
With this configuration, there is no need to provide a connector for connecting an optional antenna for communication on the sub substrate 2, so the sub substrate 2 can be configured to be compact. The main substrate 1 and the sub substrate 2 overlap vertically when the sub substrate 2 is connected to the main substrate 1. Therefore, a thickness of the SCU 50, which is the connected structure, can be reduced.
Further, in the present embodiment, the optional communication function is, for example, the V2X communication function. The V2X communication is central to a development of connected car technology and next-generation mobility, and is a communication technology that collectively refers to connections and mutual cooperation between vehicles, pedestrians, infrastructure, etc. However, at present, an installation rate of the V2X communication in vehicles is low, and specifications vary from country to country. Therefore, if it is assumed that only the main substrate 1 will be compatible with the V2X communication, there will be many variations, which will increase the number of development steps and complicate production management, leading to an overall increase in costs. Therefore, by making the V2X communication available as an option, the option supports future versatility and expandability.
Hereinafter, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are assigned the same reference numerals, and explanations thereof are omitted. Differences from the first embodiment will be described. In an SCU 51 of a second embodiment, a function of an NAD 53 mounted on a main substrate 52 is slightly different from that of the NAD 3. The NAD 53 has a built-in C-V2X communication function and the GNSS function, which is a global positioning satellite system, and these functions are executed alternatively.
In
On the other hand, as shown in
As shown in
As described above, according to the second embodiment, the optional communication function mounted on the sub substrate 57 is the GNSS receiver 58, which has higher accuracy than the GNSS function unit 54 included in the NAD 53 of the main substrate 52. With this configuration, manufacturing cost of the main substrate 52 can be reduced, and when a more accurate communication function is required, the sub substrate 57 can be connected to the main substrate 52.
When the sub substrate 57 is connected to the main substrate 52, the NAD 53 disables the GNSS function unit 54 and uses the satellite positioning results obtained from the GNSS receiver 58 of the sub substrate 57 for communications performed by the C-V2X communication function unit 55. This allows the NAD 53 to utilize the satellite positioning results with the precision necessary for its own C-V2X communication.
The communication protocol to be used may be selected as appropriate depending on an individual design. The optional communication function is not limited to the V2X. The peripheral circuits of the NAD mounted on the main substrate may also be selected as appropriate.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and constructions. To the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover various modification and equivalent arrangements. In addition, while the various elements are shown in various combinations and configurations, which are exemplary, other combinations and configurations, including more, less or only a single element, are also within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-165488 | Oct 2021 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2022/033724 filed on Sep. 8, 2022, which designated the U.S. and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-165488 filed on Oct. 7, 2021. The entire disclosures of all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP22/33724 | Sep 2022 | WO |
| Child | 18602950 | US |
