Embodiments described herein relate generally to a system and an electronic device.
Recently, as a method for transmitting a signal between a plurality of devices at high speed, millimeter-wave communication using millimeter waves as carrier waves has become widespread. For example, millimeter-wave communication is used to transmit an interface signal in a detachable computer which detachably connects a tablet terminal and a keyboard. Some detachable computers can be selectively used as a notebook computer and a tablet computer by attaching one of the tablet terminal and the keyboard in reverse.
In millimeter-wave communication, the distance between a transmitting antenna for transmitting a signal and a receiving antenna for receiving a signal must be short to realize high-speed signal transmission because of the characteristics of millimeter waves. When millimeter-wave communication is used to transmit the interface signal between the tablet terminal and the keyboard in the detachable computer, the transmitting and receiving antennae for transmitting and receiving the interface signal are provided in both the tablet terminal and the keyboard within a distance in which high-speed signal transmission can be realized by millimeter-wave communication.
However, as described above, in the detachable computer, one of the tablet terminal and the keyboard may be reversed and connected. In this case, the transmitting and receiving antennae in the tablet terminal may be located away from those in the keyboard in a manner that the transmitting or receiving antenna in the tablet terminal cannot maintain the distance for realizing high-speed signal transmission in accordance with millimeter-wave communication with that in the keyboard. Thus, at least one of the tablet terminal and the keyboard comprises transmitting and receiving antennae used in a normal connection state, and transmitting and receiving antennae used in a reverse connection state. In this structure, even when one of the tablet terminal and the keyboard is reversed, the transmitting and receiving antennae provided in the tablet terminal and the keyboard can be located within a distance in which high-speed signal transmission can be realized in accordance with millimeter-wave communication. However, this structure increases the cost for producing the tablet terminal and the keyboard.
New technology is needed to solve the above problem.
A general architecture that implements the various features of the embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate the embodiments and not to limit the scope of the invention.
Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.
According to certain embodiments, a system includes a first electronic device and a second electronic device. The first electronic device is detachably and rotatably connected to the second electronic device. Each of the first and second electronic devices includes at least two pairs of antennae in order to transmit and receive a plurality of types of signals in accordance with millimeter-wave communication. The antennae has an antenna exclusively used for transmission and an antenna exclusively used for reception. The at least two pairs of antennae are arranged such that each antenna exclusively used for transmission respectively faces each corresponding antenna exclusively used for reception between the first and second electronic devices, and the antennae are bilaterally symmetrical with respect to an axis of rotation of the first and second electronic devices.
<First Embodiment>
When the detachable computer is used as the notebook computer as shown in
The tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 comprise antenna-integrated wireless transmitting and receiving chips (in other words, wireless transmitting and receiving chips having antennae built-in) for performing millimeter-wave communication. Various interface signals are transmitted in accordance with millimeter-wave communication using the antenna-integrated wireless transmitting and receiving chips between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20. Millimeter-wave communication is a communication system using millimeter waves as carrier waves. In general, it is known that millimeter waves have a very large absorption loss by atmospheric molecules, and a very large absorption loss and scattering loss by rain. Thus, in millimeter-wave communication using antennae, high-speed signal transmission can be realized only when the distance between the antennae is short. Specifically, the distance between the antennae is preferably less than or equal to 10 mm.
Now, this specification explains the arrangement of antenna-integrated wireless transmitting and receiving chips for realizing the high-speed transmission of interface signals in accordance with millimeter-wave communication in either the clamshell form shown in
The tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 comprise fixation mechanisms 12 and 22, respectively, for detachably connecting the devices 10 and 20. The tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 comprise antenna-integrated wireless transmitting and receiving chips 11a to 11d and 21a to 21d used for transmitting and receiving the interface signal on the fixation mechanisms 12 and 22 sides, respectively. In the following explanation, of the antenna-integrated wireless transmitting and receiving chips, the chips exclusively used to transmit the interface signal are called TX chips. The chips exclusively used to receive the interface signal are called RX chips.
As explained above, because of the characteristics of millimeter-wave communication, the distance between antennae must be short (specifically, less than or equal to 10 mm) to transmit the interface signal at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication. Thus, the TX chips must be provided so as to face the RX chips between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20. In a case of the detachable computer, the TX chips must face the RX chips between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 in both the clamshell form and the tablet form. In consideration of the above matters, in the present embodiment, the TX chips and the RX chips are arranged as shown in
Specifically, as shown in
The arrangement of the TX and RX chips for realizing the high-speed transmission of the interface signal in accordance with millimeter-wave communication is not limited to that of
Now, this specification explains the structures of the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 in more detail with reference to
As shown in
The magnetic sensor 13 of the tablet terminal 10 is provided so as to face the magnet 23 of the keyboard dock 20 in one of the normal connection state and the reverse connection state. In the present embodiment, as shown in
Each of selectors 14a and 14b is connected to a corresponding antenna-integrated wireless transmitting and receiving chip pair 11. Specifically, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
When the first selector 14a receives the input of the first switching signal from the magnetic sensor 13, the first selector 14a selects the USB-compatible portion 15a (specifically, the signal line connected to the USE-compatible portion 15a) compatible with the interface conforming to the USB standard. Thus, the TX signal related to the interface conforming to the USB standard is transmitted to the keyboard dock 20 by TX chip 11a via signal line 16a, and is received by RX chip 21a of the keyboard dock 20. The RX signal related to the interface conforming to the USB standard is transmitted from TX chip 21b of the keyboard dock 20, is received by RX chip 11b of the tablet terminal 10, and is transmitted to the USB-compatible portion 15a of the chip set 15 via signal line 16b.
When the second selector 14b receives the input of the second switching signal from the magnetic sensor 13, the second selector 14b selects the PCIe-compatible portion 15b (specifically, the signal line connected to the PCIe-compatible portion 15b) compatible with the interface conforming to the PCI Express standard. Thus, the RX signal related to the interface conforming to the PCI Express standard is transmitted from TX chip 21c of the keyboard dock 20, is received by RX chip 11c of the tablet terminal 10, and is transmitted to the PCIe-compatible portion 15b of the chip set 15 via signal line 16g. The TX signal related to the interface conforming to the PCI Express standard is transmitted to the keyboard dock 20 by TX chip 11d via signal line 16h, and is received by RX chip 21d of the keyboard dock 20.
As described above, when the state of connection between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 is the normal connection state, the interface signal can be transmitted at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication.
Now, this specification explains the reverse connection state with reference to
When the state of connection between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 is the reverse connection state as shown in
When the first selector 14a receives the input of the second switching signal from the magnetic sensor 13, the first selector 14a selects the PCIe-compatible portion 15b (specifically, the signal line connected to the PCIe-compatible portion 15b) compatible with the interface conforming to the PCI Express standard. Thus, the TX signal related to the interface conforming to the PCI Express standard is transmitted to the keyboard dock 20 by TX chip 11a via signal line 16c, and is received by RX chip 21d of the keyboard dock 20. The RX signal related to the interface conforming to the PCI Express standard is transmitted from TX chip 21c of the keyboard dock 20, is received by RX chip 11b of the tablet terminal 10, and is transmitted to the PCIe-compatible portion 15b of the chip set 15 via signal line 16d.
When the second selector 14b receives the input of the first switching signal from the magnetic sensor 13, the second selector 14b selects the USB-compatible portion 15a (the signal line connected to the USB-compatible portion 15a) compatible with the interface conforming to the USB standard. Thus, the RX signal related to the interface conforming to the USB standard is transmitted from TX chip 21b of the keyboard dock 20, is received by RX chip 11c of the tablet terminal 10, and is transmitted to the USB-compatible portion 15a of the chip set 15 via signal line 16e. The TX signal related to the interface conforming to the USB standard is transmitted to the keyboard dock 20 by TX chip 11d via signal line 16f, and is received by RX chip 21a of the keyboard dock 20.
As described above, even when the state of connection between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 is the reverse connection state, the interface signal can be transmitted at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication.
In the present embodiment, as shown in
In the present embodiment, as shown in
In the present embodiment, as shown in
In the present embodiment, the device detachably connected to the tablet terminal 10 is the keyboard dock 20. However, the device is not limited to this example, and may be an arbitrary device as long as it exchanges the interface signal with the tablet terminal 10.
In the detachable computer of the first embodiment explained above, the TX chips face the RX chips between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 such that they are bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the axis of rotation. With this structure, the TX chips (RX chips) provided in the tablet terminal 10 and the RX chips (TX chips) provided in the keyboard dock 20 are allowed to be located within a distance in which the interface signal can be transmitted at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication when the state of connection between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 is either the normal connection state or the reverse connection state. Thus, the interface signal can be transmitted at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication.
<Second Embodiment>
Now, this specification explains a second embodiment. In the present embodiment, each TX chip is not a separate element from an RX chip for transmitting an interface signal in accordance with millimeter-wave communication. Instead, the present embodiment comprises antenna-integrated wireless communication chips each having both the transmitting function of TX chips and the receiving function of RX chips. In this respect, the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment. Moreover, in the present embodiment, the interface signals transmittable between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 are the USB signal related to the interface conforming to the USB standard, and an HDMI signal related to an interface conforming to the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) standard. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in this respect as well. Further, the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in respect that the antenna-integrated wireless communication chips are allowed to switch the transmission mode between a USB signal transmission mode for transmitting the USB signal and an HDMI signal transmission mode for transmitting the HDMI signal. Thus, the present embodiment has the advantage that there is no need to provide the first or second selector 14a or 14b in the tablet terminal 10.
As shown in
Specifically, as shown in
The arrangement of the antenna-integrated wireless communication chips for transmitting the interface signal at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication is not limited to that shown in
Now, this specification explains the details of signal transmission between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 in the present embodiment with reference to
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
When antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17a receives the input of the above first mode switching signal from the magnetic sensor 13, antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17a sets the signal transmission mode to the USB signal transmission mode. In this way, the signal transmission mode of antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17a can be the USB signal transmission mode in the same manner as the opposite antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 24a on the keyboard dock 20 side as shown in
When antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17b receives the input of the above second mode switching signal from the magnetic sensor 13, antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17b sets the signal transmission mode to the HDMI signal transmission mode. In this way, the signal transmission mode of antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17b can be the HDMI signal transmission mode in the same manner as the opposite antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 24b on the keyboard dock 20 side as shown in
As described above, when the state of connection between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 is the normal connection state, the interface signal can be transmitted at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication.
This specification further explains a case of reverse connection state with reference to
When the state of connection between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 is the reverse connection state as shown in
When antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17a receives the input of the above second mode switching signal from the magnetic sensor 13, antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17a sets the signal transmission mode to the HDMI signal transmission mode. In this way, the signal transmission mode of antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17a can be the HDMI signal transmission mode in the same manner as the opposite antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 24b on the keyboard dock 20 side as shown in
When antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17b receives the input of the above first mode switching signal from the magnetic sensor 13, antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17b sets the signal transmission mode to the USB signal transmission mode. In this way, the signal transmission mode of antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 17b can be the USB signal transmission mode in the same manner as the opposite antenna-integrated wireless communication chip 24a on the keyboard dock 20 side as shown in
As described above, when the state of connection between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 is the reverse connection state, the interface signal can be transmitted at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication.
In the present embodiment, as shown in
The detachable computer of the second embodiment explained above comprises the antenna-integrated wireless communication chips in which the transmitting antenna portions face the receiving antenna portions between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 such that they are bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the axis of rotation. With this structure, when the state of connection between the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 is either the normal connection state or the reverse connection state, the transmitting antenna portions (receiving antenna portions) of the antenna-integrated wireless communication chips provided in the tablet terminal 10 and the receiving antenna portions (transmitting antenna portions) of the antenna-integrated wireless communication chips provided in the keyboard dock 20 can be located within a distance allowed to transmit the interface signal at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication. Thus, the interface signal can be transmitted at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication.
According to at least one of the above embodiments, even when one of the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20 does not comprise transmitting and receiving antennae for the normal connection state and transmitting and receiving antennae for the reverse connection state, the interface signal can be transmitted at high speed in accordance with millimeter-wave communication in either connection state. In this way, it is possible to decrease the cost for manufacturing the tablet terminal 10 and the keyboard dock 20.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/275,748, filed Jan. 6, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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