Patent Application
20160149285
Transmission lines may generally be designed to carry, for example, alternating current or radio frequency signals. One of the most common types of transmission line is a coaxial cable. Transmission lines are commonly used in mobile devices (e.g., phones) to transmit a signal from a controller circuit to one or more antenna circuits in a mobile telephone. As a result, the signal transmission line may be configured to transmit signals with a wide range of frequencies. For example, signal transmission line can be configured to carry signals for a Bluetooth antenna, a Wi-Fi antenna, or a mobile communications antenna operating at various frequencies. While robust, coaxial cables can be too bulky for use in mobile devices. Another type of signal transmission line is a stripline signal transmission line. In the stripline structure, a signal line can be sandwiched between an upper and a lower grounding conductor with an insulating material disposed between the conductors and the signal line. The insulating material of a substrate can form the dielectric. The width of the signal line, the thickness of the substrate, and the relative permittivity of the substrate can determine the characteristic impedance of the stripline structure. There remains a need for improvements to signal transmission lines, especially for use in mobile devices.
Certain aspects, advantages and novel features of the embodiments of this disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment disclosed herein. Thus, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a manner that achieves or selects one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
In certain embodiments, a signal transmission line can include a signal conductor. The signal transmission line can further include a first array of split ring resonators positioned on a first side of an x-z plane that intersects a longitudinal axis of the signal conductor, wherein the x-z plane splits the signal conductor into a first side and a second side, wherein the x-z plane is substantially perpendicular to the signal conductor. Further, the signal transmission line can include a second array of split ring resonators positioned on a side opposite from the first side of the x-z plane. In some embodiments, the first array of split ring resonators partially overlaps with the first side of the signal conductor. Further, in some embodiments, the second array of split ring resonators partially overlaps with the second side of the signal conductor. The first array of split ring resonators and the second array of split ring resonators can be positioned in a x-y plane that is substantially parallel to the signal conductor.
The signal transmission line of the preceding paragraph can have any sub-combination of the following features: a dielectric material separating the signal conductor and the first array and the second array of split ring resonators; a first grounding conductor substantially coplanar with the first and the second arrays of split ring resonators; a second grounding conductor substantially coplanar with the signal conductor; a third grounding conductor substantially parallel to the signal conductor; a plurality of vias configured to electrically connect the first, second, and third grounding conductors; wherein the first array of split ring resonators is symmetrical to the second array of split ring resonators with respect to the x-z plane; wherein a thickness of the signal transmission line is less than or equal to 200 microns; wherein a width of the signal transmission line greater than or equal to 10 times a thickness of the signal transmission line; wherein an absolute value of an s-parameter of the signal transmission line is less than or equal to 1 dB for a first range of frequencies; wherein a first width of the signal conductor overlapping the first array of split ring resonators is greater than a second width of the signal conductor not overlapping the first array of split ring resonators; and wherein the split ring resonators comprise rectangular split ring resonators.
In certain embodiments, a signal transmission line can include an array of split ring resonators. The signal transmission line can also include a signal conductor including a first side of the signal conductor that is inside an area overlapping with the array of split ring resonators and a second side of the signal conductor that outside the area overlapping with the array of split ring resonators. The signal transmission line can further include an assembly body comprising dielectric material that provides a support structure for at least the split ring resonators and the signal conductor. In some embodiments, a first width of the first side of the signal conductor is greater than or equal to three times a second width of the second side of the signal conductor.
The signal transmission line of the preceding paragraph can have any sub-combination of the following features: wherein the array of split ring resonators is positioned on a non-intersecting plane with the signal conductor; wherein the array of split ring resonators partially overlaps with the signal conductor; a dielectric material separating the signal conductor and the array of split ring resonators; a first grounding conductor substantially coplanar with the array of split ring resonators; a second grounding conductor substantially coplanar with the signal conductor; a third grounding conductor substantially parallel to the signal conductor; a plurality of vias configured to electrically connect the first, second, and third grounding conductors; wherein the thickness of the signal transmission line is less than or equal to 200 microns; wherein a width of the signal transmission line greater than or equal to 10 times a thickness of the signal transmission line; wherein an absolute value of an s-parameter of the signal transmission line is less than or equal to 1 dB for a range of frequencies comprising a range of 4 GHz to 7 GHz.
In certain embodiments, a signal transmission line can include a signal conductor configured to carry signals of a first range of frequencies. The signal transmission line can also include a first array of split ring resonators partially overlapping the signal conductor. Further, the signal transmission line can include a second array of split ring resonators partially overlapping the signal conductor. In some embodiments, an absolute value of a s-parameter of the signal transmission line is less than or equal to 1 dB for the first range of frequencies.
The signal transmission line of the preceding paragraph can have any sub-combination of the following features: wherein the first range of frequencies comprise greater than or equal to 4 GHz and less than or equal to 7 GHz; wherein the first array of split ring resonators is symmetrical to the second array of split ring resonators with respect to a x-z plane that intersects along a longitudinal axis of the signal conductor; a dielectric material separating the signal conductor and the first and the second arrays of split ring resonators; a first grounding conductor substantially coplanar with the first and the second arrays of split ring resonators; a second grounding conductor substantially coplanar with the signal conductor; a third grounding conductor substantially parallel to the signal conductor; a plurality of vias configured to electrically connect the first, second, and third grounding conductors; and wherein the signal transmission line is flexible.
Embodiments disclosed herein are described below with reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, reference numbers are re-used to indicate correspondence between referenced elements. The drawings are provided to illustrate embodiments described herein and not to limit the scope of the claims.
This disclosure describes embodiments of signal transmission lines that can be used in electronic devices such as, for example, mobile telephones, for connecting two circuits to each other. For example, a signal transmission line can be used to transmit a signal from a controller circuit to one or more antenna circuits in a mobile telephone. As a result, the signal transmission line may be configured to transmit signals with a wide range of frequencies. For example, a signal transmission line can be configured to carry signals for a Bluetooth antenna, a Wi-Fi antenna, or a mobile communications antenna operating at various frequencies. In some embodiments, the signal transmission line is flexible and/or made from a material system comprising flexible materials.
In some embodiments, the signal transmission line has a low insertion loss. For example, the signal transmission line can have an insertion loss less than or equal to about 1 dB over a relevant pass band. In some embodiments, a transmission line has constant characteristic impedance. Accordingly, the trace width of a transmission line can be determined from the geometry of the transmission line. To improve the flexibility of the signal transmission line, a thickness of a dielectric substrate (e.g., a signal line body or support structure) can be less than or equal to about 200 microns. The trace width of the transmission line may also be reduced for a thinner substrate in order to maintain the characteristic impedance. However, reducing the trace width of the transmission line may increase resistance of the transmission line and increase insertion loss. Some of the embodiments described below may overcome one or more of the limitations described above of a broadband transmission line carrying a bandpass signal used in mobile communication protocols. In some embodiments, the transmission line is tuned to reduce losses in the range of less than or equal to 10 GHz and/or greater than or equal to 2.5 GHz. The transmission line can be tuned based on the structural parameters discussed below.
The layers 110, 130, and 150 may be perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the z-axis. In some embodiments, the layers 110, 130, and 150 do not intersect. Further, in some embodiments, the layers 110, 130, and 150 are parallel or substantially parallel with respect to the x-y plane. Accordingly, the layers 110, 130, and 150 may also be parallel or substantially parallel with each other. The layers 110, 130, and 150 may also be rectangular or substantially rectangular. The thickness of the signal transmission line 100 may vary depending on the dielectric body and thickness of the layers. In some embodiments, the thickness of the signal transmission line 100 along the z-axis is less than or equal to 200 μm. In one embodiment, thickness of the signal transmission line 100 is about 50 μm. In some embodiments, the thickness of the signal transmission line 100 can be between less than or equal to about 50 microns and/or greater than or equal to about 12 microns. The width of the signal transmission line 100 along the y-axis may be a function of the thickness. The width of the signal transmission line 100 may be, for example, 10 to 40 times more than the thickness of the signal transmission line 100. In some embodiments, the width of the signal transmission line 100 is about 2 mm. In some embodiments, the length of the signal transmission line 100 is greater than or equal to about 4 cm and/or less than or equal to about 10 cm.
The separation between the layers 110, 130, and 150 may also depend on the thickness of the signal transmission line 100. In some embodiments, the layers are spaced such that the separation between layers 130 and 150 is greater than the separation between layers 130 and 110. Accordingly, the transmission layer 130 may be closer to the patterned structure layer. For example, if the thickness of the signal transmission line 100 is about 125 microns, then the separation between layer 110 and 130 can be about 25 microns and the separation between layer 130 and 150 can be about 100 microns. In some embodiments, the relative distance of the transmission line layer 130 with respect to the patterned structure layer 110 and the grounding conductor layer 150 can be modified to tune the signal transmission line 100.
The transmission line layer 130 can include a signal conductor 138 with co-planar grounding conductors 134 flanking the conductor 138 on both sides as shown in
The signal conductor 138 may be made of metals with low specific resistance, such as silver or copper. The signal conductor 138 may carry signals of wide range of frequencies between circuits. In some embodiments, the signal conductor 138 can carry high-frequency signals (e.g., frequency greater than 4 GHz). The signal conductor 138 may also be made of flexible material (e.g., flex copper). The co-planar grounding conductors 134 may also include metals with low specific resistance, such as silver or copper. In some embodiments, the co-planar grounding conductors 134 are made of different materials than the signal conductor 138.
The patterned structure layer 110 can positioned over the transmission line layer 130 along the z-axis such that at least a portion of the patterned structure layer 110 including a patterned structure 118 can be proximate to the signal conductor 138. The patterned structure layer 110 can include a patterned structure 118 and a grounding conductor 114 as shown in
The grounding conductor 114 can include metals with low specific resistance, such as silver or copper. The vias 112 can electrically connect the grounding conductor 114 of the patterned structure layer 110 with the grounding conductors 134 of the signal transmission line 100. In one embodiment, the patterned structure reduces leakage of the electromagnetic field from the signal conductor 138. Accordingly, the position of the patterned structure 118 in the signal transmission line 100 may be optimized with respect to the signal conductor 138 to reduce leakage of the electromagnetic field.
The grounding conductor layer 150 can include a reference conducting sheet 154. The reference conducting sheet 154 can be made of metals with low specific resistance, such as copper or silver.
Many electronic devices, including mobile communication devices, may require transmission of electrical signals in a wide range of frequency spectrums depending on the different modes of radio communications. The signal transmission line 100 may need to be optimized for baseband signals.
For purposes of summarizing the disclosure, certain aspects, advantages and novel features of certain embodiments have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, the embodiments can be implemented in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
Various modifications of the above described embodiments will be readily apparent, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” are to be construed to mean “one or more” or “at least one” unless specified otherwise.
Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y and at least one of Z to each be present.
Additionally, terms such as “above,” “below,” “top,” and “bottom” are used throughout the specification. These terms should not be construed as limiting. Rather, these terms are used relative to the orientations of the applicable figures.
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 and 35 U.S.C. §365(c) as a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US2014/048498, designating the United States, with an international filing date of Jul. 28, 2014, titled “THIN, FLEXIBLE TRANSMISSION LINE FOR BAND-PASS SIGNALS,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/859,600, filed Jul. 29, 2013, titled “THIN, FLEXIBLE TRANSMISSION LINE FOR BAND-PASS SIGNALS.” The entirety of each of the above-mentioned applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61859600 | Jul 2013 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/US2014/048498 | Jul 2014 | US |
| Child | 15009569 | US |
