Abstract
A wireless device comprises a radiating system that comprises and a radiating structure that operates in at least two frequency regions. The radiating structure comprises: a ground plane layer having a first connection point; a single radiation booster having a first connection point; a radiofrequency system comprising a first input port, a plurality of external output ports, and a plurality of branches, at least some of the plurality of branches being connected to a common point connected to the first input port, wherein each of the plurality of external output ports provides operation in at least one of the at least two frequency regions of operation; and a first internal port defined between the first connection point of the radiation booster and the first connection point of the ground plane layer, the first internal port being connected to the first input port of the radiofrequency system.
Claims
1. A wireless device comprising a radiating system that comprises: a radiating structure that operates in at least two frequency regions, the radiating structure comprising: a ground plane layer; a single radiation booster; a first internal port defined between a connection point of the single radiation booster and a connection point of the ground plane layer; and a radiofrequency system comprising: first and second external output ports each providing operation in at least one of the at least two frequency regions; a first signal path from a first signal path input port to the first external output port; a second signal path from a second signal path input port to the second external output port; and a first circuit having an input port connected to the first internal port of the radiating structure and an output port connected to the first signal path input port and to the second signal path input port.
2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the radiofrequency system further comprises a third external output port.
3. The wireless device of claim 2, wherein the radiofrequency system further comprises a switch.
4. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the radiofrequency system further comprises a fourth external output port.
5. The wireless device of claim 1, further comprising a first reject-band filter disposed along the first signal path.
6. The wireless device of claim 5, further comprising a second reject-band filter disposed along the second signal path.
7. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the radiofrequency system comprises a diplexer.
8. The wireless device of claim 7, wherein the diplexer comprises a bank of filters.
9. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the radiofrequency system comprises at least one filtering circuit.
10. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the at least one filtering circuit comprises at least one reject-band filter.
11. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the at least one filtering circuit comprises at least two reject-band filters.
12. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the radiating structure further comprises a second internal port defined between a second connection point of the radiation booster and a second connection point of the ground plane layer.
13. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the second internal port is connected to a second input port of the radiofrequency system.
14. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the radiofrequency system comprises at least one matching network.
15. The wireless device of claim 14, wherein the radiofrequency system further comprises at least as many matching networks as frequency regions of operation of the radiating system.
16. The wireless device of claim 1, further comprising a processing module, a memory module, and a display and a communication module for tracking the position of the wireless device.
17. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the at least two frequency regions are frequency regions within which cellular communication standards operate.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) Embodiments of the invention are shown in the enclosed figures. Herein shows:
(2) FIG. 1—Example of a radiating structure of the prior-art.
(3) FIG. 2—Example of a concentrated wireless device according to the present invention.
(4) FIGS. 3a-3d—Schematic representations of 4 respective examples of radiating systems using one radiation booster according to the present invention.
(5) FIGS. 4a-4c—Schematic representations of 3 respective examples of radiating systems using two radiation boosters according to the present invention:
(6) FIG. 5—Example of a radiating structure for a concentrated wireless device including a first and a second radiation booster aligned with the same axis.
(7) FIG. 6a—Impedance transformation caused by the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4c on the input impedance at the first internal port of the radiating structure of FIG. 5 when disconnected from the radiofrequency system.
(8) FIG. 6b—Impedance transformation caused by the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4c on the input impedance at the first internal port of the radiating structure of FIG. 5 after connection of a reactance cancellation circuit to the first internal port.
(9) FIG. 6c—Impedance transformation caused by the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4c on the input impedance at the first internal port of the radiating structure of FIG. 5 after connection of a broadband matching circuit in cascade with the reactance cancellation circuit.
(10) FIG. 7a—Impedance transformation caused by the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4c on the input impedance at the second internal port of the radiating structure of FIG. 5 when disconnected from the radiofrequency system.
(11) FIG. 7b—Impedance transformation caused by the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4c on the input impedance at the second internal port of the radiating structure of FIG. 5 after connection of a filtering circuit to the second internal port.
(12) FIG. 7c—Impedance transformation caused by the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4c on the input impedance at the second internal port of the radiating structure of FIG. 5 after connection of a reactance cancellation circuit in cascade with the filtering circuit.
(13) FIG. 7d—Impedance transformation caused by the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4c on the input impedance at the second internal port of the radiating structure of FIG. 5 after connection of a broadband matching circuit in cascade with the reactance cancellation circuit and the filtering circuit.
(14) FIG. 8—Insertion losses of a resonant circuit used as a filtering circuit in the present invention.
(15) FIG. 9a—Radiating system resulting from the interconnection of a preferred example of the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4c and the radiating structure of FIG. 5.
(16) FIG. 9b—Reflection and transmission coefficients at the external ports of the radiating system of FIG. 9a.
(17) FIGS. 10a-10c—Block diagrams of 3 respective examples of matching networks for a radiofrequency system used in a radiating system according to the present invention.
(18) FIG. 11—Example of a radiating structure for a concentrated wireless device including a first and a second radiation booster in an orthogonal disposal.
(19) FIG. 12—Example of a radiating structure for a concentrated wireless device including one radiation booster.
(20) FIG. 13a—Input impedance at the first internal port of the radiating structure shown in FIG. 12 when disconnected from the radiofrequency system.
(21) FIG. 13b—Impedance transformation caused by the impedance equalizer of the radiofrequency system of FIG. 3d on the input impedance at the first internal port of the radiating structure of FIG. 12.
(22) FIG. 14a—Radiating system resulting from the interconnection of a preferred example of the radiofrequency system of FIG. 3d and the radiating structure of FIG. 12.
(23) FIG. 14b—Reflection coefficient at the external port of the radiating system of FIG. 14a.
(24) FIG. 15a—Example of a radiating structure for a concentrated wireless device including a first radiation booster and a slot in the ground plane layer.
(25) FIG. 15b—Example of a radiating structure for a concentrated wireless device including a first radiation booster, a second radiation booster and a slot in the ground plane layer.
(26) FIG. 16a—Example of a radiating structure for a concentrated wireless device including a first radiation booster and an antenna element.
(27) FIG. 16b—Example of another radiating structure for a concentrated wireless device including a first radiation booster and an antenna element.
(28) FIGS. 17a-17c—Examples of 3 respective radiating structures for a radiating system including several concentrated configurations of radiation boosters.
(29) FIG. 18—Example of a radiating structure for a concentrated wireless device including a first and a second radiation booster included in in a tablet device.
(30) FIGS. 19a and 19b—Examples of 2 respective radiating structures for a concentrated wireless device including a first and a second radiation booster included in a laptop device.
(31) FIGS. 20a and 20b—Examples of 2 respective radiating structures for a concentrated wireless device including a first and a second radiation booster included in a clamshell phone device.
(32) FIGS. 21a-21c—Examples of 3 respective radiating structures for a radiating system including several concentrated configurations of radiation boosters.
(33) FIG. 22—Example of a radiating structure for a radiating system including two concentrated configurations, each one comprising two radiation boosters.
(34) FIG. 23—Example of a radiating structure for a radiating system including a first concentrated configuration comprising two radiation boosters and a second concentrated configuration comprising one radiation booster.
(35) FIG. 24—Example of a radiating structure for a radiating system including two concentrated configurations, each one comprising one radiation booster.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(36) Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent in view of the detailed description of some preferred embodiments which follows. Said detailed description of some preferred embodiments of the invention is given for purposes of illustration only and in no way is meant as a definition of the limits of the invention, made with reference to the accompanying figures.
(37) FIG. 1 shows a radiating structure 100 of the prior-art comprising an antenna element 101 and a ground plane layer 102. Typically, the antenna element has a dimension close to an integer multiple of a quarter of the wavelength at a frequency of operation of the radiating structure, so that the antenna element is at resonance or substantially close to resonance at said frequency and a radiation mode is excited on said antenna element.
(38) FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of a concentrated wireless device 200 capable of multiband operation according to the present invention comprising a radiating structure that includes a first radiation booster 201a, a second radiation booster 201b and a ground plane layer 202 (which could be included in a layer of a multilayer PCB). The concentrated wireless device 200 also comprises a radiofrequency system 203, which is interconnected with said radiating structure.
(39) FIGS. 3a-3d show schematic representations of four examples of radiating systems for a concentrated wireless device capable of multiband operation according to the present invention.
(40) In particular, in FIG. 3a a radiating system 300 comprises a radiating structure 301, a radiofrequency system 302, and an external port 303. The radiating structure 301 comprises a radiation booster 304, which includes a connection point 305, and a ground plane layer 306, said ground plane layer also including a connection point 307. The radiating structure 301 further comprises an internal port 308 defined between the connection point 305 of the radiation booster and the connection point 307 of the ground plane layer. Moreover, the radiofrequency system 302 comprises two ports: a first port 309 is connected to the internal port 308, and a second port 310 is connected to the external port 303 of the radiating system 300. Furthermore, the radiofrequency system 302 comprises an impedance equalizer circuit 311 and a matching network 312. The impedance equalizer circuit 311 comprises two ports: a first port 309 (which is the first port of the radiofrequency system 302) is connected to the internal port 308 of the radiating structure 301, and a second port 313 is connected to the first port 314 of the matching network 312. Regarding the matching network 312, it also comprises two ports: a first port 314 is connected to the second port 313 of the impedance equalizer circuit 311, and a second port 310 (which is the second port of the radiofrequency system 302) is connected to the external port 303 of the radiating system 300.
(41) FIG. 3b shows a radiating system 330 comprising a radiating structure 301, a radiofrequency system 331, and two external ports 303a and 303b. The radiating structure 301 comprises a radiation booster 304, which includes a connection point 305, and a ground plane layer 306, said ground plane layer also including a connection point 307. The radiating structure 301 further comprises an internal port 308 defined between the connection point 305 of the radiation booster and the connection point 307 of the ground plane layer. Furthermore, the radiofrequency system 331 comprises an impedance equalizer circuit 311, two filtering circuits 332a and 332b, and two matching networks 312a and 312b.
(42) The impedance equalizer circuit 311 comprises two ports: a first port 309 connected to the internal port 308 of the radiating structure 301, and a second port 313 connected to the first port 333 of a first filtering circuit 332a and to the first port 336 of a second filtering circuit 332b. The second ports 334 and 337 of the first and second filtering circuits 332a and 332b are connected to the first ports 335 and 338 of the first and second matching networks 312a and 312b, respectively. Finally, the second ports 310a and 310b of the first and second matching networks 312a and 312b are connected to the external ports 303a and 303b, respectively, of the radiating system 330.
(43) Regarding FIG. 3c, the radiating system 360 follows the same configuration as FIG. 3b, but it only has one external port 303. This is possible because the radiofrequency system 361 also comprises a combiner 363, which comprises three ports: the first port 364 is connected to the second port 362a of a first matching network 312a, the second port 365 is connected to the second port 362b of a second matching network 312b, and a third port 310 is connected to the external port 303 of the radiating system 360.
(44) FIG. 3d shows a radiating system 390 comprising a radiating structure 301, a radiofrequency system 391, and one external port 303. This particular example shows a radiofrequency system comprising an impedance equalizer circuit 311, one filtering circuit 332, two matching networks 312a and 312b, and a combiner 363.
(45) In other examples, the radiofrequency system 391 does not comprise a combiner 363 and therefore, the radiating system 390 has two external ports 303a and 303b (following a similar configuration like the one shown in FIG. 3b).
(46) Such radiating systems depicted in FIGS. 3a-3d may be preferred when said radiating structure 301 is to provide operation in at least two cellular communication standards located in at least two frequency regions, such as LTE700, GSM 850, CDMA 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, CDMA 1900, UMTS/WCDMA 2100, LTE 2100, LTE 2300, LTE 2500, or in at least one cellular communication standard and at least one wireless connectivity standard, such as IEEE 802.11 standard, Bluetooth, Zigbee, UWB, WiMax, or alike.
(47) FIGS. 4a-4c show schematic representations of three examples of radiating systems for a concentrated wireless device capable of multiband operation according to the present invention.
(48) FIG. 4a shows a radiating system 400 comprising a radiating structure 401, a radiofrequency system 402, and two external ports 403a and 403b. The radiating structure 401 comprises: a first radiation booster 404, which includes a connection point 405, a second radiation booster 410, which includes a connection point 411, and a ground plane layer 406, said ground plane layer also including a connection point 407. The radiating structure 401 further comprises a first internal port 408 defined between the connection point 405 of the first radiation booster 404 and the connection point 407 of the ground plane layer, and a second internal port 412 defined between the connection point 411 of the second radiation booster 410 and the connection point 407 of the ground plane layer. The radiofrequency system 402 comprises two filtering circuits 414a and 414b, and two matching networks 419a and 419b.
(49) The first filtering circuit 414a comprises two ports: a first port 409 connected to the internal port 408 of the radiating structure 401, and a second port 415 connected to the first port 416 of a first matching network 419a. The second filtering circuit 414b also comprises two ports: a first port 413 connected to the internal port 412 of the radiating structure 401, and a second port 417 connected to the first port 418 of a second matching network 419b. The second ports 420a and 420b of the first and second matching networks 419a and 419b are connected to the first and second external ports 403a and 403b.
(50) Regarding FIG. 4b, the radiating system 430 follows the same configuration as FIG. 4a, but it only has one external port 403. This is possible because the radiofrequency system 431 also comprises a combiner 432, which comprises three ports: the first port 433 is connected to the second port 420a of a first matching network 419a, the second port 434 is connected to the second port 420b of a second matching network 419b, and a third port 435 is connected to the external port 403 of the radiating system 430.
(51) FIG. 4c shows a radiating system 460 comprising a radiating structure 401, a radiofrequency system 461, and two external ports 403a and 403b. The radiofrequency system 461 comprises one filtering circuit 414, and two matching networks 419a and 419b.
(52) In other examples, the radiofrequency system 461 also comprises a combiner 432 (following a similar configuration like the one shown in FIG. 4b) and therefore, the radiating system 460 only has one external port.
(53) Such radiating systems depicted in FIGS. 4a-4c may be preferred when said radiating structure 401 is to provide operation in at least two cellular communication standards located in at least two frequency regions, such as LTE 700, GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, UMTS/WCDMA 2100, LTE 2300, LTE 2500, or in at least one cellular communication standard and at least one wireless connectivity standard, such as IEEE 802.11 standard, WiMax, Bluetooth, Zigbee, UWB or alike.
(54) In FIG. 5, the radiating structure 500 comprises a first radiation booster 501, a second radiation booster 505, and a ground plane layer 502. Both radiation boosters 501, 505 are arranged with respect to the ground plane layer so that the upper and bottom faces of both radiation boosters 501, 505 are substantially parallel to the ground plane layer 502. Moreover, both radiation boosters 501, 505 protrude beyond the ground plane layer 502. That is, the radiation boosters 501, 505 are arranged with respect to the ground plane layer 502 in such a manner that there is no ground plane in the orthogonal projection of the radiation boosters 501, 505 onto the ground plane containing the ground plane layer 502. The first radiation booster 501 is located substantially close to a first corner of the ground plane layer 502, while the second radiation booster 505 is located substantially close to the first radiation booster, in the same axis of the shortest side of the ground plane layer 502. Both radiation boosters 501, 505 are substantially parallel to the shortest side of the ground plane layer 502.
(55) The first radiation booster 501 comprises a connection point 503 located on the lower right corner of the bottom face of the first radiation booster 501. In turn, the ground plane layer 502 also comprises a first connection point 504 substantially on the upper right corner of the ground plane layer 502. A first internal port of the radiating structure 500 is defined between said connection point 503 and said first connection point 504.
(56) Similarly, the second radiation booster 505 comprises a connection point 506 located on the lower right corner of the bottom face of the second radiation booster 505. In turn, the ground plane layer 502 also comprises a second connection point 507 substantially on the upper right corner of the ground plane layer 502. A second internal port of the radiating structure 500 is defined between said connection point 506 and said second connection point 507. The distance between the first internal port and the second internal port is less than 0.06 times the wavelength at the lowest frequency of the first frequency region of operation. In a particular example, the distance between the internal ports of the radiating structure 500 shown in FIG. 5 is 2 mm, and each one of said first and second radiation boosters 501, 505 feature a volume of 5 mm×5 mm×5 mm on a ground plane layer having a rectangular shape of 120 mm×50 mm, which is representative of a smartphone.
(57) The very small dimensions of the first and second radiation boosters 501, 505 result in said radiating structure 500 having at each of the first and second internal ports a first resonance frequency at a frequency much higher than the frequencies of the first frequency region. Furthermore, the first resonance frequency at each of the first and second internal ports of the radiating structure 500 is also at a frequency much higher than the frequencies of the second frequency region.
(58) The radiofrequency system of FIG. 4a is suitable for interconnection with the radiating structure of FIG. 5.
(59) As in previous example, the radiofrequency system of FIG. 4b and FIG. 4c may also be suitable for interconnection with the radiating structure of FIG. 5.
(60) FIGS. 6a-6c and FIGS. 7a-7d show the input impedance transformation of the radiating structure shown in FIG. 5 caused by the different stages of the radiofrequency system 461.
(61) In FIG. 6a, the input impedance at the first internal port of the radiating structure 500 without any radiofrequency system is represented by the curve 600 on Smith Chart as a function of frequency. As it can be observed, it presents a capacitive behavior (the imaginary part of the input impedance has a negative value) among the first and second frequency region. In particular, the point 601 corresponds to the input impedance at the lowest frequency of the first frequency region, and the point 602 to the highest frequency of the first frequency region.
(62) The input impedance after the first matching network 419a can be observed in FIG. 6b and FIG. 6c. With respect to FIG. 6a, the input impedance represented by the curve 603 in the Smith Chart of FIG. 6b has been transformed into an impedance having an imaginary part substantially close to zero for a frequency 604 advantageously between the lowest 601 and highest 602 frequencies of the first frequency region. As it can be also observed, the lowest 605 and highest 606 frequencies of the second frequency region present higher impedance values comparing to the frequencies among the first frequency region.
(63) The input impedance at the external port 403a of the radiating system 460 of FIG. 4c can be observed in FIG. 6c by the curve 607 represented in the Smith Chart. Comparing FIGS. 6b and 6c, it is noticed that a broadband matching circuit has been used since the curve 603 has been modified into another curve 607 featuring an impedance loop around the center of the Smith chart. Thus, the resulting curve 607 exhibits an input impedance within a VSWR 3:1 referred to a reference impedance of 50 Ohms over a broader range of frequencies, in particular from the lowest frequency 601 to the highest frequency 602 of the first frequency region.
(64) Analogously, in FIG. 7a, the input impedance at the second internal port of the radiating structure 500 without any radiofrequency system is represented by the curve 700 on Smith Chart as a function of the frequency. As it can be observed, it presents a capacitive behavior among the first and second frequency region. In particular, the point 701 corresponds to the input impedance at the lowest frequency of the second frequency region, and the point 702 to the highest frequency of the second frequency region.
(65) The effect of the filtering circuit 414 over the input impedance at the second internal port 412 can be observed in FIG. 7b by the curve 703. Said filtering circuit 414 is substantially transparent over the frequencies of the second frequency region 701, 702 but it transforms the input impedance among the frequencies of the first frequency region 704, 705. The modulus of the input impedance at the first frequency region is much higher after the effect of the filtering circuit.
(66) FIG. 7c shows the input impedance after the filtering circuit 414 and a first stage of the matching network 419b.
(67) With respect to FIG. 7a, the input impedance represented by 706 in FIG. 7c has been transformed into an impedance having an imaginary part substantially close to zero for a frequency 707 advantageously between the lowest 701 and highest 702 frequencies of the second frequency region. As it can be also observed, the lowest 704 and highest 705 frequencies of the first frequency region still present higher impedance values comparing to the frequencies among the second frequency region.
(68) The input impedance at the external port 403b can be observed in FIG. 7d by the curve 708 represented in the Smith Chart. Comparing FIGS. 7c and 7d, it is noticed that a broadband matching circuit has been used since curve 706 have been modified transforming the curve 706 into another curve 708 featuring an impedance loop around the center of the Smith chart). Thus, the resulting curve 708 exhibits an input impedance within a VSWR 3:1 referred to a reference impedance of 50 Ohms over a broader range of frequencies, in particular from the lowest frequency 701 to the highest frequency 702 of the second frequency region.
(69) FIG. 8 shows an example of a response of the filtering circuit 414 used in the radiofrequency system 461 of FIG. 4c. The insertion loss of a possible filtering circuit used in the present invention is represented by the curve 800 and it reflects the effect of a notch filter. The filtering circuit is required to provide high insertion loss from the lowest frequency 801 to the highest frequency 802 of the first frequency region, while presenting low insertion loss from the lowest frequency 804 to the highest frequency 805 of the second frequency region.
(70) In the context of the present invention, low insertion losses are translated into insertion loss values of the filtering circuit larger than −5 dB, −3 dB, and preferably larger than −2 dB, while high insertion losses are translated into insertion losses values smaller than −8 dB, −10 dB, and preferably larger than −15 dB.
(71) In FIG. 9a, a preferred example of a possible configuration of the radiofrequency system 461 shown in FIG. 4c is presented by the radiofrequency 902. The radiating system 900 comprises a radiating structure 901, a radiofrequency system 902 and two external ports 903a and 903b. The radiating structure is the one shown in FIG. 5, which comprises a first internal port 904 and a second internal port 905. The radiofrequency system 902 comprises four ports: a first port 909 is connected to the first internal port 904 of the radiating structure 901, a second port 910 is connected to the second internal port 905 of the radiating structure 901, a third port is connected to the first external port 903a of the radiating system 900, and finally, a fourth port is connected to the second external port 903b of said radiating system 900.
(72) The radiofrequency system 902 comprises the same stages/blocks as the ones in 461 shown in FIG. 4c. The first matching network 906a corresponds to 419a, the filtering circuit 910 corresponds to 414, and the second matching network 906b corresponds to 419b.
(73) The first matching network 906a comprises a reactance cancellation 907a featuring a series inductor, and a broadband matching network 908a comprising two shunt lumped elements (one inductor and one capacitor).
(74) The filtering circuit 910 comprises two shunt elements (one inductor and one capacitor) connected in series with the second matching network 906b.
(75) The second matching network 906b comprises a reactance cancellation 907b featuring a series inductor, and a broadband matching network 908b comprising two shunt lumped elements (one inductor and one capacitor).
(76) In yet other examples, the filtering circuit 910 is advantageously swapped with the reactance cancellation 907b, resulting in a new order of the elements that comprise the radiofrequency system 902. In fact, the order of said elements is not critical in order to obtain good radio-electric performance.
(77) The reflection coefficient observed at the external ports 903a and 903b is represented by the curves 950a and 950b in FIG. 9b, respectively. The coupling between both ports (903a and 903b) is represented by the curve 955. The curve 950a shows that the reflection coefficient at the first external port 903a is less than −6 dB (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) 3:1) from a first frequency 951 (corresponding to 824 MHz) to a second frequency 952 (corresponding to 960 MHz), while the curve 950b shows that the reflection coefficient at the external port 903b is less than −6 dB (VSWR 3:1) from a first frequency 953 (corresponding to 1710) to a second frequency 954 (corresponding to 2170 MHz). The coupling between both external ports 903a and 903b is less than −26 dB among the first and second frequency regions, which guarantees good radio-electric performance.
(78) It is important to notice that the requirements of the VSWR and coupling may differ depending on the requirements of the cellular or wireless communication standards.
(79) For example, the radiating system presented in FIG. 9a operates in GSM/WCDMA/CDMA 850/900/1800/1900, and UMTS/WCDMA/HSDPA 2100.
(80) FIGS. 10a-10c show the block diagrams of three examples of a matching network 1000 for a radiofrequency system, the matching network 1000 comprising a first port 1001 and a second port 1002. One of said two ports may at the same time be a port of the radiofrequency system and, in particular, be interconnected with an internal port of a radiating structure.
(81) In FIG. 10a the matching network 1000 comprises a reactance cancellation circuit 1003. In this example, a first port 1004 of the reactance cancellation circuit may be operationally connected to the first port 1001 of the matching network and another port 1005 of the reactance cancellation circuit may be operationally connected to the second port 1002 of the matching network.
(82) Referring now to FIG. 10b, the matching network 1000 comprises the reactance cancellation circuit 1003 and a broadband matching circuit 1030, which is advantageously connected in cascade with the reactance cancellation circuit 1003. That is, a port of the broadband matching circuit 1031 is connected to port 1005. In this example, port 1004 is operationally connected to the first port of the matching network 1001, while another port of the broadband matching circuit 1032 is operationally connected to the second port of the matching network 1002.
(83) FIG. 10c depicts a further example of the matching network 1000 comprising, in addition to the reactance cancellation circuit 1003 and the broadband matching circuit 1030, a fine tuning circuit 1060. Said three circuits are advantageously connected in cascade, with a port of the reactance cancellation circuit (in particular port 1004) being connected to the first port of the matching network 1001 and a port the fine tuning circuit 1062 being connected to the second port of the matching network 1002. In this example, the broadband matching circuit 1030 is operationally interconnected between the reactance cancellation circuit 1003 and the fine tuning circuit 1060 (i.e., port 1031 is connected to port 1005 and port 1032 is connected to port 1061 of the fine tuning circuit 1060).
(84) In FIG. 11, the radiating structure 1100 comprises a first radiation booster 1101, a second radiation booster 1103, and a ground plane layer 1102, elements 1101 and 1102 being inscribed in a ground plane rectangle 1104. The ground plane rectangle has a short side 1105 and a long side 1106.
(85) The first radiation booster 1101 is arranged substantially close to said long side 1106, and the second radiation booster 1103 is arranged substantially close to said short side 1105. Said first and second radiation boosters 1101, 1103 feature a concentrated configuration because they occupy a minimum area. In fact, the distance between the internal ports of the radiating structure 1100 defined by their connection points is less than 0.06 times the wavelength at the lowest frequency of the first frequency region, as it is required in the present invention.
(86) In this particular case, the first radiation booster 1101 is arranged on a cut-out portion of the ground plane layer 1102, so that the orthogonal projection of the first radiation booster 1101 on said plane containing the ground plane layer 1102 does not overlap the ground plane layer. Moreover, said projection is completely inside the perimeter of the ground plane rectangle 1104. On the other hand, the second radiation booster 1103 protrudes beyond the short side 1105 of the ground plane rectangle 1104, so that the orthogonal projection of the second radiation booster 1103 on the plane containing the ground plane layer 1102 is outside the ground plane rectangle 1104.
(87) However, in another example both the first and the second radiation boosters could have been arranged on cut-out portions of the ground plane layer, so that the radiation boosters are at least partially, or even completely, inside the perimeter of the ground plane rectangle associated to the ground plane layer of a radiating structure. And yet in another example, both the first and the second radiation boosters could have been arranged at least partially, or even completely, protruding beyond a side of said ground plane rectangle.
(88) FIG. 12 presents a radiating structure 1200 comprising a first radiation booster 1201 and a ground plane layer 1202. The radiating structure 1200 comprises one internal port: said internal port being defined between a connection point 1203 of the first radiation booster 1201 and a first connection point 1204 of the ground plane layer 1202.
(89) The ground plane layer 1202 features a substantially rectangular shape having a short edge 1205 and a long edge 1206. In this example, the radiation booster 1201 is substantially close to a first corner of the ground plane layer.
(90) The radiofrequency system 302 of FIG. 3a is suitable for interconnection with the radiating structure of FIG. 12. The radiofrequency system 302 comprises an impedance equalizer circuit 311. A port 309 of said impedance equalizer circuit 311 is connected to the internal port of the radiating structure 1200.
(91) Similar, to the previous example, the radiofrequency system 331 of FIG. 3b is suitable for interconnection with the radiating structure of FIG. 12. The radiofrequency system 331 comprises an impedance equalizer circuit 311. A port 309 of said impedance equalizer circuit 311 is connected to the internal port of the radiating structure 1200.
(92) As in previous example, the radiofrequency system 361 of FIG. 3c is suitable for interconnection with the radiating structure of FIG. 12. The radiofrequency system 361 comprises a first impedance equalizer circuit 311. A port of said impedance equalizer circuit 311 is connected to the internal port of the radiating structure 1200.
(93) As in previous example, the radiofrequency system 391 of FIG. 3d is also suitable for interconnection with the radiating structure of FIG. 12.
(94) FIG. 13a shows the input impedance represented by the curve 1300 in the Smith Chart at the internal port of the radiating structure 1200. 1301 and 1302 represent the lowest and highest frequencies of the first frequency region, respectively. 1303 and 1304 represent the lowest and highest frequencies of the second frequency region, respectively.
(95) The effect of the impedance equalizer circuit 311 can be observed in FIG. 13b by the curve 1350, in which the input impedance at the internal port of the radiating structure 1200 (curve 1300 in FIG. 13a) is transformed by said impedance equalizer circuit 311 into an impedance having an imaginary part substantially equal to zero at a frequency 1351 larger than the highest frequency 1302 of the first frequency region and lower than the lowest frequency 1303 of the second frequency region. Said frequency 1351 is advantageously adjusted to be the approximately the average between the highest frequency of the first frequency region and the lower frequency of the second frequency region. A further effect of the impedance equalizer circuit is observed in the input impedance curve 1350 within the first frequency region (delimited by the lowest frequency 1301 and the highest frequency 1302) and in the input impedance curve 1350 within the second frequency region (delimited by the lowest frequency 1303 and the highest frequency 1304), wherein both impedance curves are substantially complex conjugated. Having both impedance curves a substantially complex conjugated behavior simplifies the number of components of the following stages of the radiofrequency system.
(96) FIG. 14a shows a radiating structure 1400 that comprises one internal port 1401 and one radiofrequency system 1402. The first port 1410 of the radiofrequency system 1402 is connected to the internal port 1401 of the radiating structure 1400. Said radiofrequency system 1402 is suitable for interconnection with the radiating structure 1200 of FIG. 12. In particular, said radiofrequency system 1402 corresponds to a particular example of the radiofrequency system scheme shown in FIG. 3d. For example, the impedance equalizer circuit 311 corresponds to the inductor 1404. The filtering circuit 332 corresponds to the filter 1405. The matching network 312a corresponds to the circuit 1406b, which comprises a reactance cancellation circuit 1407 and a broadband matching network 1408. The matching network 312b corresponds to the circuit 1406a, which is a broadband matching network. Finally, the combiner 363 comprises a first resonant circuit 1409a and a second resonant circuit 1409b.
(97) The impedance response of the radiating system resulting from the interconnection of the radiofrequency system 1402 of FIG. 14a to the radiating structure 1200 of FIG. 12 is shown in FIG. 14b. FIG. 14b shows the reflection coefficient 1450 at the external port 1403 of the radiating system. The first frequency region of operation (VSWR 3:1) ranges from the lowest frequency 1451 to the highest frequency 1452, which corresponds to 824 MHz and 960 MHz. This frequency region provides operability at GSM 850 and GSM 900 for example. Similarly, the second frequency region of operation (VSWR 3:1) ranges from the lowest frequency 1453 to the highest frequency 1454, which corresponds to 1710 MHz and 2170 MHz. This frequency region provides operability at GSM 1800, GSM 1900, WCDMA 1700, and UMTS/WCDMA 2100, for example.
(98) FIG. 15a shows an example of a radiating structure 1500 comprising a radiation booster 1501, a ground plane layer 1502, and a slot 1505 in the ground plane layer 1502. The radiating structure 1500 comprises one internal port: said internal port being defined between a connection point 1503 of the first radiation booster 1501 and a first connection point 1504 of the ground plane layer 1502.
(99) The radiation booster 1501 includes a conductive part featuring a polyhedral shape comprising six faces. The slot 1505 in the ground plane enhances the impedance bandwidth of the radiating system in at least one frequency region of operation. The size of the slot 1505 and its position in the ground plane layer 1502 are optimized in order to excite radiation modes in the ground plane to enhance the impedance bandwidth in at least one frequency region of operation.
(100) In yet other examples, the slot 1505 in the ground plane layer 1502 enables a simplification of the number of components in a radiofrequency system with respect a solution without the slot. In this sense, if the number of components of the radiofrequency system is reduced, the radiating system has greater efficiency and it is more robust to the tolerances of the components.
(101) In a further example, the slot 1505 in the ground plane layer 1502 enables a reduction of the size of the radiation booster in comparison with an example without a slot in the ground plane layer.
(102) In other examples, the radiation booster 1501 is shaped as other radiation boosters such as for example the radiation boosters 1701, or 1703, or 1733, 2161, or 2181 (FIGS. 17a-17c and 21a-21c).
(103) The radiofrequency system 302, or 331, 361, or 391 are suitable for interconnection with the radiating structure 1500 of FIG. 15a.
(104) FIG. 15b illustrates an example of a radiating structure 1550 comprising two radiation boosters 1551 and 1553, a ground plane layer 1552, and a slot 1554 in the ground plane layer 1552. According to the present invention, the location of the at least two radiation boosters follows a concentrated configuration.
(105) The advantage of the slot 1554 in the ground plane layer 1552 is to better excite a radiation mode on the ground plane layer. A better excitation of the ground plane layer enhances the efficiency and/or impedance bandwidth of the radiating system. A further advantage of this example is shown when comparing the size of the radiation boosters 501 and 505 of FIG. 5 to the radiation boosters 1551 and 1553 of FIG. 15b, which are smaller.
(106) The slot 1554 in the ground plane layer 1552 is optimized in length, size, and position in the ground plane layer in order to improve the radio-electric performance of the radiating system in at least one frequency region of operation.
(107) In some other examples, other kind of radiation boosters such as 1701, or 1703, or 1733, or 2161, or 2181 (FIGS. 17a-17c and 21a-21c) are combined with one slot in the ground plane layer to improve the radio-electric performance of the radiating system in at least one frequency region of operation.
(108) FIG. 16a shows an example of a radiating structure 1600 comprising a radiation booster 1601, an antenna element 1605, and a ground plane layer 1602.
(109) The radiation booster 1601 comprises a connection point 1603. In turn, the ground plane layer 1602 comprises a first connection point 1604 substantially on the upper right corner of the ground plane layer 1602. A first internal port of the radiating structure 1600 is defined between said connection point 1603 and said first connection point 1604.
(110) Similarly, the antenna element 1605 comprises a connection point 1606 and the ground plane layer 1602 comprises a second connection point 1607, substantially on the upper right corner of the ground plane layer 1602. A second internal port of the radiating structure 1600 is defined between said connection point 1606 and said second connection point 1607. The radiation booster 1601 includes a conductive part featuring a polyhedral shape comprising six faces and the antenna element 1605 comprises a planar conductive structure. The projection of said antenna element 1605 does not overlap the ground plane layer 1602. Said antenna element 1605 operates in at least one frequency band of one frequency region.
(111) The distance between said first and second internal ports of the radiating structure 1600 is less than 0.06 times the wavelength at the lowest frequency of operation of the first frequency region, resulting in a concentrated configuration according to the present invention.
(112) FIG. 16b shows a further example of a radiating structure 1650 comprising a radiation booster 1651, an antenna element 1655, and a ground plane layer 1652. For this example, the orthogonal projection of the antenna element 1655 completely overlaps the ground plane layer 1652. In other examples, the orthogonal projection of the antenna element 1655 overlaps the ground plane layer 1652 by less than a 75%, less than a 50%, or even less than a 25% of the area of said antenna element 1655.
(113) The radiation booster 1651 comprises a connection point 1653. In turn, the ground plane layer 1652 comprises a first connection point 1654 substantially on the upper right corner of the ground plane layer 1652. A first internal port of the radiating structure 1650 is defined between said connection point 1653 and said first connection point 1604.
(114) Similarly, the antenna element 1655 comprises a connection point 1656 and the ground plane layer 1652 comprises a second connection point 1657, substantially on the upper right corner of the ground plane layer 1652. A second internal port of the radiating structure 1650 is defined between said connection point 1656 and said second connection point 1657. For this example, the antenna element has a grounding connection 1658 for impedance matching purposes of the antenna element.
(115) The distance between said first and second internal ports of the radiating structure 1650 is less than 0.06 times the wavelength at the lowest frequency of operation of the first frequency region, resulting in a concentrated configuration according to the present invention.
(116) The combination of at least one radiation booster and at least one antenna element according to the present invention like the ones shown in FIG. 16a and FIG. 16b increases the number of frequency bands in at least one frequency region of operation. In some examples, the antenna element operates in a first frequency region and the radiation booster in a second frequency region. In some other examples, the antenna element operates in two frequency regions and the radiation booster increases the number of bands in at least one frequency region of operation. In other example, the antenna element operates in two frequency regions and the radiation booster operates in a third frequency region.
(117) FIGS. 17a-17c show several examples of radiating structures 1700, 1730, and 1760 comprising different concentrated configurations of different kind of radiation boosters. The radiation booster 1701 presents a conductive planar portion substantially parallel to the ground plane layer 1702 and a vertical conductive portion 1704. The radiation booster 1703 shows a conductive portion having a planar profile substantially coplanar to the ground plane layer 1702. The orthogonal projection of the radiation booster 1703 does not overlap the ground plane layer 1702 whereas the orthogonal projection of the radiation booster 1701 overlaps the ground plane layer. The advantage of this concentrated configuration is to minimize the coupling between the radiation boosters. The reduction of the coupling simplifies the filtering circuits used in the radiofrequency system such as those used in the radiofrequency systems of FIG. 4a, FIG. 4b, or FIG. 4c, in particular the filtering circuits 414a, or 414b.
(118) FIG. 17b shows another example of a radiating structure 1730 comprising a first radiation booster 1731, a second radiation booster 1733, and a ground plane layer 1732. The first radiation booster 1731 includes a conductive part featuring a polyhedral shape comprising six faces whereas the second radiation booster 1733 is a gap in the ground plane layer 1732. Similar to the previous example, the coupling between radiation boosters is minimized due to the capacitive impedance of the radiation booster 1731 and the inductive impedance of the radiation booster 1733. This coupling reduction between radiation boosters simplifies the filtering circuits of the radiofrequency system such as those illustrated in FIG. 4a, FIG. 4b, or FIG. 4c, in particular, the filtering circuits 414a, 414b, and 414.
(119) In a similar manner, the radiating structure 1760 of FIG. 17c comprises a first radiation booster 1761 and a second radiation booster 1763, and a ground plane layer 1762. Said arrangement is advantageous for minimizing the coupling between the internal ports of the radiating structure 1760. Said reduction of the coupling simplifies the filtering circuits required to reduce the interaction between radiation boosters. Therefore, this simplification of the filtering circuit results in less number of components in the radiofrequency system and more radiation efficiency is obtained.
(120) FIG. 18 shows a radiating structure 1800 comprising two radiation boosters 1801 and 1803 located on a rectangular ground plane layer 1802 having representative dimensions of a tablet device. Some representative dimensions of a tablet device are 197 mm×133 mm, 240 mm×180 mm, 194 mm×122 mm, 230 mm×158 mm, 257 mm×173 mm, 190 mm×120 mm, 179 mm×110 mm, or 271 mm×171 mm. The radiation boosters 1801 and 1803 include a conductive part featuring a polyhedral shape comprising six faces. Other cases use ground plane boosters such as for example 1701, or 1703, or 1733, or 2161, or 2181.
(121) In particular, the radiation booster 1801 has a different dimension than the radiation booster 1803. Generally, having different dimensions of radiation boosters is advantageously used is some examples for having more degrees of freedom to adjust the impedance in at least one frequency region of operation. Although this combination of two or more boosters is shown here for a tablet-like device, it is used as well in other embodiments of wireless devices such as cellphones and smart phones according to the present invention.
(122) FIGS. 19a and 19b show two examples of radiating structures 1900 and 1950 comprising two radiation boosters in a two-body configuration representative of a laptop. FIG. 19a shows an example of a radiating structure comprising two radiation boosters 1901 and 1903 in a concentrated configuration, and a ground plane layer 1902 representative of a laptop. Said ground plane layer 1902 comprises two parts 1905 and 1906 which are connected through a connection means 1904. Said connection means 1904 is located in the hinge area. In some examples, the connection means is at the center of the hinge area while in other examples; there is more than one connection means.
(123) The radiation boosters 1901 and 1903 include a conductive part featuring a polyhedral shape comprising six faces. In other examples, radiation boosters such as for example 1701, or 1703, or 1733, or 2161, or 2181 are used. The radiation boosters 1901 and 1903 are located in the upper part 1905 near a corner in a concentrated configuration according to the present invention. Said concentrated configuration is advantageous since it minimizes the area occupied by said radiation boosters. Therefore, more space is available to include other components such as the display.
(124) FIG. 19b shows a radiating structure 1950 comprising two radiation boosters 1951 and 1953 in a concentrated configuration, and a ground plane layer 1952 representative of a laptop. As in FIG. 19a, the ground plane layer 1952 comprises two parts 1955 and 1956, which are connected through a connection means 1954. For this example, the location of the radiation boosters is in the upper part 1955 substantially close to a corner close to the hinge area. This location is advantageous for reducing the routing of the electromagnetic signal to the integrated circuit performing radiofrequency functionality (usually called Front End Module), which is usually located in 1956. This feature is advantageous at high frequencies such as those above 2 GHz where losses due to transmission lines carrying the radiofrequency signal suffer from losses. Therefore, if the distance between the radiation boosters and the integrated circuit performing radiofrequency functionality is minimized, the losses are also minimized. This guarantees a more efficient radiating system.
(125) The radiation boosters 1951 and 1953 include a conductive part featuring a polyhedral shape comprising six faces. In other examples, radiation boosters such as for example 1701, or 1703, or 1733, or 2161, or 2181 are used.
(126) FIGS. 20a and 20b show examples of two radiating structures 2000 and 2050 representative of a clamshell phone device. The radiating structure 2000 comprises two radiation boosters 2001 and 2003 and a ground plane layer 2002. The location of the ground plane booster 2002 and 2003 is close to a corner of the ground plane layer 2002 in the furthest edge from the hinge area 2004. This situation is advantageous to reduce SAR (Specific Absorption Rate). The radiating structure 2050 shows a similar example of a radiating structure 2050 comprising two radiation boosters 2051 and 2053 placed in the edge close to the hinge area 2054.
(127) FIGS. 21a-21c show several examples of radiation boosters.
(128) FIG. 21a shows a first radiation booster 2101 and a second radiation booster 2103. The first radiation booster 2101 includes a conductive part featuring four faces of a polyhedral shape. The second radiation booster 2103 includes a conductive part featuring two faces of a polyhedral shape. Although there is no ohmic contact between the faces of the first and second radiation boosters 2101, 2103, they substantially form a cube shape. With this arrangement, the radiation boosters feature a concentrated configuration according to the present invention because the distance between the internal ports of the radiating structure is minimized.
(129) In other examples, the first radiation booster 2101 features one, two, three, four, or even five faces of a polyhedral shape while the second radiation booster 2103 features the other/s five, four, three, two, or even one face of a polyhedral shape, so both radiation boosters form a substantially cube shape, although there is no ohmic contact between the first and second radiation boosters 2101, 2103.
(130) In yet other examples, each of the faces of the first, second, third, or even fourth radiation boosters can form different polyhedral shapes. This configuration is clearly advantageous since many radiation boosters can be arranged occupying a minimum volume of the concentrated wireless device.
(131) FIG. 21b shows an example of a radiating structure 2130 comprising a ground plane layer 2132 and two radiation boosters 2131 and 2133 featuring a conductive area having a planar shape. This configuration is another particular example of the radiating structure shown in FIG. 21a.
(132) FIG. 21c shows a radiating structure 2160 featuring a particular arrangement for a concentrated wireless device. Said radiating structure comprises one radiation booster 2161 and one internal port defined between the connection point 2164 in the radiation booster and the connection point 2165 in the ground plane layer. The radiation booster 2161 includes a first conductive part 2162 featuring a polyhedral shape comprising six faces and a second conductive part 2163 featuring also a polyhedral shape comprising six faces. A first port is defined between a first connection point 2166 in the conductive part 2162 and a first connection point 2167 in the conductive part 2163. A second port is defined between a second point 2168 in the conductive part 2162 and a second point 2169 in the conductive part 2163. A lumped component can be located in at least one port in order to provide at least one connection or disconnection between both conductive parts 2162, 2163. In some examples, a zero ohm resistance is placed in at least one port to connect the conductive parts 2162 and 2163.
(133) In some other examples, an inductor or a capacitor is located in at least one port. This configuration gives an extra degree of freedom to modify the input impedance at the internal port of the radiating structure 2160.
(134) FIG. 22 shows a radiating structure 2200 comprising two concentrated configurations of radiation boosters according to the present invention. The first concentrated configuration comprises a first radiation booster 2201 and a second radiation booster 2203. The second concentrated configuration comprises a first radiation booster 2204 and a second radiation booster 2205.
(135) In a particular example, the first concentrated configuration provides operation in two frequency regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and the second concentrated configuration provides operation in two different frequency regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
(136) In another example, the first concentrated configuration provides operation in a first and a second frequency region which are the same provided by the second concentrated configuration.
(137) This kind of arrangement is also suitable for diversity or MIMO applications where a duplicity of concentrated configurations are needed in order to provide spatial multiplexing or space diversity in at least two frequency regions.
(138) FIG. 23 shows a radiating structure 2300 comprising two concentrated configurations. The first concentrated configuration comprises the radiation boosters 2301 and 2302. With the proper radiofrequency system, the second concentrated configuration comprises a radiation booster 2304. In some examples the first concentrated configuration operates at two frequency regions and the second concentrated configuration at two frequency regions different that the ones provides by the first concentrated configuration. Therefore, the radiating system operates in four frequency regions. In yet another example, the first and second concentrated configurations provides operation in at least two frequency regions which are the same for the both concentrated configurations.
(139) The radiofrequency systems 402, 431, 461 of FIG. 4 are suitable for interconnection with the first concentrated configuration comprising the radiation boosters 2301 and 2303 of the radiating structure 2300. The radiofrequency systems 302, 331, 361, or 391 of FIG. 3 are suitable for interconnection with the first concentrated configuration comprising the radiation booster 2304 of the radiating structure 2300.
(140) FIG. 24 shows a radiating structure 2400 comprising two concentrated configurations. The first concentrated configuration comprises a first radiation booster 2401. The second concentrated configuration comprises a second radiation booster 2402. With the proper radiofrequency system as 302, 331, 361, or 391, the first concentrated configuration provides operation in at least two frequency regions. In a similar manner, the second concentrated configuration provides operation in two different frequency regions than the ones provided by the first concentrated configuration. In yet another example, both the first and second concentrated configurations provides operation in the same at least two frequency regions.
