Co-located active steering antennas configured for band switching, impedance matching and unit selectivity

• US 10,224,626 B1
• Filed: 07/25/2016
• Issued: 03/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera AVX Components Corporation (Kyocera Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Ethertronics, Inc. (Kyocera Corporation)
• Inventors: Pajona, Olivier, Kyllonen, Jaakko, Desclos, Laurent
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Hai
• Application Number:
  US15/218,982
• Time in Patent Office: 953 Days
• Field of Search: 343702
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/245 with means for shaping the antenna pattern, e.g. in order to protect user against rf exposure
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/48 Earthing means; Earth screens; Counterpoises
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/00 Antenna arrays or systems arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system H01Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/28 Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems multiple beam H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/24 varying the orientation by switching energy from one active radiating element to another, e.g. for beam switching
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/36 with variable phase-shifters
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/335 at the feed, e.g. for impedance matching
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/392 the parasitic elements having dual-band or multi-band characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0404 the mobile station comprising multiple antennas, e.g. to provide uplink diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0805 with single receiver and antenna switching H04B7/0822 takes precedence

Abstract

An antenna system includes co-located active steering antennas implemented in a bottom portion of a wireless communication device designed for positioning near a user'"'"'s mouth or chin. The co-located active steering antennas are each configured to steer a radiation pattern of the respective antenna, and can be further configured for active band switching and/or active impedance matching. These co-located active steering antennas can be used independently, or in a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) configuration. In addition, the antenna system is capable of antenna unit selectivity, which includes the ability to select one of the co-located antennas with the lowest head and hand loss for use, while disabling the antenna with the highest loss attributed to hand/head loading.

Claims

1. In a wireless communication device having a top portion and a bottom portion wherein the bottom portion is configured to be positioned near a mouth or cheek of a user, an antenna system comprising:

a first active steering antenna configured for band switching and radiation pattern steering;

a second active steering antenna configured for band switching and radiation pattern steering;

a metal ring configured about a perimeter of the device and having a first terminal end and a second terminal end, each of the first and second terminal ends positioned adjacent to one of the first and second antennas, respectively;

wherein the first and second active antennas are co-located at the bottom portion of the device;

wherein each of the first and second active steering antennas is connected by a neutralization line; and

wherein the neutralization line is connected to a control circuit operable to dynamically adjust a characteristic of the neutralization line based on a frequency band selected and an antenna environment of the antenna system.

2. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the first active steering antenna comprises:

a first radiating element having a first antenna feed associated therewith;

a first parasitic element positioned adjacent to the first radiating element, the first parasitic element having a first parasitic feed associated therewith;

the first parasitic feed further coupled to a first active tuning component.

3. The antenna system of claim 2, wherein the first active tuning component is one of:

a switch, tunable capacitor, tunable inductor or tunable phase shifter.

4. The antenna system of claim 2, wherein the first active tuning component is housed in a first tuning module containing a plurality of active tuning components.

5. The antenna system of claim 2, wherein the second active steering antenna comprises:

a second radiating element having a second antenna feed associated therewith;

a second parasitic element positioned adjacent to the second radiating element, the second parasitic element having a second parasitic feed associated therewith;

the second parasitic feed further coupled to a second active tuning component.

6. The antenna system of claim 5, wherein the second active tuning component is housed in a second tuning module containing a plurality of active tuning components.

7. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second active steering antennas is configured for low frequency band switching without changing mid-band and high-band resonances.

8. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second active steering antenna feeds is coupled to a matching circuit for matching the respective antenna with an RF front end.

9. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein each of said first and second antenna feeds is coupled to a switch, wherein the antenna system is configured to select one of the first and second antennas having the lowest hand and head loss to be used as a primary antenna of the antenna system.

10. The antenna system of claim 1, comprising three or more active steering antennas;

each active steering antenna configured for band switching and radiation pattern steering.

11. The antenna system of claim 10, wherein at least two of the three or more active steering antennas are co-located on a common side of the device, and wherein each of the three or more active steering antennas is connected by the neutralization line.

12. The antenna system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the three or more active steering antennas is not co-located with another of the active steering antennas, and wherein each of the three or more active steering antennas is connected by the neutralization line.

13. An antenna system comprising a pair of co-located active steering antennas positioned at a bottom end of a wireless communication device and configured for one or more of:

active steering, active band switching, active impedance matching, and active unit selectivity;

wherein each of the pair of co-located active steering antennas is connected by a neutralization line; and

wherein the neutralization line is connected to a control circuit operable to dynamically adjust a characteristic of the neutralization line based on a frequency band selected and an antenna environment of the antenna system.