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

• US 10,418,704 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2018
• Issued: 09/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera AVX Components San Diego Inc (Kyocera Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Ethertronics, Inc. (Kyocera Corporation)
• Inventors: Pajona, Olivier, Kyllonen, Jaakko, Desclos, Laurent
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Hai V
• Application Number:
  US16/139,161
• Publication Number:
  US 20190027824A1
• Time in Patent Office: 358 Days
• Field of Search: 343876, 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 collocated 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. An antenna system for a wireless communication device, the antenna system comprising:

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

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

wherein the first and second active antennas are co-located on a common side of the wireless communication device;

wherein each of the first and second active antennas is coupled to a switch, the switch configured to selectively couple one or more antenna feeds to one of the first and second active antennas to select one of the first and second active antennas for use as a primary antenna of the antenna system based at least in part on a position of the wireless communication device relative to a head or to a hand;

wherein the first active antenna comprises a first parasitic element and the second active antenna comprises a second parasitic element, the first parasitic element and the second parasitic element are connected by a neutralization line that is not grounded.

2. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the antenna system comprises a metal ring configured about a perimeter of the device and having 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 active antennas, respectively.

3. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the first and second active antennas are co-located on a bottom portion of the wireless communication device.

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

a first radiating element coupled to a first antenna feed;

the first parasitic element coupled to a first parasitic feed;

a first active tuning element coupled to the first parasitic feed.

5. The antenna system of claim 4, wherein the first active tuning element comprises one or more of a switch, tunable capacitor, tunable inductor, or tunable phase shifter.

6. The antenna system of claim 4, wherein the second active antenna comprises:

a second radiating element coupled to a second antenna feed;

the second parasitic element coupled to a second parasitic feed;

a second active tuning element coupled to the second parasitic feed.

7. The antenna system of claim 6, wherein the second active tuning element comprises one or more of a switch, tunable capacitor, tunable inductor, or tunable phase shifter.

8. The antenna system of claim 6, wherein the second parasitic element forms an annular structure at least partially around the second radiating element.

9. The antenna system of claim 4, wherein the first parasitic element forms an annular structure at least partially around the first radiating element.

10. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first active antenna and the second active antenna is coupled to a matching circuit.

11. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the switch is configured to selectively couple one or more antenna feeds to one of the first and second active antennas to select one of the first and second active antennas for use as a primary antenna of the antenna system based at least in part on a position of the wireless communication device relative to a head or to a hand by comparing signal to noise ratio between the first active antenna and the second active antenna.

12. The antenna system of claim 1, the switch is configured to selectively couple one or more antenna feeds to one of the first and second active antennas to select one of the first and second active antennas for use as a primary antenna of the antenna system based at least in part on a position of the wireless communication device relative to a head or to a hand by using a sensor to detect a way a user is using the wireless communication device.

13. The antenna system of claim 12, wherein the sensor comprises an accelerometer.