High Efficiency Ferrite Antenna System
First Claim
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1. An antenna assembly for use with an FM frequency device, comprising:
- a ferrite rod;
a single turn tuning coil wound about a first portion of the ferrite rod, the single turn tuning coil operable to receive a tuning frequency and adjust the resonant frequency of the ferrite rod in response thereto; and
a multi-turn pick-up coil wound about a second portion of the ferrite rod, the multi-turn pick-up coil capable of having a voltage induced thereon by a received FM signal at the adjusted resonant frequency, the multi-turn pick-up coil being further configured to provide the received FM signal as output.
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Abstract
An automatic tuning procedure can be used to allow a small, high efficiency ferrite antenna assembly to be used in various FM frequency based devices. The ferrite antenna can take the form of a rod or flat disk, for example, which can use a pick-up coil and tuning coil to provide sufficient signal strength using a small FM antenna. A balanced amplifier can be used to provide differential input in order to further reduce noise. A microcontroller can determine the strength of the FM signal at various frequencies and can automatically tune the operating frequency to optimize system performance.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An antenna assembly for use with an FM frequency device, comprising:
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a ferrite rod;
a single turn tuning coil wound about a first portion of the ferrite rod, the single turn tuning coil operable to receive a tuning frequency and adjust the resonant frequency of the ferrite rod in response thereto; and
a multi-turn pick-up coil wound about a second portion of the ferrite rod, the multi-turn pick-up coil capable of having a voltage induced thereon by a received FM signal at the adjusted resonant frequency, the multi-turn pick-up coil being further configured to provide the received FM signal as output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 9)
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5. An antenna assembly for use with an FM frequency device, comprising:
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a substantially flat ferrite disk; and
a pick-up coil placed around a periphery of the ferrite disk, the pick-up coil capable of having a voltage induced thereon by a received FM signal at a resonant frequency of the ferrite disk, the pick-up coil being further configured to provide the received FM signal as output. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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10. An antenna system for use with an FM frequency device, comprising:
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a ferrite antenna including a tuning coil and a pick-up coil;
an amplifier device operable to receive an FM signal induced on the pick-up coil and provide the FM signal as an amplified FM signal;
an FM receiver operable to receive the amplified FM signal; and
a microcontroller in communication with the FM receiver and operable to determine a strength of the amplified FM signal, the microcontroller being further operable to output a tuning frequency to the tuning coil in order to adjust a resonant frequency of the ferrite antenna. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of tuning a ferrite antenna over the FM frequency band, comprising the steps of:
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receiving an induced voltage on a pick-up coil of the ferrite antenna and generating a frequency signal in response thereto;
amplifying the frequency signal and providing the amplified frequency signal to an FM receiver device;
determining a strength of the amplified frequency signal received by the FM receiver device; and
generating a tuning signal and applying the tuning signal to a tuning coil of the ferrite antenna, the tuning signal adjusting the resonant frequency of the ferrite antenna. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification