HYBRID METAMATERIAL ANTENNA STRUCTURES

• US 20110273353A1
• Filed: 03/04/2011
• Published: 11/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tyco Electronics Services GmbH (TE Connectivity Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tyco Electronics Services GmbH (TE Connectivity Limited)
• Inventors: Achour, Maha, Gummalla, Ajay, Pathak, Vaneet
• Granted Patent: US 9,070,965 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 343/850
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/38 formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support patch antennas H01Q9/0407; microstrip dipole antennas H01Q9/065; microstrip slot antennas H01Q13/106; transmission line microstrip antennas H01Q13/206; manufacturing reflecting surfaces using insulating material for supporting the reflecting surface H01Q15/142
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/006 Selective devices having photonic band gap materials or materials of which the material properties are frequency dependent, e.g. perforated substrates, high-impedance surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/30 Arrangements for providing operation on different wavebands
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/0428 radiating a circular polarised wave
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49016 Antenna or wave energy "plumbing" making
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49018 with other electrical component

Abstract

A wireless device having a CRLH antenna structure incorporates a meander line at the feed and adds a three dimensional conductive structure to shift a meander mode resonance frequency.

Claims

1. A wireless device having an antenna structure, comprising:

a cell patch;

a feed structure comprising;

a feed line capacitively coupled to the cell patch;

a meander line coupled to the feed line; and

a conductive structure coupled to the feed line and to extend an effective length of the meander line; and

a conductive line coupling the cell patch to a reference voltage.

2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the conductive structure bridges a first location on the meander line to a second location on the meander line.

3. The wireless device of claim 2, wherein the meander line is mainly in a first plane, and the conductive structure is structured outside of the first plane.

4. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the antenna comprises Composite Right/Left Hand (CRLH) structures.

5. The wireless device as in claim 4, wherein the feed line is position proximate the cell patch with a coupling gap therebetween providing a capacitance.

6. The wireless device as in claim 4, wherein the conductive line provides an inductance and wherein the capacitance and the inductance induce a Left Hand (LH) resonance frequency.

7. The wireless device as in claim 1, wherein the meander line induces a meander mode resonance frequency, and wherein the conductive structure is configured to shift the meander mode resonance frequency to a lower frequency.

8. The wireless device as in claim 7, wherein the conductive structure is configured to increase an effective volume of the meander line.

9. The wireless device as in claim 1, wherein the antenna structure supports a Right Hand (RH) mode resonance frequency, a Left Hand (LH) mode resonance frequency and a meander mode resonance frequency.

10. The wireless device as in claim 1, wherein the conductive structure is a bridge structure coupling a first part of the meander line to a second part of the meander line.

11. The wireless device as in claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the antenna structure is formed on a substrate, and the bridge structure is a three dimensional structure formed out of the plane of the substrate.

12. The wireless device as in claim 11, wherein the substrate is a Printed Circuit Board made of Fire Resistant FR-4 material, and the antenna structure includes multiple metallization layers formed on the substrate.

13. The wireless device as in claim 1, further comprising a second cell patch capacitively coupled to the feel structure.

14. A method for forming an antenna structure, comprising:

forming a first metallization layer on a substrate, the first metallization layer comprising;

a cell patch; and

a feed structure comprising;

a feed line capacitively coupled to the cell patch; and

a meander line coupled to the feed line;

forming a conductive structure coupled to the feed line and to extend an effective length of the meander line; and

forming a second metallization layer on the substrate, the second metallization layer comprising a conductive line adapted to couple the cell patch to a reference voltage.

15. The method as in claim 14, further comprising:

forming at least one via through the substrate having a conductive material filling the at least one via, wherein the at least one via couples the cell patch to the conductive line.

16. The method as in claim 14, wherein the conductive structure is coupled to the first metallization layer, but extends out of the first metallization layer.

17. The method as in claim 16, wherein forming the first metallization layer comprises forming a second cell patch in the first metallization layer, wherein the feed structure is capacitively coupled to the second cell patch.

18. The method as in claim 17, wherein the capacitive structure is a bridge structure coupling one part of the meander line to another part of the meander line.

19. The method as in claim 14, wherein the first and second metallization layers are formed on a dielectric substrate.

20. The method as in claim 19, wherein forming the second metallization layer comprises forming a ground electrode on the substrate.