ANTENNA ELEMENT AS CAPACITIVE PROXIMITY/TOUCH SENSOR FOR ADAPTIVE ANTENNA PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
First Claim
1. A wireless communications device comprising:
- a radio frequency (RF) transceiver;
an antenna matching and tuning circuit (AMTC) coupled to an output of the RF transceiver;
an antenna element (AE) coupled to an output of the AMTC by a first coupling capacitor and RF connected by a second low frequency blocking capacitor to ground to prevent a flow of low frequency signals to ground, wherein the AE is a first component of a capacitive touch and proximity sensor (CTPS) which includes a high impedance component (HIC) directly coupled to the AE;
a detection integrated circuit (IC) connected to the HIC of the CTPS and which;
detects a change in capacitance of the CTPS caused proximity of an object to the antenna element, while the antenna element is being used to communicate RF signals; and
responsive to detection of the change in capacitance of the CTPS, triggers a transmission of at least one control signal to the AMTC to provide an appropriate antenna tuning to offset antenna de-tuning caused by the proximity of the object to the antenna element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and communications device for providing antenna tuning to compensate for antenna de-tuning caused by a presence of an object detected using an antenna element within a capacitive touch and proximity sensor (CTPS). The CTPS propagates object detection signals associated with a detected object to a detection IC. An object detection and antenna tuning (ODAT) logic uses object detection signal information to generate tuning control signals to trigger compensatory antenna tuning, based on pre-established mappings of object detection signal data and antenna tuning states. The tuning control signals indicate at least one of (a) a level of compensatory antenna impedance tuning and (b) an amount of compensatory antenna length adjustment. In response to generating the tuning control signals, the ODAT logic triggers the propagation of the tuning control signals to the antenna matching and control circuit to provide the corresponding antenna tuning.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A wireless communications device comprising:
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a radio frequency (RF) transceiver; an antenna matching and tuning circuit (AMTC) coupled to an output of the RF transceiver; an antenna element (AE) coupled to an output of the AMTC by a first coupling capacitor and RF connected by a second low frequency blocking capacitor to ground to prevent a flow of low frequency signals to ground, wherein the AE is a first component of a capacitive touch and proximity sensor (CTPS) which includes a high impedance component (HIC) directly coupled to the AE; a detection integrated circuit (IC) connected to the HIC of the CTPS and which;
detects a change in capacitance of the CTPS caused proximity of an object to the antenna element, while the antenna element is being used to communicate RF signals; and
responsive to detection of the change in capacitance of the CTPS, triggers a transmission of at least one control signal to the AMTC to provide an appropriate antenna tuning to offset antenna de-tuning caused by the proximity of the object to the antenna element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a wireless communications device having an antenna element that is capacitively coupled to an antenna matching and tuning circuit (AMTC) and is connected to at least one radio frequency (RF) choke to constitute a capacitive touch and proximity sensor (CTPS), a method comprising:
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detecting via the CTPS a presence of an object within a specific proximity to the antenna element, wherein said detecting is caused by a change in a capacitance of the CTPS indicated by at least one object detection signal that is received by a detection IC; determining an antenna tuning state corresponding to the at least one object detection signal to compensate for antenna de-tuning caused by the presence of the object; generating at least one control signal to provide antenna tuning to compensate for the presence of the object; and propagating the at least one control signal to the AMTC to trigger antenna tuning that can compensate for antenna de-tuning caused by the proximity of the object to the capacitive touch and proximity sensor. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification