Slot Antenna Arrays for Millimeter-Wave Communication Systems

• US 20200136268A1
• Filed: 10/29/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Saeidi, Chiya, Krenz, Eric Le Roy
• Granted Patent: US 10,978,811 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/243 with built-in antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/526 Electromagnetic shields
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/10 Resonant slot antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/12 Longitudinally slotted cylinder antennas; Equivalent structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/18 the slot being backed by, or formed in boundary wall of, a resonant cavity longitudinally slotted cylinder H01Q13/12 ; Open cavity antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/064 using horn or slot aerials slotted waveguides arrays H01Q21/005

Abstract

Techniques described herein provide slot antenna arrays for a millimeter-wave communication system. One or more implementations form a slot antenna array by creating multiple slot antenna out of a metal band that surrounds an outer edge of a housing structure. Various implementations form the slot antenna array to support millimeter waveforms associated with the millimeter-wave communication system. To form the antenna array, one or more implementations capacitively couple a respective signal feed to each respective slot antenna using a stripline connected to an inner edge of the metal band, where the stripline provides isolation between the antenna array and hardware components included in the housing structure. In response to coupling the signal feeds to the slot antenna, various implementations transmit a beam-formed wireless signal associated with the millimeter-wave communication system to enable successful data exchanges.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising:

a housing structure configured to house hardware components associated with the computing device, the housing structure comprising a metal band that forms an outer edge of the housing structure;

at least one wireless link component included at least partially within the housing structure and configured to maintain at least one wireless link associated with a millimeter-wave communication system between the computing device and another device;

a plurality of slot antenna included in the metal band that collectively form a slot antenna array; and

a stripline positioned on an inner edge of the metal band that electronically couples the at least one wireless link component to the plurality of slot antenna, the stripline comprising;

a ground plane positioned between the inner edge of metal band and at least some of the hardware components;

a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signal feeds associated with the at least one wireless link component, each respective RF signal feed configured to excite a respective slot antenna of the plurality of slot antenna; and

a plurality of notches, each respective notch configured to isolate the plurality of RF signal feeds from unintended signals.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the slot antenna array is configured to be operable over a portion of frequencies that generally span 24 Gigahertz (GHz) to 86 GHz.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the computing device comprises a mobile phone.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the millimeter-wave communication system comprises a 5^th Generation (5G) wireless communication system.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein each respective slot antenna of the plurality of slot antenna comprises a dielectric supporting material.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the stripline adds less than 0.2 millimeter thickness to the inner edge of the metal band.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein at least one slot antenna of the plurality of slot antenna has a generally rectangular shape based off of a half-waveguide wavelength, wherein a width of the rectangular shape has a size included in a range comprising 3.5 millimeters (mm) to 5.5 mm, a height of the rectangular shape has a size included a range comprising 0.4mm to 0.8 mm, and a depth of the rectangular shape has a size included in a range comprising 1 mm to 4 mm.

8. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of slot antenna and the stripline form a first transmission pair that is positioned on a first side of the computing device;

and

wherein the computing device comprises a second plurality of slot antenna and a second stripline that form a second transmission pair that is positioned on a second side of the computing device.

9. A mobile phone comprising:

a housing structure configured to house hardware components associated with the mobile phone, the housing structure comprising a metal band that forms an outer edge of the housing structure;

at least one wireless link component included at least partially within the housing structure and configured to maintain at least one wireless link associated with a millimeter-wave communication system between the mobile phone and another device;

a plurality of slot antenna included in the metal band that collectively form a slot antenna array associated with transmitting millimeter waveforms associated with the millimeter-wave communication system; and

a stripline positioned on an inner edge of the metal band that electronically couples the at least one wireless link component to the plurality of slot antenna, the stripline comprising;

a plurality of radio frequency (RF) feeds associated with the at least one wireless link component, each respective RF signal feed configured to excite a respective slot antenna of the plurality of slot antenna to generate a beam-formed signal associated with the millimeter-wave communication system; and

a plurality of notches, each respective notch configured to isolate the plurality of RF signal feeds from unintended signals.

10. The mobile phone of claim 9, wherein the plurality of slot antenna comprises at least four slot antenna.

11. The mobile phone of claim 10, wherein the plurality of notches comprises at least three notches, wherein each respective notch is positioned at a respective location that is in between a respective pair of slot antenna of the at least four slot antenna.

12. The mobile phone of claim 9, wherein each respective notch has a generally rectangular shape with a width having a size included a range comprising 0.4 millimeters (mm) to 0.8 mm, a height having a size included a range comprising 2.5 mm to 4.5 mm, and a depth having a size included in a range comprising 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.

13. The mobile phone of claim 9, wherein each respective slot antenna has a generally rectangular shape based, at least in part, on a half-waveguide wavelength, wherein a width of the rectangular shape has a size included in a range comprising 3.5 millimeters (mm) to 5.5 mm, a height with a size included a range comprising 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm, and a depth with a size included in a range comprising 1 mm to 4 mm.

14. The mobile phone of claim 9, wherein the stripline is further positioned to provide shielding between the slot antenna array and at least some of the hardware components by positioning a ground plane of the stripline adjacent to the at least some of the hardware components instead of including a setback configured to provide isolation.

15. The mobile phone of claim 9, wherein the millimeter-wave communication system comprises a 5^th Generation (5G) communication system.

16. A method comprising:

creating multiple slot antenna out of a metal band surrounding an outer edge of a housing structure associated with a computing device that includes capabilities associated with a millimeter-wave communication system; and

capacitively coupling each respective slot antenna of the multiple slot antenna to a respective signal feed of multiple signal feeds to form an antenna array using a stripline connected to an inner edge of the metal band, the stripline providing isolation between the multiple slot antenna and hardware components included in the housing structure.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said providing the isolation between the multiple slot antenna and the hardware components further comprises at least one of:

positioning a ground plane of the stripline between the metal and the hardware components;

or

including a respective notch in the stripline between a respective pair of signal feeds of the multiple signal feeds.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each respective notch comprises an absence of structure within the stripline, the absence of structure having a generally rectangular shape with a width having a size included a range comprising 0.4 millimeters (mm) to 0.8 mm, a height having a size included a range comprising 2.5 mm to 4.5 mm, and a depth having a size included in a range comprising 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising transmitting a beam-formed wireless signal associated with the millimeter-wave communication system using the antenna array to enable successful data exchanges between the computing device and another device.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein said creating the multiple slot antenna further comprises creating uniform apertures in the metal band, each aperture corresponding to a respective slot antenna of the multiple slot antenna.