Tunable slot antenna

• US 6,028,561 A
• Filed: 03/06/1998
• Issued: 02/22/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Takei, Ken
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, David H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HOANG V
• Application Number:
  US09/035,848
• Time in Patent Office: 718 Days
• Field of Search: 343/767, 343/768, 343/700 MS, 343/701, 343/746, 343/750
• US Class Current: 343/767
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/103 with variable reactance for tuning the antenna tuning resonant circuits H03J

Abstract

In order to offer a tunable slot antenna capable of varying an impedance matching center frequency thereof, there is provided a coaxial resonant slot antenna for supplying RF power to a strip conductor placed in a flat conductive cubic with a slot formed in its upper surface and electrically insulated from the flat conductive cubic, wherein a variable capacitor is electrically connected between one point lying in the neighborhood thereof including an end far from a RF power connection point on the strip conductor and a side wall of the flat conductive cubic, and a d.c. voltage to be applied across the variable capacitor is supplied to the connection point.

Claims

1. A tunable slot antenna comprising:

a flat conductive cubic shaped into a rectangular parallelepiped as a whole;

a slender strip conductor extending along the direction of a resonant axis of a space inside said flat conductive cubic, and placed so as to be isolated from said flat conductive cubic;

a radio wave transmitting and receiving slot formed in an upper surface of said flat conductive cubic so as to intersect said strip conductor at a position intermediate and spaced from ends of said strip conductor and forming a cross with said strip conductor;

means for supplying RF power between a connection point set to said strip conductor and a side wall of said flat conductive cubic; and

a variable capacitor electrically connected between one point, said one point defining a capacitor connecting point, lying in the neighborhood thereof including an end far from the connection point of said strip conductor and the side wall of said flat conductive cubic.

2. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 1, wherein said variable capacitor has a capacitance value varied according to a d.c. voltage applied thereacross.

3. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 2, wherein a portion for supplying the d.c. voltage applied across said variable capacitor coincides with said connection point.

4. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 3, wherein a conductive island is formed in a small hole made in a conductor surface of the upper surface of said flat conductive cubic, said conductive island and said capacitor connecting point are electrically connected to each other by a line conductor, and said variable capacitor is electrically connected between said conductive island and one point of the side wall of said flat conductive cubic in the neighborhood of said conductive island.

5. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 4, wherein one terminal of a device for blocking a flow of a high-frequency current is electrically connected to said connection point and the other terminal of said device is a terminal for supplying the d.c. voltage applied across said variable capacitor.

6. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 5, wherein the device for blocking the flow of the high-frequency current is a low-pass filter.

7. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 5, wherein the device for blocking the flow of the high-frequency current is an inductor.

8. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 5, wherein said flat conductive cubic is filled thereinside with a dielectric material.

9. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 5, wherein a feeding line for supplying RF power and a d.c. voltage is electrically connected to said connection point and drawn through a small hole made in the bottom face of said flat conductive cubic.

10. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 9, wherein said feeding line comprises a conductive island formed in the small hole made in the bottom face of said flat conductive cubic, and a drawing through hole defined between said conductive island and said connection point.

11. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 5, wherein a feeding line for supplying RF power and a d.c. voltage is electrically connected to said connection point and drawn through a small hole made in a side of said flat conductive cubic.

12. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 11, wherein said feeding line comprises a side through hole defined in a side of said flat conductive cubic so as to be electrically isolated from the side thereof, said through hole being electrically connected to the connection point.

13. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 12, further comprising a high-frequency circuit board provided with a first wired conductor for supplying RF power and a d.c. voltage, a second wired conductor branching off from said first wired conductor, and a grounding conductor surface, and wherein said flat conductive cubic is implemented on said high-frequency circuit board so that the bottom face of said flat conductive cubic is electrically connected to said grounding conductor surface and the side through hole is electrically connected to an end of said first wired conductor, and an end of said second wired conductor is electrically connected to one terminal of the device for blocking the flow of the high-frequency current, whereas a voltage variable d.c. source for generating the d.c. voltage is electrically connected to the other terminal of said device.

14. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 13, wherein the device for blocking the flow of the high-frequency current is a high-frequency choke formed in said high-frequency circuit board by a pattern formed by adding a comblike pattern to both sides of a wired conductor.

15. A tunable slot antenna comprising:

a multilayer circuit board comprised of circuit boards stacked on each other so as to form first, second and third layers in order from above;

a flat conductive cubic having an upper surface comprised of a first conductor surface formed in the first layer and a slot formed by partially deleting said first conductor surface;

a strip conductor formed by a third conductor surface formed in the second layer;

said flat conductive cubic having a bottom face formed by a second conductor surface formed in the third layer and a side formed by a plurality of side through holes provided between the first and third layers so as to extend through the second layer;

a conductive island formed in said first conductor surface;

a variable capacitor implemented on said first conductor surface;

a line conductor for electrically connecting the conductive island and a capacitor connecting point, said line conductor having a through hole for capacitor connection formed between the first and second layers;

a voltage variable d.c. source for generating a d.c. voltage, said voltage variable d.c. source being electrically connected to the other terminal of a device for blocking a flow of a high-frequency current, whose one terminal is electrically connected to a connection point and being provided with a control terminal for receiving a control signal from a voltage control circuit for controlling a source voltage.

16. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 15, wherein another circuit board is interposed between the back of the circuit board having the first layer and the second layer, said plurality of side through holes extend through said another circuit board, and the front and back of said another circuit board are both covered with insulating materials over their entirety.

17. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 15, wherein another circuit board is interposed between the back of the circuit board having the second layer and the third layer, said plurality of through holes extend through said another circuit board, and the front and back of said another circuit board are both covered with insulating materials over their entirety.

18. A tunable slot antenna according to any of claims 15 through 17, wherein a feeding line for supplying RF power and a d.c. voltage is electrically connected to the connection point and drawn through a small hole made in the second conductor surface.

19. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 18, wherein said feeding line comprises a conductive island formed in a small hole made in the second conductor surface and a drawing through hole formed between the conductive island and the connection point.

20. A tunable slot antenna according to any of claims 15 through 17, wherein said strip conductor has one end near the connection point, which is drawn from the conductive cubic side formed by said plurality of side through holes to the outside so as to extend in non-contact with said through holes.

21. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 20, wherein a drawing through hole for supplying RF power and a d.c. voltage is defined between one end of said strip conductor and the first layer.

22. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 21, wherein a first wired conductor for the supply of RF power and a d.c. voltage and a second wired conductor branching off from the first wired conductor are formed in the first layer, said first wired conductor having an end to which the drawing through hole is coupled and connected, and said second wired conductor having an end to which one terminal of the device for blocking the flow of the high-frequency current is connected.

23. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 22, wherein the device for blocking the flow of the high-frequency current is a high-frequency choke formed in the first layer by a pattern formed by adding a comblike pattern to both sides of a wired conductor.

24. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 20, wherein the drawing through hole for supplying RF power and the d.c. voltage is formed between one end of said strip conductor and the third layer.

25. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 24, wherein a first wired conductor for supplying RF power and a d.c. voltage and a second wired conductor branching off from said first wired conductor are formed in the third layer, said first wired conductor having an end to which the drawing through hole is coupled and connected, and said second wired conductor having an end to which one terminal of the device for blocking the flow of the high-frequency current is connected.

26. A tunable slot antenna according to claim 25, wherein the device for blocking the flow of the high-frequency current is a high-frequency choke formed in the third layer by a pattern formed by adding a comblike pattern to both sides of a wired conductor.