Integrated air loop antenna and transformer antenna assembly

• US 8,019,302 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2008
• Issued: 09/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skyworks Solutions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Incorporated
• Inventors: Zhang, Ligang, Hu, Zhiqi, Lin, Chengzhou
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu; An
• Application Number:
  US12/313,087
• Publication Number:
  US 20100124883A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,030 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/274
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 23/00 Antennas with active circuits or circuit elements integrated within them or attached to them
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for an integrated air loop antenna and transformer antenna assembly that provides improved performance in receiving RF signals and AM broadcast channels, in particular. In one embodiment, an air loop antenna is coupled to a transformer to form an integrated antenna assembly. This integrated air loop antenna and transformer antenna assembly can then be connected to a radio device having antenna connections.

Claims

1. A radio system including an integrated antenna assembly, comprising:

a radio device, the radio device comprising;

external antenna connections;

a printed circuit board positioned within the radio device; and

a radio integrated circuit mounted on the printed circuit board and including tuner circuitry, the tuner circuitry having inputs coupled to the external antenna connections; and

an external integrated antenna assembly, the integrated antenna assembly comprising;

an air loop antenna;

a transformer coupled to the air loop antenna; and

an antenna connector coupled to the transformer and to the external device connections of the radio device.

2. The radio system of claim 1, further wherein the transformer is configured to be positioned from 10 cm to 20 cm from the printed circuit board.

3. The radio system of claim 2, wherein the air loop antenna is configured to receive AM channels within an AM band between 520 KHz and 1710 KHz and the radio integrated circuit is configured to tune the AM channels.

4. The radio system of claim 1, further wherein the transformer is configured to be positioned from 10 cm to 20 cm from the radio device.

5. The radio system of claim 4, wherein the air loop antenna is configured to receive AM channels within an AM band between 520 KHz and 1710 KHz and the radio integrated circuit is configured to tune the AM channels.

6. The radio system of claim 1, wherein the antenna connector comprises a shielded cable.

7. The radio system of claim 1, wherein the antenna connector comprises twisted pair wiring.

8. The radio system of claim 1, wherein the air loop antenna comprises multiple wire loops.

9. The radio system of claim 1, wherein the air loop antenna is configured to receive AM channels within an AM band between 520 KHz and 1710 KHz and the radio integrated circuit is configured to tune the AM channels.

10. An integrated antenna assembly, comprising:

an air loop antenna;

a transformer coupled to the air loop antenna; and

an antenna connector coupled to the transformer to provide connections to a radio device, the antenna connector being from 10 cm to 20 cm in length.

11. The integrated antenna assembly of claim 10, wherein the air loop antenna is configured to receive AM channels within an AM band between 520 KHz and 1710 KHz.

12. The integrated antenna assembly of claim 10, wherein the antenna connector comprises a shielded cable.

13. The integrated antenna assembly of claim 10, wherein the antenna connector comprises twisted pair wiring.

14. The integrated antenna assembly of claim 10, wherein the air loop antenna comprises multiple wire loops.

15. A method for receiving radio frequency (RF) signals with an integrated antenna assembly, comprising:

receiving RF signals within an air loop antenna;

sending the received RF signals to a transformer;

coupling signals from the transformer to external connections of a radio device;

receiving the signals provided to the external connections with a radio integrated circuit on a printed circuit board within the radio device; and

tuning the received signals.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising outputting audio signals with the radio device.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising positioning the transformer from 10 cm to 20 cm from the printed circuit board.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising positioning the transformer from 10 cm to 20 cm from the radio device.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising receiving AM channels within an AM band between 520 KHz and 1710 KHz using the air loop antenna and tuning the AM channels with the radio integrated circuit.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the coupling step comprises coupling signals from the transformer to the external connections of the radio device using an antenna connector between 10 and 20 cm in length.