Enhanced internal antenna architecture for a mobile computing device

• US 8,213,982 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2009
• Issued: 07/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Marlett, Jeff, Wright, Philip, Shi, Guining, Tu, Jerome
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ajit
• Application Number:
  US12/476,007
• Publication Number:
  US 20100304785A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,128 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/243 with built-in antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/28 Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems multiple beam H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/026 Details of the structure or mounting of specific components

Abstract

Various embodiments of an internal multi-band antenna architecture for a mobile computing device are described. An internal antenna architecture for a mobile computing device may include multiple antenna elements, including a first internal antenna element configured to operate in a downlink frequency sub-band of at least one frequency band for communication in a first mode, and a second internal antenna element configured to operate in an uplink frequency sub-band of the at least one frequency band for communication in the first mode. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A mobile computing device, comprising:

a housing to encapsulate components of the mobile computing device;

a first internal antenna element disposed on the housing arranged to operate in at least one downlink frequency sub-band of an upper frequency band from a set of frequency bands for communication in a first mode;

a second internal antenna element disposed on the housing arranged to operate in an uplink frequency sub-band of the upper frequency band for communication in the first mode;

a transceiver to couple to the first internal antenna element;

a switchplexer to couple to the second internal antenna element; and

at least one duplexer/filter to couple to the transceiver and the switchplexer.

2. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the second internal antenna element arranged to operate in at least three lower frequency bands from the set of frequency bands for communication in a second mode.

3. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the first mode comprising a Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) mode using the downlink frequency sub-band of the upper frequency band to receive radio-frequency signals, and the uplink frequency sub-band of the upper frequency band to transmit radio-frequency signals.

4. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the at least one downlink frequency sub-band of the upper frequency band comprising the 2100 MHz frequency band.

5. The mobile computing device of claim 2, the second mode comprising a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) mode using the at least three lower frequency bands.

6. The mobile computing device of claim 2, the three lower frequency bands comprising the 850 MHz frequency band, the 1800 MHz frequency band, and the 1900 MHz frequency band.

7. The mobile computing device of claim 2, the three lower frequency bands comprising the 900 MHz frequency band, the 1800 MHz frequency band, and the 1900 MHz frequency band.

8. The mobile computing device of claim 2, the downlink frequency sub-band and the uplink frequency sub-band comprising discontiguous frequency sub-bands.

9. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the first internal antenna element positioned substantially near a top of the housing.

10. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the second internal antenna element positioned substantially near a bottom of the housing.

11. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the first internal antenna element comprising a planar inverted F-antenna.

12. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the second internal antenna element comprising a paper-clip antenna.

13. The mobile computing device of claim 1, further comprising a third antenna element disposed on the housing arranged to operate in at least one frequency band for communication in a third mode.

14. The mobile computing device of claim 13, the third mode comprising a Global Positioning System (GPS) mode.

15. The mobile computing device of claim 1, the at least one duplexer/filter having a terminating element to couple to a receive output of the at least one duplexer/filter, and the first internal antenna element to couple to a receive input of the transceiver.

16. A mobile computing device, comprising:

a first internal antenna element configured to operate in a downlink frequency sub-band of an upper frequency band for communication in a first mode;

a second internal antenna element configured to operate in an uplink frequency sub-band of the upper frequency band for communication in the first mode;

a transceiver to couple to the first internal antenna element;

a switchplexer to couple to the second internal antenna element; and

at least one duplexer/filter to couple to the transceiver and the switchplexer.

17. The mobile computing device of claim 16, the second internal antenna element arranged to operate in at least three lower frequency bands from the set of frequency bands for communication in a second mode.

18. The mobile computing device of claim 16, the first mode comprising a Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) mode using the downlink frequency sub-band of the upper frequency band to receive radio-frequency signals, and the uplink frequency sub-band of the upper frequency band to transmit radio-frequency signals.

19. The mobile computing device of claim 17, the second mode comprising a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) mode using the at least three lower frequency bands.

20. The mobile computing device of claim 16, the at least one duplexer/filter having a terminating element to couple to a receive output of the at least one duplexer/filter, and the first internal antenna element to couple to a receive input of the transceiver.

21. The mobile computing device of claim 16, comprising a processor to couple to the transceiver.

22. The mobile computing device of claim 21, comprising a radio control module that when executed by the processor is operative to switch the transceiver from the first mode to the second mode.