Tunable antenna systems

• US 9,070,969 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2010
• Issued: 06/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Mow, Matt A., Schlub, Robert W., Pascolini, Mattia, Hill, Robert J., Caballero, Ruben
• Primary Examiner(s): Wimer, Michael C
• Application Number:
  US12/831,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20120009983A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,820 Days
• Field of Search: 343/700.MS, 343/702, 343/741, 343743-748, 343/823, 343/861, 455/575.7, 455/193.1, 455/193.2, 455/193.3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/243 with built-in antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/48 Earthing means; Earth screens; Counterpoises
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/103 with variable reactance for tuning the antenna tuning resonant circuits H03J
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/005 with variable reactance for tuning the antenna
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/0421 with a shorting wall or a shorting pin at one end of the element H01Q9/0414 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/0442 with particular tuning means
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/145 by varying the electrical length
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits

Abstract

An electronic device has wireless communications circuitry including an adjustable antenna system coupled to a radio-frequency transceiver. The adjustable antenna system may include one or more adjustable electrical components that are controlled by storage and processing circuitry in the electronic device. The adjustable electrical components may include switches and components that can be adjusted between numerous different states. The adjustable electrical components may be coupled between antenna system components such as transmission line elements, matching network elements, antenna elements and antenna feeds. By adjusting the adjustable electrical components, the storage and processing circuitry can tune the adjustable antenna system to ensure that the adjustable antenna system covers communications bands of interest.

Claims

1. An adjustable antenna system, comprising:

a peripheral conductive member in an electronic device housing, wherein the electronic device housing has a periphery;

dielectric formed within first and second gaps in the peripheral conductive member, wherein each gap has an effective gap width, wherein the dielectric is located on the periphery of the electronic device housing; and

first and second switches that electrically adjust the effective widths of the first and second gaps to tune a frequency response of the adjustable antenna system by shorting opposite sides of the first and second gaps, respectively; and

storage and processing circuitry that provides control signals to a control input of the first switch and to a control input of the second switch to tune the frequency response of the adjustable antenna system.

2. The adjustable antenna system defined in claim 1 wherein the peripheral conductive member comprises a metal structure in an electronic device with a rectangular periphery, wherein the metal structure surrounds substantially all of the rectangular periphery.

3. The adjustable antenna system defined in claim 2 wherein the metal structure comprises a display bezel.

4. The adjustable antenna system defined in claim 2 wherein the metal structure comprises housing sidewalls for the electronic device.

5. The adjustable antenna system defined in claim 2 wherein first and second switches each have first terminals connected to the peripheral conductive member and second terminals connected to the peripheral conductive member.

6. The adjustable antenna system defined in claim 1 wherein the adjustable antenna system includes an adjustable antenna formed at least partly from the peripheral conductive member and wherein the adjustable antenna system includes portions of a metal plate in the electronic device housing.

7. An electronic device having an exterior, comprising:

a display;

a rectangular electronic device housing with a rectangular periphery that substantially surrounds the display, wherein the rectangular electronic device housing has external surfaces and a rectangular peripheral conductive member that runs along the rectangular periphery, wherein the rectangular peripheral conductive member extends along at least two of the external surfaces of the rectangular electronic device housing at the exterior of the electronic device;

a radio-frequency transceiver;

an antenna having an antenna feed;

a transmission line path coupling the radio-frequency transceiver and the antenna feed;

storage and processing circuitry, wherein the peripheral conductive member includes a dielectric gap and includes portions that form at least part of the antenna; and

an adjustable electrical component that has at least one terminal that is electrically coupled to the peripheral conductive member and that has a control terminal that receives control signals from the storage and processing circuitry that adjust frequency response in the antenna.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 7 wherein the adjustable electrical component comprises a switch.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 7 further comprising:

a transmission line stub; and

a switch that is coupled between the transmission line stub and the transmission line path and that switches the transmission line stub in and out of use.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 wherein the antenna is an adjustable antenna and wherein the electronic device includes a fixed antenna that is coupled to the radio-frequency transceiver.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 10 wherein the fixed antenna covers a plurality of communications bands and wherein the adjustable electrical component is adjusted so that the adjustable antenna selectively covers multiple different communications bands each of which is one of the plurality of communications bands.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 7, wherein the display comprises a touch screen display and wherein the rectangular periphery of the rectangular housing substantially surrounds the touch screen display.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 7, wherein the electronic device has a length, a height, and a width, wherein the width is less than the length and the height is less than the width, and wherein the display includes a cover glass layer that substantially extends across the length and the width of the electronic device.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 7, wherein the electronic device has a length, a width, and a height, the length is greater than the width and the width is greater than the height, the rectangular peripheral conductive member runs along the length and the width of the electronic device and extends across the height of the electronic device from a front surface to a rear surface of the electronic device, and the rectangular peripheral conductive member comprises at least one gap that extends from the front surface to the rear surface of the electronic device across the height of the electronic device.

15. An electronic device, comprising:

a radio-frequency transceiver;

storage and processing circuitry; and

an adjustable antenna system that is coupled to the radio-frequency transceiver, wherein the radio-frequency transceiver is configured to transmit and receive radio-frequency signals using the adjustable antenna system, wherein the adjustable antenna system includes an adjustable electrical component that is coupled to an electrical component on a flex circuit, wherein the adjustable electrical component is controlled by control signals from the storage and processing circuitry, and wherein the storage and processing circuitry tunes the adjustable antenna system to cover desired communications bands by applying the control signals to the adjustable electrical component, wherein the electrical component on the flex circuit comprises a camera module mounted on the flex circuit.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the adjustable electrical component comprises a switch.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 16 wherein the adjustable antenna system includes an adjustable antenna impedance matching network that is controlled by the storage and processing circuitry.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the adjustable electrical component comprises a variable resistor.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the adjustable electrical component comprises a variable inductor.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 15, wherein the adjustable electrical component is configured to selectively couple the electrical component to an antenna resonating element.