Electronic device having multiport antenna structures with resonating slot

• US 9,153,874 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2013
• Issued: 10/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ouyang, Yuehui, Jin, Nanbo, Zhou, Yijun, Ayala Vazquez, Enrique, Lakshmanan, Anand, Schlub, Robert W., Pascolini, Mattia, Mow, Matthew A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Tan
• Application Number:
  US13/846,459
• Publication Number:
  US 20140266938A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 343/702, 343/729, 343/745, 343/700.MS, 343/766
• 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 13/106 Microstrip slot antennas patch antenna elements H01Q9/0407
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/28 Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems multiple beam H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/321 within a radiating element or between connected radiating elements
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/328 between a radiating element and ground
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/335 at the feed, e.g. for impedance matching
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/378 Combination of fed elements with parasitic elements
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/0421 with a shorting wall or a shorting pin at one end of the element H01Q9/0414 takes precedence

Abstract

Electronic devices may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. The antenna structures may include an inverted-F antenna resonating element and an antenna ground that form an inverted-F antenna having first and second antenna ports. The antenna structures may include a slot antenna resonating element. The slot antenna resonating element may serve as a parasitic antenna resonating element for the inverted-F antenna at frequencies in a first communications band and may serve as a slot antenna at frequencies in a second communications band. The slot antenna may be directly fed using a third antenna port. An adjustable capacitor may be coupled to the first port to tune the inverted-F antenna. The inverted-F antenna may also be tuned using an adjustable capacitor bridging the slot antenna resonating element.

Claims

1. Electronic device antenna structures, comprising:

an antenna ground;

an antenna resonating element that forms a first antenna with the antenna ground, wherein the first antenna has first and second ports; and

a slot antenna resonating element having a third antenna port, wherein the slot antenna resonating element forms a second antenna that handles signals through the third antenna port and wherein the slot antenna resonating element forms a parasitic antenna resonating element for the first antenna.

2. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 1 wherein the slot antenna resonating element comprises a slot formed between portions of the antenna resonating element and the antenna ground.

3. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 2 wherein the antenna resonating element comprises a peripheral conductive electronic device housing structure.

4. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 3 wherein the first antenna comprises a dual arm inverted-F antenna.

5. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 4 wherein the slot antenna is configured to transmit and receive wireless local area network in a 5 GHz communications band using the third antenna port.

6. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 4 wherein the slot antenna resonating element is near field coupled to the antenna resonating element of the first antenna during operation of the first antenna at 2.4 GHz.

7. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 1 further comprising a band pass filter coupled to the second antenna port.

8. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 1 further comprising an adjustable capacitor coupled to the first antenna port.

9. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 1 further comprising an adjustable capacitor that bridges the slot.

10. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 9 wherein the adjustable capacitor is configured to produce an adjustable capacitor value that tunes an antenna resonance for the first antenna.

11. The electronic device antenna structures defined in claim 10 wherein the adjustable capacitor comprises switching circuitry and a plurality of fixed capacitors.

12. Apparatus, comprising:

radio-frequency transceiver circuitry configured to handle wireless local area network signals, satellite navigation system signals, and cellular telephone signals;

antenna structures having first, second, and third antenna ports, wherein the antenna structures include an inverted-F antenna resonating element to which the first and second antenna ports are coupled and a slot antenna resonating element to which the third antenna port is coupled;

a first adjustable capacitor coupled between the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and the first antenna port; and

a second adjustable capacitor that bridges the slot antenna resonating element.

13. The apparatus defined in claim 12 wherein the antenna structures are configured to handle radio-frequency signals in at least first and second communications bands using the first antenna port, wherein the first adjustable capacitor is configured to tune an antenna resonance in the first communications band and wherein the second adjustable capacitor is configured to tune an second antenna resonance in the second communications band.

14. The apparatus defined in claim 13 wherein the slot antenna resonating element forms a slot antenna for radio-frequency signals in a third communications band.

15. The apparatus defined in claim 14 wherein the third communications band comprises a wireless local area network communications band at 5 GHz and wherein the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry includes a wireless local area network transceiver that is configured to transmit and receive signals in the wireless local area network communications band at 5 GHz using the third antenna port and the slot antenna.

16. The apparatus defined in claim 15 wherein the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry comprises a satellite navigation system receiver coupled to the second antenna port.

17. The apparatus defined in claim 16 wherein the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry comprises a cellular telephone transceiver coupled to the first antenna port for transmitting and receiving signals in the first and second communications bands.

18. An electronic device, comprising:

antenna structures, wherein the antenna structures include an antenna ground, an inverted-F antenna resonating element that forms an inverted-F antenna with the antenna ground, and a slot antenna resonating element that serves as a slot antenna and as a parasitic antenna resonating element for the inverted-F antenna; and

wireless circuitry that uses the inverted-F antenna to handle signals in a first communications band and that uses the slot antenna to handle signals in a second communications band.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 18 wherein the wireless circuitry comprises:

a wireless local area network transceiver; and

transmission line structures coupled between the wireless local area network transceiver and the slot antenna resonating element, wherein the wireless local area network transceiver directly feeds the slot antenna resonating element so that the slot antenna handles wireless local area network signals in the second communications band.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 19 wherein the wireless circuitry comprises a cellular telephone transceiver and duplexer circuitry, wherein the duplexer circuitry has a first port that is coupled to the wireless local area network transceiver and a second port that is coupled to the cellular telephone transceiver.

21. The electronic device defined in claim 20 wherein the duplexer circuitry has a shared port coupled to the inverted-F antenna.

22. The electronic device defined in claim 21 wherein the inverted-F antenna has first and second antenna ports, wherein the shared port of the duplexer circuitry is coupled to the first antenna port.

23. The electronic device defined in claim 22 further comprising an adjustable circuit coupled between the shared port of the duplexer circuitry and the first antenna port, wherein the adjustable circuit is configured to tune the inverted-F antenna.

24. The electronic device defined in claim 23 wherein the adjustable circuit comprises an adjustable capacitor.

25. The electronic device defined in claim 18 further comprising an adjustable circuit that bridges the slot antenna resonating element.

26. The electronic device defined in claim 25 wherein the adjustable circuit comprises an adjustable capacitor.

27. The electronic device defined in claim 18 further comprising a housing having a peripheral conductive housing structure, wherein the inverted-F antenna resonating element comprises a portion of the peripheral conductive housing structure.

28. The electronic device defined in claim 27 wherein the slot antenna resonating element comprises a slot having edges formed from the portion of the peripheral conductive housing structure and the antenna ground, the antenna structures further comprising an adjustable capacitor that bridges the slot, wherein the adjustable capacitor is configured to tune the inverted-F antenna.

29. The electronic device defined in claim 28 wherein the inverted-F antenna comprises at least one antenna port and wherein the electronic device further comprises an additional adjustable capacitor coupled to the antenna port to tune the inverted-F antenna, wherein the adjustable capacitor is configured to tune the inverted-F antenna in the first communications band and wherein the additional adjustable capacitor is configured to tune the inverted-F antenna in a third communications band.

30. The electronic device defined in claim 29 wherein the first communications band comprises a communications band from 760 MHz to 960 MHz, wherein the second communications band comprises a wireless local area network communications band at 5 GHz, and wherein the third communications band comprises a communications band from 2.3 to 2.7 GHz, the electronic device further comprising control circuitry that is configured to control the adjustable capacitor and the additional adjustable capacitor.