Electronic device with shared antenna structures and balun

• US 9,325,080 B2
• Filed: 03/03/2014
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ouyang, Yuehui, Darnell, Dean F., Ayala Vazquez, Enrique, Tong, Erica J., Hu, Hongfei, Mow, Matthew A., Pascolini, Mattia, Tsai, Ming-Ju, Jin, Nanbo, Schlub, Robert W.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, LINH V
• Application Number:
  US14/195,130
• Publication Number:
  US 20150249292A1
• Time in Patent Office: 785 Days
• Field of Search: 343/702, 343/700.MS, 343/745, 343/767
• 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 21/30 Combinations of separate antenna units operating in different wavebands and connected to a common feeder system
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/247 by switching different parts of a primary active element
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/35 using two or more simultaneously fed points
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/371 Branching current paths
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/42 with folded element, the folded parts being spaced apart a small fraction of the operating wavelength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/26 using coils

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with shared antenna structures that can be used to form both a near-field-communications antenna such as a loop antenna and a non-near-field communications antenna such as an inverted-F antenna. The antenna structures may include conductive structures such as metal traces on printed circuits or other dielectric substrates, internal metal housing structures, or other conductive electronic device housing structures. A main resonating element arm may be separated from an antenna ground by an opening. A non-near-field communications antenna return path and antenna feed path may span the opening. A balun may have first and second electromagnetically coupled inductors. The second inductor may have terminals coupled across differential signal terminals in a near-field communications transceiver. The first inductor may form part of the near-field communications loop antenna.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

antenna structures that include an inverted-F antenna having a resonating element arm, an antenna ground, an antenna feed path, and an antenna return path coupled between the resonating element arm and the antenna ground;

non-near-field communications circuitry coupled to the antenna structures;

near-field communications circuitry, wherein the near-field communications circuitry handles near-field communications using a loop antenna formed from the antenna structures, the loop antenna including a portion of the antenna return path of the inverted-F antenna; and

a balun that couples the near-field communications circuitry to the antenna structures.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the loop antenna further includes a portion of the antenna ground.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the non-near-field communications circuitry handles non-near-field communications circuitry using the inverted-F antenna.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the antenna feed path is coupled between the resonating element arm and the antenna ground.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the loop antenna further includes a portion of the resonating element arm of the inverted-F antenna.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the loop antenna further includes a portion of the antenna feed path.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 6 wherein the antenna feed path has an antenna feed formed from a positive antenna feed terminal and a ground antenna feed terminal and an inductor is coupled between the positive antenna feed terminal and the ground antenna feed terminal.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 7 wherein the balun has first and second electromagnetically coupled inductors and the inductor that is coupled between the positive antenna feed terminal and the ground antenna feed terminal is the first inductor.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 wherein the near-field communications circuitry has first and second differential signal terminals and the second inductor is coupled between the first and second differential signal terminals.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising an antenna tuning path in the inverted-F antenna that tunes the inverted-F antenna, wherein the loop antenna further includes a portion of the antenna tuning path.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising peripheral conductive housing structures, wherein the resonating element arm of the inverted-F antenna is formed from a portion of the peripheral conductive housing structures.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the peripheral conductive housing structures are separated from the antenna ground by an opening that is spanned by an antenna return path that connects the resonating element arm to the antenna ground and the resonating element arm has a tip that is separated from the antenna ground by a gap in the peripheral conductive housing structures.

13. An electronic device, comprising:

an antenna resonating element and antenna ground that form a non-near-field communications antenna;

non-near-field communications circuitry coupled to the non-near-field communications antenna, wherein the non-near-field communications circuitry wirelessly communicates using the non-near-field communications antenna;

near-field communications circuitry; and

a balun coupled to the near-field communications circuitry, wherein the balun includes an inductor, the near-field communications circuitry wirelessly communicates using a near-field communications antenna, and the near-field communications antenna is formed from the inductor, a portion of the antenna resonating element, and a portion of the antenna ground.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the antenna resonating element comprises an inverted-F antenna resonating element.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising conductive electronic device housing structures, wherein the antenna resonating element is formed at least partly from the conductive electronic device housing structures.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the inductor is interposed in an antenna return path that is coupled between the antenna ground and a resonating element arm in the antenna resonating element.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the inductor is interposed in a path that is connected to an antenna return path and wherein the antenna return path is coupled between the antenna ground and a resonating element arm in the antenna resonating element.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the inductor is coupled in a path in the antenna resonating element that contains adjustable antenna tuning circuitry.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the non-near-field communications circuitry comprises a cellular telephone transceiver and the non-near-field communications antenna comprises an antenna feed coupled to the cellular telephone transceiver.

20. Apparatus, comprising:

an antenna ground;

conductive peripheral electronic device housing structures separated from the ground by an opening;

a non-near-field communications antenna return path that spans the opening;

a non-near-field communications antenna feed path that spans the opening, wherein the antenna ground, the conductive peripheral electronic device housing structures, the non-near-field communications antenna return path, and the non-near-field communications antenna feed path form a non-near-field communications antenna;

a balun having a first inductor and having a second inductor that is electromagnetically coupled to the first inductor; and

a near-field communications loop antenna that includes the first inductor and the antenna ground.

21. The apparatus defined in claim 20 further comprising:

a cellular telephone transceiver coupled to the non-near-field communications antenna feed path; and

a near-field communications transceiver having first and second differential signal terminals coupled to respective first and second terminals of the second inductor.