Wireless charging and communications systems with dual-frequency patch antennas

• US 9,882,282 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2015
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Noori, Basim H., Salam, Khan M., Han, Liang, Mow, Matthew A., Pascolini, Mattia, Caballero, Ruben, Biedka, Thomas E., Jiang, Yi, Ouyang, Yuehui
• Primary Examiner(s): GESESSE, TILAHUN
• Application Number:
  US14/921,895
• Publication Number:
  US 20170117754A1
• Time in Patent Office: 830 Days
• Field of Search: 455 411, 455 412, 4555621
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/35 using two or more simultaneously fed points
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/0407 Substantially flat resonant element parallel to ground plane, e.g. patch antenna dipole H01Q9/285; monopole H01Q9/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more dual-frequency dual-polarization patch antennas. Each patch antenna may have a patch antenna resonating element that lies in a plane and a ground that lies in a different parallel plane. The patch antenna resonating element may have a first feed located along a first central axis and a second feed located along a second central axis that is perpendicular to the first central axis. The patch antenna resonating element may be rectangular, may be oval, or may have other shapes. A shorting pin may be located at an intersecting point between the first and second axes. The patch antennas may be used in beam steering arrays. The patch antennas may be used for wireless power transfer at microwave frequencies or other frequencies and may be used to support millimeter wave communications.

Claims

1. An electronic device that communicates wirelessly with an external device, comprising:

millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry; and

a dual-polarization patch antenna that is coupled to the millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry and that is configured to communicate wirelessly with the external device, wherein the dual-polarization patch antenna comprises one of an array of dual-polarization patch antennas and the millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry comprises adjustable circuitry that performs beam steering with the array of dual-polarization patch antennas during millimeter wave wireless communications between the millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry and the external device.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the dual-polarization patch antenna has a patch antenna resonating element and a ground, the patch antenna resonating element and the ground lie in separate parallel planes, the patch antenna resonating element has first and second perpendicular central axes, dual-polarization patch antenna has a first feed that lies along the first central axis, and the dual-polarization patch antenna has a second feed that lies along the second central axis.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry communicates in channels at first, second, third, and fourth frequencies and the dual-polarization patch antenna has a first resonance peak that covers the first and second frequencies and a second resonance peak that covers the third and fourth frequencies.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the first, second, third, and fourth frequencies are associated respectively with first, second, third, and fourth frequencies 60 GHz communications channels.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the first, second, third, and fourth frequencies are associated respectively with first, second, third, and fourth IEEE 802.11 ad channels.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the first and second central axes intersect at an intersection point and the dual-polarization patch antenna comprises a shorting pin that shorts the patch antenna resonating element to the ground at the intersection point.

7. An electronic device, comprising:

wireless circuitry; and

an array of dual-polarization patch antennas coupled to the wireless circuitry, wherein the wireless circuitry includes adjustable circuitry that performs beam steering with the array of dual-polarization patch antennas, wherein each of the dual-polarization patch wherein the patch antenna resonating element and the ground lie in separate parallel planes, and wherein the patch antenna resonating element has first and second perpendicular central axes and first and second respective different dimensions along the first and second central axes.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 7 wherein each of the dual-polarization patch antennas has a first feed that lies along the first central axis of that antenna and has a second feed that lies along the second central axis of that antenna.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 further comprising a display, wherein the wireless circuitry comprises millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 wherein the millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry is configured to handle IEEE 802.11 ad channels.

11. An electronic device that communicates wirelessly with an external device, comprising:

millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry; and

a dual-polarization patch antenna that is coupled to the millimeter wave wireless communications circuitry and that is configured to communicate wirelessly with the external device, wherein the dual-polarization patch antenna has a patch antenna resonating element and a ground, the patch antenna resonating element has first and second perpendicular central axes, dual-polarization patch antenna has a first feed that lies along the first central axis, and the dual-polarization patch antenna has a second feed that lies along the second central axis.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein the patch antenna resonating element and the ground lie in separate parallel planes.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 wherein the dual-polarization patch antenna comprises a dual-polarization patch antenna.