Modem card with balanced antenna

• US 7,876,270 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2007
• Issued: 01/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Ozkar, Mete, Fabrega-Sanchez, Jorge, Poilasne, Gregory, Pathak, Vaneet
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho; Tan
• Application Number:
  US11/686,720
• Publication Number:
  US 20070152891A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,412 Days
• Field of Search: 343/702, 343/726, 343/741, 343/742, 343/866, 343/867, 343/793
• US Class Current: 343/702
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/241 used in mobile communications, e.g. GSM H01Q1/247, H01Q1/248 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/29 Combinations of different interacting antenna units for giving a desired directional characteristic H01Q25/00 takes precedence
• 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

Abstract

A cellular modem card that conforms to a PCMCIA standard includes a balanced antenna. The balanced antenna minimizes susceptibility to limited available ground plane and limited ground connections between the modem card and a host device, such as laptop computer. The balanced antenna may be a dipole antenna, loop antenna, capacitively loaded antenna, or any other suitable balanced antenna.

Claims

1. A modem card comprising:

a connector having pin configuration in accordance with a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) standard;

electronics connected to the connector; and

a balanced antenna connected to the electronics, the balanced antenna comprising a transformer loop having a balanced feed interface and a capacitively-loaded loop radiator coupled to the transformer loop.

2. The modem card of claim 1, wherein electronics comprise a cellular transceiver.

3. The modem card of claim 2, wherein the balanced antenna is a dipole antenna.

4. The modem card of claim 1, wherein the capacitively-loaded loop radiator is a balanced radiator.

5. The modem card of claim 1, wherein the capacitively-loaded loop radiator comprises:

a quasi loop with a first end section and a second end section; and

a bridge section interposed between the quasi loop first and second end sections.

6. The modem card of claim 5, wherein the bridge section is an element selected from the group including a dielectric gap capacitor and a lumped element capacitor.

7. The modem card of claim 5 wherein the quasi loop first end section comprises a portion formed parallel to a second end section portion and wherein the bridge section is a dielectric gap capacitor formed between the parallel portions of the first and second end sections.

8. The modem card of claim 5, wherein the transformer loop has a radiator interface and wherein the quasi loop has a transformer interface coupled to the transformer loop radiator interface.

9. The modem card of claim 8, wherein the transformer loop has a first perimeter;

and, wherein the quasi loop has a second perimeter with at least a portion of the second perimeter in common with the first perimeter.

10. The modem card of claim 9, wherein the transformer loop has a rectangular shape with a first side and wherein the quasi loop has a rectangular shape with the first side.

11. A cellular modem card comprising:

a connector having pin configuration in accordance with a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) standard;

electronics connected to the connector and comprising a cellular transceiver; and

a balanced antenna connected to the cellular transceiver, the balanced antenna comprising a transformer loop having a balanced feed interface and a capacitively-loaded loop radiator coupled to the transformer loop.

12. The cellular modem card of claim 11, wherein the

balanced capacitively-loaded loop radiator comprises:

a quasi loop with a first end section and a second end section; and

a bridge section interposed between the quasi loop first end section and the second end section.

13. The cellular modem card of claim 12, wherein the transformer loop has a radiator interface and a first perimeter and wherein the quasi loop has a transformer interface coupled to the transformer loop radiator interface, the quasi loop having a second perimeter with at least a portion of the second perimeter in common with the first perimeter.

14. A cellular modem card comprising:

a housing having a form conforming to a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) standard;

a connector having pin configuration and a form in accordance with the PCMCIA standard secured to the housing;

electronics connected to the connector and comprising a cellular transceiver; and

a balanced antenna connected to the cellular transceiver, the balanced antenna comprising a transformer loop having a balanced feed interface and a capacitively-loaded loop radiator coupled to the transformer loop.

15. The cellular modem card of claim 14, wherein the

balanced capacitively-loaded loop radiator comprises:

a quasi loop with a first end section and a second end section; and

a bridge section interposed between the quasi loop first end section and the second end section.

16. The cellular modem card of claim 15, wherein the bridge section is an element selected from the group including a dielectric gap capacitor and a lumped element capacitor.

17. The cellular modem card of claim 15 wherein the quasi loop first end section comprises a portion formed parallel to a second end section portion and wherein the bridge section is a dielectric gap capacitor formed between the parallel portions of the first and second end sections.

18. The cellular modem card of claim 15, wherein the transformer loop has a radiator interface and wherein the quasi loop has a transformer interface coupled to the transformer loop radiator interface.

19. The cellular modem card of claim 18, wherein the transformer loop has a first perimeter;

and,

wherein the quasi loop has a second perimeter with at least a portion of the second perimeter in common with the first perimeter.

20. The cellular modem card of claim 19, wherein the transformer loop has a rectangular shape with a first side and wherein the quasi loop has a rectangular shape with the first side.