Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MOBILE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE INCLUDING WRAP-AROUND
ANTENNA ASSEMBLY WITH FEED ARM EXTENSION AND RELATED
METHODS
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of
communications systems, and, more particularly, to mobile
wireless communications devices and related methods.
Background
[0002] Mobile wireless communications systems continue
to grow in popularity and have become an integral part of
both personal and business communications. For example,
cellular telephones allow users to place and receive voice
calls most anywhere they travel. Moreover, as cellular
telephone technology has increased, so too has the
functionality of cellular devices and the different types
of devices available to users. For example, many cellular
devices now incorporate personal digital assistant (PDA)
features such as calendars, address books, task lists, etc.
Moreover, such multi-function devices may also allow users
to wirelessly send and receive electronic mail (email)
messages and access the Internet via a cellular network
and/or a wireless local area network (WLAN), for example.
[0003] Even so, as the functionality of cellular
communications devices continues to increase, so too does
the demand for smaller devices which are easier and more
convenient for users to carry. One challenge this poses for
cellular device manufacturers is designing antennas that
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provide desired operating characteristics within the
relatively limited amount of space available for antennas.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0004] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a mobile
wireless communications device in accordance with one
exemplary embodiment.
[0005] FIG. 2 is an exterior surface view of a first
substrate portion of an exemplary wrap-around antenna
assembly for use with the mobile wireless communications
device of FIG. 1.
[0006] FIG. 3 is an interior surface view of a second
substrate portion of the wrap-around antenna assembly of
FIG. 2.
[0007] FIG. 4 is an interior surface view of the first
substrate portion of the wrap-around antenna assembly of
FIG. 2.
[0008] FIG. 5 is an exterior surface view of the second
substrate portion of the wrap-around antenna assembly of
FIG. 2.
[0009] FIG. 6 is an exterior surface view of a first
substrate portion of an alternative embodiment of the wrap-
around antenna assembly shown in FIG. 2.
[0010] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method
for making a wrap-around antenna assembly in accordance
with an exemplary embodiment.
[0011] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating
exemplary components of a mobile wireless communications
device that may be used in accordance with exemplary
embodiments.
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Detailed Description
[0012] The present description is made with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments
are shown. However, many different exemplary embodiments
may be used, and thus the description should not be
construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth
herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so
that this disclosure will be thorough and complete. Like
numbers refer to like elements throughout, and prime
notation is used to indicate similar elements or steps in
different embodiments.
[0013] Generally speaking, a mobile wireless
communications device is provided herein which may include
a portable housing, at least one wireless communications
circuit carried by the portable housing, and a wrap-around
antenna assembly carried by the portable housing. The wrap-
around antenna assembly may include a substrate comprising
a first portion and a second portion extending outwardly
therefrom defining an L-shape, and a wrap-around antenna
element lying along adjacent contiguous exterior surfaces
of the first and second substrate portions. The wrap-around
antenna assembly may further include an antenna feed arm
lying along an interior surface of the first substrate
portion and electrically coupled to the wrap-around antenna
element, and a feed arm extension electrically coupled to
the antenna feed arm and extending from the interior
surface of the first substrate portion around to the
exterior surface thereof.
[0014] In some embodiments, the feed arm extension may
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have a distal end defining a gap from adjacent portions of
the wrap-around antenna element. By way of example, the gap
may be not greater than 2 mm. In other embodiments, the
feed arm extension may have a distal end electrically
coupled to adjacent portions of the wrap-around antenna
element.
[0015] The wrap-around antenna element and the feed arm
extension may advantageously provide pentaband operation,
for example. Additionally, the wrap-around antenna assembly
may further include a floating, electrically conductive
coupler element adjacent the feed arm extension. More
particularly, the floating, electrically conductive coupler
element may be spaced apart from and generally parallel to
the feed arm extension.
[0016] Furthermore, the wrap-around antenna assembly may
also include a monopole antenna element carried by the
first portion of the substrate. In addition, the mobile
wireless communications device may also include a printed
circuit board (PCB) carried by the portable housing and
carrying the at least one wireless RF circuit, and the
substrate may be carried by the PCB. By way of example, the
wrap-around antenna element may comprise an inverted-F
antenna element, and the at least one wireless RF circuit
may comprise at least one cellular transceiver.
[0017] A wrap-around antenna assembly for mobile
wireless communications device, such as the one described
briefly above, may include a substrate comprising a first
portion and a second portion extending outwardly therefrom
defining an L-shape, and a wrap-around antenna element
lying along adjacent contiguous exterior surfaces of the
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first and second substrate portions. The assembly may
further include an antenna feed arm lying along an interior
surface of the first substrate portion and electrically
coupled to the wrap-around antenna element, and a feed arm
5 extension electrically coupled to the antenna feed arm and
extending from the interior surface of the first substrate
portion around to the exterior surface thereof.
[0018] A related method for making a wrap-around antenna
assembly may include forming a substrate comprising a first
portion-and a second portion extending outwardly therefrom
defining an L-shape, and positioning a wrap-around antenna
element along adjacent contiguous exterior surfaces of the
first and second substrate portions. The method may further
include positioning an antenna feed arm along an interior
surface of the first substrate portion and electrically
coupled to the wrap-around antenna element, and
electrically coupling a feed arm extension to the antenna
feed arm and extending from the interior surface of the
first substrate portion around to the exterior surface
thereof.
[0019] Referring now to FIGS. 1-5, a mobile wireless
communications device is provided herein which
illustratively includes a portable housing 31. By way of
example, such mobile wireless communications devices (or
"mobile devices") may include pagers, cellular phones,
cellular smart-phones, wireless organizers, personal
digital assistants, computers, laptops, handheld wireless
communication devices, wirelessly enabled notebook
computers, etc.
[0020] In the illustrated example, the at least one
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wireless communications circuit 32 is carried by the
portable housing 31. More particularly, the wireless
communications circuit(s) 32 is mounted on a printed
circuit board (PCB) 33, and the circuit may be a wireless
transceiver, such as a cellular transceiver, for example.
However, other wireless communications formats may also be
used, such as wireless local area network (WLAN) formats,
Bluetooth, etc., as will be discussed further below.
[0021] The device 30 further illustratively includes a
wrap-around antenna assembly 34 carried by the portable
housing 31. The wrap-around antenna assembly 34
illustratively includes a substrate 35 comprising a first
portion 36 and a second portion 37 extending outwardly
therefrom defining an L-shape, as seen in FIG. 1. More
particularly, in the exemplary implementation, the longer
portion of the L is the first portion 36, and the second
portion 37 is the shorter portion which is orthogonal to
the first portion.
[0022] The wrap-around antenna assembly 34 further
illustratively includes a wrap-around antenna element 40
lying along adjacent contiguous exterior surfaces of the
first and second substrate portions 36, 37, as perhaps best
seen in FIGS. 2 and 5. In the illustrated example, the
wrap-around antenna element 40 is an inverted-F antenna
comprising a plurality of conductive traces which are
printed on the exterior surfaces of the first and second
portions 36, 37, as will be appreciated by those skilled in
the art. The wrap-around antenna assembly 34 further
illustratively includes an antenna feed arm 41 lying along
an interior surface of the first substrate portion 36 (FIG.
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4) and electrically coupled to the wrap-around antenna
element 40, and a ground arm 53 also lying along the
interior surface of the first substrate portion. By way of
example, the antenna feed arm 41 and ground arm 53 may
respectively be connected to the circuit 32 and a ground
plane (not shown) on the PCB 33 by conductive spring clips,
flex connector, etc., as will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art.
[0023] As a result of the L-shaped substrate 35, the
wrap-around antenna assembly 34 advantageously provides a
relatively compact form factor that can be secured to an
end or side of the PCB 33, which advantageously frees up
surface area of the PCB for other components, in that the
conductive traces 40 need not be printed on a surface of
the PCB itself. Further, due to the three-dimensional (3D)
or non-planar nature of the wrap-around antenna element 40,
which wraps around multiple surfaces of the substrate 35,
this allows the antenna element to have a longer electrical
length within the relatively small surface area occupied by
the substrate 37.
[0024] The wrap-around antenna assembly 34 also
illustratively includes a feed arm extension 42
electrically coupled to the antenna feed arm 41 on the
inner surface of the first substrate portion 42 (see FIG.
4), and extending around to the exterior surface of the
first substrate portion (see FIG. 2). In the illustrated
embodiment, the feed arm extension has a distal end
electrically coupled to adjacent portions of the wrap-
around antenna element 40 at a point 43, as shown in FIG.
2.
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[0025] In an alternative embodiment illustrated in FIG.
6, the distal end of the feed arm extension 42' defines a
gap 44' from adjacent portions of the wrap-around antenna
element 40'. By way of example, an exemplary width of the
gap 44' may be 2 mm or less, such as 0.5 to 2 mm, although
other gap distances may be used in various embodiments.
[0026] The wrap-around antenna element 40 or 40', with
the addition of the feed arm extension 42 or 42',
advantageously provides pentaband operation across the
CDMA, WCDMA, and GSM high/low frequency bands in the
illustrated examples, as will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art. However, without the addition of the
feed arm extension 42 or 42', the wrap-around antenna
elements 40 or 40' alone would otherwise provide quad-band
operation.
[0027] In addition to providing operation across a
greater frequency range, the feed arm extensions 42, 42'
advantageously provide enhanced gain and matching for the
antenna element 40, 40'. The choice of whether to use the
antenna assembly 34 (FIG. 2) or 34' (FIG. 6), i.e., whether
to have the gap 44' or directly couple the feed arm
extension 42 to the antenna 40, will generally depend upon
the desired operating characteristics, and whether a
greater enhancement in antenna gain or matching is desired.
That is, the antenna assembly 34 generally provides greater
gain enhancement, while the antenna assembly 34' generally
provides greater matching and tuning characteristics.
[0028] It should also be noted that in some embodiments
the gap 44' need not be directly adjacent to the antenna
element 40' (i.e., adjacent the point 43 in FIG. 2). That
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is, the gap 44' may be located elsewhere along the length
of the feed arm extension 42, if desired. Generally
speaking, the length of the feed arm extension 42, 42' on
the interior surface of the substrate 35 and its distance
to the antenna element 40, 40' on the outer surface of the
substrate controls the antenna matching (i.e., Sll
bandwidth), and this is why the location and size of the
gap 44' is advantageously beneficial for matching and
tuning adjustment.
[0029] In the illustrated example, the wrap-around
antenna assembly 34 further illustratively includes a
floating, electrically conductive coupler element 50
adjacent the feed arm extension 42. More particularly, the
floating, electrically conductive parasitic coupler element
50 is spaced apart from and generally parallel to the feed
arm extension 42 in the illustrated example, although other
orientations or configurations may be used in different
embodiments, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the
art. By "spaced apart" it is meant that the coupler element
50 is not in contact with the feed arm extension 42 (or the
antenna element 40), and the spacing may vary in different
embodiments. The coupler element 50 advantageously may be
used to further enhance antenna gain and matching across
all of the operating bands. In addition, the length of the
coupler element 50 and its spacing from the antenna element
40 and feed arm extension may advantageously be selected to
further control frequency band operation, as will also be
appreciated by those skilled in the art.
[0030] Furthermore, the wrap-around antenna assembly 34
also illustratively includes a monopole antenna element 51
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carried by the first portion of the substrate 35 (FIG. 2),
and also connected to the circuit 32 (or different wireless
communications circuitry). The monopole antenna element 51
may optionally provide operation in one of the above-noted
5 frequency bands, or in a separate frequency band, if
desired, but it is not necessary in all embodiments. In
embodiments where the monopole antenna element 51 is not
present, the coupler element 50 may be located in its place
(or elsewhere) to provide closer coupling to the feed arm
10 extension 42 or antenna element 40, as will be appreciated
by those skilled in the art.
[0031] Referring additionally to FIG. 7, a related
method for making a wrap-around antenna assembly 34 is now
described. Beginning at Block 70, the method includes
forming a substrate 35 comprising a first portion and a
second portion extending outwardly therefrom defining an L-
shape, and positioning a wrap-around antenna element 40
along adjacent contiguous exterior surfaces of the first
and second substrate portions, at Blocks 71-72. The method
further illustratively includes positioning an antenna feed
arm 41 along an interior surface of the first substrate
portion and electrically coupled to the wrap-around antenna
element 40, at Block 73, and electrically coupling a feed
arm extension 42 to the antenna feed arm and extending from
the interior surface of the first substrate portion around
to the exterior surface thereof, at Block 74, thus
concluding the method illustrated in FIG. 7 (Block 75).
[0032] Exemplary components of a mobile wireless
communications device 1000 that may be used in accordance
with the systems 30, 31', such as for determining traffic
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rate or density, or both, are further described in the
example below with reference to'FIG. 8. The device 1000
illustratively includes a housing 1200, a keypad 1400 and
an output device 1600. The output device shown is a display
1600, which may comprise a full graphic LCD. In some
embodiments, display 1600 may comprise a touch-sensitive
input and output device. Other types of output devices may
alternatively be utilized. A processing device 1800 is
contained within the housing 1200 and is coupled between
the keypad 1400 and the display 1600. The processing device
1800 controls the operation of the display 1600, as well as
the overall operation of the mobile device 1000, in
response to actuation of keys on the keypad 1400 by the
user. In some embodiments, keypad 1400 may comprise a
physical keypad or a virtual keypad (e.g., using a touch-
sensitive interface) or both.
[0033] The housing 1200 may be elongated vertically, or
may take on other sizes and shapes (including clamshell
housing structures). The keypad 1400 may include a mode
selection key, or other hardware or software for switching
between text entry and telephony entry.
[0034] In addition to the processing device 1800, other
parts of the mobile device 1000 are shown schematically in
FIG. 8. These include a communications subsystem 1001; a
short-range communications subsystem 1020; the keypad 1400
and the display 1600, along with other input/output devices
1060, 1080, 1100 and 1120; as well as memory devices 1160,
1180 and various other device subsystems 1201. The mobile
device 1000 may comprise a two-way RF communications device
having voice and data communications capabilities. In
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addition, the mobile device 1000 may have the capability to
communicate with other computer systems via the Internet.
[0035] Operating system software executed by the
processing device 1800 may be stored in a persistent store,
such as the flash memory 1160, but may be stored in other
types of memory devices, such as a read only memory (ROM)
or similar storage element. In addition, system software,
specific device applications, or parts thereof, may be
temporarily loaded into a volatile store, such as the
random access memory (RAM) 1180. Communications signals
received by the mobile device may also be stored in the RAM
1180.
[0036] The processing device 1800, in addition to its
operating system functions, enables execution of software
applications 130OA-130ON on the device 1000. A
predetermined set of applications that control basic device
operations, such as data and voice communications 1300A and
1300B, may be installed on the device 1000 during
manufacture. In addition, a personal information manager
(PIM) application may be installed during manufacture. The
PIM may be capable of organizing and managing data items,
such as e-mail, calendar events, voice mails, appointments,
and task items. The PIM application may also be capable of
sending and receiving data items via a wireless network
1401. The PIM data items may be seamlessly integrated,
synchronized and updated via the wireless network 1401 with
the device user's corresponding data items stored or
associated with a host computer system.
[0037] Communication functions, including data and voice
communications, are performed through the communications
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subsystem 1001, and possibly through the short-range
communications subsystem. The communications subsystem 1001
includes a receiver 1500, a transmitter 1520, and one or
more antennas 1540 and 1560. In addition, the
communications subsystem 1001 also includes a processing
module, such as a digital signal processor (DSP) 1580, and
local oscillators (LOs) 1601. The specific design and
implementation of the communications subsystem 1001 is
dependent upon the communications network in which the
mobile device 1000 is intended to operate. For example, a
mobile device 1000 may include a communications subsystem
1001 designed to operate with the MobitexTM, Data TACTM or
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile data
communications networks, and also designed to operate with
any of a variety of voice communications networks, such as
AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, WCDMA, PCS, GSM, EDGE, etc. Other types
of data and voice networks, both separate and integrated,
may also be utilized with the mobile device 1000. The
mobile device 1000 may also be compliant with other
communications standards such as 3GSM, 3G, UMTS, 4G, etc.
[0038] Network access requirements vary depending upon
the type of communication system. For example, in the
Mobitex and DataTAC networks, mobile devices are registered
on the network using a unique personal identification
number or PIN associated with each device. In GPRS
networks, however, network access is associated with a
subscriber or user of a device. A GPRS device therefore
utilizes a subscriber identity module, commonly referred to
as a SIM card, in order to operate on a GPRS network.
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[0039] When required network registration or activation
procedures have been completed, the mobile device 1000 may
send and receive communications signals over the
communication network 1401. Signals received from the
communications network 1401 by the antenna 1540 are routed
to the receiver 1500, which provides for signal
amplification, frequency down conversion, filtering,
channel selection, etc., and may also provide analog to
digital conversion. Analog-to-digital conversion of the
received signal allows the DSP 1580 to perform more complex
communications functions, such as demodulation and
decoding. In a similar manner, signals to be transmitted to
the network 1401 are processed (e.g. modulated and encoded)
by the DSP 1580 and are then provided to the transmitter
1520 for digital to analog conversion, frequency up
conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission to
the communication network 1401 (or networks) via the
antenna 1560.
[0040] In addition to processing communications signals,
the DSP 1580 provides for control of the receiver 1500 and
the transmitter 1520. For example, gains applied to
communications signals in the receiver 1500 and transmitter
1520 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gain
control algorithms implemented in the DSP 1580.
[0041] In a data communications mode, a received signal,
such as a text message or web. page download, is processed
by the communications subsystem 1001 and is input to the
processing device 1800. The received signal is then further
processed by the processing device 1800 for an output to
the display 1600, or alternatively to some other auxiliary
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I/O device 1060. A device user may also compose data items,
such as e-mail messages, using the keypad 1400 and/or some
other auxiliary I/O device 1060, such as a touchpad, a
rocker switch, a thumb-wheel, track ball, or some other
5 type of input device. The composed data items may then be
transmitted over the communications network 1401 via the
communications subsystem 1001.
[0042] In a voice communications mode, overall operation
of the device is substantially similar to the data
10 communications mode, except that received signals are
output to a speaker 1100, and signals for transmission are
generated by a microphone 1120. Alternative voice or audio
I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording
subsystem, may also be implemented on the device 1000. In
15 addition, the display 1600 may also be utilized in voice
communications mode, for example to display the identity of
a calling party, the duration of a voice call, or other
voice call related information.
[0043] The short-range communications subsystem enables
communication between the mobile device 1000 and other
proximate systems or devices, which need not necessarily be
similar devices. For example, the short-range
communications subsystem may include an infrared device and
associated circuits and components, or a BluetoothTM
communications module to provide for communication with
similarly-enabled systems and devices.
[0044] Many modifications and other embodiments will
come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the
benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing
descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is
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understood that various modifications and embodiments are
intended to be included within the scope of the appended
claims.
