Radio frequency antenna

Abstract: An RF antenna having a non-planar resonating region for radiating or receiving electromagnetic waves in order to convey communication signals between two electronic devices via a radio link. The resonating region is folded into at least two sections so that the radiating surface of one section is located on a different plane from the radiating surface of the other section. In order to optimize the input impedance of the antenna, an impedance matching part connected to the resonating region is used to provide a short circuit to the resonating region. A signal conduit part is used to feed signals to the resonating region in the proximity of the impedance matching part. Preferably, the antenna is integrated into a system connector of a hand-held communication device so as to allow the hand-held device to communicate with a communication network via a radio link.

Description: The present invention relates generally to an antenna assembly for a hand-held communication device for conveying communication signals in the radio frequency (RF) range and, more particularly but not exclusively, to an antenna operating at radio frequencies around 2.45GHz. A Bluetooth system provides a communication channel between two electronic devices via a short-range radio link. In particular, the Bluetooth system operates in the radio frequency range around 2.4GHz in the unlicensed Industrial-Scientific-Medical (ISM) band. The Bluetooth radio link is intended to be a cable replacement between portable and/or fixed electronic devices. The portable devices include mobile phones, communicators, audio headsets, laptop computers, other GEOS-base or palm OS-based devices and devices with different operating systems. The Bluetooth operating frequency is globally available, but the permissible bandwidth of the Bluetooth band and the available RF channels may be different from one country to another. Globally, the Bluetooth operating frequency falls within the 2400MHz to 2497MHz range, corresponding to a wavelength range of 120mm to 125mm in free space. In free space and for a 1/4λ antenna, the physical length of the radiating element for a Bluetooth antenna is equal to the electric length of 30mm to 31.25mm. But when the antenna is installed in a device, the relative permittivity of the materials surrounding the antenna greatly reduces the physical length of the radiating element. Even with a radiating element shorter than 30mm, integrating such an RF antenna into an electronic device remains a major challenge in the design of the device. The antenna needs some space around it in order to operate properly. The antenna cannot be enclosed inside the chassis of the device. Furthermore, the RF components related to the antenna must be properly shielded from other electronic components of the device. Presently, small-sized radio-frequency antennae are designed based on a planar configuration. For example, European Patent Application 0 623 967 A1 discloses a planar antenna operating in the 915MHz band. This antenna consists of an L-shaped planar resonator part, a feed pin and a grounding pin joining the resonator part at one end thereof. U.S. Patent No. 5,929,813 discloses an antenna which is operating in the frequency range of 824MHz-894MHz and is constructed from a single sheet of conducting material. While the above-described planar antennae are useful for their intended purposes, they are difficult to be integrated into a portable device such as a communicator device which operates in both the cellular frequency and the Bluetooth frequency. It is advantageous and desirable to provide a small antenna so that it can be integrated into small electronic devices such as mobile phones, communicators and miniaturized audio headsets to provide a radio link in the Bluetooth band and other radio frequency bands. It is known from EP-A-0 766 342 to provide an antenna assembly for a hand-held communication device in which a radio frequency antenna that comprises a feeding region and a resonating region, is mounted on one region of a block. According to the invention, the block further comprises a system connector for the communication device to provide a wired connection of its communication circuitry to an external device, the block including a plurality of connector pins in another region thereof to provide the wired connection, as set out in claim 1. Further features and advantages of the invention will be evident from the claims hereinafter. In one embodiment, the radio frequency (RF) antenna, according to the present invention, includes a non-planar resonating region made from an electrically conducting material for radiating or receiving electromagnetic waves. In a non-planar configuration, the resonating region is folded such that the main radiating surface of the antenna consists of at least two sections located in different planes. This is in contrast to a planar configuration where the main radiating surface of the antenna is located substantially on the same plane. Because the main radiating surface is folded into sections, the size of the antenna is greatly reduced, allowing the antenna to be integrated into mobile phones or like communicators. The resonating region may have an electric length substantially equal to one quarter of the wavelength of interest in free space. To be used in a Bluetooth device having a radio link operating at approximately 2.45GHz, the electric length of the radiating element is approximately 30.6mm. However, the physical length of the radiating element may be approximately 21mm, depending on the relative permittivity of the materials surrounding the radiating element. The feeding region may include a feed pin and a grounding pin joining the resonating region at one end thereof. As the resonating region is used to radiate or receive electromagnetic waves carrying communication signals or messages, the feed pin which is joined to the resonating region at a feed point, can serve as a signal conduit between the resonating region and the RF processing components in the device. The grounding pin which is joined to the resonating region at the proximity of the feed point can be used to match the input impedance of the antenna which is typically 50Ω. Preferably, the antenna assembly is mounted on a printed-circuit board (PCB) with the block being made of plastic and the resonating region being seated on a plastic block. In a mobile phone or a communicator, it is preferred that the antenna is mounted on the system connector adjacent to the bottom connector pins. The grounding pin and the feed pin can be produced by splitting an extended portion of the resonating region, but they can also be part of the circuit on the PCB. An antenna assembly according to the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an exploded view of a mobile phone or communicator showing the preferred location of the RF antenna of the present invention, in relation to other parts of the portable device, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the mounting of the RF antenna on the system connector, Figures 3a and 3b are perspective views showing the details of the antenna assembly, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the PCB showing the installation of the antenna on the PCB, Figure 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the feeding pin and the grounding pin are implemented on the PCB, Figure 6 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of the present invention, wherein a part of the radiating element is implemented on the PCB, Figure 7 is a perspective view of an alternative way to match the input impedance of the antenna, Figure 8 is a schematic representation of an adjustable slot between the grounding pin and the feeding pin, and Figure 9 is a schematic representation of a wireless device with a WLAN antenna for communicating with other devices in a WLAN system. As shown in Figure 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a mobile phone or a communicator having a front portion 12 , a telephone antenna 13, a chassis 14, a printed-circuit board (PCB) 16 including a system connector 18, and a back, cover 20. The RF antenna 30 is mounted on the system connector 18, as shown in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 2, the system connector 18 consists of a block 22 of electrically non-conducting material, such as plastic, for mounting the RF antenna 30 along with other bottom connector pins 19. The installation of the antenna 30 takes into account the bottom connector pins 19. It is preferred that the bottom connector pins 19 are kept an adequate distance from the antenna 30 , and they do not resonate near the resonant frequency of the antenna 30. It is also beneficial to terminate the bottom connector pins 19 with a rather large impedance, such as 500Ω or higher. Figures 3a and 3b illustrate the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 3a, the antenna 30 , which is mounted on the plastic block 22 , comprises a resonating region 32, a signal conduit part 34 and an impedance matching part 36. As shown in Figure 3a, the main radiating surface of the resonating region 32 is non-planar in that it is folded into an L-shape so that the main radiating surface of the antenna is sectioned into two parts located in two different planes. Because of the folding of the resonating region 32, the input impedance of the antenna 30 is less than the typical 5OΩ value and the resonating region 32 is over-coupled. One way to match the input impedance of the antenna is to provide a short-circuit to the antenna 30 using a grounding pin so that the RF signal is fed to the antenna from a feed pin at a feed point that gives an optimum match to the 50Ω load. The grounding pin, which is herein referred to as the impedance matching part 36, is electrically connected to a ground plane 60. The feed pin, which is herein referred to as the signal conduit part 34 , is electrically connected to a contacting pad 62 so as to connect to a feed line on the other side of the PCB 16. A diagrammatic sectional view of the PCB 16 and the components mounted thereon is shown in Figure 4. The electrical connection between the contacting pad 62 and the signal conduit part 34 , and between the matching part 36 and the ground plane 60 can be provided by soldering or simply by spring contacts. As shown in Figure 3b, the resonating region 32 is folded into two parts 32a, 32b. The length of part 32a is denoted by L1, while the length of part 32b is denoted by L2. If the resonating region 32 is used as a radiating element in free space, then its length is equal to one quarter of the operating wavelength, or λ/4 (the electric length). With the operating frequency around 2.45GHz, the electric length is approximately equal to 30.6mm. However, because of the presence of the PCB 62 , the ground plane 60 , the plastic block 22 and the back cover 20 , the physical length L1+ L2 of the resonating region 32 is much less than the electric length of 30.6mm. Typically, the physical length is reduced to approximately 21mm due to the relative permittivity (and the loss tangent) of these surrounding materials. The width, W , of the main radiating surface of the resonating region 32 is typically 2 to 4mm. The width C of the signal conduit part 34 and the matching part 36 can be about 1mm and the gap G therebetween can be about 3mm. The length S can be about 8mm. It should be noted, however, that the dimensions of the various parts of the antenna 30 depend on the relative permittivity of the materials around the antenna 30 , the placement of the ground plane 60 and the shape of the resonating region 32 . It is understood that those dimensions should be adjusted to obtain the optimized efficiency of the antenna 30 . Furthermore, the antenna 30 as shown in Figures 3a and 3b is divided into the resonating region 32 and a feeding region having a signal conduit part 34 and an impedance matching part 36 . It should be understood that the entire antenna 30 acts as a resonator. However, the main radiating part of the antenna 30 is the main surfaces of the resonating region 32 . Figure 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the PCB 16 showing the installation of the antenna 30 thereon. As shown, the contacting pad 62 is electrically connected to a feed line 64 and an RF processing device 66 , which generates radio frequencies containing communication signals and processes communication signals received from other electronic devices through the antenna 30 . Preferably, a shielding enclosure 68 is placed around the RF processing device 66 to minimize the effects of RF frequencies on other electronic components of the device 10 . Figure 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the signal conduit part 34 and the impedance matching part 36 are directly provided on the PCB 16. The resonating region 32 can be folded into three sections as shown, but it can be also folded into two or four or more sections. The physical length of the resonating part 32, or the sum of L1, L2 and L3, as shown, is about 21mm. It should be noted that, because the folding of the resonating part 32 shown in Figure 5 is different from that shown in Figures 3a and 3b, the input impedance of the antenna 30 may also change. Thus, the dimensions of the signal conduit part 34 and the matching part 36 may require proper adjustments. Alternatively, a section of the resonating region 32 can also be implemented on the PCB 16 as shown in Figure 6. As shown, the resonating region 32 comprises a lower section 35 and an upper section 33 . The lower section 35 can be produced along with the ground plane 60, the matching part 36 , and the signal conduit part 34 on the PCB 16, and then electrically connected to the upper section 33 by soldering or with a spring contact. As shown in Figures 1 to 6, impedance matching is carried out by grounding the resonator at one end of the resonating region 32 using a grounding pin (the matching part 36 ). Alternatively, the impedance matching can be carried out by using an inductive element connected to the resonating region 32 as shown in Figure 7. As shown in Figure 7, an inductor chip or coil 42 is used to connect between the resonating region 32 and the ground plane 60 . It should be noted that the geometry of the antenna 30 can be altered in order to optimize the impedance matching. For example, the gap G between the signal conduit part 34 and the matching part 36 can be widened or narrowed in order to accomplish an optimum impedance matching. Alternatively, the slot length S' of the gap G can be adjusted for optimum matching. As shown in Figure 8, the slot length S' can be adjusted by removing a tab 37 from the slot or adding another tab to the slot. Figure 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system 200 . As shown, the WLAN system 200 is coupled to a connector cradle or laptop stand 100 via a cable 110. The WLAN system 200 is equipped with a WLAN antenna 230 so that it can communicate with a wireless device in radio frequencies. In Figure 9, reference numeral 10' denotes a hand-held device such as a mobile phone or a communicator which is also equipped with a WLAN or Bluetooth antenna 30' on the system connector (plastic block 22 , Figure 2). The hand-held device also has a group of bottom connectors 19 . The laptop stand 100 has a slot 108 to allow the hand-held device 10' to be plugged in the laptop stand 100. The laptop stand 100 further includes a group of matching pins 119 . When the hand-held device 10' is plugged in the laptop stand 100, the bottom connectors 19 and the matching pins 119 are electrically coupled to convey signals. Thus, when the hand-held device 10' is plugged in the laptop stand 100, it can communicate with the WLAN system 200 via the cable 110 . Accordingly, the hand-held device 10' can be physically and electrically coupled to the laptop stand 100 in order to communicate with the WLAN system 200 using a packet switching (PSTN, for example) or a circuit switching (IP, for example) method. Alternatively, the hand-held device 10' can be logged on to the WLAN system 200 in a wireless fashion via the WLAN antenna 230 of the WLAN system 200 and the WLAN antenna 30' of the hand-held device 10', without the hand-held device 10' being connected to the laptop stand 100. Preferably, the WLAN antennas 230 and 30' are operating at a radio frequency range of 2.4-2.5GHz, or another frequency range around 5.6GHz. Thus, the present invention has been disclosed in the preferred embodiments as depicted in Figures 1 through 9. The resonating region of the antenna has been disclosed as a non-planar radiating element wherein the main radiating surface is folded along the plastic block on which the antenna is mounted. However, the non-planar resonating region can be made into a different folding pattern. The resonating region can also be made to have a twisted section or a different shape. Also, the dimensions of various parts of the antenna can be changed to match the relative permittivity (and the tangent loss) of the antenna environment. Furthermore, the present invention has been disclosed in regard to the Bluetooth operating frequencies around 2.45GHz and the WLAN operating frequencies around 5.6GHz. However, the same embodiments can be scaled up or down so as to allow the antenna to operate at a different frequency. Therefore, although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and deviations in the form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims: An antenna assembly for a hand-held communication device (10), said assembly including: a block (22) of electrically insulating material mountable on a printed circuit board (16) of the hand-held communication device (10); and a radio frequency antenna (30) which comprises a resonating region (32) to radiate or receive electromagnetic radiation to provide a radio link in a communication network, and a feeding region (34, 36) coupled to the resonating region (32) for impedance matching, the radio frequency antenna (30) being mounted on the block (22) in a first region thereof, characterised in that the block (22) comprises a system connector (18) for the communication device (10) to provide a wired communication connection of its circuitry to an external device, the system connector (18) including a plurality of connector pins (19) mounted on the block (22) in a second region thereof different from the first region to provide said wired connection. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the radio frequency antenna (30) is configured to provide the radio link operating in a Bluetooth frequency range. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the radio frequency antenna (30) is configured to provide the radio link operating in a WLAN frequency range. An assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the resonating region (32) is non-planar and includes folded sections (32a, 32b) in intersecting planes. An assembly according to claim 4 wherein the intersecting planes are coextensive with sides of the block (22). An assembly according to any preceding claim wherein the block (22) is mounted on the printed circuit board (16). An assembly according to claim 6 wherein the feeding region (34, 36) is coupled to at least one conductor (60, 62) on the printed circuit board (16). An assembly according to claim 7 wherein the conductor (60, 62) comprises a ground plane (60) and the feeding region (34, 36) includes an impedance matching part (36) connected to the ground plane (60). An assembly according to claim 8 wherein the impedance matching part (36) comprises a conductive strip extending from the resonating part (32). An assembly according to claim 8 or 9 wherein the impedance matching part (36) comprises an inductor chip or coil (42). An assembly according to claim 8 or 9 wherein the impedance matching part (36) comprises a conductive region (36) on the printed circuit board (16). An assembly according to claim 7 wherein the conductor (60, 62) comprises a r.f feed line (62, 64) and the feeding region includes a signal conduit part (34). A hand-held communication device (10) having a first end and a second opposing end and including an assembly according to any preceding claim of the first end and a telephone antenna (13) configured at the second end so as to physically separate the radio frequency antenna (30) and the telephone antenna (13). An arrangement of a hand-held communication device (10) according to claim 13 together with an external device (200), which is linked to a communication network, and a receptor (100) coupled by a cable (110) to said external device (200), the receptor being configured to be coupled to the pins (19) of the block (22) to provide said wired connection to the external device (200) through the cable, the hand-held communication device (10) being operable to communicate with the external device (200) through said radio link or optionally through the cable (110). An arrangement as claimed in claim 14 wherein signals are conveyed to and from the communication network through the wired connection in a packet switch mode or a circuit switch mode.

Inventors: LAHTI SAKU, LAHTI, SAKU
Applicants: NOKIA CORP, NOKIA CORPORATION
Application year: 2001
Main classification: H01Q9
IPC codes: H01Q1, H01Q9