PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11799193-B2
Application Number: US-202017108762-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with millimeter wave antennas and metal housings

Abstract:
An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas. The antennas may include millimeter wave antenna arrays. Non-millimeter-wave antennas such as cellular telephone antennas may have conductive structures separated by a dielectric gap. In a device with a metal housing, a plastic-filled slot may form the dielectric gap. The conductive structures may be slot antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures such as an inverted-F antenna resonating element and a ground, or other antenna structures. The plastic-filled slot may serve as a millimeter wave antenna window. A millimeter wave antenna array may be mounted in alignment with the millimeter wave antenna window to transmit and receive signals through the window. Millimeter wave antenna windows may also be formed from air-filled openings in a metal housing such as audio port openings.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device having first and second opposing faces, comprising:
 a housing wall of a housing at the second face; 
 a display having a display cover layer at the first face; 
 millimeter wave transceiver circuitry in the housing and configured to convey radio-frequency signals at a frequency between 10 GHz and 400 GHz; 
 a first millimeter wave antenna disposed between the housing wall and the display, coupled to the millimeter wave transceiver circuitry, and configured to convey the radio-frequency signals through the display cover layer with a first polarization; 
 a second millimeter wave antenna disposed between the housing wall and the display, coupled to the millimeter wave transceiver circuitry, and configured to convey the radio-frequency signals through the display cover layer with a second polarization that is different from the first polarization; and 
 a dielectric millimeter wave antenna window between a first conductive segment and a second conductive segment, wherein the first conductive segment and the second conductive segment form an additional antenna and the first and second millimeter wave antennas overlap the dielectric millimeter wave antenna window. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the first millimeter wave antenna comprises a resonating element and a ground plane, and the ground plane has an opening overlapped by the resonating element. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a radio-frequency transmission line, wherein the radio-frequency transmission line overlaps the ground plane and the opening. 
 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3 , wherein the resonating element extends along a dimension that is orthogonal to an elongated axis of the opening in the ground plane. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 2 , wherein the resonating element has a rectangular periphery. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the first millimeter wave antenna and the second millimeter wave antenna form a portion of a phased antenna array. 
     
     
       7. An electronic device having first and second opposing faces, comprising:
 a housing having a dielectric window on the first face, wherein the dielectric window is flanked on first and second opposing sides by first and second conductive structures, respectively; 
 a display having an inactive area on the second face; 
 an antenna formed from the first and second conductive structures and having an antenna feed coupled to the first and second conductive structures; and 
 an array of millimeter wave antennas behind the display and overlapping the dielectric window, wherein the array of millimeter wave antennas is configured to convey radio-frequency signals through the inactive area of the display at a frequency between 10 GHz and 400 GHz. 
 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 7 , wherein the display has a display cover layer that forms the second face, and the array of millimeter wave antennas is configured to convey the radio-frequency signals through a portion of the display cover layer at the inactive area of the display. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 7 , wherein the array of millimeter wave antennas forms a phased antenna array. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 7 , wherein the array of millimeter wave antennas includes a set of antennas configured to convey the radio-frequency signals with a polarization. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 10 , wherein the array of millimeter wave antennas includes an additional set of antennas configured to convey the radio-frequency signals with an additional polarization different from the polarization. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 7 , wherein the array of millimeter wave antennas includes a plurality of resonating elements each having a rectangular periphery. 
     
     
       13. An electronic device having front and rear surfaces, comprising:
 a housing having a rear wall that forms the rear surface; 
 a display mounted to the housing, the display having a display cover layer that forms the front surface; 
 a set of millimeter wave antennas that extends between the rear wall and the display cover layer, and is configured to convey radio-frequency signals through the display cover layer at a frequency between 10 GHz and 400 GHz; and 
 an antenna that includes an antenna resonating element formed from a conductive segment separated from an antenna ground by a slot, wherein the set of millimeter wave antennas overlaps the slot. 
 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the set of millimeter wave antennas includes a millimeter wave antenna that comprises a resonating element and a ground plane, and the ground plane has an opening overlapped by the resonating element. 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 14 , wherein the resonating element has a rectangular periphery. 
     
     
       16. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the set of millimeter wave antennas includes a first plurality of antennas with a first polarization and a second plurality of antennas with a second polarization. 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the display cover layer comprises a transparent material selected from the group consisting of: glass, plastic, and sapphire. 
     
     
       18. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the set of millimeter wave antennas is configured to convey the radio-frequency signals through the display cover layer at an inactive area of the display. 
     
     
       19. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the slot is formed at the rear wall of the housing. 
     
     
       20. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the set of millimeter wave antennas are arranged in a line.

Description:
This application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 16/357,165, filed Mar. 18, 2019, which is a division of patent application Ser. No. 14/883,495, filed Oct. 14, 2015, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with wireless communications circuitry. 
     Electronic devices often include wireless communications circuitry. For example, cellular telephones, computers, and other devices often contain antennas and wireless transceivers for supporting wireless communications. 
     It may be desirable to support wireless communications in millimeter wave communications bands. Millimeter wave communications, which are sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency (EMF) communications, involve communications at frequencies of about 10-400 GHz. Operation at these frequencies may support high bandwidths, but may raise significant challenges. For example, millimeter wave communications are typically line-of-sight communications and can be characterized by substantial attenuation during signal propagation. Additional challenges arise when attempting to place millimeter wave antennas within electronic devices. Housing structures and other components in an electronic device can adversely affect antenna performance. If care is not taken, components such as metal housing components can prevent antennas from performing effectively. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved wireless communications circuitry such as communications circuitry that supports millimeter wave communications. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas. The antennas may include millimeter wave antenna arrays. 
     Non-millimeter-wave antennas such as cellular telephone antennas may have conductive structures separated by a dielectric gap. In a device with a metal housing, a plastic-filled slot or other plastic-filled opening in the metal housing may be associated with the dielectric gap. 
     The non-millimeter-wave antennas may be slot antennas, inverted-F antennas, or other antennas. The conductive structures for the non-millimeter-wave antennas may include portions of a ground plane containing the plastic-filled slot, may include an inverted-F antenna resonating element that is separated from an antenna ground plane by the plastic-filled slot, or may include other antenna structures. 
     The plastic-filled slot that is associated with the non-millimeter-wave antenna may serve as a millimeter wave antenna window. A millimeter wave antenna array may be mounted in alignment with the millimeter wave antenna window and may transmit and receive antenna signals through the window. Millimeter wave antenna windows in metal device housings may also have the shapes of logos, gaps in peripheral conductive housing structures, and other shapes. 
     Millimeter wave antenna windows may be formed from air-filled openings in a metal housing such as audio port openings, connector port openings, or other holes in the metal walls of an electronic device. Millimeter wave antennas may be formed from slot antennas, patch antennas, dipoles, or other antennas. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with wireless communications circuitry in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with wireless communications circuitry in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS.  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 , and  8    are perspective views of illustrative electronic devices showing illustrative locations at which antenna arrays for millimeter wave communications may be located in accordance with embodiments. 
         FIGS.  9 ,  10 ,  11 , and  12    are perspective views of illustrative slot antenna feed structures in accordance with embodiments. 
         FIGS.  13 ,  14 ,  15 , and  16    are top views of illustrative slot antennas in accordance with embodiments. 
         FIG.  17    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with a slot antenna aligned with a dielectric slot in a metal electronic device housing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  18    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative patch antenna aligned with a dielectric slot of the type shown in  FIG.  17    in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  19    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative slot antenna aligned with the dielectric slot of the type shown in  FIG.  17    in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  20    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device having a metal housing with a dielectric slot and having an array of slot antennas aligned with the dielectric slot in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  21    is a top view of an illustrative dielectric window in a metal housing in which an array of antennas such as an array of slot antennas has been mounted in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  22    is a perspective view of a portion of an electronic device with openings such as speaker holes or other air-filled audio port openings in which slot antennas have been mounted in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  23    is a perspective view of a portion of a metal device housing that has been provided with an array of openings and associated slot antennas in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  24    is a perspective view of a portion of a metal electronic device housing with an array of metal structures in a grid of dielectric that can accommodate antennas in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  25    is a top view of an illustrative cross-shaped dielectric region in a metal housing that may be used to accommodate a millimeter wave antenna in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  26    is a perspective view of an illustrative patch antenna in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  27    is a perspective view of an illustrative patch antenna with a coupled feed in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  28    is a perspective view of an illustrative patch antenna with parasitic patch elements in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  29    is a perspective view of an illustrative patch antenna that includes an elongated opening in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  30    is a top view of an illustrative patch resonating element in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  31    is a perspective view of an illustrative patch antenna having multiple feeds in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  32    is a perspective view of an illustrative inverted-F antenna in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  33    is a perspective view of an illustrative planar inverted-F antenna in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  34    is a perspective view of an array of illustrative patch antennas in a dielectric window in a metal electronic device housing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS.  35 ,  36 ,  37 ,  38 ,  39 , and  40    show illustrative dipole-type antenna structures in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  41    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative array of dipole antennas aligned with a dielectric opening such as a slot in a metal electronic device housing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS.  42 ,  43 ,  44 , and  45    are diagrams of illustrative dielectric openings in metal electronic device housings of the type that may accommodate millimeter wave antennas in accordance with embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An electronic device such as electronic device  10  of  FIG.  1    may contain wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas. The antennas may include one or more antennas and may include phased antenna arrays. The antennas may include millimeter wave antennas that are used for handling millimeter wave communications. Millimeter wave communications, which are sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency (EHF) communications, involve signals at 60 GHz or other frequencies between about 10 GHz and 400 GHz. If desired, device  10  may also contain wireless communications circuitry for handling satellite navigation system signals, cellular telephone signals, local wireless area network signals, near-field communications, light-based wireless communications, or other wireless communications. 
     Electronic device  10  may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user&#39;s head, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG.  1   , device  10  is a portable device such as a cellular telephone, media player, tablet computer, or other portable computing device. Other configurations may be used for device  10  if desired. The example of  FIG.  1    is merely illustrative. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , device  10  may include a display such as display  14 . Display  14  may be mounted in a housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). 
     Display  14  may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Capacitive touch screen electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive structures. 
     Display  14  may include an array of display pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic display pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode display pixels, an array of electrowetting display pixels, or display pixels based on other display technologies. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass, clear plastic, sapphire, or other transparent dielectric. Openings may be formed in the display cover layer. For example, an opening may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate a button such as button  16 . An opening may also be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate ports such as a speaker port. Openings may be formed in housing  12  to form communications ports (e.g., an audio jack port, a digital data port, etc.). Openings in housing  12  may also be formed for audio components such as speakers and microphones. Audio ports may be formed form single openings in housing  12  or arrays of small openings (sometimes referred to a microperf openings). 
     Antennas may be mounted in housing  12 . To avoid disrupting communications when an external object such as a human hand or other body part of a user blocks one or more antennas, antennas may be mounted at multiple locations in housing  12 . Sensor data such as proximity sensor data, real-time antenna impedance measurements, signal quality measurements such as received signal strength information, and other data may be used in determining when an antenna (or set of antennas) is being adversely affected due to the orientation of housing  12 , blockage by a user&#39;s hand or other external object, or other environmental factors. Device  10  can then switch an antenna (or set of antennas) into use in place of the antennas that are being adversely affected. In some configurations, antennas in device  10  may be arranged in phased arrays. Antenna arrays may use beam steering techniques to help enhance antenna performance. Extremely high frequency communications are often line-of-sight communications and can therefore benefit from beam steering techniques that help align radio-frequency signals with desired targets. 
     Antennas may be mounted along the peripheral edges of housing  12 , on the rear of housing  12  (i.e., planar rear housing wall  12 W on the rear surface of housing  12  in the example of  FIG.  1   ), under the display cover glass or other dielectric display cover layer that is used in covering and protecting display  14  on the front surface of device  10 , under a dielectric window on a rear face of housing  12  (e.g., under a dielectric logo, antenna window, or cellular telephone dielectric slot on rear wall  12 W) or the edge of housing  12  (e.g., in an opening or plastic-filled window in one of housing sidewalls  12 W), under air-filled openings in housing  12  (e.g., under audio port openings in housing  12  or other openings of the type that may be filled with air), or elsewhere in device  10 . 
     A schematic diagram showing illustrative components that may be used in device  10  is shown in  FIG.  2   . As shown in  FIG.  2   , device  10  may include control circuitry such as storage and processing circuitry  30 . Storage and processing circuitry  30  may include storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in storage and processing circuitry  30  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . This processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Storage and processing circuitry  30  may be used to run software on device  10 , such as internet browsing applications, voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) telephone call applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, etc. To support interactions with external equipment, storage and processing circuitry  30  may be used in implementing communications protocols. Communications protocols that may be implemented using storage and processing circuitry  30  include internet protocols, wireless local area network protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols—sometimes referred to as WiFi®), protocols for other short-range wireless communications links such as the Bluetooth® protocol, cellular telephone protocols, MIMO protocols, antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols, etc. 
     Device  10  may include input-output circuitry  44 . Input-output circuitry  44  may include input-output devices  32 . Input-output devices  32  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output devices  32  may include user interface devices, data port devices, and other input-output components. For example, input-output devices may include touch screens, displays without touch sensor capabilities, buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, speakers, status indicators, light sources, audio jacks and other audio port components, digital data port devices, light sensors, accelerometers or other components that can detect motion and device orientation relative to the Earth, capacitance sensors, proximity sensors (e.g., a capacitive proximity sensor and/or an infrared proximity sensor), magnetic sensors, a connector port sensor or other sensor that determines whether device  10  is mounted in a dock, and other sensors and input-output components. 
     Input-output circuitry  44  may include wireless communications circuitry  34  for communicating wirelessly with external equipment. Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry formed from one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive RF components, one or more antennas  40 , transmission lines, and other circuitry for handling RF wireless signals. Wireless signals can also be sent using light (e.g., using infrared communications). 
     Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  90  for handling various radio-frequency communications bands. For example, circuitry  34  may include transceiver circuitry  36 ,  38 ,  42 , and  46 . 
     Transceiver circuitry  36  may be wireless local area network transceiver circuitry that may handle 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands for WiFi® (IEEE 802.11) communications and that may handle the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® communications band. 
     Circuitry  34  may use cellular telephone transceiver circuitry  38  for handling wireless communications in frequency ranges such as a low communications band from 700 to 960 MHz, a midband from 1710 to 2170 MHz, and a high band from 2300 to 2700 MHz or other communications bands between 700 MHz and 2700 MHz or other suitable frequencies (as examples). Circuitry  38  may handle voice data and non-voice data. 
     Millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  46  may support communications at extremely high frequencies (e.g., millimeter wave frequencies from 10 GHz to 400 GHz or other millimeter wave frequencies). 
     Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include satellite navigation system circuitry such as Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver circuitry  42  for receiving GPS signals at 1575 MHz or for handling other satellite positioning data (e.g., GLONASS signals at 1609 MHz). Satellite navigation system signals for receiver  42  are received from a constellation of satellites orbiting the earth. 
     In satellite navigation system links, cellular telephone links, and other long-range links, wireless signals are typically used to convey data over thousands of feet or miles. In WiFi® and Bluetooth® links and other short-range wireless links, wireless signals are typically used to convey data over tens or hundreds of feet. Extremely high frequency (EHF) wireless transceiver circuitry  46  may convey signals over these over these short distances that travel between transmitter and receiver over a line-of-sight path. To enhance signal reception for millimeter wave communications, phased antenna arrays and beam steering techniques may be used. Antenna diversity schemes may also be used to ensure that the antennas that have become blocked or that are otherwise degraded due to the operating environment of device  10  can be switched out of use and higher-performing antennas used in their place. 
     Wireless communications circuitry  34  can include circuitry for other short-range and long-range wireless links if desired. For example, wireless communications circuitry  34  may include circuitry for receiving television and radio signals, paging system transceivers, near field communications (NFC) circuitry, etc. 
     Antennas  40  in wireless communications circuitry  34  may be formed using any suitable antenna types. For example, antennas  40  may include antennas with resonating elements that are formed from loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures, slot antenna structures, planar inverted-F antenna structures, helical antenna structures, hybrids of these designs, etc. If desired, one or more of antennas  40  may be cavity-backed antennas. Different types of antennas may be used for different bands and combinations of bands. For example, one type of antenna may be used in forming a local wireless link antenna and another type of antenna may be used in forming a remote wireless link antenna. Dedicated antennas may be used for receiving satellite navigation system signals or, if desired, antennas  40  can be configured to receive both satellite navigation system signals and signals for other communications bands (e.g., wireless local area network signals and/or cellular telephone signals). Antennas  40  can include phased antenna arrays and other antenna structures for handling millimeter wave communications. 
     Transmission line paths may be used to route antenna signals within device  10 . For example, transmission line paths may be used to couple antenna structures  40  to transceiver circuitry  90 . Transmission lines in device  10  may include coaxial cable paths, microstrip transmission lines, stripline transmission lines, edge-coupled microstrip transmission lines, edge-coupled stripline transmission lines, transmission lines formed from combinations of transmission lines of these types, etc. Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, and other circuitry may be interposed within the transmission lines, if desired. In some arrangements, the use of transmission lines may be minimized by co-locating radio-frequency transceiver circuitry with antennas  40 . 
     Device  10  may contain multiple antennas  40 . The antennas may be used together or one of the antennas may be switched into use while other antenna(s) are switched out of use. If desired, control circuitry  30  may be used to select an optimum antenna to use in device  10  in real time and/or to select an optimum setting for adjustable wireless circuitry associated with one or more of antennas  40 . Antenna adjustments may be made to tune antennas to perform in desired frequency ranges, to perform beam steering with a phased antenna array, and to otherwise optimize antenna performance. Sensors may be incorporated into antennas  40  to gather sensor data in real time that is used in adjusting antennas  40 . 
     In some configurations, antennas  40  may include antenna arrays (e.g., phased antenna arrays to implement beam steering functions). For example, the antennas that are used in handling millimeter wave signals for extremely high frequency wireless transceiver circuits  46  may be implemented as phased antenna arrays. The radiating elements in a phased antenna array for supporting millimeter wave communications may be slot antennas, patch antennas, dipole antennas, or other suitable antenna elements. Transceiver circuitry can be integrated with the phased antenna arrays to form integrated phased antenna array and transceiver circuit modules. 
     In devices such as handheld devices, the presence of an external object such as the hand of a user or a table or other surface on which a device is resting has a potential to block wireless signals such as millimeter wave signals. Accordingly, it may be desirable to incorporate multiple phased antenna arrays into device  10 , each of which is placed in a different location within device  10 . With this type of arrangement, an unblocked phased antenna array may be switched into use and, once switched into use, the phased antenna array may use beam steering to optimize wireless performance. Configurations in which antennas from one or more different locations in device  10  are operated together may also be used (e.g., to form a phased antenna array, etc.). 
     Conductive structures in device  10  such as portions of display  14 , printed circuit traces, metal internal housing features (e.g., mounting brackets), metal in electrical components such as integrated circuits, speaker coils, button conductors, and other electrical component structures, and metal housing walls in housing  12  may affect antenna performance. To accommodate antennas in a device that incorporates metal structures such as these (e.g., metal housing structures), it may be desirable to form dielectric openings in a metal housing. Configurations in which housing  12  is formed from metal and has one or more dielectric openings to accommodate antennas  40  and/or parts of antennas  40  may sometimes be described herein as an example. If desired, all or part of housing  12  may be formed from glass, plastic, or other dielectric material that does not substantially interfere with the operation of underlying antennas. The use of metal housings  12  is merely illustrative. 
     Antenna windows in metal housing  12  may be formed from openings in metal housing  12  that are filled with dielectric. The dielectric may be gaseous (e.g., air) or may be solid (e.g., plastic, glass, ceramic, etc.). Plastic-filled antenna windows may be used in configurations in which it is desired to form a housing structure that prevents intrusion of environmental contaminants such as dust and moisture. Air-filled antenna windows may be used in configurations in which it is desired to allow sound to pass through the antenna window (e.g., in the context of an audio port such as a speaker port or microphone port) and in configurations in which it is desired to allow air to flow (e.g., in ventilation ports such as intake and exhaust ports in a ventilation system for a laptop computer or other device). 
     It is often desirable to provide device  10  with antennas to cover different communications bands. The antennas used in handling some types of signals may have different sizes than the antennas using other types of signals. For example, cellular telephone and wireless local area network antennas such as WiFi® antennas may have dimensions on the order of centimeters (e.g., 1-5 cm, more than 1 cm, less than 10 cm, etc.), whereas millimeter wave antennas may have smaller dimensions (e.g., a fraction of a millimeter, more than 0.05 mm, 0.1 mm to 2 mm, less than 2 mm, less than 1 mm, etc.). The differences in scale between these different types of antennas can be exploited when integrating millimeter wave antennas within an electronic device with a metal housing. 
     As an example, a cellular telephone antenna in metal housing  12  may have an inverted-F antenna construction. The antenna may use an elongated plastic-filled slot in metal housing  12  to separate an inverted-F antenna resonating element (e.g., a peripheral conductive portion of housing  12  such as a segment of sidewall  12 W) from a larger rectangular housing structure (e.g., rear wall  12 R) that serves as an antenna ground. The plastic-filled slot may have a length of several centimeters or more and a width of 0.5-2 mm (or other size greater than 0.5 mm, greater than 1 mm, less than 8 mm, etc.). The size of the cellular telephone slot may be sufficient to serve both as a dielectric gap between the antenna&#39;s ground plane and the inverted-F resonating element in the cellular telephone antenna and as a plastic-filled millimeter wave antenna window for an array of millimeter wave antennas. Similarly, a cellular telephone slot antenna may have a plastic filled slot in a metal housing wall. The plastic-filled slot in this situation can also serve as a millimeter wave antenna window for an array of millimeter wave antennas. Millimeter wave antenna windows may also be formed from dielectric gaps in hybrid slot-inverted-F antennas. 
       FIGS.  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 , and  8    show illustrative locations at which antenna arrays for millimeter wave communications may be located in device  10 . Housing  12  may be formed from a conductive material such as metal. Openings may be formed in the metal of housing  12 . These openings may be filled with plastic and/or may be left open to the air. These openings may serve to separate conductive structures from each other in a cellular telephone antenna or other larger wavelength antenna and may serve as an antenna window for one or more millimeter wave antennas. 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG.  3   , a cellular telephone slot antenna (and/or WiFi® antenna) is an inverted-F antenna that is being formed using a plastic-filled slot (opening  114 ) in metal housing wall  12 R. Slot  114  extends across rear metal housing wall  12 R and down the left and right edges of walls  12 W, thereby separating a peripheral portion of the conductive housing structures of device  10  along the upper edge of housing  12  from the main portion of rear wall  12 W. The separated portion of the peripheral conductive housing structures forms a conductive metal segment running along at least some of the peripheral edges of device  10  and serves as inverted-F antenna resonating element  106  (in this example). Slot  114  separates element  106  from rear metal wall  12 W, which serves as antenna ground for the inverted-F antenna. Return path  110  may electrically couple element  106  to ground  104  at a position along the length of slot  114  that is parallel to the antenna feed for the inverted-F antenna. 
     Non-millimeter-wave transceiver circuitry such as transceiver circuitry  102  may be coupled to the inverted-F antenna (and/or to other non-millimeter-wave antennas). Transceiver circuitry  102  may include non-extremely-high-frequency transceiver circuitry such as cellular telephone transceiver circuitry  38 , satellite navigation system circuitry  42 , and/or wireless local area network (WiFi®) transceiver circuitry  36  (as an example). Transmission line  92  may couple transceiver circuitry  102  to a feed for the inverted-F antenna. Transmission line  92  may include positive transmission line conductor  94  coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  98  and ground transmission line conductor  96  coupled to ground antenna feed terminal  100 . 
     The size of opening  114  of  FIG.  3    may be sufficient to allow opening  114  to serve as a millimeter wave antenna window in metal housing  12 . If desired, millimeter wave antenna windows  114  may be formed from other types of plastic-filled openings (any of which may, if desired, be used in forming an inverted-F antenna, slot antenna, or other type of antenna that is coupled to transceiver circuitry  102 ). The example of  FIG.  4    shows how millimeter wave antenna window  114  may be formed from a curved slot in rear metal housing wall  12 R (e.g., a curved slot for a slot antenna, etc.).  FIG.  5    is an illustrative example in which a plastic-filled opening with a straight slot shape forms millimeter wave antenna window  114 . In the example of  FIG.  6   , millimeter wave antenna window  114  has the shape of a logo in rear wall  12 R. Millimeter wave antenna window  114  may, if desired, be formed using a plastic-filled opening that extends over a portion of rear wall  12 R and an adjacent portion of one of sidewalls  12 W, as shown in  FIG.  7   . If desired, a camera window (e.g., a transparent glass or plastic disk) may be formed in rear housing wall  12 R, audio port openings may be formed on sidewall  12 W or other walls of housing  12 , connector port openings may be formed on sidewall  12 W or other walls of housing  12 , or other air-filled openings may be formed in housing  12 . These air-filled openings may serve as millimeter wave antenna windows  114  (see, e.g.,  FIG.  8   ). 
       FIGS.  9 ,  10 ,  11 , and  12    are diagrams of illustrative slot antennas for device  10 . Slot antennas  116  of  FIGS.  9 ,  10 ,  11 , and  12    may be, for example, millimeter wave slot antennas (e.g., millimeter wave slot antennas that transmit and/or receive antenna signals through dielectric portions of device  10  such as millimeter wave antenna windows  114 ). 
     As shown in  FIG.  9   , millimeter wave antenna  116  may have a slot such as slot  118  in ground plane  120 . Slot  118  may be filled with a gaseous dielectric such as air and/or a solid dielectric such as plastic or glass. Ground plane  120  may be formed from a metal portion of housing  12  such as a portion of a metal housing wall such as wall  12 R or sidewalls  12 W, metal traces on a printed circuit or other dielectric substrate, or other conductive structures in device  10 . Slot antenna  116  may be fed using transmission line  92 ′. Transmission line  92 ′ may include a positive signal conductor such as conductor  94 ′ that is coupled to positive antenna feed  98 ′ and a ground signal conductor such as conductor  96 ′ that is coupled to ground antenna feed  100 ′. Millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  46  may be coupled to the antenna feed for slot antenna  116  that is formed from terminals  98 ′ and  100 ′ using transmission line  92 ′. 
     As shown in  FIG.  10   , slot antenna  116  may be fed using a coupled feed arrangement (e.g., an arrangement in which a portion of a transmission line conductor such as portion  94 P overlaps slot  118  in ground  120 ).  FIG.  11    shows how transmission line  92 ′ may be formed from a hollow waveguide and shows how slot antenna  116  may be formed by incorporating slot  118  into one of the metal sides of a hollow ground structure that serves as an antenna cavity. 
     Another illustrative cavity-backed antenna configuration for slot antenna  116  is shown in  FIG.  12   . In the example of  FIG.  12   , cavity  120  is being fed using a probe formed from an extended portion of conductor  94 ′ that protrudes from within transmission line  92 ′ (e.g., a coaxial cable) in the interior of cavity  120 . 
       FIGS.  13 ,  14 ,  15 , and  16    are top views of illustrative configurations for slot antenna  116  in which slot  118  has different shapes. In the example  FIG.  13   , slot  118  has a barbell shape.  FIG.  14    shows how slot  118  may have opposing ends with enlarged triangular openings. In the example of  FIG.  15   , slot  118  has a meandering shape. In the  FIG.  16    example, slot  118  has an “H” shape. Other shapes and sizes may be used for slot  118  in slot antenna  116 . The examples of  FIGS.  13 ,  14 ,  15 , and  16    are merely illustrative. 
       FIG.  17    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with a slot antenna. As shown in  FIG.  17   , one or more slot antennas such as slot antenna  116  may be mounted in alignment with millimeter wave antenna window  114  in metal housing  12 . Cross-sectional side views of a millimeter wave antenna window such as window  114  in metal housing wall  12 R are shown in  FIGS.  18  and  19   . In the example of  FIG.  18   , patch antenna resonating element  122  has been aligned with window  114 . In the example of  FIG.  19   , slot antenna  116  has been aligned with window  114  so that signals may be transmitted and received through window  114 . As shown in  FIG.  19   , the width of slot  118  (e.g., about 0.2 mm) may be less than the width of window  114  (e.g., about 0.8 mm), which allows millimeter wave slot antenna  116  of  FIG.  19    operate efficiently. 
       FIG.  20    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device in which metal housing  12  has rear wall  12 R and sidewalls  12 W. Millimeter wave antenna window  114  extends across rear housing wall  12 R. Antenna window  114  overlaps an array of slot antennas  116 . Slot antennas  16  may have one more different orientations (e.g., orthogonal orientations). For example, antennas  16  may include horizontal and vertical slots  118  to provide the array of antennas with antennas  16  of two different orthogonal polarizations. In the example of  FIG.  21   , a logo-shaped millimeter wave antenna window  114  overlaps slot antennas  116  with two different orthogonal polarizations. 
       FIG.  22    shows how antenna windows  114  may be formed using openings in metal housing  12  (e.g., air-filled audio port openings, air-filled connector port openings, etc.). One or more slot antennas  116  may be aligned with each opening  114 . Openings  114  may be formed on the upper surface of the base housing in a laptop computer, along the lower edge of a cellular telephone, or on any other portion of housing  12  in an electronic device. 
       FIG.  23    is a perspective view of a portion of metal housing  12 . In the example of  FIG.  23   , housing  12  has an array of openings including millimeter wave antenna window openings such as antenna windows  114  that overlap slot antennas  116 . If desired, housing  12  may have conductive islands supported by plastic or other dielectric. As shown in  FIG.  24   , for example, housing  12  may have metal structures (pads)  12 M that are supported by a grid of dielectric (e.g., plastic  12 D). Slot antennas  116  may be overlapped by dielectric portions  12 D (i.e., the dielectric in the gaps between respective pads  12 M).  FIG.  25    shows how millimeter wave antenna windows  114  may have cross shapes. In the example of  FIG.  25   , window  114  has vertical and horizontal portions each of which contains a slot antenna  116 . Slots  118  of slot antennas  116  in  FIG.  25    have longitudinal axes that are orthogonal to each other to enhance antenna polarization diversity. 
     If desired, millimeter wave antennas for device  10  may be formed using patch antenna resonating elements. An illustrative patch antenna is shown in  FIG.  26   . Patch antenna  130  of  FIG.  26    has ground  132  and patch antenna resonating element  134 . Patch antenna resonating element  134  may be separate by a distance H from ground  132 . Patch element  134  may be a planar metal structure and ground  132  may be a parallel planar metal structure. Antenna  130  may be fed using feed terminals  98 ′ and  100 ′.  FIG.  27    shows how patch antenna  130  may be fed using a coupled feed arrangement (e.g., an arrangement in which positive signal line  94 ′ of transmission line  92 ′ overlaps opening  136  in ground plane  132  at a location that is overlapped by patch antenna resonating element  134 ). As shown in  FIG.  28   , patch antenna  130  may have parasitic patch elements such as parasitic patches  138  to enhance the bandwidth of antenna  130 .  FIG.  29    shows how patch resonating element  134  may contain one or more openings such as slot  140  to alter the flow of current in element  134  and thereby optimize antenna performance. If desired, patch antennas may have non-square shapes. As shown in  FIG.  30   , for example, element  134  may have a shape with enlarged ends. Other suitable shapes (ovals, circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, other shapes with curved edges, other shapes with straight edges, shapes with combinations of curved and straight edges, and other shapes may be used, if desired. As shown in  FIG.  31   , a patch antenna may have multiple feeds (e.g. to broaden bandwidth and/or to introduce multiple polarizations). 
     If desired, millimeter wave antennas in device  10  may be inverted-F antennas. Illustrative inverted-F antenna  142  of  FIG.  32    has an inverted-F antenna resonating element  144  and antenna ground plane  146 . Antenna  142  of  FIG.  32    may be fed using positive antenna feed terminal  98 ′ and ground antenna feed terminal  100 . Resonating element  144  may include a main resonating element arm such as arm  150  with one or more branches. Arm  150  may be straight or may, as shown in  FIG.  32   , have a meandering shape. Return path  148  may couple arm  150  to ground in parallel with the antenna feed of antenna  142 . 
       FIG.  33    shows how millimeter wave antennas in device  10  may be formed from planar inverted-F antenna structures. Planar inverted-F antenna  160  has a planar inverted-F antenna resonating element (element  164 ) that is coupled to ground plane  166  by return path  162 . Antenna  160  is fed at terminals  98 ′ and  100  in parallel with return path  162 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  34   , an array of two or more millimeter wave patch antennas such as antennas  130  may be mounted in alignment with millimeter wave antenna window  114 . The locations of the antenna feeds for patch resonating elements  134  of antennas  130  may be different for different antennas so that different antennas  130  exhibit different polarizations. As an example, half of antennas  130  may be polarized in one direction and the other half of antennas  130  may be polarized in an orthogonal direction. This type of arrangement may be used for slot antennas, dipole antennas, or other millimeter wave antennas. 
       FIGS.  35 ,  36 ,  37 ,  38 ,  39 , and  40    show illustrative dipole-type antenna structures that may be used in implementing millimeter wave antennas in device  10 . As shown in  FIG.  35   , dipole antenna  170  may have a pair of equal length arms such as arms  170 A and  170 B.  FIG.  36    shows how the arms of antenna  170  may be formed from patches of conductive material (e.g., to enhance antenna bandwidth).  FIG.  37    is a diagram of an illustrative monopole antenna. As shown in  FIG.  37   , monopole antenna  180  may include an arm that extends outwardly from ground plane  184  such as arm  182 . 
     If desired, a pair of dipole antennas may be oriented so that the arms of each antenna extend orthogonally with respect to each other ( FIG.  38   ). This provides polarization diversity.  FIG.  39    shows how a single-ended radio-frequency transceiver (illustrative transceiver  46 ) may be coupled to dipole antenna  170  using balun  186 . If desired, dipole antenna  170  may include a structure such as path length difference structure  170 C of  FIG.  40    that imparts a desired phase delay into one of the arms of the dipole (e.g., to arm  170 B in the illustrative example of  FIG.  40   ). As one example, path length difference structure  170 C may impart a quarter wavelength path length distance so that arms  170 A and  170 B are 90° out of phase. 
       FIG.  41    is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of device  10  in which millimeter wave antenna window  114  has the shape of a slot that extends into the page. Window  114  may, for example, be a plastic-filled opening in rear metal housing wall  12 R. As shown in  FIG.  41   , a set of one or more dipole antennas  170  may be stacked one above the next in alignment with antenna window  114 . If desired, the arms of dipole antennas  170  may extend parallel to slot  114 . The configuration of  FIG.  41    is merely illustrative. If desired, some of the antenna signals associated with dipole antennas  170  (or other millimeter wave antennas such a patch or dipole antennas) may pass through portions of display  14  (e.g., portions of a display cover glass in an inactive area of display  14  that is relatively devoid of conductive structures). 
       FIG.  42    shows how dipole antennas  170  may be formed with arms that extend parallel to a slot-shaped millimeter wave antenna window in housing  12  (i.e., antenna window  114 ). In the example of  FIG.  43   , dipole antennas  170  are angled at a non-zero angle (e.g., 45° or other angle between 0 and 90° with respect to longitudinal axis  180  of antenna window  114 . In the example of  FIG.  44   , dipole antennas  170  have arms that extend along a dimension that is perpendicular to axis  180 . Configurations with mixtures of the dipole antenna configurations of  FIGS.  42 ,  43 , and  44    may also be used. 
     As shown in the illustrative end view of device  10  of  FIG.  45   , antenna window  114  may be formed along an edge of device  10  (e.g., the lower or upper sidewall or the left or right sidewall of a rectangular device, etc.). Antennas  170  may be formed in an array and may have arms that extend along the length of window  114  or that are positioned in window  114  in other orientations. 
     In general, antenna window  114  may be solid or filled with air. Window  114  may have the shape of a logo or other shape. Window  114  may form part of a dielectric structure in a larger (non-millimeter-wave) antenna such as a cellular telephone and/or wireless local area network antenna as well as serving as a window for one or more millimeter wave antennas. Millimeter wave antennas may be inverted-F antennas, planar inverted-F antennas, patch antennas, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, slot antennas, or other suitable antennas. The millimeter wave antennas may be formed under one or more windows  114  and may have multiple different orientations (e.g., multiple different polarizations). The millimeter wave antennas may be formed in horizontal lines, vertical stacks, two-dimensional arrays, or other suitable patterns. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20201201
Publication Date: 20231024
Grant Date: 20231024
Priority Date: 20151014
Inventors: OUYANG, Yuehui
JIANG, YI
MOW, MATTHEW A.
PASCOLINI, MATTIA
CABALLERO, RUBEN
NOORI, BASIM
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/42", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/28", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0421", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/42", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0421", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/40", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/42", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0421", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/28", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 57202220