PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12119549-B2
Application Number: US-202217832465-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic device antennas in acoustic cavities

Abstract:
An electronic device may have an upper housing and a lower housing separated by a slot. An antenna module may be mounted in the lower housing and may include a cavity. An antenna element may be disposed within the cavity. Grounded traces may be patterned onto walls of the module and may be coupled to conductive walls of the lower housing by conductive gaskets. The antenna element may have a high band arm displaced farther into the cavity than a low band arm by a shim. The antenna module may have an acoustic port aligned with a speaker port. The acoustic port may allow sound waves from a speaker to pass into the cavity from the speaker port. The cavity may be configured to optimize an audio response of the speaker while concurrently optimizing radio-frequency performance of the antenna element.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device comprising:
 a speaker having a speaker port and a speaker cavity; and 
 an antenna module having
 a first dielectric wall that defines a first edge of an antenna cavity, 
 a second dielectric wall that defines a second edge of the antenna cavity, 
 an antenna resonating element disposed on the first dielectric wall within the antenna cavity; 
 a positive antenna feed terminal coupled to the antenna resonating element; and 
 vents in the second dielectric wall, the vents being aligned with the speaker port, the speaker being configured to emit sound waves, and the vents being configured to convey a portion of the sound waves into and out of the antenna cavity. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the antenna module has a third dielectric wall that defines a third edge of the antenna cavity. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a metal sheet embedded in the third dielectric wall. 
 
     
     
       4. The electronic device of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a transmission line that extends within the antenna cavity and that is coupled to the positive antenna feed terminal, the transmission line being soldered to the metal sheet. 
 
     
     
       5. The electronic device of  claim 2 , wherein the antenna module has a fourth dielectric wall that defines a fourth edge of the antenna cavity opposite the third dielectric wall, further comprising:
 grounded conductive material on the second, third, and fourth dielectric walls. 
 
     
     
       6. The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the vents have a pitch that configures the vents to be transparent to the sound waves and opaque to radio-frequency signals conveyed by the antenna. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a gasket that couples the second dielectric wall to the speaker and that extends around the vents and the speaker port. 
 
     
     
       8. The electronic device of  claim 7 , wherein the speaker has an additional speaker port, the speaker being configured to emit the sound waves through the additional speaker port. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the antenna cavity is configured to alter an audio response of the speaker. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a first conductive housing; 
 a display in the first conductive housing; and 
 a second conductive housing coupled to the first conductive housing by a hinge, wherein the second conductive housing has a first conductive wall and a second conductive wall opposite the first conductive wall, the antenna module and the speaker being disposed within the second conductive housing between the first conductive wall and the second conductive wall. 
 
     
     
       11. The electronic device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a first conductive gasket overlapping the antenna resonating element, wherein the first conductive gasket couples the conductive material on the fourth dielectric wall to the first conductive wall of the second conductive housing; 
 a second conductive gasket that couples the conductive material on the fourth dielectric wall to the first conductive wall of the second conductive housing; and 
 a third conductive gasket that couples the conductive material on the third dielectric wall to the second conductive wall of the second conductive housing. 
 
     
     
       12. The electronic device of  claim 2 , wherein the third dielectric wall is ultrasonically welded to the first dielectric wall. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a dielectric support structure mounted to the first dielectric wall within the antenna cavity, wherein the antenna resonating element has a first arm formed from a first conductive trace patterned onto the first dielectric wall, the antenna resonating element has a second arm formed from a second conductive trace disposed on the dielectric support structure, and the positive antenna feed terminal is coupled to the second trace disposed on the dielectric support structure. 
 
     
     
       14. An electronic device comprising:
 an antenna module; 
 a cavity enclosed within the antenna module, wherein the antenna module has a dielectric wall that defines an edge of the cavity; and 
 an antenna resonating element disposed within the cavity, wherein the antenna resonating element has a return path on the dielectric wall, first and second arms extending from opposing sides of the return path, and a positive antenna feed terminal coupled to the second arm, the first arm being disposed on the dielectric wall, and the second arm and the positive antenna feed terminal being displaced farther within the cavity than the first arm in a direction normal to the dielectric wall. 
 
     
     
       15. The electronic device of  claim 14 , wherein the first arm is configured to radiate in a first frequency band and the second arm is configured to radiate in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band, the electronic device further comprising:
 a dielectric support structure on the dielectric wall, the second arm of the antenna resonating element and the positive antenna feed terminal being disposed on the dielectric support structure. 
 
     
     
       16. The electronic device of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 conductive traces on the antenna module that form a radio-frequency cavity for the antenna resonating element. 
 
     
     
       17. The electronic device of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 a speaker having a speaker port and being configured to emit sound; and 
 vents in the antenna module and the conductive traces that are aligned with the speaker port, the vents being configured to convey a portion of sound emitted by the speaker into and out of the cavity. 
 
     
     
       18. The electronic device of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a first conductive housing; 
 a display in the first conductive housing; and 
 a second conductive housing coupled to the first conductive housing by a hinge, wherein the second conductive housing has a first conductive wall and a second conductive wall opposite the first conductive wall, the antenna module and the speaker are disposed within the second conductive housing between the first conductive wall and the second conductive wall, and the conductive traces are electrically coupled to the first conductive wall and the second conductive wall. 
 
     
     
       19. An electronic device comprising:
 a housing having an upper housing portion that contains a display and having a lower housing portion, wherein the lower housing portion has opposing first and second conductive walls; 
 a hinge that couples the upper housing portion to the lower housing portion, wherein the upper housing portion is rotatable with respect to the lower housing portion and is separated from the lower housing portion by a slot; 
 an antenna module disposed in the lower housing portion between the first and second conductive walls, a cavity being enclosed within the antenna module; 
 an antenna resonating element disposed within the cavity of the antenna module and configured to convey radio-frequency signals through the slot, wherein the antenna has a first arm configured to radiate in a first frequency band and a second arm configured to radiate in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band, the second arm being disposed farther into the cavity than the first arm; 
 a speaker disposed in the lower housing portion between the first and second conductive walls, wherein the speaker has a speaker port facing the cavity and a first set of openings in the first conductive wall and is configured to emit sound waves through the speaker port and the first set of openings; and 
 an acoustic port structure on the antenna module and aligned with the speaker port, wherein the acoustic port structure is configured to convey a portion of the sound waves into and out of the cavity through a second set of openings in a wall of the cavity. 
 
     
     
       20. The electronic device of  claim 19 , wherein the speaker port and the second set of openings are sealed together.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to wireless electronic devices with antennas. 
     Electronic devices often include antennas. For example, cellular telephones, computers, and other devices often contain antennas for supporting wireless communications. 
     It can be challenging to form electronic device antenna structures with desired attributes. In some wireless devices, the presence of conductive housing structures can influence antenna performance. Device size can also affect performance. It can be difficult to achieve desired performance levels in a compact device, particularly when the compact device has conductive housing structures. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved wireless circuitry for electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a metal housing. The metal housing may have an upper housing in which a component such as a display is mounted and a lower housing in which a component such as a keyboard is mounted. Hinges may be used to mount the upper housing to the lower housing for rotation about a rotational axis. 
     An antenna module may be mounted in the lower housing between upper and lower conductive housing walls. The antenna module may include dielectric walls that define respective edges of a cavity enclosed within the antenna module. An antenna resonating element may be disposed within the cavity on one of the dielectric walls. The antenna resonating element may radiate through a slot between the upper and lower housings. Grounded conductive material such as conductive traces may be patterned onto each of the dielectric walls except the dielectric wall having the antenna resonating element. The grounded conductive material may be electrically sealed using solder to configure the cavity to form an electromagnetic cavity that optimizes radio-frequency performance of the antenna resonating element. The grounded conductive material may be electrically coupled to the upper and lower conductive housing walls using conductive gaskets. A conductive plate may be embedded in one of the dielectric walls to support a transmission line. Multiple conductive gaskets may couple an upper side of the antenna module to the upper conductive housing wall to allow conductive material between the gaskets to be removed, thereby increasing antenna volume. The antenna resonating element may have a low band arm and a high band arm. The high band arm may be displaced farther into the cavity than the low band arm to optimize high band performance. A dielectric support structure such as a shim may support the high band arm within the cavity. 
     A speaker may be mounted in the lower housing adjacent the antenna module. The speaker may have first and second speaker ports. The antenna module may have an acoustic port structure that is aligned with the first speaker port. The acoustic port structure may include vents in one of the dielectric walls and the conductive material of the antenna module. The vents may be separated by ribs. The speaker may emit sound waves. A portion of the sound waves may pass through the first speaker port and the vents into and out of the cavity. The dielectric walls of the cavity may be joined together using ultrasonic welds to form a robust acoustic seal for the sound waves. The sound waves may pass through the second speaker port to be heard by a user. The ribs may have a pitch that is selected to be transparent to the sound waves but opaque to radio-frequency signals conveyed by the antenna resonating element. The cavity may be configured to optimize an audio response of the speaker while concurrently optimizing radio-frequency performance of the antenna resonating element. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device such as a laptop computer in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with wireless circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  3    is a diagram of an illustrative antenna in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  4    is a diagram showing hinge and flexible printed circuit structures bridging a gap between upper and lower housings in a laptop computer of the type shown in  FIG.  1    in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    is a rear perspective view of an illustrative antenna module for mounting in a lower laptop computer housing in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  6    is a rear interior perspective view of an illustrative antenna module having an antenna resonating element disposed in a cavity in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  7    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative laptop computer showing how the antenna module of  FIGS.  5  and  6    may be mounted within a lower housing of the laptop computer in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An electronic device such as electronic device  10  of  FIG.  1    may contain wireless circuitry. For example, electronic device  10  may contain wireless communications circuitry that operates in long-range communications bands such as cellular telephone bands and wireless circuitry that operates in short-range communications bands such as the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® or other wireless personal area network (WPAN) bands and the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi® band or other wireless local area network (WLAN) bands (sometimes referred to as IEEE 802.11 bands or wireless local area network communications bands). Device  10  may also contain wireless communications circuitry for performing near-field communications, communications at millimeter/centimeter wave frequencies, light-based wireless communications, satellite navigation system communications, or other wireless communications. 
     Device  10  may be a handheld electronic device such as a cellular telephone, media player, gaming device, or other device, may be a laptop computer, tablet computer, or other portable computer, may be a desktop computer, may be a computer display, may be a display containing an embedded computer, may be a television or set top box, wireless base station, wireless access point, home entertainment console, portable speaker, gaming accessory, wristwatch device, head-mounted display device, or other wearable device, or may be other electronic equipment. Configurations in which device  10  has a rotatable lid as in a portable (e.g., laptop) computer are sometimes described herein as an example. This is, however, merely illustrative. Device  10  may be any suitable electronic equipment. 
     As shown in the example of  FIG.  1   , device  10  may have a housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12  may be formed from plastic, metal (e.g., aluminum), fiber composites such as carbon fiber, glass, ceramic, other materials, and combinations of these materials. Housing  12  or parts of housing  12  may be formed using a unibody construction in which housing structures are formed from an integrated piece of material. Multipart housing constructions may also be used in which housing  12  or parts of housing  12  are formed from frame structures, housing walls, and other components that are attached to each other using fasteners, adhesive, and other attachment mechanisms. 
     Some of the structures in housing  12  may be conductive. For example, metal parts of housing  12  such as metal housing walls may be conductive. Other parts of housing  12  may be formed from dielectric material such as plastic, glass, ceramic, non-conducting composites, etc. To ensure that antenna structures in device  10  function properly, care should be taken when placing the antenna structures relative to the conductive portions of housing  12 . 
     If desired, portions of housing  12  may form part of the antenna structures for device  10 . For example, conductive housing sidewalls may form all or part of an antenna ground. The antenna ground may include planar portions and/or portions that form one or more cavities for cavity-backed antennas. In addition to portions of housing  12 , the cavities in the cavity-backed antennas may be formed from metal brackets, sheet metal members, and other internal metal structures, and/or metal traces on dielectric structures (e.g., plastic structures) in device  10 . Metal traces may be formed on dielectric structures using molded interconnect device techniques (e.g., techniques for selectively plating metal traces onto regions of a plastic part that contains multiple shots of plastic with different affinities for metal), using laser direct structuring (LDS) techniques (e.g., techniques in which laser light exposure is used to activate selective portions of a plastic structure for subsequent electroplating metal deposition operations), or using other metal trace deposition and patterning techniques. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , device  10  may have input-output devices such as track pad  18  (e.g., a touch pad, mouse, other touch-based user input device) and keyboard  16  (e.g., having a set of mechanical and/or electronic-based keys and/or a touch screen display). Device  10  may also have components such as cameras, microphones, speakers, buttons, status indicator lights, buzzers, sensors, and other input-output devices. These devices may be used to gather input for device  10  and may be used to supply a user of device  10  with output. Connector ports in device  10  may receive mating connectors (e.g., an audio plug, a connector associated with a data cable such as a Universal Serial Bus cable, a data cable that handles video and audio data such as a cable that connects device  10  to a computer display, television, or other monitor, etc.). 
     Device  10  may include a display such a display  14 . Display  14  may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, an electrophoretic display, or a display implemented using other display technologies. A touch sensor may be incorporated into display  14  (e.g., display  14  may be a touch screen display) or display  14  may be insensitive to touch. Touch sensors for display  14  may be resistive touch sensors, capacitive touch sensors, acoustic touch sensors, light-based touch sensors, force sensors, or touch sensors implemented using other touch technologies. 
     Device  10  may have a one-piece housing or a multi-piece housing. As shown in  FIG.  1   , for example, electronic device  10  may be a device such as a portable computer or other device that has a two-part housing formed from an upper housing portion such as upper housing  12 A and a lower housing portion such as lower housing  12 B. Upper housing  12 A may include display  14  and may sometimes be referred to as a display housing or lid. Lower housing  12 B may sometimes be referred to as a base housing or main housing. 
     Housings  12 A and  12 B may be connected to each other using hinge structures located along the upper edge of lower housing  12 B and the lower edge of upper housing  12 A. For example, housings  12 A and  12 B may be coupled by hinges  26  such as hinges  26 A and  26 B that are located at opposing left and right sides of housing  12  along a rotational axis such as axis  22  (sometimes referred to herein as hinge axis  22 ). A slot-shaped opening such as opening  20  may be formed between upper housing  12 A and lower housing  12 B and may be bordered on either end by hinges  26 A and  26 B. Opening  20  may sometimes be referred to herein as gap  20  or slot  20  between upper housing  12 A and lower housing  12 B. Hinges  26 A and  26 B, which may be formed from conductive structures such as metal structures, may allow upper housing  12 A to rotate about axis  22  in directions  24  relative to lower housing  12 B. Slot  20  extends along the rear edge of lower housing  12 B parallel to axis  22 . The lateral plane of upper housing (lid)  12 A and the lateral plane of lower housing  12 B may be separated by an angle that varies between 0° when the lid is closed to 90°, 140°, 160°, or more when the lid is fully opened. 
     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 control circuitry  30 . Control circuitry  30  may include storage and/or processing circuitry. Storage in control circuitry  30  may include 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 control circuitry  30  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . This processing circuitry may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, host processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), etc. Control circuitry  30  may be configured to perform operations in device  10  using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware, and/or software. Software code for performing operations in device  10  may be stored on control circuitry  30  (e.g., storage in control circuitry  30  may include non-transitory (tangible) computer readable storage media that stores the software code). The software code may sometimes be referred to as program instructions, software, data, instructions, or code. Software code stored on the storage may be executed by processing circuitry in control circuitry  30 . 
     Control 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, control circuitry  30  may be used in implementing communications protocols. Communications protocols that may be implemented using control 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 or other WPAN protocols, IEEE 802.11ad protocols, cellular telephone protocols, MIMO protocols, antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols, antenna-based spatial ranging protocols (e.g., radio detection and ranging (RADAR) protocols or other desired range detection protocols for signals conveyed at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies), etc. Each communication protocol may be associated with a corresponding radio access technology (RAT) that specifies the physical connection methodology used in implementing the protocol. 
     Device  10  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, proximity sensors, and other sensors and input-output components. 
     Device  10  may include wireless communications circuitry  34  that allows control circuitry  30  of device  10  to communicate wirelessly with external equipment. The external equipment with which device  10  communicates wirelessly may be a computer, a cellular telephone, a watch, a router, access point, or other wireless local area network equipment, a wireless base station in a cellular telephone network, a display, a head-mounted device, or other electronic equipment. Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry  48  and one or more antennas such as antenna  40 . Configurations in which device  10  contains a single antenna may sometimes be described herein as an example. In general, device  10  may include any number of antennas. 
     Transceiver circuitry  48  may support communications in Extremely High Frequency (EHF) or millimeter wave communications bands between about 30 GHz and 300 GHz, in centimeter wave communications bands between about 10 GHz and 30 GHz (sometimes referred to as Super High Frequency (SHF) bands), wireless local area network (WLAN) communications bands such as the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi® (IEEE 802.11) bands, wireless personal area network (WPAN) communications bands such as the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® communications band, cellular telephone communications bands such as a cellular low band (LB) (e.g., 600 to 960 MHz), a cellular low-midband (LMB) (e.g., 1400 to 1550 MHz), a cellular midband (MB) (e.g., from 1700 to 2200 MHz), a cellular high band (HB) (e.g., from 2300 to 2700 MHz), a cellular ultra-high band (UHB) (e.g., from 3300 to 5000 MHz, or other cellular communications bands between about 600 MHz and about 5000 MHz (e.g., 3G bands, 4G LTE bands, 5G New Radio Frequency Range 1 (FR1) bands below 10 GHz, etc.), a near-field communications (NFC) band (e.g., at 13.56 MHz), satellite navigations bands (e.g., an L1 global positioning system (GPS) band at 1575 MHz, an L5 GPS band at 1176 MHz, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) band, a BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) band, etc.), ultra-wideband (UWB) communications band(s) supported by the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol and/or other UWB communications protocols (e.g., a first UWB communications band at 6.5 GHz and/or a second UWB communications band at 8.0 GHz), and/or any other desired communications bands. The communications bands handled by the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry may sometimes be referred to herein as frequency bands or simply as “bands,” and may span corresponding ranges of frequencies. Transceiver circuitry  48  may include one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive radio-frequency components, switching circuitry, transmission line structures, and other circuitry for handling radio-frequency signals. 
     If desired, device  10  may be supplied with a battery such as battery  36 . Control circuitry  30 , input-output devices  32 , wireless communications circuitry  34 , and power management circuitry associated with battery  36  may produce heat during operation. To ensure that these components are cooled satisfactorily, device  10  may be provided with a cooling system such as cooling system  38 . Cooling system  38 , which may sometimes be referred to as a ventilation system, may include one or more fans and other equipment for removing heat from the components of device  10 . Cooling system  38  may include structures that form airflow ports (e.g., openings in ventilation port structures located along slot  20  of  FIG.  1    or other portions of device  10  through which cool air may be drawn by one or more cooling fans and through which air that has been warmed from heat produced by internal components may be expelled). Airflow ports, which may sometimes be referred to as cooling ports, ventilation ports, air exhaust and entrance ports, etc., may be formed from arrays of openings in plastic ventilation port structures or other structures associated with cooling system  38 . 
     Radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  48  and antenna(s)  40  may be used to handle one or more radio-frequency communications bands. For example, circuitry  48  may include wireless local area network transceiver circuitry that may handle a 2.4 GHz band for WiFi® and/or Bluetooth® communications and, if desired, may include 5 GHz transceiver circuitry (e.g., for WiFi®). If desired, transceiver circuitry  48  and antenna(s)  40  may handle communications in other bands (e.g., cellular telephone bands, near field communications bands, bands at millimeter wave frequencies, etc.). 
     Transceiver circuitry  48  may convey radio-frequency signals using one or more antennas  40  (e.g., antennas  40  may convey the radio-frequency signals for the transceiver circuitry). The term “convey radio-frequency signals” as used herein means the transmission and/or reception of the radio-frequency signals (e.g., for performing unidirectional and/or bidirectional wireless communications with external wireless communications equipment). Antennas  40  may transmit the radio-frequency signals by radiating the radio-frequency signals into free space (or to free space through intervening device structures such as a dielectric cover layer). Antennas  40  may additionally or alternatively receive the radio-frequency signals from free space (e.g., through intervening devices structures such as a dielectric cover layer). The transmission and reception of radio-frequency signals by antennas  40  each involve the excitation or resonance of antenna currents on an antenna resonating element in the antenna by the radio-frequency signals within the frequency band(s) of operation of the antenna. 
     Antennas  40  in wireless circuitry  34  may be formed using any suitable antenna structures. For example, antennas  40  may include antennas with resonating elements that are formed from stacked patch antenna structures, loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures, slot antenna structures, planar inverted-F antenna structures, monopole antenna structures, dipole antenna structures, helical antenna structures, Yagi (Yagi-Uda) antenna structures, dielectric resonator antennas, 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. If desired, antennas  40  may be arranged in one or more phased antenna arrays. 
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , transceiver circuitry  48  in wireless communications circuitry  34  may be coupled to antennas such as antenna  40  using radio-frequency transmission line paths such as transmission line  50 . Transmission line paths in device  10  such as transmission line  50  may include coaxial cables, microstrip transmission lines, stripline transmission lines, edge-coupled microstrip transmission lines, edge-coupled stripline transmission lines, waveguide transmission lines (e.g., coplanar waveguides, grounded coplanar waveguides, etc.), transmission lines formed from combinations of transmission lines of these types, etc. 
     Transmission line paths in device  10  such as transmission line  50  may be integrated into rigid and/or flexible printed circuit boards if desired. In one suitable arrangement, transmission line paths in device  10  may include transmission line conductors (e.g., signal and/or ground conductors) that are integrated within multilayer laminated structures (e.g., layers of a conductive material such as copper and a dielectric material such as a resin that are laminated together without intervening adhesive) that may be folded or bent in multiple dimensions (e.g., two or three dimensions) and that maintain a bent or folded shape after bending (e.g., the multilayer laminated structures may be folded into a particular three-dimensional shape to route around other device components and may be rigid enough to hold its shape after folding without being held in place by stiffeners or other structures). All of the multiple layers of the laminated structures may be batch laminated together (e.g., in a single pressing process) without adhesive (e.g., as opposed to performing multiple pressing processes to laminate multiple layers together with adhesive). Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, and other circuitry may be interposed within the transmission lines, if desired. 
     Transmission line  50  in device  10  may be coupled to antenna feed  42  of antenna  40 . Antenna  40  of  FIG.  2    may, for example, form an inverted-F antenna, a planar inverted-F antenna, a slot antenna, a hybrid inverted-F slot antenna or other antenna having an antenna feed such as antenna feed  42  with a positive antenna feed terminal such as positive antenna feed terminal  44  and a ground antenna feed terminal such as ground antenna feed terminal  46 . Transmission line  50  may include a positive transmission line conductor  52  (sometimes referred to herein as signal conductor  52 ) and a ground transmission line conductor  54  (sometimes referred to herein as ground conductor  54 ). Signal conductor  52  may be coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  44  and ground conductor  54  may be coupled to ground antenna feed terminal  46 . Other types of antenna feed arrangements may be used (e.g., indirect feed arrangements, feed arrangements in which antenna  40  is fed using multiple feeds, etc.) and multiple antennas  40  may be provided in device  10 , if desired. The feeding configuration of  FIG.  2    is merely illustrative. 
     Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, and other circuitry may be interposed within transmission line  50 , in or between parts of antenna  40 , or in other portions of wireless communications circuitry  34 , if desired. Control circuitry  30  may be coupled to transceiver circuitry  48  and input-output devices  32 . During operation, input-output devices  32  may supply output from device  10  and may receive input from sources that are external to device  10 . Control circuitry  30  may use wireless communications circuitry  34  to transmit and receive wireless signals. 
       FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram of an illustrative antenna for device  10 . In the example of  FIG.  3   , antenna  40  is an inverted-F antenna having antenna resonating element  58  (e.g., an inverted-F antenna resonating element) and antenna ground  56  (sometimes referred to herein as ground plane  56 , ground structures  56 , antenna ground structures  56 , or ground  56 ). Antenna resonating element  58  (sometimes referred to herein as antenna radiating element  58 , resonating element  58 , or radiating element  58 ) may have one or more antenna resonating element arms such as arm  60 . If desired, antenna resonating element  58  may have multiple branches (e.g., a first branch formed from a first arm  60 , a second branch formed from a second arm  60 ′, etc.). The lengths of each of the arms (branches) of antenna resonating element  58  may be selected to support communications band resonances at desired frequencies (e.g., a high band resonance may be supported using a shorter branch such as second arm  60 ′ and a low band resonance may be supported using a longer branch such as first arm  60 ). Second arm  60 ′ may therefore sometimes be referred to herein as high band arm  60 ′ and first arm  60  may sometimes be referred to herein as low band arm  60 . Antenna resonances may also be produced from resonating element harmonics and/or using parasitic antenna resonating elements. 
     As shown in  FIG.  3   , antenna resonating element  58  may be coupled to antenna ground  56  by return path  62 . Antenna feed  42  may be coupled between one of the arms  60  of antenna and antenna ground  56  in parallel with return path  62 . Positive antenna feed terminal  44  may be coupled to one of the arms  60  of antenna  40 . Ground antenna feed terminal  46  may be coupled to antenna ground  56 . Antenna ground  56  may be formed from metal portions of housing  12  (e.g., portions of lower housing  12 B of  FIG.  1   ), metal traces on a printed circuit or other carrier/substrate, internal metal bracket members, sheet metal members, metal foil, and/or other conductive structures in device  10 . This example is merely illustrative and in general, antenna  40  may include an antenna resonating element having any desired shape and architecture. 
     Metal traces on one or more flexible printed circuits may bisect slot  20  of  FIG.  1   . Consider, for example, the illustrative configuration of device  10  that is shown in  FIG.  4    (e.g., a configuration in which upper housing  12 A is folded as far open with respect to lower housing  12 B about axis  22  such that housings  12 A and  12 B lie in the same (e.g., X-Y) plane or in nearly the same plane). In the example of  FIG.  4   , upper housing  12 A is separated from lower housing  12 B by air-filled slot  20 . Hinges  26 A and  26 B may be coupled between housings  12 A and  12 B along the respective left and right edges of device  10 . One or more flexible printed circuits such as flexible printed circuit  64  may bisect slot  20  along the length of slot  20 , thereby creating two slots (i.e., two separate slot-shaped portions of slot  20 ) such as slots  20 - 1  and  20 - 2 . Flexible printed circuit  64  may contain one or more sheets of flexible dielectric substrate material such as a layer of polyimide or a sheet of other flexible polymers. 
     Flexible printed circuit  64  may include signal lines  70  for routing display signals (i.e., data signals associated with displaying images on display  14  of  FIG.  1   ) and other signals (e.g., camera signals, backlight signals, power signals, touch sensor signals, etc.) between upper housing  12 A and lower housing  12 B. Ground traces  66  may be provided on the outer edges of flexible printed circuit  64  (i.e., in flexible printed circuit  64 , signal lines  70  may be flanked on opposing sides by ground traces  66 ). Ground traces  66  may be formed from copper or other metal and may have any suitable widths (e.g., 1 mm to 3 mm, less than 1 mm, more than 1 mm, etc.). Ground traces  66  may be shorted to metal in housings  12 A and  12 B using screws, other fasteners, welds, conductive adhesive, solder, or other conductive coupling mechanism (see, e.g., conductive ground connections  68 ). 
     With this type of arrangement, slots (openings)  20 - 1  and  20 - 2  may be surrounded by metal. For example, slots  20 - 1  and  20 - 2  may be surrounded by metal portions of upper housing  12 A and lower housing  12 B on their top and bottom edges. Hinges  26 A and  26 B and ground traces  66  may also be formed from metal and may help define the shapes of slots  20 - 1  and  20 - 2 . As shown in  FIG.  4   , slot  20 - 1  may have a left edge formed by hinge  26 A and an opposing right edge formed from the ground traces on flexible printed circuit  64 . Slot  20 - 2  may have a left edge formed from flexible printed circuit  64  and an opposing right edge formed from hinge  26 -B. The example of  FIG.  4    in which one flexible printed circuit divides slot  20  into two separate slots is merely illustrative. If desired, two or more flexible printed circuits may divide slot  20  into three or more separate slots. Two or more separate flexible printed circuits may divide slot into two separate slots  20 - 1  and  20 - 2  if desired (e.g., two or more separate flexible printed circuits may be interposed between slots  20 - 1  and  20 - 2 ). 
     During wireless operation of device  10 , slots  20 - 1  and  20 - 2  may serve as antenna apertures for respective electrically isolated antennas  40  in lower housing  12 B of device  10 . For example, a first antenna  40  may be mounted within lower housing  12 B and aligned with slot  20 - 1  and a second antenna  40  may be mounted within lower housing  12 B and aligned with slot  20 - 2 . Conductive structures in lower housing  12 B may form cavity structures for each of the antennas  40  (e.g., cavity-shaped ground structures or other ground structures that form part of antenna ground  56  of  FIG.  3   ). By aligning antennas  40  with separate slots between lower housing  12 B and upper housing  12 A in device  10 , the antennas may exhibit sufficient electrical isolation from each other (e.g., such that the antennas may be used to form a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array at 2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz and/or other suitable frequencies for wireless local area network communications, etc.). 
     Device  10  may have speaker structures such as speakers  72  mounted along the rear edge of lower housing  12 B or elsewhere in device  10 . Speakers  72  may each include a speaker driver, a speaker cavity (e.g., one or more acoustic cavities or chambers that amplify or alter sound waves to optimize the audio response of sound emitted by the speaker), and/or any other components for producing audible sound. Each speaker  72  may include one or more speaker ports  74 . Speaker ports  74  may include one or more openings in the conductive material of lower housing  12 B that allow sound produced by speakers  72  to escape from the interior of lower housing  12 B to be heard by a user. 
     If desired, additional portions of lower housing  12 B may be configured to form supplemental acoustic cavities or chambers for speakers  72  that help to optimize the audio response of speakers  72 . As space is at a premium in compact devices such as device  10 , portions of other components in lower housing  12 B may also be used to form supplemental acoustic cavities or chambers for speakers  72 . While each speaker  72  includes a cavity or chamber for emitting sound via speaker ports  74 , a portion of the antenna  40  at or adjacent to each speaker  72  may form a supplemental acoustic cavity or chamber for the speaker. In these arrangements, speaker  72  may include an additional speaker port  76  at/facing antenna  40 . A portion of the acoustic (audio) sound waves produced by speaker  72  (e.g., by the speaker driver for speaker  72 ) may pass, via speaker port  76 , into and out of the portion of antenna  40  that forms the supplemental acoustic cavity or chamber for speaker  72  (e.g., prior to the sound waves escaping lower housing  12 B via speaker ports  74 ). The shape and materials used to form the portion of antenna  40  that forms the supplemental acoustic cavity or chamber for speaker  72  may be selected to alter one or more characteristics of the sound waves so as to optimize the audible response of the sound waves to a user (e.g., altering an equalizer response of the sound waves, filtering the sound waves, altering a volume or amplitude of the sound waves, altering a directionality of the sound waves when emitted from speaker ports  74 , etc.). In this way, the volume of antenna  40  may help to optimize the audio response of speaker  72  while also contributing to the radio-frequency performance of the antenna, thereby minimizing volume consumption within lower housing  12 B. 
     Each antenna  40  in lower housing  12 B may be integrated within a corresponding antenna module. The antenna module may also be used to form a supplemental acoustic cavity or chamber for an adjacent speaker  72 .  FIG.  5    is a rear perspective view of an antenna module that is used to form a supplemental acoustic cavity or chamber for an adjacent speaker  72 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  5   , antenna  40  may be integrated into a corresponding antenna module  78 . Antenna module  78  may include one or more dielectric substrates that surround and enclose a cavity such as cavity  80 . Cavity  80  may be filled with air (e.g., cavity  80  may be an air cavity that is enclosed within antenna module  78 ). For example, antenna module  78  may have dielectric sidewalls  82  that define respective edges of cavity  80  (e.g., at least a first sidewall  82 - 1 , a second sidewall  82 - 2 , a third sidewall  82 - 3  opposite first sidewall  82 - 1 , and a fourth sidewall  82 - 4  opposite second sidewall  82 - 2 ). Antenna module  78  may also have a dielectric bottom (lower) wall  90  and an opposing dielectric top (upper) wall  92  that define respective edges of cavity  80 . Sidewalls  82  may couple bottom wall  90  to top wall  92  and may extend around the lateral periphery of bottom wall  90  and top wall  92 . 
     Sidewalls  82 - 1 ,  82 - 2 ,  82 - 3 , and  82 - 4 , bottom wall  90 , and top wall  92  may be formed from different dielectric substrates or, if desired, two or more of sidewalls  82 - 1 ,  82 - 2 ,  82 - 3 , and  82 - 4 , bottom wall  90 , and top wall  92  may be formed from integral portions of the same dielectric substrate. The dielectric substrate(s) may include plastic (e.g., LDS plastic, injection molded plastic, etc.), epoxy, adhesives, ceramics, rubber, polymers, glass, and/or any other desired dielectric materials. One or more attachment structures  88  (e.g., mounting holes for receiving screws, pins, or other mounting structures) may be integrated within antenna a module  78  (e.g., at least bottom wall  90 ) to help secure antenna module  78  within lower housing  12 B ( FIG.  1   ). 
     Sidewall  82 - 4  may have an interior surface  86  (within cavity  80 ) and an opposing exterior surface  84  (at the exterior of antenna module  78 ). Antenna  40  may be integrated into antenna module  40 . As shown in  FIG.  5   , antenna resonating element  58  may be disposed within cavity  80  on interior surface  86  of sidewall  82 - 4 . Antenna resonating element  58  may be formed from conductive traces that are patterned onto interior surface  86  or onto a flexible printed circuit that is layered onto interior surface  86  or may be formed from sheet metal or metal foil layered onto interior surface  86 , as examples. Transmission line  50  may run along sidewall  82 - 2  and may pass into the interior of antenna module  78  through a hole in sidewall  82 - 2 . Transmission line  50  may then extend through cavity  80  along bottom wall  90  and may be coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  44  of antenna resonating element  58 . 
     Conductive material may be disposed on the exterior surface(s) of one or more of sidewalls  82 - 1 ,  82 - 2 ,  82 - 3 , bottom wall  90 , and top wall  92  (e.g., the conductive material may cover sidewalls  82 - 1 ,  82 - 2 , and  82 - 3 , bottom wall  90 , and top wall  92 ). The conductive material may be held at a ground potential and may form part of the antenna ground for antenna  40  if desired. The conductive material may include conductive traces (e.g., LDS traces) patterned onto the plastic material in sidewalls  82 - 1 ,  82 - 2 , and  82 - 3 , bottom wall  90 , and top wall  92 . The conductive material may form conductive cavity walls that configure cavity  80  to form an electromagnetic cavity back for antenna  40  (e.g., antenna  40  may be a cavity-backed antenna having an antenna cavity formed from cavity  80  and the conductive material on the walls of antenna module  78 ). The conductive material on different walls of antenna module  78  may be mechanically and electrically coupled together using solder (e.g., a ring of solder extending around the periphery of one or more of the walls) or other conductive adhesives. The solder may help to form an electromagnetic seal for cavity  80 . Antenna resonating element  58  may convey radio-frequency signals through the dielectric material in sidewall  82 - 4  (e.g., sidewall  82 - 4  may be free from conductive traces). Cavity  80  may help to maximize the gain, radiation pattern (e.g., directivity), and/or antenna efficiency for antenna  40 . 
     The conductive material on the walls of antenna module  78  may include a conductive plate  94  that is disposed on or within bottom wall  90  of antenna module  78 . Conductive plate  94  may include stainless steel or other metal materials (e.g., conductive plate  94  may be formed from stamped sheet metal). Conductive plate  94  may be embedded (e.g., injection-molded) into bottom wall  90 , for example. Conductive plate  94  may help to provide mechanical strength to antenna module  78  and may help to support transmission line  50  as the transmission line passes from the exterior of antenna module  78  to positive antenna feed terminal  44 . Transmission line  50  may be soldered to conductive plate  94  (e.g., using solder  95 ) along its length within cavity  80 . This may help to secure transmission line  50  in place while also holding the ground conductor of the transmission line at a consistent ground potential along its length, thereby optimizing the radio-frequency performance of antenna  40 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  5   , antenna module  78  may also include a port structure such as port structure  96  that acoustically couples cavity  80  in antenna module  78  to an adjacent speaker  72  ( FIG.  4   ). Cavity  80  may form a supplemental acoustic cavity or chamber for speaker  72 . Port structure  96  may include one or more vents  100 . Vents  100  may be formed from air-filled slots, ducts, ports, holes, or openings in sidewall  82 - 1 . Vents  100  may allow air to pass into and out of cavity  80 , as shown by arrows  106 . Vents  100  and port structure  96  may be aligned with the speaker port  76  of an adjacent speaker  72  ( FIG.  4   ). Port structure  96  may sometimes also be referred to herein as speaker bypass  96 . 
     Speaker  72  may be mounted, affixed, adhered, secured, or pressed against antenna module  78 . Port structure  96  may include a gasket such as gasket  98  that extends around vents  100 . Gasket  98  may press against speaker  72  around speaker port  76  and may form an air-tight seal around speaker port  76  and vents  100 . The dielectric material in sidewalls  82 - 1 ,  82 - 2 ,  82 - 3 , and  82 - 4 , bottom wall  90 , and top wall  92  may be affixed together using ultrasonic welds, interlocking structures, injection molding, adhesive, or other structures that mechanically and acoustically seal cavity  80  from the exterior of antenna module  78  at locations other than port structure  96 . This may allow sound (e.g., acoustic/sound waves conveyed in air) to pass from speaker  72 , through speaker port  76 , and through vents  100  into cavity  80  (as shown by arrows  106 ) without leaking outside of speaker  72  or cavity  80 . At least a portion of the sound waves may pass into cavity  80  and out of cavity  80  back into speaker  72 , which passes the sound waves through speaker ports  74  ( FIG.  4   ) to be heard by a user. The shape of cavity  80  and the materials used to form antenna module  80  (e.g., conductive plate  94 , sidewalls  82 , etc.) may be selected to tune the acoustic response of the sound waves that pass through speaker ports  74 . Using ultrasonic welds to adhere the plastic material in the walls of antenna module  78  together may form a more robust acoustic seal for cavity  80  than using glue, for example. 
     Sidewall  82 - 1  of antenna module  78  may include ribs  102  that separate vents  100  in port structure  96 . Ribs  102  may be separated or spaced apart from each other by pitch  104 . Ribs  102  may be covered with conductive material (e.g., LDS traces). The width of vents  100  and pitch  104  may be selected to configure port structure  96  to be transparent to acoustic (sound) waves while concurrently being opaque to radio-frequency signals at the frequencies conveyed by antenna  40 . Pitch  104  may, for example, be low enough to allow a sufficient amount of air to pass through vents  100  to optimize the acoustic response of the speaker, while also being significantly wider than the wavelengths of operation of antenna  40  so the radio-frequency signals conveyed by antenna  40  interact with port structure  96  as if port structure  96  were a continuous sheet of metal. Pitch  104  may be 1-3 mm, 1.5-2.5 mm, 2 mm, 1-5 mm, or other pitches, for example. 
     This may allow port structure  96  to form an acoustic coupling (e.g., an acoustic interface) that passes sound waves between speaker  72  and cavity  80  while concurrently forming a sealed electromagnetic cavity for the radio-frequency signals conveyed by antenna  40  (e.g., thereby allowing cavity  80  to optimize the radio-frequency performance of antenna  40 ). In this way, cavity  80  may help to optimize the audio response of speaker  72  while also serving as a cavity back for antenna  40  that optimizes the radio-frequency performance of antenna  40 , thereby minimizing space consumption in device  10 . Cavity  80  may therefore sometimes be referred to herein as acoustic chamber  80 , acoustic cavity  80 , supplemental acoustic chamber  80 , supplemental acoustic cavity  80 , antenna cavity  80 , or combined acoustic and antenna cavity  80 . 
     The example of  FIG.  5    is merely illustrative. In general, antenna module  78  may include any desired number of walls having any desired shapes (e.g., planar shapes, non-planar shapes, curved shapes, etc.). Port structure  96  may be formed in any of the walls of antenna module  78  (e.g., depending on the location of the adjacent speaker  72 ). Conductive plate  94  may be integrated into top wall  92  instead of bottom wall  90  if desired. Additional conductive plates may be provided on any desired walls of antenna module  78 . More than one antenna  40  may be disposed within cavity  80  if desired. Cavity  80  may have any desired shape (e.g., a shape that optimizes both the radio-frequency performance of antenna  40  and the acoustic properties of speaker  72 ). 
       FIG.  6    is an interior view showing how antenna  40  may be disposed within cavity  80  of antenna module  78  (e.g., with bottom wall  90  of  FIG.  5    removed for the sake of clarity). As shown in  FIG.  6   , low band arm  60  and return path  62  of antenna resonating element  58  may be disposed on interior surface  86  of sidewall  82 - 4  (within cavity  80 ). Return path  62  may be coupled to conductive plate  94  or other conductive material on bottom wall  90  ( FIG.  5   ) (e.g., using solder). 
     A support structure such as support structure  108  may be mounted to interior surface  86  of sidewall  82 - 4  (within cavity  80 ). Support structure  108  may be formed from plastic, foam, glass, ceramic, polymer, or other dielectric materials. Support structure  108  may sometimes be referred to herein as dielectric spacer  108 , substrate  108 , antenna carrier  108 , or shim  108 . High band arm  60 ′ of antenna resonating element  58  may extend from low band arm  60  on sidewall  82 - 4  and onto support structure  108  (e.g., high band arm  60 ′ may have a first portion disposed on support structure  108  and extending parallel to the X-axis and may have a second portion disposed on support structure  108  and extending parallel to the Y-axis of  FIG.  6   , where the second portion is disposed on the side of support structure  108  opposite to interior surface  86  of sidewall  82 - 4 ). Positive antenna feed terminal  44  may be coupled to high band arm  60 ′ on support structure  108  (e.g., on the side of support structure  108  opposite to sidewall  82 - 4 ). 
     Low band arm  60  may be formed from a conductive trace patterned onto interior surface  86  and high band arm  60 ′ may be formed from a conductive trace patterned onto support structure  108  (e.g., using an LDS process), low band arm  60  may be adhered to interior surface  86  and high band arm  60 ′ may be adhered to support structure  108  using adhesive, or low band arm  60  and high band arm  60 ′ may be formed from conductive traces on a flexible printed circuit that is layered over support structure  108  and interior surface  86 , as examples. Support structure  108  may have a width  110  that is selected to offset (displace) high band arm  60 ′ and positive feed terminal  44  further into cavity  80  than low band arm  60 . This may serve to optimize the radio-frequency performance of antenna  40  in the frequency band of high band arm  60 ′ without impacting the radio-frequency performance of low band arm  60 . High band arm  60 ′ may, for example, operate in a 5 GHz Wi-Fi band whereas low band arm  60 ′ operates in a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi/WPAN band. Width  110  may be 0.5-5 mm, 1-10 m, 0.2-4 mm, greater than 1 mm, less than m, less than 5 mm, greater than 0.5 mm, or other values, as examples. 
     The example of  FIG.  6    is merely illustrative. Antenna resonating element  58  may have any desired number of arms that have any desired shape and that follow any desired paths. Some of antenna resonating element  58  may extend onto other walls of antenna module  78  within cavity  80  if desired. In other implementations, support structure  108  may be omitted and sidewall  82 - 4  may have a first portion with a first thickness and a second portion with a second thickness greater than the first thickness (e.g., where the second thickness is greater than the first thickness by width  110 ). In these implementations, low band arm  60  and return path  62  may be disposed on the first portion and high band arm  60 ′ and positive antenna feed terminal  44  may be disposed on the second portion of sidewall  82 - 4  (e.g., where positive antenna feed terminal  44  and high band arm  60 ′ are disposed by width  110  further into cavity  80  than low band arm  60  and return path  62 ). 
       FIG.  7    is a cross-sectional side view of device  10  in the vicinity of the rear edge of lower housing  12 B, illustrating how antenna module  78  may be mounted within lower housing  12 B. As shown in  FIG.  7   , lower housing  12 B has conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  and conductive lower wall  12 B- 2 . Antenna module  78  may be mounted along the rear edge of lower housing  12 B between conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  and conductive lower wall  12 B- 2  (e.g., within an interior cavity of lower housing  12 B). 
     When mounted within lower housing  12 B, top wall  92  of antenna module  78  may face conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  and bottom wall  90  of antenna module  78  may face conductive lower wall  12 B- 2 . Sidewall  82 - 4  may extend from conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  to conductive lower wall  12 B- 2  and may help to seal the interior of lower housing  12 B from external contaminants. Top wall  92  and bottom wall  90  may be attached to sidewall  82 - 4  via acoustic welds and/or injection-molding, for example. This may help to create a strong electromagnetic and acoustic seal for cavity  80 . Exterior surface  84  of sidewall  82 - 4  may face the exterior of lower housing  12 B. Interior surface  86  of sidewall  82 - 6  may face and define an edge of cavity  80  within antenna module  78 . Antenna resonating element  58  may be disposed at interior surface  86  of sidewall  82 - 6  (e.g., antenna resonating element  58  may be patterned directly onto interior surface  86  and/or may be disposed on support structure  108  of  FIG.  6   , which has been omitted from  FIG.  7    for the sake of clarity). 
     As shown in  FIG.  7   , the lateral surface of conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  may extend parallel or substantially parallel (e.g., within 30 degrees) to the lateral surface of conductive lower wall  12 B- 2 . Conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  and conductive lower wall  12 B- 2  may define the interior of lower housing  12 B. A main logic board, battery  36  ( FIG.  2   ), a set of input-output devices  32 , cooling system  38 , transceiver circuitry  48 , control circuitry  30 , speaker  72 , and other desired components (not shown in  FIG.  7   ) may be mounted within the interior of lower housing  12 B. By mounting antenna module  78  in this way, an entirety of the antenna resonating element  58  and antenna module  78  may be interposed between conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  and conductive lower wall  12 B- 2  within the interior of lower housing  12 B. This may, for example, hide antenna  40  from view of a user at the exterior of device  10  and may protect antenna  40  from contaminants or damage. 
     Components such as keyboard  16  and track pad  18  ( FIG.  1   ) may operate through openings in conductive upper wall  12 B- 1 . Speaker ports  74  ( FIG.  4   ) may also be formed in conductive upper wall  12 B- 1 . Conductive lower wall  12 B- 2 , which may be joined to conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  around the lateral periphery of lower housing  12 B (e.g., such that conductive material surrounds the interior cavity and thus antenna module  78 ), may have feet or other support structures that allow device  10  to rest on a tabletop, a user&#39;s lap, or other support structure during operation. 
     Lower housing  12 B may be separated from upper housing  12 A by opening  20  of FIG.  4 . Opening  20  may include a lower opening  20 L between the conductive material of upper housing  12 A and conductive lower wall  12 B- 2  of lower housing  12 B (e.g., when upper housing  12 A is in a closed-lid configuration) and/or may include both lower opening  20 L and an upper opening  20 T between the conductive material of upper housing  12 A and conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  of lower housing  12 B (e.g., when upper housing  12 A is in an open lid configuration). Antenna  40  may convey radio-frequency signals through upper opening  20 T and/or lower opening  20 L. 
     Conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  may be electrically coupled to conductive lower wall  12 B- 2  through antenna module  78  and conductive gaskets  114 . For example, lower housing  12 B may include a first conductive gasket  114 - 1  that couples conductive material (e.g., grounded conductive traces) on top wall  92  of antenna module  78  to conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  (e.g., at or adjacent to antenna resonating element  58 ). Lower housing  12 B may also include a second conductive gasket  114 - 2  that couples conductive material (e.g., grounded conductive traces) on top wall  92  of antenna module  78  to conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  (e.g., at a location that is farther towards the interior of lower housing  12 B than first conductive gasket  114 - 1 ). Coupling antenna module  78  to conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  using both conductive gaskets  114 - 1  and  114 - 2  and disposing conductive gasket  114 - 1  at a location overlapping antenna resonating element  58  may allow conductive material (e.g., grounded conductive traces) between conductive gaskets  114 - 1  and  114 - 2  to be removed or omitted from top wall  92 , effectively increasing the volume of antenna  40  and thus the antenna efficiency of antenna  40  (e.g., where part of the electromagnetic cavity for antenna  40  is defined by the portion of conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  between conductive gaskets  114 - 1  and  114 - 2 ). 
     Lower housing  12 B may also include a third conductive gasket  114 - 3  that couples conductive material (e.g., grounded conductive traces) on bottom wall  90  of antenna module  78  to conductive lower wall  12 B- 2  (e.g., overlapping antenna resonating element  58 ). The conductive material on antenna module  78  and conductive gaskets  114 - 1 ,  114 - 2 , and  114 - 3  may form an electrical (e.g., grounded) path from conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  to conductive lower wall  12 B- 2 . Gaskets  114 - 1 ,  114 - 2 , and  114 - 3  may therefore also help to extend the antenna ground for antenna  40  to also include conductive upper wall  12 B- 1  and conductive lower wall  12 B- 2 . Gaskets  114  may be formed from conductive foam, conductive fabric, adhesive, and/or other conductive structures (e.g., elastomeric structures that can expand outwardly against nearby structures after being compressed). Gaskets  114  may thereby help to optimize the radio-frequency performance of antenna  40  while also helping to mechanically secure (e.g., adhere) antenna module  78  to lower housing  12 B and helping to seal the interior of lower housing  12 B from external contaminants. 
     Device  10  may gather and/or use personally identifiable information. It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users. 
     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: 20220603
Publication Date: 20241015
Grant Date: 20241015
Priority Date: 20220603
Inventors: BARRERA, JOEL D
CHIOTELLIS, NIKOLAOS
WILLIAMS, MICHAEL J
GUTERMAN, JERZY S
EDMONDS, TREVOR J
SONG, Joshua P
KOSOGLOW, RICHARD D
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/02", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R2499/11", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/2811", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/028", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/42", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/44", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q13/18", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/02", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q13/18", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 88976185