PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9972892-B2
Application Number: US-201615138689-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic device with millimeter wave antennas on stacked printed circuits

Abstract:
An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas and transceiver circuitry such as millimeter wave transceiver circuitry. The antennas may be formed from metal traces on a printed circuit. The printed circuit may be a stacked printed circuit including multiple stacked substrates. Metal traces may form an array of patch antennas, Yagi antennas, and other antennas. Antenna signals associated with the antennas may pass through an inactive area in a display and through a dielectric-filled slot in a metal housing for the electronic device. Waveguide structures may be used to guide antenna signals within interior portions of the electronic device.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a display having an active area with an array of pixels and having an inactive area that is free of pixels; 
 a metal housing having a dielectric-filled slot; 
 millimeter wave radio-frequency transceiver circuitry; and 
 antenna structures coupled to the millimeter wave radio-frequency transceiver circuitry, wherein the antenna structures include at least a first antenna that operates through the inactive area of the display and a second antenna that operates through the dielectric-filled slot. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising a stacked printed circuit having a first printed circuit substrate that is stacked with a second printed circuit substrate, wherein the antenna structures are formed from metal traces on the stacked printed circuit. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  wherein the antenna structures include an array of patch antenna resonating elements on the stacked printed circuit and wherein the first antenna is formed from one of the patch antenna resonating elements. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  wherein the antenna structures include Yagi antennas each of which has metal traces on the stacked printed circuit that form a reflector, a radiator, and directors, wherein the second antenna is one of the Yagi antennas, and wherein the directors include directors on the second printed circuit substrate. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4  wherein the array of patch antenna resonating elements includes patch antenna resonating elements on the first printed circuit substrate. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 5  wherein the stacked printed circuit includes at least a third printed circuit substrate stacked with the first printed circuit substrate and wherein the array of patch antenna resonating elements includes a patch antenna resonating element on the third printed circuit substrate. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising an antenna signal waveguide, wherein the antenna signal waveguide has a first end aligned with the second antenna and a second end aligned with the slot. 
     
     
       8. An electronic device, comprising:
 a stacked printed circuit having at least first and second printed circuit substrates that are stacked with each other; 
 metal traces on the stacked printed circuit that form an antenna that handles antenna signals at millimeter wave frequencies, wherein the metal traces are configured to form at least one Yagi antenna and include metal traces on the first printed circuit substrate and on the second printed circuit substrate; and 
 a metal housing with a dielectric-filled slot through which the antenna signals pass. 
 
     
     
       9. An electronic device, comprising:
 a stacked printed circuit having at least first and second printed circuit substrates that are stacked with each other; 
 metal traces on the stacked printed circuit that form an antenna that handles antenna signals at millimeter wave frequencies; and 
 a metal housing with a dielectric-filled slot through which the antenna signals pass, wherein the metal traces form a Yagi antenna that is aligned with the dielectric-filled slot and the metal traces further form an array of patch antenna resonating elements.

Description:
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 (EHF) 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 often line-of-sight communications and can be characterized by substantial attenuation during signal propagation. 
     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 and transceiver circuitry such as millimeter wave transceiver circuitry. 
     The antennas may be formed from metal traces on a printed circuit. The printed circuit may be a stacked printed circuit including multiple stacked substrates. Metal traces may form an array of patch antennas, Yagi antennas, and other antennas. The use of a staked printed circuit to support the metal traces may allow antenna radiation patterns to be oriented in a variety of directions. For example, antenna radiation patterns may be oriented vertically, diagonally, etc. 
     Antenna signals associated with the antennas may pass through an inactive area in a display and through a dielectric-filled slot in a metal housing for the electronic device. Beam steering operations may be performed using an array of the antennas. Waveguide structures may be used to guide antenna signals within interior portions of the electronic device. 
    
    
     
       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. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of an illustrative electronic device showing illustrative locations at which antenna arrays for millimeter wave communications may be located in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of an illustrative Yagi antenna of the type that may be used in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a rear view of illustrative electronic device with a metal housing and dielectric such as plastic-filled slots in the housing to accommodate wireless circuitry in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an illustrative patch antenna that may be used in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device with antennas mounted on a support structure such as a stacked printed circuit board in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative printed circuit board with multiple stacked printed circuit board substrates that are attached to each other using solder in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative printed circuit board with multiple stacked printed circuit boar substrates that are attached to each other using adhesive in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a top view of an illustrative set of printed circuit board substrates each of which has a set of solder joints to couple that printed circuit board substrate to another substrate in a stacked printed circuit in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative printed circuit Yagi antenna formed using multiple stacked printed circuit board substrates in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative printed circuit antenna having a locally raised area in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative Yagi antenna formed from antenna traces on a stacked printed circuit board and a metal structure in a dielectric-filled opening in an electronic device housing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device with millimeter wave antennas formed from metal traces on a stacked printed circuit board in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 15  is a top view of a corner portion of an illustrative electronic device showing how antennas may be arranged relative to a dielectric-filled slot in a metal housing for the electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 16  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrative stacked printed circuit having a substrate with a cavity that receives an integrated circuit in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 17  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative antenna structure and associated waveguide in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 18  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative antenna formed using a stacked printed circuit and an associated a waveguide that is aligned with a dielectric-filled opening in an electronic device housing wall in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     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 phased antenna arrays 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 a speaker and/or a microphone. 
     Antennas may be mounted in housing  12 . If desired, some of the antennas (e.g., antenna arrays that may implement beam steering, etc.) may be mounted under an inactive border region of display  14  (see, e.g., illustrative antenna locations  50  of  FIG. 1 ). Antennas may also operate through dielectric-filled openings in the rear of housing  12  or elsewhere in device  10 . 
     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 one or more 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 one or more replacement antennas into use in place of the antennas that are being adversely affected. 
     Antennas may be mounted at the corners of housing  12  (e.g., in corner locations  50  of  FIG. 1  and/or in corner locations on the rear of housing  12 ), along the peripheral edges of housing  12 , on the rear of housing  12 , under the display cover glass or other dielectric display cover layer that is used in covering and protecting display  14  on the front of device  10 , under a dielectric window on a rear face of housing  12  or the edge of housing  12 , 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  (sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency transceiver circuitry) may support communications at extremely high frequencies (e.g., millimeter wave frequencies such as extremely high frequencies of 10 GHz to 400 GHz or other millimeter wave frequencies). For example, circuitry  46  may support IEEE 802.11ad communications at 60 GHz. 
     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 at 2.4 and 5 GHz 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 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, Yagi (Yagi-Uda) 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 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. 
     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 patch antennas, dipole antennas, Yagi antennas (sometimes referred to as beam 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. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of electronic device showing illustrative locations  50  on the rear of housing  12  in which antennas  40  (e.g., single antennas and/or phased antenna arrays for use with wireless circuitry  34  such as millimeter wave wireless transceiver circuitry  46 ) may be mounted in device  10 . Antennas  40  may be mounted at the corners of device  10 , along the edges of housing  12  such as edge  12 E, on upper and lower portions of rear housing portion (wall)  12 R, in the center of rear housing wall  12 R (e.g., under a dielectric window structure or other antenna window in the center of rear housing  12 R), etc. As shown in  FIG. 3 , for example, antennas  40  may be located at the corners of housing  12  (i.e., locations  50  may be formed on the upper left corner, upper right corner, lower left corner, and lower right corner of the rear of housing  12  and device  10 ). 
     In configurations in which housing  12  is formed entirely or nearly entirely from a dielectric, antennas  40  may transmit and receive antenna signals through any suitable portion of the dielectric. In configurations in which housing  12  is formed from a conductive material such as metal, regions of the housing such as slots or other openings in the metal may be filled with plastic or other dielectric. Antennas  40  may be mounted in alignment with the dielectric in the openings. These openings, which may sometimes be referred to as dielectric antenna windows, dielectric gaps, dielectric-filled openings, dielectric-filled slots, elongated dielectric opening regions, etc., may allow antenna signals to be transmitted to external equipment from antennas  40  mounted within the interior of device  10  and may allow internal antennas  40  to receive antenna signals from external equipment. 
     In devices with phased antenna arrays, circuitry  90  may include gain and phase adjustment circuitry that is used in adjusting the signals associated with each antenna  40  in an array (e.g., to perform beam steering). Switching circuitry may be used to switch desired antennas  40  into and out of use. Each of locations  50  may include multiple antennas  40  (e.g., a set of three antennas or more than three or fewer than three antennas in a phased antenna array) and, if desired, one or more antennas from one of locations  50  may be used in transmitting and receiving signals while using one or more antennas from another of locations  50  in transmitting and receiving signals. 
     Antennas  40  may have any suitable configuration. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 4 , for example, antenna  40  is a Yagi antenna. As shown in  FIG. 4 , antenna  40  may be a Yagi printed circuit board antenna formed from printed circuit board  130 . Printed circuit board  130  may have a printed circuit substrate such as substrate  100 . Substrate  100  may be a rigid printed circuit board substrate (e.g., a substrate formed from fiberglass-filled epoxy or other rigid printed circuit board substrate material) or may be a flexible printed circuit substrate (e.g., a substrate formed from a sheet of flexible polymer such as a flexible polyimide layer). Substrate  100  may be formed from one or more dielectric layers. Other types of substrate may be used as a support structure for antenna  40 , if desired. The configuration of  FIG. 4  in which substrate  100  is a printed circuit board substrate (i.e., in which printed circuit  130  is a rigid printed circuit board) is merely illustrative. 
     Yagi antenna  40  includes reflector  132 , radiator  124 , and one or more directors  126 . Radiator (driven element)  124  may be formed from dipole resonating element arms  102  and may transmit and receive antenna signals during operation of antenna  40 . The presence of reflector  132  and directors  126  enhances the directionality of antenna  40  so that the radiation pattern for antenna  40  is directed in a desired direction, such as direction  128 . 
     Printed circuit board  130  may contain one or more patterned layers of metal traces for forming antenna  40 . For example, directors  126  and dipole arms  102  of radiator  124  may be formed from strip-shaped metal traces (i.e., parallel strips of metal) on substrate  100 . Antenna signals may be conveyed between transceiver circuitry  90  and antenna  40  using a transmission line path such as transmission line  108  that is formed from metal trace  106  and ground plane  104 . In portion  112  of antenna  40 , path  114  is longer than path  116  to impose a 180° phase shift on the signals passing through path  116  for satisfactory Yagi antenna operation. Portion  110  of the signal path feeding antenna  40  may be widened relative to other traces  106  in transmission line  108  to form a transformer impedance that helps match the impedance of transmission line  108  (e.g., 50 ohms) to the impedance of radiator  124  (e.g., 170-180 ohms). 
     Edge  118  of ground plane  104  may run parallel to arms  102  of radiator  124  and may be used in forming reflector  132 . Reflector  132  may also include optional metal traces (e.g., metal traces in another layer of printed circuit  130 ) such as strip-shaped metal traces  120 . Metal traces  120  may be shorted to ground  104  through vias  122  that pass through one or more layers of printed circuit board material in substrate  100 . 
     A rear view of device  10  in an illustrative configuration in which housing  12  (e.g., rear housing wall  12 R and/or housing sidewall  12 E) has been formed from metal is shown in  FIG. 5 . In the example of  FIG. 5 , device  10  includes dielectric-filled slots (gaps)  140  that separate portions of rear housing wall  12 R and/or sidewall housing wall  12 E from each other. There are two elongated slots  140  at one illustrative end of housing  12  in the example of  FIG. 5 , but this is merely illustrative. There may be one elongated strip-shaped opening in metal housing  12 , two elongated strip-shaped openings in metal housing  12 , or three or more strip-shaped openings in metal housing  12 , or other patterns of slots or other openings. These patterns of openings (e.g., the slots of  FIG. 5 ) may be formed at one or both ends of housing  12 . Gaps and other openings in housing  12  may also have non-elongated shapes, may have shapes with combinations of straight and curved edges, may form rectangular areas, may form circular areas, or may form areas with other shapes. These openings in housing  12  may pass entirely through the metal wall structure that forms housing  12  (e.g., these openings may pass from an outer surface of housing wall  12  to an inner surface of housing wall  12 ). If desired, a metal housing in device  10  may also include shallow grooves or other regions that have plastic or other dielectric but that do not pass entirely through the metal housing. 
     Portions of dielectric-filled slots that pass through housing  12  such as illustrative slots  140  of  FIG. 5  may electrically isolate different portions of housing  12  from each other and thereby allow these portions of housing  12  to serve as conductive structures in antennas (e.g., resonating element arms in inverted-F antennas, portions of slot antennas, resonating element structures in hybrid antennas, antenna ground structures, etc.) for cellular telephone bands, wireless local area network bands, satellite navigation system bands, other bands between 700 MH and 2700 MHz, and/or other suitable frequencies. Because slots  140  are filled with dielectric, these slots or other dielectric openings in a metal housing can also serve as antenna windows for antennas  40  such as illustrative Yagi antenna  40  of  FIG. 4  (i.e., antenna signals associated with antennas in device  10  may pass through slots  140 ). Yagi antennas such as Yagi antenna  40  of  FIG. 4  may operate at frequencies of 60 GHz, other extremely high frequencies (EHF) such as frequencies of 10-400 GHz (sometimes referred to as millimeter wave frequencies), or other suitable operating frequencies. 
     If desired, antennas  40  in device  10  may include patch antennas. An illustrative patch antenna for device  10  is shown in  FIG. 6 . Patch antenna  40  of  FIG. 6  may operate at frequencies of 60 GHz, other extremely high frequencies (EHF) such as frequencies of 10-400 GHz (sometimes referred to as millimeter wave frequencies), or other suitable operating frequencies. As shown in  FIG. 6 , patch antenna  40  may have a patch antenna resonating element such as patch antenna resonating element  150 . Patch antenna resonating element  150  may be a planar metal structure that is supported on a dielectric support structure such as a printed circuit board substrate, plastic carrier, etc. Patch antenna resonating element  150  may have a rectangular shape, may have a square shape, may have an oval shape, may have a circular shape, or may have other suitable shapes. In the example of  FIG. 6 , element  150  lies in a plane that is parallel to the plane of antenna ground plane  104 . Antenna  40  may be fed using feed  158 . Feed  158  may include positive antenna feed terminal  154  and ground antenna feed terminal  156 . Path  152  may be used to couple terminal  154  to patch element  150 . Terminal  156  may be coupled to ground  104 . If desired, antenna  40  may have multiple feeds in different locations and may support multiple frequency resonances (e.g., using a rectangular resonating element patch with sides of different respective lengths), may exhibit multiple polarizations, and/or may exhibit other desired antenna attributes. 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided with antennas  40 . In the example of  FIG. 7 , display  14  includes display cover layer  15  (e.g., a clear layer of plastic, glass, etc.) and includes display structures  17  for producing images for a user. Display structures  17  may form a liquid crystal display, an electrophoretic display, a light-emitting diode display such as an organic light-emitting diode display, or other suitable display. Display structures  17  may have an array of pixels for displaying images for a user and may form active area AA of display  14 . Inactive area IA of display  14  is free of pixels and may be located along the periphery of display  14 . 
     Antennas  40  may be located in any suitable portion of device  10 . For example, antennas  40  may be located under inactive area IA of display  14 . With this type of arrangement, antenna signals can pass through display cover layer  15  (e.g., a clear dielectric layer such as glass or plastic) in inactive area IA. Antenna signals can also pass through dielectric-filled slots  140  or other dielectric-filled openings in metal housing  12 . 
     As shown in the illustrative example of  FIG. 7 , antennas  40  may include or more patch antennas. Each patch antenna may have a respective patch antenna resonating element  150 . Display cover layer  15  may have a planar lower surface. Patch antenna resonating elements  150  may lie in a plane parallel to the planar lower surface associated with display cover layer  15 . There may be one or more patch antennas in inactive area IA. For example, there may be an array of patch antennas having 1-5 rows and/or 1-5 columns of patch antenna resonating elements  150 , there may be 1-20 resonating elements  150 , more than five elements  150 , fewer than 25 elements  150 , more than seven elements  150 , or other suitable number of patch antenna resonating elements  150 . Each element  150  and a corresponding portion of antenna ground  104  may form a patch antenna that is fed using a separate transmission line (as an example). The patch antennas in an array of this type may be used to implement beam steering. 
     Antennas  40  may include one or more Yagi antennas or other antennas with a radiator formed from dipole radiating elements such as traces  102 . Traces  102  of radiator  124  may be coupled to antenna signal path  106 . Each Yagi antenna may have a reflector such as reflector  132  (see, e.g., ground plane edge  118  of ground  104 ) and may have one or more directors  126 . Directors  126 , radiator  124 , and reflector  132  may be formed from metal traces on dielectric support structures such as printed circuit substrates and other support structures such as printed circuit  130  and/or may be embedded within plastic or other dielectric in an opening in housing  12 , as shown by director  126  in dielectric-filled slot  140  of  FIG. 7 . The direction in which reflector  132 , radiator  124 , and directors  126  are oriented may help establish a desired radiation pattern direction for the Yagi antenna. If desired, Yagi radiating elements or other antenna elements (directors, reflectors, other resonating elements, etc.) may also be located on the upper surface of printed circuit  130 , as shown by illustrative antenna location  40 ′. 
     Antennas  40  may be supported using a support structures such as printed circuit  130  or other support structures. Patterned metal traces (e.g., photolithographically patterned traces) may be used in forming patches  150 , ground  104 , reflector  132 , signal path  106 , radiator  102 , directors  126 , and/or other antenna structures. The substrate(s) of printed circuit  130  may have layers of printed circuit material and the patterned metal traces may be formed on the surfaces of printed circuit  130  and/or may be embedded within the layers that make up printed circuit  130 . Integrated circuits and other components  160  (e.g., circuitry for transceiver circuitry  90  or other circuitry in device  10 ) may be mounted on printed circuit  130  and may be coupled to antenna structures  40  (e.g., using traces such as ground trace  104  and signal trace  106 ). 
     Printed circuit  130  may be a stacked printed circuit. For example, printed circuit  130  may be formed from printed circuit substrate  100 A and additional substrate(s) such as printed circuit substrate  100 B that are stacked on substrate  100 A. Printed circuit substrate  100 A and additional stacked substrates such as printed circuit substrate  100 B may be flexible printed circuit substrates and/or rigid printed circuit board substrates. Solder, adhesive, and/or other attachment structures may be used to couple printed circuit boards  100 A and  100 B together to form stacked printed circuit  130 . An advantage of using stacked printed circuit structures is that this helps support antenna structures close to dielectric-filled slot  140  or other antenna windows in device  10 . In the configuration of  FIG. 7 , for example, one of directors  126  in a Yagi antenna has been formed on the outermost (lowermost) surface of printed circuit substrate  100 B, thereby placing this director  126  in a desired location adjacent to dielectric-filled slot  140 . Directors  126  may be aligned vertically with slot  140  (as shown in  FIG. 7 ) or may have other orientations to help direct antenna signals in desired directions. In the  FIG. 7  configuration, directors  126  are arranged so as to align the radiation pattern of the Yagi antenna with slot  140 , thereby enhancing the ability of the Yagi antenna to handle antenna signals that pass through slot  140 . 
       FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of illustrative printed circuit substrates  100 A and  100 B showing how metal traces in one substrate (e.g., traces  170  in substrate  100 A) may be coupled by metal traces such as metal pad  172  and solder  174  to metal traces such as metal pad  176 , via  178 , and metal antenna trace  180  (e.g., a director, resonating element, or other antenna structure) on another substrate (e.g., substrate  100 B). One or more solder joints may be used to couple printed circuit substrate layers such as layers  100 A and  100 B together. The single solder joint formed from solder ball  174  of  FIG. 8  is merely illustrative. 
     If desired, printed circuit substrate layers in a stacked printed circuit may be coupled using adhesive. As shown in the cross-sectional side view of stacked printed circuit  132  of  FIG. 9 , substrates such as printed circuit substrate  100 A and printed circuit substrate  100 B may be joined using adhesive  182  (e.g., pressure sensitive adhesive, cured liquid adhesive, etc.). Metal antenna traces  180  may be formed in stacked printed circuit substrate  100 B (e.g., to form a director, resonating element, etc.). Metal antenna traces may also be formed within printed circuit substrate  100 A, as described in connection with  FIG. 7 . 
     A top view of an illustrative set of printed circuit substrates  100 B stacked on a common printed circuit substrate  100 A is shown in  FIG. 10 . There may be two solder joints  174  per substrate  100 B (e.g., to accommodate two arms in a dipole radiator such as arms  102  of radiator  124  of  FIG. 4 ). 
       FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of printed circuit  130  in an illustrative configuration in which more than two printed circuit substrates have been stacked to form stacked printed circuit  130 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , printed circuit  130  may include printed circuit substrates  100 A,  100 B- 1 , and  100 B- 2 . Metal traces for a Yagi antenna or other antenna  40  may be incorporated into printed circuit  130 , such as ground trace  104  for forming reflector  132 , signal trace  106  and trace  102  of radiator  124 , and directors  126 . The use of additional stacked printed circuit substrates allows antenna structures to be extended towards slot  140  in housing  12  and/or to be otherwise used to enhance antenna performance. In the example of  FIG. 11 , directors  126  have been embedded within printed circuit substrates  100 B- 1  and  100 B- 2 . This is merely illustrative. Any suitable metal traces for an antenna may be supported by substrates  100 A,  100 B- 1 , and  100 B- 2  and/or other substrates in stacked printed circuit  130 . If desired, printed circuit  130  may include more than three stacked substrates. The use of three stacked substrates is shown in  FIG. 11  as an example. 
     If desired, printed circuit  130  may have integral portions with different thicknesses such as thinner region  130 - 1  of  FIG. 12  and thicker region  130 - 2  of  FIG. 12 . The presence of thicker region  130 - 2  may be used to align directors  126  with opening  140 , may be used to help place directors  126  or other antenna structures closer to opening  140  than would otherwise be possible, or may otherwise be used to allow antenna structures to be arranged within the interior of device  10  so as to enhance antenna performance. Substrate  100  of printed circuit  130  may include a multiple alternating layers of dielectric and metal traces in regions  130 - 1  and/or region  130 - 2 . 
     In the illustrative example of  FIG. 13 , a Yagi antenna has been provided with diagonally oriented directors  126 . One of directors  126  has been embedded within dielectric (e.g., plastic) in slot  140 . The Yagi antenna of  FIG. 13  also includes reflector  132  and radiator  124 , formed from metal traces in substrate  100 A. Two of directors  126  have been embedded within printed circuit substrate  100 B. Substrate  100 B has been stacked with substrate  100 A to form stacked printed circuit  130 . The diagonal orientation of the Yagi antenna of  FIG. 13  may help Yagi antenna signals to pass through a slot such as slot  140  of  FIG. 13  on a curved sidewall of housing  12  or may be used in other device configurations. The example of  FIG. 13  is merely illustrative. 
     As shown in the illustrative configuration for device  10  of  FIG. 14 , antenna structures  40  such as patch antennas formed from resonating elements  150  on stacked substrates may be mounted under inactive area IA of display  14 . In stacked printed circuit  130  of  FIG. 14 , printed circuit substrates  100 B-T have been stacked on the upper surface of substrate  100 A (e.g., using solder, adhesive, etc.) and printed circuit substrate  100 B-L has been stacked on the lower surface of substrate  100 A. This arrangement allows patch antenna resonating elements  150  to be placed adjacent to the underside of display cover layer  15  in display  14  while allowing antenna structures such as illustrative structure  186  (e.g., structures associated with a director, reflector, or radiator in a Yagi antenna, a resonating element in a patch antenna or other antenna, or other antenna structures) to be located adjacent to slot  140 . In addition to helping align antenna structures such as antenna structure  186  with slot  140 , stacked printed circuit substrates such as one of stacked substrates  100 B-T may help place structures such as antenna structure  184  in a desired position under display cover layer  15  on the front face of device  10 . Structures such as structure  184  may be structures associated with a director, reflector, or radiator in a Yagi antenna, a resonating element in a patch antenna or other antenna, or other antenna structures. 
       FIG. 15  is a top view of an illustrative corner portion of device  10  showing how antenna structures may be aligned with slot  140  in housing  12 . Patch antenna resonating elements  150  may be arranged in an array (e.g., a beam steering array) on the upper surface of printed circuit  130  and may operate through overlapping portions of display cover layer  15  in inactive area IA of display  14 . Antenna structures  188  may be arranged in a row that runs along the length of slot  140 . Slot  140  may have curved portions such as right-angle bends to accommodate the corners of housing  12  or may have other suitable shapes. Antenna structures  188  may be associated with patch antennas, dipole antennas, other resonating elements, Yagi antennas (e.g., directors, reflectors, and/or radiators), and/or may be associated with other suitable antennas. Antenna structures  188  may form a beam steering array of antennas that operate through slot  140 . 
     The cross-sectional side view of stacked printed circuit  130  of  FIG. 16  shows how one or more integrated circuits such as illustrative integrated circuit  196  may be mounted in a cavity or other interior portion of a printed circuit substrate. In the example of  FIG. 16 , stacked printed circuit  130  includes printed circuit substrate  100 NH and printed circuit substrate  100 H. Metal traces in printed circuit  130  may form antenna structures such as antenna structure  190  and  192  (resonating elements such as patch resonating elements, Yagi antenna structures such as reflectors, directors, and radiators), and other antenna structures. Vias such as via  194  may pass through portions of printed circuit  130  to couple metal traces and other antenna structures together. Integrated circuit  196  may be mounted in a recessed portion of printed circuit substrate  100 H (as an example). Integrated circuits such as integrated circuit  196  may be used in forming transceiver circuitry  90  or other circuitry for device  10 . 
     If desired, antenna signal waveguide structures may be used to help convey antenna signals within device  10 . An illustrative antenna signal waveguide arrangement is shown in the cross-sectional side view of  FIG. 17 . As shown in  FIG. 17 , antenna structure  204  may be embedded within dielectric member  202 . Metal layers  200  may be located on the upper and lower surfaces of member  202  and may surround member  202  to form a waveguide with a rectangular cross-sectional shape. In the example of  FIG. 17 , layers  200  have been configured to guide antenna signals  206  horizontally within member  202 . Waveguide structures with other shapes may be used, if desired. 
       FIG. 18  is a cross-sectional side view of an edge portion of device  10  in a configuration in which antenna signals  206  associated with antenna structure  212  are being guided using a waveguide. Antenna structure  212  may be formed from one or more traces on a printed circuit (e.g., printed circuit substrate  100 B), may be formed using an antenna module attached to a printed circuit, or may be formed using other antenna structures. In the  FIG. 18  example, printed circuit  130  is a stacked printed circuit that includes printed circuit substrate  100 A and printed circuit substrate  100 B and antenna traces (e.g., traces forming antenna structure  212 ) may be formed in substrates  100 A and/or  100 B (e.g., Yagi antenna structures, patch antenna structures, etc.). 
     Antenna signal waveguide  214  may be formed from a dielectric member (e.g., a plastic member) such as member  208 . The side surfaces of member  208  may be surrounded with metal (see, e.g., the metal portions of housing  12  that surround portions of the sides of member  208  and metal layer  210 , which surrounds portions of the sides of member  208 ). In the example of  FIG. 18 , waveguide  214  has first and second opposing ends such as ends  216  and  218 . At end  216  of waveguide  214 , member  208  is uncovered with metal and is aligned with adjacent antenna structures such as antenna structures  212 . Antenna structures  212  may form part of a Yagi antenna (e.g., a Yagi antenna having a reflector, a radiator, and directors formed in substrates  100 A and  100 B of stacked printed circuit  300  or other substrate), a patch antenna, or other antenna. At end  218 , member  208  is also uncovered with metal and serves as an antenna window in metal housing  12 . With this type of arrangement, antenna signals  206  are guided between slot  140  in housing  12  at end  218  and antenna structures  212  (e.g., a Yagi antenna or other antenna) on printed circuit  130  at opposing end  216 . Waveguide  214  may have straight portions, bent portions (e.g., curves, etc.), tapered portions, and other shapes for guiding antenna signals  206  between an antenna in the interior of device  10  and a window in housing  12  (i.e., a window exposed to the exterior of device  10 ). The cross-sectional shape of waveguide  214  may be rectangular, circular, oval, or other suitable shape. The use of waveguide  214  may help prevent antenna signal interactions with conductive internal device components and may enhance antenna efficiency. The waveguide arrangement of  FIG. 18  may be used with a Yagi antenna (e.g., a Yagi antenna in printed circuit  130  that has directors aligned with end  216  of waveguide  214 ) or may be used with other antennas and/or in other locations in device  10 . If desired, multiple waveguides may be formed in device  10 . Each waveguide may be associated with a respective antenna. The antennas associated with the waveguides may be implemented on stacked printed circuits and printed circuits that do not include stacked substrates. The configuration of  FIG. 18  is merely illustrative. 
     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: 20160426
Publication Date: 20180515
Grant Date: 20180515
Priority Date: 20160426
Inventors: NOORI, BASIM H.
SHIU, Boon W.
MARKS, KEVIN M.
MOW, MATTHEW A.
PASCOLINI, MATTIA
TSAI, MING-JU
CABALLERO, RUBEN
OUYANG, Yuehui
SALAM, KHAN
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01Q1/241", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/242", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q19/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2266", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q19/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2258", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2258", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/28", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/241", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q19/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/062", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q19/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q13/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q13/06", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q19/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/28", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/242", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2266", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/062", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 59651070