PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11784394-B2
Application Number: US-202117544262-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Wireless communication devices

Abstract:
A wireless communication system may include an electronic device having a wireless communication module. The wireless communication module may include an antenna radiating element on a first surface, a ground ring surrounding the antenna radiating element on the first surface, and a radio component mounted to a second surface. The wireless communication module may be incorporated into a system package that also includes other components. Encapsulation material may cover the wireless communication module and other components. A shielding material may cover the encapsulation material and be coupled to the ground ring. An opening in the shielding material may be aligned with the antenna radiating element. If desired, the wireless communication system may include external equipment having a wireless communication module communicatively coupled to the wireless communication module to convey firmware testing, debugging, restore, and/or other data.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device having first and second opposing sides comprising:
 a housing having a housing portion on the first side; 
 a display on the second side mounted to the housing; 
 a system package substrate in the housing; 
 a wireless communication module mounted to the system package substrate, the wireless communication module including:
 a module substrate mounted to the system package substrate; and 
 a conductive patch on the module substrate configured to convey radio-frequency signals through the housing; 
 
 encapsulation material disposed on the system package substrate and around the wireless communication module; and 
 conductive shielding material disposed over the encapsulation material, the conductive shielding material defining an opening aligned with the conductive patch. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication module includes a radio-frequency integrated circuit mounted to the module substrate and coupled to the system package substrate through the module substrate. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  further comprising:
 an integrated circuit for control circuitry coupled to the radio-frequency integrated circuit and mounted to the system package substrate. 
 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 2 , wherein the conductive patch is disposed on a first surface of the module substrate and the radio-frequency integrated circuit is mounted to a second surface of the module substrate opposite the first surface. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4 , wherein the wireless communication module includes an antenna ground ring on the first surface that surrounds the conductive patch, an antenna ground layer embedded in the module substrate, and conductive vias in the module substrate that couple the antenna ground ring to the antenna ground layer. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication module includes an antenna ground structure on the module substrate that is coupled to the conductive shielding material. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the housing includes peripheral sidewalls that run along a periphery of the electronic device, and the system package substrate extends between the peripheral sidewalls and has peripheral edges that run along the periphery of the electronic device. 
     
     
       8. An electronic device comprising:
 a display; 
 a housing to which the display is mounted; 
 a wireless communication module that includes:
 a substrate having first and second opposing surfaces; 
 an antenna element disposed on the first surface of the substrate and configured to convey radio-frequency signals through a portion of the housing; and 
 a radio component mounted to the substrate and coupled to the antenna element; and 
 
 a system substrate, wherein the second surface of the substrate of the wireless communication module is mounted to the system substrate; and 
 encapsulation material on the system substrate that encapsulates the wireless communication module and overlaps the antenna element. 
 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 8  further comprising:
 shielding material on the encapsulation material that overlaps the system substrate, wherein the shielding material defines an opening that overlaps the antenna element. 
 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 8 , wherein the wireless communication module includes a ground ring on the first surface that surrounds the antenna element, and the radio component comprises a radio-frequency integrated circuit mounted to the second surface of the substrate of the wireless communication module. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 8 , wherein the antenna element is aligned with a depression in a housing wall of the housing and wherein the antenna element is configured to convey the radio-frequency signals through the encapsulation material and the depression in the housing wall. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 11 , wherein the housing wall has a first interior surface and a ledge portion that rises above the first interior surface to a second interior surface, and the depression is in the ledge portion along the second interior surface. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 8 , wherein the housing has first and second sidewalls that run along a periphery of the electronic device and are joined at a corner region of the housing, and the wireless communication module overlaps the corner region of the housing. 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 8 , wherein the portion of the housing wall is formed from ceramic material. 
     
     
       15. A wireless communication module comprising:
 a substrate having first and second surfaces and peripheral edges extending between the first and second surfaces: 
 an antenna radiating element on the first surface; 
 an antenna ground structure on the first surface, surrounding the antenna radiating element, and extending to the peripheral edges of the substrate; 
 a radio-frequency integrated circuit mounted to the second surface and coupled to the antenna radiating element; and 
 input-output structures at the second surface. 
 
     
     
       16. The wireless communication module defined in  claim 15 , wherein the radio-frequency integrated circuit is configured to control the antenna radiating element to convey radio-frequency signals associated with firmware data at a frequency greater than 10 GHz. 
     
     
       17. The wireless communication module defined in  claim 15 , wherein the antenna radiating element comprises a patch antenna element, the radio-frequency integrated circuit is coupled to first and second positive antenna feed terminals at the patch antenna element, and the radio-frequency integrated circuit is configured to control the antenna radiating element to form a half-duplex communication link with external wireless communication equipment. 
     
     
       18. The wireless communication module defined in  claim 15 , wherein the antenna ground structure comprises an antenna ground ring. 
     
     
       19. The wireless communication module defined in  claim 18  further comprising:
 an antenna ground layer embedded in the substrate; and 
 conductive vias in the substrate that couple the antenna ground ring to the antenna ground layer.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/242,868, filed Sep. 10, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices, including electronic devices with wireless circuitry. 
     Electronic devices are sometimes provided with wired connectors that enable wired connections to external equipment. Among other issues, some wired connector structures can be bulky and take up excess space within the electronic devices. It can be desirable to provide wireless circuitry in place of wired connectors. 
     To satisfy consumer demand for small form factor electronic devices, manufacturers are continually striving to implement wireless circuitry using compact structures. Because antennas in the wireless circuitry have the potential to interfere with each other and with other components in a wireless communication device, care must be taken when incorporating antennas into an electronic device to ensure that the wireless circuitry is able to exhibit satisfactory performance. It can be desirable to provide improved wireless circuitry for electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may include wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may be implemented in a wireless communication module that includes an antenna radiating element and a radio-frequency integrated circuit coupled to the antenna radiating element. As an example, the antenna radiating element may be a patch element formed at a surface of the module substrate and surrounded by a ground ring at the surface. The patch element may be separated from the ground ring by a distance configured to enable wave formation for (far-field) radio-frequency signals. As another example, the radio-frequency integrated circuit may be mounted on an opposing surface of the module substrate. If desired, multiple antenna signal feed terminals may be coupled to the patch element to convey the radio-frequency signals with different polarizations. 
     The electronic device may have a display at a first side and a housing wall at a second side opposing the first side. The housing wall may have a ledge portion along a peripheral edge of the electronic device. The ledge portion may have a depression at a corner region of the electronic device. The wireless communication module may be mounted in the electronic device to align the antenna radiating element to the depression and to enable the antenna element to convey the radio-frequency signals through the housing wall. The patch element may be separated from the dielectric housing wall by a distance configured to enable wave formation for the radio-frequency signals. 
     The wireless communication module may be incorporated into a system-in-package (SIP) by being mounted to the package substrate. Components such as an integrated circuit implementing control circuitry may also be mounted to the package substrate. The wireless communication module and the other components may be covered with encapsulation material to form a fully encapsulated SIP. Conductive shielding material may cover the encapsulation material and be shorted to the ground ring. An opening defined by the conductive shielding material may be aligned with the antenna element. 
     The electronic device may be in wireless communication with external equipment, which may also include a wireless communication module (e.g., of the same type as the wireless communication module of the electronic device). If desired, the external equipment may help test, debug, configure, restore, and/or otherwise update the firmware of the electronic device using the wireless communication link. Carrier and alignment structures for the external equipment may help align the wireless communication modules with each other. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram of an illustrative wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    is a block diagram of illustrative wireless circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  3    is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative wireless communication module in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  4    is a top-down view of the wireless communication module of  FIG.  3    in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device in the wireless communication system of  FIG.  1    in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  6    is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative peripheral portion of an electronic device incorporating a wireless communication module in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  7    is a perspective view of an illustrative corner region of a housing wall for the electronic device of  FIG.  6    in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  8    is a cross-sectional view of a wireless communication module mounted to a package substrate in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  9    is a plan view of an illustrative electronic device with a wireless communication module incorporated into a system-in-package in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  10    is a plan view of illustrative external equipment in the illustrative wireless communication system of  FIG.  1    having a wireless communication module in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  11    is a top-down view of an illustrative electronic device carrier for the external equipment of  FIG.  10    in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  12    is a diagram of an illustrative alignment between two wireless communication modules in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  13    is a diagram of two illustrative wireless communication modules communicatively coupled to each other via intervening structures in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG.  1    shows an illustrative system such as wireless communication system  8  that includes one or more electronic devices such as electronic devices  10 - 1  and  10 - 2  and any other electronic device(s). Electronic devices in system  8  may each be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a desktop 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 wristwatch 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, a wireless internet-connected voice-controlled speaker, a home entertainment device, a remote control device, a gaming controller, a peripheral user input device, a wireless base station or access point, a wireless power device, firmware testing, debugging, or restoring equipment, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment. 
     As shown in the functional block diagram of  FIG.  1   , an illustrative device  10 - 1  may include components located on or within an electronic device housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as a case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, metal alloys, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of these materials. In some situations, parts or all of housing  12  may be formed from dielectric or other low-conductivity material (e.g., glass, ceramic, plastic, sapphire, etc.). In other situations, housing  12  or at least some of the structures that make up housing  12  may be formed from metal elements. 
     Device  10 - 1  may include control circuitry  14 . Control circuitry  14  may include storage such as storage circuitry  16 . Storage circuitry  16  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. Storage circuitry  16  may include storage that is integrated within device  10 - 1  and/or removable storage media. 
     Control circuitry  14  may include processing circuitry such as processing circuitry  18 . Processing circuitry  18  may be used to control the operation of device  10 - 1 . Processing circuitry  18  may include on one or more processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, host processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, central processing units (CPUs), etc. Control circuitry  14  may be configured to perform operations in device  10 - 1  using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware, and/or software. Software code for performing operations in device  10 - 1  may be stored on storage circuitry  16  (e.g., storage circuitry  16  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, firmware, data, instructions, or code. Software code stored on storage circuitry  16  may be executed by processing circuitry  18 . 
     Control circuitry  14  may be used to run software on device  10 - 1  such as satellite navigation applications, 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  14  may be used in implementing communications protocols. Communications protocols that may be implemented using control circuitry  14  include internet protocols, wireless local area network (WLAN) protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols—sometimes referred to as Wi-Fi®), protocols for other short-range wireless communications links such as the Bluetooth® protocol or other wireless personal area network (WPAN) protocols, IEEE 802.11ad protocols (e.g., ultra-wideband protocols), cellular telephone protocols (e.g., 3G protocols, 4G (LTE) protocols, 3GPP Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) protocols, etc.), antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols (e.g., global positioning system (GPS) protocols, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) protocols, etc.), 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), or any other desired communications protocols. Each communications protocol may be associated with a corresponding radio access technology (RAT) that specifies the physical connection methodology used in implementing the protocol. 
     Device  10 - 1  may include input-output circuitry  20 . Input-output circuitry  20  may include input-output devices  22 . Input-output devices  22  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10 - 1  and to allow data to be provided from device  10 - 1  to external devices. Input-output devices  22  may include user interface devices, data port devices, and other input-output components. For example, input-output devices  22  may include touch sensors, displays (e.g., touch-sensitive and/or force-sensitive displays), light-emitting components such as displays without touch sensor capabilities, buttons (mechanical, capacitive, optical, etc.), scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, buttons, speakers, status indicators, audio jacks and other audio port components, digital data port devices, motion sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes, and/or compasses that detect motion), capacitance sensors, proximity sensors, magnetic sensors, force sensors (e.g., force sensors coupled to a display to detect pressure applied to the display), temperature sensors, etc. In some configurations, keyboards, headphones, displays, pointing devices such as trackpads, mice, and joysticks, and other input-output devices may be coupled to device  10 - 1  using wired or wireless connections. 
     Input-output circuitry  20  may include wireless circuitry  24  to support wireless communications and/or radio-based spatial ranging operations. Wireless circuitry  24  may include one or more antennas  30 . Wireless circuitry  24  may also include one or more radios  26 . Each radio  26  may include circuitry that operates on signals at baseband frequencies (e.g., baseband processor circuitry), signal generator circuitry, modulation/demodulation circuitry (e.g., one or more modems), radio-frequency transceiver circuitry (e.g., radio-frequency transmitter circuitry, radio-frequency receiver circuitry, mixer circuitry for downconverting radio-frequency signals to baseband frequencies or intermediate frequencies between radio and baseband frequencies and/or for upconverting signals at baseband or intermediate frequencies to radio-frequencies, etc.), amplifier circuitry (e.g., one or more power amplifiers and/or one or more low-noise amplifiers (LNAs)), analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuitry, digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, control paths, power supply paths, signal paths (e.g., radio-frequency transmission lines, intermediate frequency transmission lines, baseband signal lines, etc.), switching circuitry, filter circuitry, and/or any other circuitry for transmitting and/or receiving radio-frequency signals using antenna(s)  30 . The components of each radio  26  may be mounted onto a respective substrate or integrated into a respective integrated circuit, chip, package (e.g., system-in-package), or system-on-chip (SOC). If desired, the components of multiple radios  26  may share a single substrate, integrated circuit, chip, package, or SOC. 
     Antennas  30  may be formed using any desired antenna structures. For example, antennas  30  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, monopole antennas, dipoles, hybrids of these designs, etc. Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, and/or other antenna tuning components may be adjusted to adjust the frequency response and wireless performance of antennas  30  over time. Wireless circuitry  24  may include any desired number of antennas  30 . 
     Transceiver circuitry in radios  26  may convey radio-frequency signals using one or more antennas  30  (e.g., antenna(s)  30  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). Antenna(s)  30  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). Antenna(s)  30  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 antenna(s)  30  each involve the excitation or resonance of antenna currents on an antenna radiating element in the antenna by the radio-frequency signals within the frequency band(s) of operation of the antenna. 
     Radios  26  may use antennas  30  to transmit and/or receive radio-frequency signals within different frequency bands at radio frequencies (sometimes referred to herein as communications bands or simply as a “bands”). The frequency bands handled by radios  26  may include wireless local area network (WLAN) frequency bands (e.g., Wi-Fi® (IEEE 802.11) or other WLAN communications bands) such as a 2.4 GHz WLAN band (e.g., from 2400 to 2480 MHz), a 5 GHz WLAN band (e.g., from 5180 to 5825 MHz), a Wi-Fi® 6E band (e.g., from 5925-7125 MHz), and/or other Wi-Fi® bands (e.g., from 1875-5160 MHz), wireless personal area network (WPAN) frequency bands such as the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® band or other WPAN communications bands, cellular telephone frequency bands (e.g., bands from about 600 MHz to about 5 GHz, 3G bands, 4G LTE bands, 5G New Radio Frequency Range 1 (FR1) bands below 10 GHz, 5G New Radio Frequency Range 2 (FR2) bands between 20 and 60 GHz, etc.), other centimeter or millimeter wave frequency bands between 10-300 GHz, near-field communications (NFC) frequency bands (e.g., at 13.56 MHz), satellite navigation frequency bands (e.g., a GPS band from 1565 to 1610 MHz, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) band, a BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) band, etc.), ultra-wideband (UWB) frequency bands that operate under the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol and/or other ultra-wideband communications protocols, communications bands under the family of 3GPP wireless communications standards, communications bands under the IEEE 802.XX family of standards, and/or any other desired frequency bands of interest. 
     Each radio  26  may transmit and/or receive radio-frequency signals according to a respective radio access technology (RAT) that determines the physical connection methodology for the components in the corresponding radio. One or more radios  26  may implement multiple RATs if desired. As just one example, the radios  26  in device  10 - 1  may include a UWB radio for conveying UWB signals using one or more antennas  30 , a Bluetooth (BT) radio for conveying BT signals using one or more antennas  30 , a Wi-Fi radio for conveying WLAN signals using one or more antennas  30 , a cellular radio for conveying cellular telephone signals using one or more antennas  30  (e.g., in 4G frequency bands, 5G FR1 bands, and/or 5G FR2 bands), and an NFC radio for conveying NFC signals using one or more antennas  30 . This example is merely illustrative and, in general, radios  26  may include any desired combination of radios for covering any desired combination of RATs. 
     Wireless circuitry  24  may include wireless power circuitry such as wireless power (receiving) circuitry  32  and coil structures such as one or more coils  34 . Device  10 - 1  may use wireless power circuitry  32  and coil  34  to receive wirelessly transmitted power (e.g., wireless charging signals) from a wireless power adapter (e.g., a wireless power transmitting device). 
     The wireless power adapter may pass AC currents through the wireless power transmitting coil to produce a time-varying electromagnetic (e.g., magnetic) field that is received as wireless power (wireless charging signals) by coil  34  in device  10 - 1 . Wireless power circuitry  32  may include converter circuitry such as rectifier circuitry that generate a DC voltage for powering device  10 - 1  from the wireless charging signals. The DC voltage produced by the rectifier circuitry in wireless power circuitry  32  can be used in charging an energy storage device such as a battery and/or can be used in powering other components in device  10 - 1 . 
     While control circuitry  14  is shown separately from wireless circuitry  24  in the example of  FIG.  1    for the sake of clarity, wireless circuitry  24  may include processing circuitry (e.g., one or more processors) that forms a part of processing circuitry  18  and/or storage circuitry that forms a part of storage circuitry  16  of control circuitry  14  (e.g., portions of control circuitry  14  may be implemented on wireless circuitry  24 ). 
     Radios  26  may use antennas  30  to transmit and/or receive radio-frequency signals to convey wireless communication data between device  10 - 1  and one or more other external wireless communication equipment or devices. In the illustrative example of  FIG.  1   , system  8  includes electronic device  10 - 2  (sometimes referred to herein as external equipment  10 - 2  or electronic equipment  10 - 2 ), which may have one or more of the same elements as described above in connection with electronic device  10 - 1 . In particular, as shown in  FIG.  1   , electronic device  10 - 2  may include wireless circuitry such as wireless circuitry  54  having one or more radios such as radios  56  and one or more antennas such as antennas  60 . 
     Devices  10 - 1  and  10 - 2  may be communicatively coupled via one or more communication links  66  via respective wireless circuitry. Wireless communication data may be conveyed between devices  10 - 1  and  10 - 2  bidirectionally or unidirectionally. As examples, devices  10 - 1  and  10 - 2  may form a half-duplex communication link or a full-duplex communication link. 
     Configurations in which device  10 - 2  implements firmware update equipment such as equipment configured to perform firmware testing, debugging, restoring, and/or other functions relating to the firmware of device  10 - 1  are described herein as illustrative examples. If desired, device  10 - 2  may be or implement equipment or devices having other functionalities. 
     In some of these configurations for device  10 - 2 , the wireless communication data being conveyed with device  10 - 1  may include data that has been encoded into corresponding data packets such as wireless data associated with software applications running on device  10 - 1 , wireless data associated with software updates for device  10 - 1 , wireless data associated with testing, debugging, and/or repairing device  10 - 1 , wireless data associated with resetting or restoring device  10 - 1  to a default or factory setting, wireless data associated with a telephone call, a message, streaming media content, or internet browsing, etc. 
     In some of these configurations for device  10 - 2 , wireless circuitry  54  in device  10 - 2  may include wireless power (transmitting) circuitry  62  and coil structures such as one or more coils  64 . Configured in this manner, device  10 - 2  may use wireless power circuitry  62  and coil  64  to transmit wireless power (signals) to device  10 - 1 . 
     In some of these illustrative configurations for device  10 - 2 , device  10 - 2  may include support structures  42  such as platforms, carriers, docks, or other structures to which wireless circuitry and other components (e.g., control circuitry, input-output devices, etc.) for device  10 - 2  are mounted and which are configured to receive device  10 - 1 . As examples, support structures  42  may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal, other suitable materials, or a combination of these materials. 
     The example of  FIG.  1    is merely illustrative. If desired, system  8  may include any suitable number of electronic devices or equipment (e.g., having similar elements as device  10 - 1  and/or device  10 - 2 ). If desired, device  10 - 1  or device  10 - 2  may be communicatively coupled to one or more of these other electronic devices or equipment instead of or in addition to each other, or may operate in isolation at times. If desired, devices  10 - 1  and  10 - 2  may include any other suitable elements or may omit one or more elements described in connection with  FIG.  1   . 
       FIG.  2    is a functional block diagram of wireless circuitry  24  of  FIG.  1   . As shown in  FIG.  2   , each radio  26  may be coupled to one or more antennas  30  over one or more radio-frequency transmission lines  70 . As an illustrative example, each radio-frequency transmission line  70  may include a conductor such as signal conductor  72  and a conductor such as signal conductor  74 . A corresponding antenna  30  may include an antenna feed such as antenna feed  76  having antenna feed terminal  78  coupled to conductor  72  and antenna feed terminal  80  coupled to conductor  74 . If desired, transmission line  70  may include additional signal conductors coupled to additional antenna feed terminals. 
     One or more radio-frequency transmission lines  70  may be shared between radios  26  and/or antennas  30  if desired. Radio-frequency front end (RFFE) modules may be interposed on one or more radio-frequency transmission lines  70 . The radio-frequency front end modules may include substrates, integrated circuits, chips, or packages that are separate from radios  26  and may include filter circuitry, switching circuitry, amplifier circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, radio-frequency coupler circuitry, and/or any other desired radio-frequency circuitry for operating on the radio-frequency signals conveyed over radio-frequency transmission lines  70 . 
     While  FIG.  2    describes one or more radios  26  and one or more antennas  30  in device  10 - 1  ( FIG.  1   ), other electronic devices such as device  10 - 2  and other devices in system  8  may include one or more radios and antennas configured in the same manner. 
     In some illustrative configurations, electronic devices may include high-data-rate wired connectors. These wired connectors can be bulky and take up excess interior space, and require external input-output ports that render the electronic device less secure. It may therefore be desirable to provide wireless circuitry that can establish high-data-rate wireless communication links. 
     However, providing wireless circuitry that operate at relatively high frequencies such as at one or more frequencies around 60 GHz (e.g., greater than 10 GHz), thereby allowing for high-data-rate data transfer, can raise significant challenges. As examples, it may be challenging to provide the wireless circuitry at these frequencies in a compact manner to provide space-savings, other components in each wireless device (e.g., other portions of the wireless circuitry, conductive elements, housing structures, etc.) have the potential to interfere with the operation of the wireless circuitry for establishing these wireless communication links, misalignments between the communicating devices (e.g., the respective wireless circuitry) and intervening structures between the respective wireless circuitry can degrade the wireless communication links. As such, one or more of the electronic devices in system  8  ( FIG.  1   ) may be provided with improved wireless circuitry while taking into account one or more of these issues. 
       FIG.  3    is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative wireless communication module such as wireless communication module  82  that can implement wireless circuitry for one or more devices (e.g., devices in system  8  in  FIG.  1   ). Configurations in which wireless communication module  82  operate at one or more frequencies between 10 GHz and 300 GHz (e.g., at a 60 GHz frequency band) to convey firmware testing data, firmware debugging data, firmware repair data, firmware restore data, and/or device configuration data are described herein as illustrative examples. If desired, wireless communication module  82  may operate at any suitable frequency (e.g., covering one or more suitable frequency bands) and may convey any suitable type of data for the desired function. 
     As shown in  FIG.  3   , module  82  may include a substrate such as substrate  84 . Substrate  84  may include multiple layers  86  and may therefore be referred to as a multi-layer substrate. Some of layers  86  may be formed from one or more non-conductive materials such as dielectric materials, some of layers  86  may be conductive materials such as metallic materials, and some of layers  86  may be formed from other materials such as semiconducting materials. 
     Substrate  84  has first and second opposing surfaces (e.g., top and bottom surfaces in  FIG.  3   ). An antenna radiating element for an antenna such as a conductive (metal) patch element  90  may be disposed on the first surface of substrate  84 . An antenna ground structure for the antenna such as conductive ground layer  92  (sometimes referred to as ground ring  92 ) may also be disposed on the first surface of substrate  84 . Ground layer  92  may surround patch element  90  and be separated from patch element  90  by dielectric gap  91 . Additional antenna ground structures such as ground layer  94  for the antenna may be embedded in substrate  84 . Conductive structures such as conductive vias  96  in substrate  84  may couple (e.g., electrically short) ground layer  92  at the first surface to embedded ground layer  94 . One or more additional intervening conductive ground layers  98  may also be coupled (e.g., electrically shorted) to vias  96 . Configured in this manner, conductive ground structures for the antenna (e.g., ground layers  92 ,  94 , and  98 , and vias  96 ) may surround and define a cavity for patch element  90 . 
     Module  82  may include radio component  88  such as a radio-frequency integrated circuit or an integrated circuit implementing a radio (e.g., radio  26  in  FIG.  1   ) for patch element  90 . The integrated circuit forming radio component  88  may include one or more elements described in connection with radios  26  in  FIG.  1   . Radio component  88  may be mounted to the second side of substrate  84 . Radio component  88  may provide antennas signals along one or more signal paths  104  to the antenna elements (e.g., patch element  90 , ground structures, etc.). As an example, signal paths  104  may form transmission line structures (e.g., signal conductor paths, ground conductor paths, etc.) coupled to the antenna radiating element and the antenna ground. As shown in  FIG.  3   , the antenna may include one or more positive antenna feed terminals such as terminals  102 - 1  and  102 - 2  coupled to patch element  90 . Radio component  88  may provide antenna signals along a first signal conductor formed from signal paths  104  and  100 - 1  coupled to terminal  102 - 1 . Radio component  88  may provide antenna signals along a second signal conductor formed from signals paths  104  and  100 - 2  coupled to terminal  102 - 2 . Radio component  88  may provide one or more ground conductors coupled to antenna ground structures on module  82 . 
     If desired, module  82  may include input-output structures such as input-output pads, input-output ports, input-output pins, etc. on the second surface of substrate  84 . Radio component  88  may be coupled to signal paths  104  via these input-output structures at the second surface (e.g., via solder). These input-output structures may allow module  82  (e.g., radio component  88  in module  82 ) to interface with other components in an electronic device. As an example, module  82  in a device and the control circuitry in the device may be mounted to a shared package substrate. In this example, the control circuitry may be couple to radio component  88  via one or more signal paths to convey data for wireless communication. These signal paths may include metal routing layers in the shared package substrate, a first set of input-output structures connecting the package substrate to module  82 , metal routing layers in substrate  84 , and a second set of input-output structures coupling radio component  88  to the metal routing layers in substrate  84 . 
       FIG.  4    is a top-down view of the wireless communication module  82  of  FIG.  3   . As shown in  FIG.  4   , patch element  90  may have a rectangular outline (e.g., a square outline). Accordingly, the rectangle may have two main (central) perpendicular axes  106  and  108 . Antenna feed terminal  102 - 1  may lie along axis  106 . Antenna feed terminal  102 - 2  may lie along axis  108 . Configured in such a manner, patch element  90  may be operable to convey radio-frequency signals having multiple polarizations. As an example, radio-frequency signals conveyed using terminal  102 - 1  may have a first linear polarization, and radio-frequency signals conveyed using terminal  102 - 2  may have a second linear polarization (that is orthogonal to the first linear polarization). 
     These configurations for patch element  90  are merely illustrative. If desired, patch element  90  may have any suitable shape or outline. If desired, one or more antenna feed terminals may be coupled to patch element  90  at one or more suitable locations. If desired, patch element  90  may convey radio-frequency signals of a single polarization or may convey radio-frequency signals of different circular polarizations. 
     As shown in  FIG.  4   , ground layer  92  may be separated from patch element  90  by dielectric gap  91  (e.g., an air gap or a gap filled by non-conductive material). Dielectric gap  91  may run all the way around the periphery of patch element  90 . In other words, ground layer  92  may surround patch element  90  along each of the peripheral edges of patch element  90  and may have edges that run parallel to the corresponding peripheral edges of patch element  90 . If desired, distances separating opposing edges of ground layer  92  and patch element  90  may be the same. In particular, distances  110 - 1  and  110 - 2  and corresponding distances between patch element  90  and ground layer  92  at other peripheral edges may be the same. If desired one or more of these distances may be different from each other. 
     The separation (e.g., distances  110 - 1  and  110 - 2 ) between patch element  90  and ground layer  92  imparted by dielectric gap  91  may be configured to allow sufficient space for wave formation. This may allow the radio-frequency signals conveyed by patch element  90  to have far-field characteristics (e.g., to exhibit plane waves, orthogonal electric and magnetic fields support each other). These distances may be based on the effective wavelength of operation for patch element  90  (e.g., the wavelength of operation adjusted by taking into account dielectric properties of the materials surrounding path element  90 ) to allow the radio-frequency signals to exhibit far-field characteristics. 
     As shown in  FIG.  4   , module  82  may have a rectangular outline with rounded corners. The rounded corners of module  82  may help accommodate module  82  into cramped spaces. Ground layer  92  may have inner edges that define an edge of gap  91  (e.g., a suitable separation from patch element  90 ). The inner edges of ground layer  92  may also have a rectangular outline with rounded corners to help maintain a suitable separation from patch element  90 . Ground layer  92  may span from the inner edges to outer edges at the peripheral edges of module  82 . This may help with improving the manufacturing process for module  82 . In the example of  FIG.  4   , the rectangular outline of module  82  may have a geometric center, and the outline of patch element  90  may have a geometric center that is offset from the geometric center of module  82 . If desired, other configurations for module  82  may be used. 
     In some configurations described herein as illustrative examples, device  10 - 1  may be a portable device such as a wristwatch device (e.g., a smart watch). Other configurations may be used for device  10 - 1  if desired.  FIG.  5    is a perspective view of an illustrative portable electronic device that may implement device  10 - 1 . In the example of  FIG.  5   , device  10 - 1  includes a display such as display  112 . Display  112  may be mounted to a housing such as housing  12 . 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.). Housing  12  may have metal sidewalls such as sidewalls  12 W or sidewalls formed from other materials. Examples of metal materials that may be used for forming sidewalls  12 W include stainless steel, aluminum, silver, gold, metal alloys, or any other desired conductive material. Sidewalls  12 W may sometimes be referred to herein as housing sidewalls  12 W or conductive housing sidewalls  12 W. 
     Display  112  may be formed at (e.g., mounted on) the front side (face) of device  10 - 1 . Housing  12  may have a rear housing wall on the rear side (face) of device  10 - 1  such as rear housing wall  12 R that opposes the front face of device  10 - 1 . Conductive housing sidewalls  12 W may surround the periphery of device  10 - 1  (e.g., conductive housing sidewalls  12 W may extend around peripheral edges of device  10 ). Rear housing wall  12 R may be formed from conductive materials and/or dielectric materials. Examples of dielectric materials that may be used for forming rear housing wall  12 R include plastic, glass, sapphire, ceramic such as zirconia, wood, polymer, combinations of these materials, or any other desired dielectrics. 
     Rear housing wall  12 R and/or display  112  may extend across some or all of the length (e.g., parallel to the X-axis) and width (e.g., parallel to the Y-axis) of device  10 - 1 . Conductive housing sidewalls  12 W may extend across some or all of the height of device  10 - 1  (e.g., parallel to the Z-axis). Conductive housing sidewalls  12 W and/or rear housing wall  12 R may form one or more exterior surfaces of device  10 - 1  (e.g., surfaces that are visible to a user of device  10 - 1 ) and/or may be implemented using internal structures that do not form exterior surfaces of device  10 - 1  (e.g., conductive or dielectric housing structures that are not visible to a user of device  10  such as conductive structures that are covered with layers such as thin cosmetic layers, protective coatings, and/or other coating layers that may include dielectric materials such as glass, ceramic, plastic, or other structures that form the exterior surfaces of device  10  and/or serve to hide housing walls  12 R and/or  12 W from view of the user). 
     Display  112  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 (OLED) display pixels, an array of electrowetting display pixels, or display pixels based on other display technologies. Display  112  may be protected using a display cover layer. The display cover layer may be formed from a transparent material such as glass, plastic, sapphire or other crystalline dielectric materials, ceramic, or other clear materials. The display cover layer may extend across substantially all of the length and width of device  10 - 1 , for example. 
     Device  10 - 1  may include buttons such as button  114 . There may be any suitable number of buttons in device  10 - 1 . Buttons may be located in openings in housing  12  (e.g., openings in conductive housing sidewall  12 W or rear housing wall  12 R). Buttons may be rotary buttons, sliding buttons, buttons that are actuated by pressing on a movable button member, etc. Button members for buttons such as button  114  may be formed from metal, glass, plastic, or other materials. 
     Device  10 - 1  may, if desired, be coupled to a strap such as strap  116 . Strap  116  may be used to hold device  10 - 1  against a user&#39;s wrist (as an example). Strap  116  may sometimes be referred to herein as wrist strap  116 . In the example of  FIG.  5   , wrist strap  116  is connected to opposing sides of device  10 - 1 . Conductive housing sidewalls  12 W and/or rear housing wall  12 R may include attachment structures for securing wrist strap  116  to housing  12  (e.g., lugs or other attachment mechanisms that configure housing  12  to receive wrist strap  116 ). Configurations that do not include straps may also be used for device  10 - 1 . 
       FIG.  6    is a partial cross-sectional side view of electronic device  10 - 1  ( FIG.  5   ) showing how an antenna in a wireless communication module may be mounted within device  10 - 1  for conveying radio-frequency signals through rear housing wall  12 R. As shown in  FIG.  6   , display  112  may form the front face of device  10 - 1  whereas rear housing wall  12 R forms the rear face of device  10 - 1 . In the example of  FIG.  6   , rear housing wall  12 R is formed from a dielectric material such as glass, sapphire, ceramic such as zirconia, or plastic. This is merely illustrative and, if desired, rear housing wall  12 R may also include conductive portions (e.g., a conductive frame surrounding one or more dielectric windows in rear housing wall  12 R, conductive cosmetic layers, etc.). 
     Display  112  may include a display cover layer  120  over a display module  122 . Display module  122  may, for example, form an active area or portion of display  112  that displays images and/or receives touch sensor input. The lateral portion of display  112  that does not include display module  122  (e.g., portions of display  112  formed from display cover layer  120  but without an underlying portion of display module  122 ) may sometimes be referred to herein as the inactive area or portion of display  112 . 
     Display module  122  may include conductive components (sometimes referred to herein as conductive display structures) that are used in forming portions of an antenna that radiates through the front face of device  10 - 1  (e.g., an antenna having a radiating element such as a radiating slot element defined by display module  122  and/or conductive housing sidewalls  12 W). The conductive display structures in display module  122  may, for example, have planar shapes (e.g., planar rectangular shapes, planar circular shapes, etc.) and may be formed from metal and/or other conductive material that carries antenna currents for a front-facing antenna in device  10 - 1 . The conductive display structures may include a frame for display module  122 , pixel circuitry, touch sensor electrodes, an embedded near-field communications antenna, etc. 
     Display cover layer  120  may be formed from an optically transparent dielectric such as glass, sapphire, ceramic, or plastic. Display module  122  may display images (e.g., emit image light) through display cover layer  120  for view by a user and/or may gather touch or force sensor inputs through display cover layer  120 . If desired, portions of display cover layer  120  may be provided with opaque masking layers (e.g., ink masking layers) and/or pigment to obscure the interior of device  10 - 1  from view of a user. 
     Substrates such as one or more rigid printed circuit boards, one or more flexible printed circuits, one or more package substrates, etc. may be located within the interior of device  10 - 1 . In the example of  FIG.  6   , substrate  126  for a system package  124  (e.g., a system-in-package (SIP)) may be disposed within device  10 - 1 . System components such as components  128  (e.g., one or more integrated circuits implementing control circuitry  14  or other circuitry, input-output circuitry  20  of  FIG.  1   , etc.) may be mounted to substrate  126 . 
     It may be desirable to remove wired connector structures in an electronic device to provide a seamless exterior device surface, improve device waterproofing, and optimize useable device interior space by removing bulky connector components, etc. As an example, an electronic device can include wired connector ports for receiving for testing, debug, and/or restoring firmware on the electronic device or for other functions. It may be desirable to remove these wired ports and connectors. 
     To preserve the functionalities of the wired connector, it may be desirable to provide wireless circuitry that has one or more of the same functionalities. In the above example, it may be desirable to provide wireless connections for conveying test, debugging, and/or restoring the firmware of the electronic device. To maintain and/or improve existing applications of wired connection with wireless connections, the wireless connections may convey data using high data rates in a bidirectional wireless communication link. The wireless communication link may be established between wireless circuitry across a distance of less than 10 inches, less than five inches, less than four inches, less than two inches, less than one inch, etc., or across a distance of greater than one inch, greater than two inches, greater than five inches, etc. As examples, the wireless communication link may convey data using high data rate data transfer operations at speeds of 100 Kilobit per second or more, 1 Megabit per second (Mbps) or more, 100 Mbps or more, at 500 Mbps or more, 1 Gigabit bit per second or more, etc. to satisfactorily replace some wired connections (e.g., wired connection for conveying debug, test, restore and/or other data). 
     The examples of removing and/or replacing wired connections for conveying debug, test, and/or restore data are merely illustrative. If desired, it may be similarly desirable to remove and/or replace other wired connections such as USB wired connections or wired connections based on other protocols, or wired connections for conveying other types of signals with wireless connections (e.g., high data rate, bidirectional, and/or near-field wireless connections). 
     Given the limited device interior space, incorporating additional wireless circuitry (e.g., antennas and radio components) to implement these wireless connections may require compact and well-integrated antenna element implementations. Still referring to  FIG.  6   , an antenna module having antenna and a radio such as antenna module  82  ( FIGS.  3  and  4   ) may be integrated into system package  124 . 
     Antenna radiating element  90  may be disposed on the side of antenna module  82  facing rear housing wall  12 R to convey radio-frequency signals  134  through rear housing wall  12 R. To help with wave formation when convey radio-frequency signals through rear housing wall  12 R, an opening such as opening  132  (sometimes referred to herein as a cavity or depression) may overlap antenna element  90 . By providing a separation between antenna element  90  and rear housing wall  12 R (e.g., the height of opening  132 ), wave formation can occur such that radio-frequency signals for the far-field region (e.g., having far-field characteristics such as plane waves, orthogonal electric and magnetic fields that support each other, etc.) may be conveyed. The separation provided by opening  132  may be based on the effective wavelength of operation for patch element  90  (e.g., the wavelength of operation adjusted by taking into account dielectric properties of the materials surrounding path element  90 ) to allow the radio-frequency signals to exhibit far-field characteristics. 
     Rear housing wall  12 R may define one or more sides of opening  132 . If desired, neighboring components such as components  130  may help define one or more sides of opening  132 . In some illustrative examples, components  130  may include conductive structures such as an additional antenna radiating element (e.g., a rear facing antenna radiating element on rear housing wall  12 R). If desired, the additional antenna radiating element may help define the peripheral boundaries of opening  132 . If desired, other conductive or non-conductive components may help define the boundaries of opening  132 . 
       FIG.  7    is a perspective view of a corner region of the rear housing wall  12 R in  FIG.  6   . As shown in  FIG.  7   , rear housing wall  12 R may have a ledge portion such as ledge  140  that is raised from a lower surface  138  of housing wall  12 R. Lower surface  138  may be a device interior surface of rear housing wall  12 R, and an opposing surface of surface  138  may be a device exterior surface of rear housing wall  12 R that defines the rear face of device  10 - 1 . Ledge  140  may be a portion of rear housing wall  12 R that is coupled (e.g., attached) to sidewalls  12 W. Ledge  140  may run along at least two peripheral sides of device  10 - 1  as shown in  FIG.  7    and may run along all four peripheral sides of device  10 - 1  (e.g., around the periphery of device  10 - 1 ). As shown in  FIG.  7   , the two portions of ledge  140  running along the two peripheral sides of device  10 - 1  may be joined at a corner of rear housing wall  12 R. 
     In the example of  FIG.  7   , opening  132  aligned with antenna element  90  in  FIG.  6    may be formed from a depression in ledge  140  along one of the peripheral sides of device  10 - 1 . In particular, opening  132  may be formed at a corner region of ledge  140 . This may allow antenna element  90  may be placed near the corner of device  10 - 1  in order to avoid interference from other components within device  10 - 1  and to provide a compact implementation. 
     Opening  132  may have peripheral sides (boundaries) defined by surfaces  142 ,  144 , and  146  of ledge  140 . In the example of  FIG.  7   , depression  132  is shown to extend from the top surface of ledge  140  to a bottom surface  148  that is coplanar with surface  138 . However, this is merely illustrative. If desired, bottom surface  148  of depression  132  may still be raised relative to surface  138 . In general, the depth of depression  132  (e.g., the position of bottom surface  148 ) and the width and length of depression  132  (e.g., the position of surfaces  142 ,  144 , and  146 ) may be configured to allow for wave formation within opening  132  to help radio-frequency signals conveyed by antenna element  90  to exhibit far-field characteristics. 
     The configuration of  FIG.  7    is merely illustrative. While different portions of rear housing wall  12 R as shown to have planar surfaces, this is merely illustrative. If desired, one or more of these surfaces (e.g., surfaces  138 ,  142 ,  144 ,  146 ,  148 , etc.) may be curved surfaces. While opening  132  (and consequently antenna element  90 ) is shown to be formed in a corner region of ledge  14  in rear housing wall  12 R, opening  132  (and consequently antenna element  90 ) may instead be disposed in other suitable locations, if desired. 
       FIG.  8    is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative system package (e.g., system-in-package (SIP)) such as system package  124  incorporating wireless communication module  82 . As shown in  FIG.  8   , system package  124  may include a package substrate  126 . A bottom surface of substrate  84  may be mounted to a top surface of package substrate  126 . In particular, input-output structures on the bottom surface of substrate  84  may be electrically connected to input-output structures on the top surface of substrate  126  via solder such as solder balls  156 . In such a manner, (signal) routing layers in substrate  126  may be electrically connected to (signal) routing layers in substrate  84  and thereby connected to radio component  88 . Radio component  88  may be coupled to input-output structures on the bottom surface of substrate  84  via solder (e.g., solder balls or micro-bumps  152 ) and may be connected to routing layers in substrate  126  via routing layers in substrate  84 . 
     An encapsulation material or encapsulant  158  may be used to encapsulate wireless communications module  82  and other components mounted to package substrate  126 . In such a manner, encapsulation material  158  may surround substrate  84 , solder  152  and  156 , radio component  88 , and other components in system package  124 , thereby protecting them from contaminants and weathering. Encapsulation material  158  may also be formed along the top surface of substrate  84  (e.g., over antenna element  90 ). 
     A conductive (electromagnetic) shielding layer such as shielding layer  160  may be deposited (e.g., via sputtering) to cover encapsulation material  158 , and one or more sides and/or surfaces of substrate  126 , thereby shielding components in system package  124  from potential electromagnetic interference. An opening in encapsulation material  158  may be formed along the top surface of substrate  84  to expose a portion of antenna ground ring  92  (or contact pads connected to ground ring  92 ). Conductive shielding layer  160  may be electrically connected (shorted) to ground ring  92  at the opening in encapsulation material  158 . Conductive shielding layer  160  may define an opening that overlaps or is aligned with antenna element  90  (e.g., by removing a portion of the conductive shielding layer  160 ). Antenna element  90  may therefore convey radio-frequency signals without being interfered by conductive shielding material  160 . 
       FIG.  9    is a plan view of an illustrative electronic device such as device  10 - 1  having system package  124  incorporating a wireless communication module. As shown in  FIG.  9   , system package  124  may extend substantially across the rectangular outline of device  10 - 1  (e.g., extend from one sidewall  12 W to the opposing sidewall  12 W). In the example of  FIG.  9   , wireless communication module and antenna element  90  may be mounted at a corner region of system package  124  (e.g., at a corner region of device  10 - 1 ). 
     If desired, different functional systems (e.g., control circuitry, power management circuitry, other radio components, etc.) in device  10 - 1  may incorporated into system package  124  to form a system-in-package. In particular, encapsulation material (e.g., encapsulation material  158 ) may be formed over an entirety of the functional surface of system package  124  (e.g., over the entirety of one or more surfaces on the package substrate on which components are mounted). Similarly, conductive shielding layer  160  may extend across the entirety of system package  124  except an opening at which antenna element  90  is formed. The opening in shielding layer  160  may expose encapsulation material  158  under which antenna element  90  is disposed. 
     An electronic device such as device  10 - 1  may communicate wirelessly with one or more illustrative electronic devices (e.g., equipment external to device  10 - 1 ). In some illustrative configuration described herein as an illustrative example, device  10 - 1  may communicate wireless with device  10 - 2 . In an illustrative configuration, device  10 - 2  may implement firmware testing, debugging, and/or restoring equipment configured to operate on the firmware of device  10 - 1  and may therefore sometimes be referred to as external test equipment. If desired, device  10 - 2  may serve other functions and interact with device  10 - 1  in any desired manner. 
       FIGS.  10  and  11    are diagrams showing different illustrative portions of device  10 - 2 .  FIG.  10    is a plan view of an illustrative dock such as dock  170  configured to wireless communicate with one or more devices such as device  10 - 1 . In particular, dock  170  may be configured to perform firmware testing, debugging, and/or restoring or other functions for device  10 - 1  via wireless links. 
     In particular, device  10 - 2  may include support structure  172 , which may be a platform onto which other functional portions of dock  170  such as control circuitry, wireless circuitry, and other circuitry are mounted. As shown in  FIG.  10   , device  10 - 2  may include a wireless circuitry such as wireless communication module  82 - 2  (e.g., a wireless communication module of the same configuration as wireless communication module  82  in  FIGS.  3  and  4   ). In the illustrative configuration of  FIG.  10   , wireless communication module  82 - 2  may have a top surface (e.g., in the +z direction) on which a corresponding antenna element (e.g., antenna element  90  in  FIGS.  3  and  4   ) is disposed. In other words, the antenna element is configured to convey radio-frequency signals out of the page in the +z direction. A radio component (e.g., radio component  88  in  FIG.  3   ) for the antenna element may be mounted on the opposing bottom surface (e.g., in the −z direction) of wireless communication module  82 - 2 . 
     To establish a more efficient communication link with other devices, wireless communication module  82 - 2  may be disposed on a support plate  174 . Support plate  174  may be disposed over support structure  172  and may be configured to raise wireless communication  82 - 2  (in the +z direction) a suitable distance above support structure  172 . This may help provide the appropriate distance between wireless communication module  82 - 2  and corresponding wireless circuitry in communication with wireless communication module  82 - 2 . Alignment plate  176  may overlap support plate  174  and may include an opening  180 . In particular, wireless communication modules  82 - 2  may lie within opening  180  in alignment plate  176 . Alignment plate  176  may fix the relative position of wireless communication module  82  in the x-y plane to properly align with wireless circuitry in communication with wireless communication module  82 - 2 . Alignment and attachment structures  178  such as screws may hold alignment plate  176  (and support plate  174 ) to support structure  172 . 
     Wireless communication module  82 - 2  may have input-output structures that are coupled flexible printed circuit  182  (e.g., via solder). Flexible printed circuit  182  may connect wireless communication module  82 - 2  with other circuitry on printed circuit board  184 . If desired, control circuitry for controlling the operation of device  10 - 2  (e.g., the testing, debugging, and/or restoring operations on the firmware of device  10 - 1 ) may be mounted to printed circuit board  184  and coupled to wireless communication module  82 - 2 . If desired, printed circuit board  184  may include input-output ports to which control circuitry not mounted on printed circuit board  184  is coupled to connect to wireless communication module  82 - 2 . In some illustrative configurations, other wireless circuitry such as coils and wireless power (transmitting) circuitry such as coils  64  and wireless power circuitry  62  ( FIG.  1   ) may be provided on and mounted to support structure  172  at a location such as location  188 . Configured at location  188 , wireless power (transmitting) coils  64  may be aligned to corresponding wireless power (receiving) coils  34  when device  10 - 2  is in wireless communication with device  10 - 1  using module  82 - 2 . 
     While support plate  174  and alignment plate  176  help fix the position of wireless communication module  82 - 2  relative to support structure  172 , to properly enable a satisfactory communication link between dock  170  and device  10 - 1 , device  10 - 1  may also be fixed in position relative to dock  170 . Accordingly, device  10 - 2  may also include a device carrier such as carrier  190  in  FIG.  11   . 
       FIG.  11    is a top-down view of device carrier  190  configured to receive device  10 - 1  and rest on top of dock  170 . When resting on top of dock  170 , carrier  190  may provide the proper alignment between device  10 - 1  and the functional circuitry of dock  170  (e.g., wireless communication module  82 - 2 , wireless power circuitry, etc.). In particular, carrier  190  may include a carrier platform  192  having an opening such as opening  194  configured to receive device  10 - 1 . Carrier platform  192  may include surfaces and other mechanisms that hold device  10 - 1  in place on carrier platform  192  within opening  194 . Opening  194  may be configured such that, when device  10 - 1  is in opening  194  and carrier  190  rests on dock  170 , wireless communications module  82 - 1  in device  10 - 1  may be aligned with wireless communication module  82 - 1  (e.g., respective antenna radiating elements in the modules are aligned and overlap each other). 
     To properly rest carrier  190  on dock  170 , carrier platform  192  may include alignment structures  196  that are configured to align with corresponding alignment structures  186  on support structure  172  in  FIG.  10   . As an example, support structure  172  may include alignment pins or posts  186 , and respective openings  196  are configured to receive alignment structures  186 . In such a manner, carrier  190  and consequently device  10 - 1  in carrier  190  may be mounted over and on top of support structure  172  in a fixed relative position. Configured in this manner, wireless communication module  82 - 1  on wireless device  10 - 1  may overlap wireless communication module  82 - 2  in a fixed and predicable manner. Wireless communication modules  82 - 2  may therefore establish a robust and reliable wireless link with wireless communication module  82 - 1  to convey firmware test data, debug data, restore data, and/or other suitable data. 
       FIGS.  12  and  13    are diagrams showing an illustrative alignment configuration between wireless communication modules  82 - 1  and  82 - 2 . Configurations in which device  10 - 1  and device  10 - 2  include the same type of wireless communication module are described herein as an illustrative example. If desired, devices  10 - 1  and  10 - 2  may include wireless communication modules of different types that communicate with one another. 
     As shown in the top-down view of  FIG.  12   , when device  10 - 1  is aligned with device  10 - 2  (e.g., when device  10 - 1  in carrier  190  is mounted to dock  170 ), wireless communication modules  82 - 1  and  82 - 2  may be aligned in an orthogonal orientation. In particular, wireless communication module  82  ( FIG.  4   ) may be elongated along a (length) dimension. The elongated dimension of communication module  82 - 1  in device  10 - 1  may run along axis  200 , while the elongated dimension of communication module  82 - 2  in device  10 - 2  may run along axis  202 . Axis  200  may be perpendicular to axis  202  (when one axis is projected onto the plane of the other axis). Module  82 - 1  may be configured to overlap module  82 - 2  such as that antenna  90 - 1  on wireless communication module  82 - 1  overlaps and faces antenna  90 - 2  on module  82 - 2 . 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG.  12   , wireless communication modules  82 - 1  and  82 - 2  may convey radio-frequency signals with each other in multiple polarizations. As an example, each antenna element  90  (antenna element  90 - 1  and  90 - 2 ) may be coupled to first and second ports, each associated with convey radio-frequency signals with a different polarization. Furthermore, the first port may be configured to receive radio-frequency signals, whereas the second port may be configured to transmit radio-frequency signals. 
     In such a configuration, wireless communication modules  82 - 1  and  82 - 2  may be oriented in a perpendicular manner to each other in order to be able to receive what the other module transmits. As an example, wireless communication module  82 - 1  and  82 - 2  may both be configured to transmit radio-frequency signals with a first polarization associated with the elongated dimension (length) of the module and to receive radio-frequency signals with a second polarization associated with the shorter dimension (width) of the module. As such, when the length of module  82 - 1  is aligned with the width of module  82 - 2 , as shown in  FIG.  12   , module  82 - 2  may receive radio-frequency signals from module  82 - 1  because they are aligned to convey radio-frequency signals of the same polarization. Analogously, when the length of module  82 - 2  is aligned with the width of module  82 - 1 , as shown in  FIG.  12   , module  82 - 1  may receive radio-frequency signals from module  82 - 2  because they are aligned to convey radio-frequency signals of the same polarization. 
     As shown in the side view of  FIG.  13   , overlapping antenna elements  90 - 1  and  90 - 2  may convey radio frequency signals  66  across one or more structures  204 . As examples, structures  204  may include one or more layers of air gap, housing structures, support structures, other intervening dielectric material, etc. As described in connection with  FIG.  6   , one or more air gaps may be provided along the communication channel between antenna elements  90 - 1  and  90 - 2  (e.g., in housing wall  12 R in device  10 - 1 ) to allow far-field (plane) waves to be properly generated. If desired, other dielectric materials (other than air) that modify the radio-frequency characteristics of the communication channel may also be provided along the communication channel between antenna elements  90 - 1  and  90 - 2  (e.g., one or more dielectric materials mounted to antenna element  90 - 2  at device  10 - 2 ). While antenna elements  90 - 1  and  90 - 2 , when in communication, may be separated by a distance (on the order of centimeters or tens of centimeters) less than 15 centimeters, less than 10 centimeters, less than 5 centimeters, less than 3 centimeters, less than 1 centimeters, greater than 1 centimeter, greater than 2 centimeters, greater than 3 centimeters, etc., the radio-frequency signals at frequencies greater than 10 GHz conveyed by antenna elements  90 - 1  and  90 - 2  may exhibit far-field characteristics. 
     The configurations of  FIGS.  12  and  13    are merely illustrative. If desired, antenna elements  90 - 1  and  90 - 2  may convey radio-frequency signals in other suitable manners. In some illustrative configurations, antenna elements  90 - 1  and  90 - 2  may not necessarily align their geometric centers along the z-axis. In other words, there may be some offset (partial overlap) between the outline of antenna element  90 - 1  along the x-y plane and the outline of antenna element  90 - 2  along the x-y plane when viewed from the z-direction. These offsets may be useful in providing manufacturing and/or placement tolerance as perfect alignment (complete overlap along the z-axis) is not necessary. 
     Device  10  (e.g., one or more of devices  10 - 1 ,  10 - 2 , and other devices in system  8 ) 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 to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20211207
Publication Date: 20231010
Grant Date: 20231010
Priority Date: 20210910
Inventors: MU, Xiaofang
Manuja, Annie
GUICHET, CHRISTOPHER D.
DE JONG, ERIK G.
RIVERA ESPINOZA, JORGE L.
CROWLEY, PATRICK J.
ROACH, STEVEN C.
RAJENDRAN, VENKATESH
Lukens, William C.
JUNG, WOOJIN
CHEN, YUE
GU, ZHIWEI
IWAMOTO, DEREK
NANGIA, SIDDHARTH
MORRISON, SCOTT D.
Klenk, Kevin A.
ROY, NEELOY
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01Q1/24", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2283", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/52", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/526", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/04", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0457", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/24", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0407", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/273", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H02J50/20", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/526", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0457", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2283", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/04", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/52", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 85284779