PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10741906-B2
Application Number: US-201816146556-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices having communications and ranging capabilities

Abstract:
An electronic device may be provided antennas and control circuitry. The antennas may be arranged in an array of unit cells. Each unit cell may include a first antenna that conveys signals in a first frequency band higher than 10 GHz and a second antenna that conveys radio-frequency signals in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band. A first of the unit cells may be provided with a first set of antennas that transmits radio-frequency signals in a third frequency band higher than the second frequency band. A second of the antenna unit cells may be provided with a second set of antennas that receives the radio-frequency signals after being reflected off of external objects. The control circuitry may perform spatial ranging operations by processing the transmitted and received signals in the second frequency band.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device comprising:
 a stacked dielectric substrate having a first, second, third, and fourth layers, the second layer being interposed between the first and third layers and the third layer being interposed between the second and fourth layers; 
 ground traces on the first layer; 
 a first antenna that includes a first patch element on the second layer and the ground traces; 
 a second antenna that includes a second patch element on the second layer and the ground traces, wherein the first and second antennas are configured to radiate in a first frequency band higher than 10 GHz; 
 a third antenna that includes a third patch element on the third layer and the ground traces, wherein the third antenna is configured to radiate in a third frequency band that is lower than the first frequency band; and 
 a fourth antenna that includes a fourth patch element on the fourth layer and the ground traces, wherein the fourth patch element at least partially overlaps the third patch element and the fourth antenna is configured to radiate in a fourth frequency band that is lower than the first frequency band. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a fifth antenna that includes a fifth patch element on the second layer and the ground traces; and 
 a sixth antenna that includes a sixth patch element on the second layer and the ground traces, wherein the fifth and sixth patch elements are configured to radiate in the first frequency band. 
 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 fences of conductive vias that extend through the stacked dielectric substrate and that laterally surround the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth patch elements. 
 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3 , wherein the fences of conductive vias and the ground traces define edges of a cavity, the first antenna is located at a first corner of the cavity, the second antenna is located at a second corner of the cavity, the third antenna is located at a third corner of the cavity, and the fourth antenna is located at the fourth corner of the cavity. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4 , wherein the third and fourth patch elements are located at a center of the cavity. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 2 , wherein the first, second, fifth, and sixth patch elements are rotated at a non-parallel angle with respect to the third and fourth patch elements. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transceiver circuitry coupled to the first, second, third, and fourth antennas, wherein the transceiver circuitry is configured to convey radio-frequency signals using the first and second antennas; and 
 control circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to perform spatial ranging operations using the radio-frequency signals conveyed by the first and second antennas. 
 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 7 , wherein the transceiver circuitry is configured to perform bi-directional communications with external wireless equipment using the fifth and sixth antennas. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , further comprising conductive walls laterally surrounding the first, second, third, and fourth patch elements, wherein the conductive walls and the ground traces define a conductive cavity for the first, second, third, and fourth antennas. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the fourth frequency band is higher than the third frequency band. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 10 , wherein the first frequency band comprises frequencies between 57 GHz and 71 GHz, the second frequency band comprises frequencies between 27.5 GHz and 29.5 GHz, and the third frequency band comprises frequencies between 37 GHz and 41 GHz. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 10 , wherein the stacked dielectric substrate comprises a fifth layer, the fourth layer is interposed between the third and fifth layers, and the electronic device further comprises:
 a parasitic antenna resonating element on the fifth layer that at least partially overlaps the fourth patch element. 
 
     
     
       13. An electronic device comprising:
 an array of antenna unit cells that includes first and second antenna unit cells, wherein each antenna unit cell in the array comprises a respective antenna configured to radiate in a first frequency band higher than 10 GHz; 
 a first set of antennas in the first antenna unit cell; 
 a second set of antennas in the second antenna unit cell, wherein the first and second sets of antennas are configured to convey radio-frequency signals in a second frequency band that is higher than the first frequency band; and 
 control circuitry configured to perform spatial ranging operations using the radio-frequency signals conveyed by the first and second sets of antennas. 
 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the first antenna unit cell comprises a first antenna configured to radiate in the first frequency band and second and third antennas from the first set of antennas, the second antenna is located at a first corner of the first antenna unit cell, and the third antenna is located at a second corner of the first antenna unit cell. 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 14 , wherein the first antenna comprises a first patch element located at a first distance over an antenna ground, the second antenna comprises a second patch element located at a second distance over the antenna ground that is less than the first distance, and the third antenna comprises a third patch element located at the second distance over the antenna ground. 
     
     
       16. The electronic device defined in  claim 15 , wherein the second and third patch elements lie outside of a lateral footprint of the first patch element. 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit the radio-frequency signals using the first set of antennas and to receive a reflected version of the radio-frequency signals using the second set of antennas. 
     
     
       18. The electronic device defined in  claim 17 , wherein the first and second antenna unit cells are located on opposite sides of the array of antenna unit cells. 
     
     
       19. The electronic device defined in  claim 17 , wherein the first antenna unit cell is located in a first row and a first column of the array, the second antenna unit cell is located in a second row and a second column of the array, and the array further comprises a third antenna unit cell located in the second row and the first column of the array and a fourth antenna unit cell located in the first row and the second column of the array. 
     
     
       20. An electronic device comprising:
 a phased antenna array configured to convey radio-frequency signals in a first frequency band, wherein the phased antenna array includes a first antenna radiating element within a first cavity and a second antenna radiating element within a second cavity; 
 a first set of antennas having antenna radiating elements that are located at respective corners of the first cavity and that are configured to transmit radio-frequency signals in a second frequency band that is different from the first frequency band; 
 a second set of antennas having antenna radiating elements that are located at respective corners of the second cavity and that are configured to receive radio-frequency signals in the second frequency band; and 
 control circuitry configured to perform spatial ranging operations based on the radio-frequency signals in the second frequency band received by the second set of antennas.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with wireless circuitry. 
     Electronic devices often include wireless 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 and spatial ranging operations at millimeter wave and centimeter wave frequencies. Millimeter wave communications, which are sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency (EHF) communications, and centimeter wave communications involve communications at frequencies of about 10-300 GHz. Operation at these frequencies may support high bandwidths, but may raise significant challenges. For example, millimeter wave signals generated by antennas can be characterized by substantial attenuation and/or distortion during signal propagation through various mediums. It may also be difficult to incorporate antennas for performing both wireless communications and spatial ranging operations within electronic devices, which are often subject to space constraints. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved wireless circuitry such as circuitry that supports millimeter and centimeter wave communications and spatial ranging operations. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry and control circuitry. The wireless circuitry may perform wireless communications operations and/or spatial ranging operations using millimeter and centimeter wave signals conveyed by antennas. 
     The antennas may be arranged in an array of antenna unit cells on a substrate. Each antenna unit cell may include a first antenna that conveys radio-frequency signals in a first frequency band higher than 10 GHz and a second antenna that conveys radio-frequency signals in a second frequency band that is higher than the first frequency band. The first and second antennas may be used to perform bi-directional wireless communications with external wireless equipment. The first and second antennas may be stacked patch antennas, for example. The first and second antennas in each antenna unit cell across the array may collectively form a phased antenna array. 
     A first of the antenna unit cells may be provided with a first set of antennas that transmits radio-frequency signals in a third frequency band higher than the second frequency band. A second of the antenna unit cells may be provided with a second set of antennas that receives the radio-frequency signals after being reflected off of external objects. The control circuitry may perform spatial ranging operations by processing the transmitted and received signals in the second frequency band (e.g., to identify a range between the device and the external objects). The first set of antennas may be located at corners of the first antenna unit cell and closer to ground than the first and second antennas in the first antenna unit cell. The second set of antennas may be located at corners of the second antenna unit cell and closer to ground than the first and second antennas in the second antenna unit cell. The first and second antenna unit cells may be located at opposing sides of the array. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with wireless circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with wireless circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of an illustrative transceiver circuit and antenna in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an illustrative patch antenna with dual ports in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram of an illustrative electronic device that performs both wireless communications and spatial ranging operations using antennas in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram of illustrative wireless circuitry having separate sets of antennas for performing wireless communications and/or spatial ranging operations in different frequency bands in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of illustrative multi-band antenna structures having co-located patch antennas for performing wireless communications and/or spatial ranging operations in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 9  is a top view of illustrative multi-band antenna structures having co-located patch antennas for performing wireless communications and/or spatial ranging operations in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIGS. 10 and 11  are top views of illustrative arrays of antennas for performing wireless communications and/or spatial ranging operations in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An electronic device such as electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  may contain wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas. The antennas may include phased antenna arrays that are used for handling millimeter wave and centimeter 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 30 GHz and 300 GHz. Centimeter wave communications involve signals at frequencies between about 10 GHz and 30 GHz. The electronic device may include antennas for performing wireless communications and/or spatial ranging operations using signals at these frequencies. 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 wristwatch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, a virtual or augmented reality headset 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 access point or base station, a desktop computer, a keyboard, a gaming controller, a computer mouse, a mousepad, a trackpad or touchpad, 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  8 . Display  8  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  8  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  8  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  8  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, openings may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate one or more buttons, sensor circuitry such as a fingerprint sensor or light sensor, ports such as a speaker port or microphone port, etc. Openings may be formed in housing  12  to form communications ports (e.g., an audio jack port, a digital data port, charging 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  8  (see, e.g., illustrative antenna locations  6  of  FIG. 1 ). Display  8  may contain an active area with an array of pixels (e.g., a central rectangular portion). Inactive areas of display  8  are free of pixels and may form borders for the active area. If desired, 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  6  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  8  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 . 
       FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of electronic device  10  showing illustrative locations  6  on the rear and sides of housing  12  in which antennas (e.g., single antennas and/or phased antenna arrays) may be mounted in device  10 . The antennas may be mounted at the corners of device  10 , along the edges of housing  12  such as edges formed by sidewalls  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), at the corners of rear housing wall  12 R (e.g., on the upper left corner, upper right corner, lower left corner, and lower right corner of the rear of housing  12  and device  10 ), etc. 
     In configurations in which housing  12  is formed entirely or nearly entirely from a dielectric, the antennas 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. The antennas 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 wireless equipment from the antennas mounted within the interior of device  10  and may allow internal antennas to receive antenna signals from external wireless equipment. In another suitable arrangement, the antennas may be mounted on the exterior of conductive portions of housing  12 . 
     A schematic diagram showing illustrative components that may be used in device  10  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , device  10  may include storage and processing circuitry such as control circuitry  14 . Control circuitry  14  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 control circuitry  14  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, host processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Control circuitry  14  may be used to run software on device  10  such as internet browsing applications, voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) telephone call applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, etc. To support interactions with external equipment, control circuitry  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 protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols—sometimes referred to as WiFi®), protocols for other short-range wireless communications links such as the Bluetooth® protocol or other WPAN protocols, IEEE 802.11ad protocols, cellular telephone protocols, MIMO protocols, antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols, antenna-based spatial ranging protocols (e.g., radio detection and ranging (RADAR) protocols or other desired range detection protocols for signals conveyed at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies), etc. Each communication protocol may be associated with a corresponding radio access technology (RAT) that specifies the physical connection methodology used in implementing the protocol. 
     The control circuitry in device  10  (e.g., control circuitry  14 ) may be configured to perform operations in device  10  using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware, and/or software. Software code for performing operations in device  10  is stored on non-transitory computer readable storage media (e.g., tangible computer readable storage media) in control circuitry  14 . The software code may sometimes be referred to as program instructions, software, data, instructions, or code. The non-transitory computer readable storage media may include non-volatile memory such as non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM), one or more hard drives (e.g., magnetic drives or solid state drives), one or more removable flash drives or other removable media, etc. Software stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media may be executed on the processing circuitry of control circuitry  14 . The processing circuitry may include application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuitry, one or more microprocessors, a central processing unit (CPU) or other processing circuitry. 
     Device  10  may include input-output circuitry  16 . Input-output circuitry  16  may include input-output devices  18 . Input-output devices  18  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  18  may include user interface devices, data port devices, sensors, 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, gyroscopes, 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, and other sensors and input-output components. 
     Input-output circuitry  16  may include wireless circuitry  34  for communicating wirelessly with external equipment and/or for performing spatial ranging operations. Wireless 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 circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  20  for handling various radio-frequency communications bands. For example, transceiver circuitry  20  may include Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver circuits  22 , local wireless transceiver circuits  24 , remote wireless transceiver circuits  26 , and/or millimeter wave transceiver circuits  28 . 
     Local wireless transceiver circuits  24  may include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver circuitry and may therefore sometimes be referred to herein as WLAN transceiver circuitry  24 . WLAN transceiver circuitry  24  may handle 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands for WiFi® (IEEE 802.11) communications and may handle the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® communications band. 
     Remote wireless transceiver circuits  26  may include cellular telephone transceiver circuitry and may therefore sometimes be referred to herein as cellular telephone transceiver circuitry  26 . Cellular telephone transceiver circuitry  26  may handle wireless communications in frequency ranges such as a communications band from 700 to 960 MHz, a communications band from 1710 to 2170 MHz, and a communications band from 2300 to 2700 MHz or other communications bands between 600 MHz and 4000 MHz or other suitable frequencies (as examples). Cellular telephone transceiver circuitry  26  may handle voice data and non-voice data. 
     Millimeter wave transceiver circuits  28  (sometimes referred to herein as extremely high frequency (EHF) transceiver circuitry  28  or millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28 ) may support communications at frequencies between about 10 GHz and 300 GHz. For example, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may support communications in Extremely High Frequency (EHF) or millimeter wave communications bands between about 30 GHz and 300 GHz and/or in centimeter wave communications bands between about 10 GHz and 30 GHz (sometimes referred to as Super High Frequency (SHF) bands). As examples, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may support communications in an IEEE K communications band between about 18 GHz and 27 GHz, a K a  communications band between about 26.5 GHz and 40 GHz, a K u  communications band between about 12 GHz and 18 GHz, a V communications band between about 40 GHz and 75 GHz, a W communications band between about 75 GHz and 110 GHz, or any other desired frequency band between approximately 10 GHz and 300 GHz. If desired, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may support IEEE 802.11ad communications at 60 GHz and/or 5 th  generation mobile networks or 5 th  generation wireless systems (5G) communications bands between 27 GHz and 90 GHz. If desired, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may support communications at multiple frequency bands between 10 GHz and 300 GHz such as a first band from 27.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz, a second band from 37 GHz to 41 GHz, a third band from 57 GHz to 71 GHz, and/or other communications bands between 10 GHz and 300 GHz. Millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may be formed from one or more integrated circuits (e.g., multiple integrated circuits mounted on a common printed circuit in a system-in-package device, one or more integrated circuits mounted on different substrates, etc.). 
     While circuitry  28  is sometimes referred to herein as millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28 , millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may handle communications at any desired communications bands at frequencies between 10 GHz and 300 GHz (e.g., in millimeter wave communications bands, centimeter wave communications bands, etc.). In one suitable arrangement that is sometimes described herein as an example, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may include spatial ranging circuitry (e.g., millimeter wave spatial ranging circuitry) that performs spatial ranging operations using millimeter and/or centimeter wave signals transmitted and received by antennas  40 . The spatial ranging circuitry may use the transmitted and received signals to detect or estimate a range between device  10  and external objects in the surroundings of device  10  (e.g., objects external to housing  12  and device  10  such as the body of the user or other persons, other devices, animals, furniture, walls, or other objects or obstacles in the vicinity of device  10 ). 
     GPS receiver circuits  22  may receive GPS signals at 1575 MHz or signals for handling other satellite positioning data (e.g., GLONASS signals at 1609 MHz). Satellite navigation system signals for GPS receiver circuits  22  are received from a constellation of satellites orbiting the earth. 
     Wireless circuitry  34  can include circuitry for other short-range and long-range wireless links if desired. For example, wireless circuitry  34  may include circuitry for receiving television and radio signals, paging system transceivers, near field communications (NFC) circuitry, etc. 
     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. Millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may convey signals over short distances that travel between transmitter and receiver over a line-of-sight path. To enhance signal reception for millimeter and centimeter wave communications, phased antenna arrays and beam steering techniques may be used (e.g., schemes in which antenna signal phase and/or magnitude for each antenna in an array is adjusted to perform beam steering). 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. 
     Antennas  40  in wireless circuitry  34  may be formed using any suitable antenna types. For example, antennas  40  may include antennas with resonating elements that are formed from stacked patch antenna structures, loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures, slot antenna structures, planar inverted-F antenna structures, monopoles, dipoles, 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). Dedicated antennas may be used for performing millimeter and centimeter wave spatial ranging operations if desired. Antennas  40  may include antennas arranged in one or more phased antenna arrays for handling millimeter and centimeter wave communications and/or for handling spatial ranging operations. 
     Transmission line paths may be used to route antenna signals within device  10 . For example, transmission line paths may be used to couple antennas  40  to transceiver circuitry  20 . Transmission line paths in device  10  (sometimes referred to herein as transmission lines) may include coaxial cables, coaxial probes realized by metalized vias, microstrip transmission lines, stripline transmission lines, edge-coupled microstrip transmission lines, edge-coupled stripline transmission lines, waveguide structures, transmission lines formed from combinations of transmission lines of these types, etc. 
     If desired, transmission lines in device  10  may be integrated into rigid and/or flexible printed circuit boards. In one suitable arrangement, transmission lines in device  10  may also include transmission line conductors (e.g., signal and ground conductors) integrated within multilayer laminated structures (e.g., layers of a conductive material such as copper and a dielectric material such as a resin that are laminated together without intervening adhesive) that may be folded or bent in multiple dimensions (e.g., two or three dimensions) and that maintain a bent or folded shape after bending (e.g., the multilayer laminated structures may be folded into a particular three-dimensional shape to route around other device components and may be rigid enough to hold its shape after folding without being held in place by stiffeners or other structures). All of the multiple layers of the laminated structures may be batch laminated together (e.g., in a single pressing process) without adhesive (e.g., as opposed to performing multiple pressing processes to laminate multiple layers together with adhesive). Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, and other circuitry may be interposed within the transmission lines, if desired. 
     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 antennas or phased antenna arrays into device  10 , each of which is placed at a different location within device  10 . With this type of arrangement, an unblocked antenna or phased antenna array may be switched into use. In scenarios where a phased antenna array is formed in device  10 , 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. 
     In devices with phased antenna arrays, wireless circuitry  34  may include gain and phase adjustment circuitry that is used in adjusting the signals associated with each antenna  40  in the phased antenna array (e.g., to perform beam steering to point a signal beam of the phased antenna array in a desired pointing direction). Switching circuitry may be used to switch desired antennas  40  into and out of use. If desired, each of locations  6  of  FIGS. 1 and 2  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  6  may be used in transmitting and receiving signals while using one or more antennas from another of locations  6  in transmitting and receiving signals. 
     A schematic diagram of an antenna  40  coupled to transceiver circuitry  20  (e.g., millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  of  FIG. 3 ) is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  20  may be coupled to antenna feed F of antenna  40  using transmission line  50 . Antenna feed F may include a positive antenna feed terminal such as positive antenna feed terminal  56  and may include a ground antenna feed terminal such as ground antenna feed terminal  58 . Transmission line  50  may be formed form metal traces on a printed circuit or other conductive structures and may have a positive transmission line signal path such as path  52  that is coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  56  and a ground transmission line signal path such as path  54  that is coupled to ground antenna feed terminal  58 . Path  52  may sometimes be referred to herein as signal conductor  52 . Path  54  may sometimes be referred to herein as ground conductor  54 . 
     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  14  ( FIG. 3 ) 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 be arranged in one or more antenna arrays (e.g., phased antenna arrays to implement beam steering functions). For example, the antennas that are used in handling millimeter and centimeter wave signals for millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may be implemented as phased antenna arrays. The radiating elements in a phased antenna array for supporting millimeter and centimeter wave communications may be patch antennas (e.g., stacked patch antennas), dipole antennas, dipole antennas with directors and reflectors in addition to dipole antenna resonating elements (sometimes referred to as Yagi antennas or 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 one suitable arrangement that is sometimes described herein as an example, patch antenna structures may be used for implementing antenna  40 . Antennas  40  that are implemented using patch antenna structures may sometimes be referred to herein as patch antennas. An illustrative patch antenna is shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , antenna  40  may have a patch antenna resonating element  60  that is separated from and parallel to a ground plane such as antenna ground plane  64  (sometimes referred to herein as antenna ground  64 ). Patch antenna resonating element  60  may lie within a plane such as the X-Y plane of  FIG. 5  (e.g., the lateral surface area of element  60  may lie in the X-Y plane). Patch antenna resonating element  60  may sometimes be referred to herein as patch  60 , patch element  60 , patch resonating element  60 , antenna resonating element  60 , or resonating element  60 . Antenna ground  64  may lie within a plane that is parallel to the plane of patch element  60 . Patch element  60  and antenna ground  64  may therefore lie in separate parallel planes that are separated by a fixed distance. Patch element  60  and antenna ground  64  may be formed from conductive traces patterned on a dielectric substrate such as a rigid or flexible printed circuit board substrate, metal foil, stamped sheet metal, electronic device housing structures, or any other desired conductive structures. 
     The length of the sides of patch element  60  may be selected so that antenna  40  resonates (radiates) at a desired operating frequency. For example, the sides of patch element  60  may each have a length  62  that is approximately equal to half of the wavelength of the signals conveyed by antenna  40  (e.g., the effective wavelength given the dielectric properties of the materials surrounding patch element  60 ). In one suitable arrangement, length  62  may be between 0.8 mm and 1.2 mm (e.g., approximately 1.1 mm) for covering a millimeter wave frequency band between 57 GHz and 70 GHz, as just one example. 
     The example of  FIG. 5  is merely illustrative. Patch element  60  may have a square shape in which all of the sides of patch element  60  are the same length or may have a different rectangular shape. Patch element  60  may be formed in other shapes having any desired number of straight and/or curved edges. If desired, patch element  60  and antenna ground  64  may have different shapes and relative orientations. 
     To enhance the polarizations handled by antenna  40 , antenna  40  may be provided with multiple feeds. As shown in  FIG. 5 , antenna  40  may have a first feed at antenna port P 1  that is coupled to a first transmission line path  50  such as transmission line path  50 V and a second feed at antenna port P 2  that is coupled to a second transmission line path  50  such as transmission line path  50 H. The first antenna feed may have a first ground antenna feed terminal coupled to antenna ground  64  (not shown in  FIG. 5  for the sake of clarity) and a first positive antenna feed terminal  56  such as positive antenna feed terminal  56 V coupled to patch element  60 . The second antenna feed may have a second ground antenna feed terminal coupled to antenna ground  64  (not shown in  FIG. 5  for the sake of clarity) and a second positive antenna feed terminal  56  such as positive antenna feed terminal  56 H coupled to patch element  60 . 
     Holes or openings such as openings  70  and  72  may be formed in antenna ground  64 . Transmission line path  50 V may include a vertical conductor  66 V (e.g., a conductive through-via, conductive pin, metal pillar, solder bump, combinations of these, or other vertical conductive interconnect structures) that extends through hole  70  to positive antenna feed terminal  56 V on patch element  60 . Transmission line path  50 H may include a vertical conductor  66 H that extends through hole  72  to positive antenna feed terminal  56 H on patch element  60 . This example is merely illustrative and, if desired, other transmission line structures may be used (e.g., coaxial cable structures, stripline transmission line structures, etc.). 
     When using the first antenna feed associated with port P 1 , antenna  40  may transmit and/or receive radio-frequency signals having a first linear polarization (e.g., the electric field E 1  of antenna signals  68  associated with port P 1  may be oriented parallel to the Y-axis in  FIG. 5 ). When using the antenna feed associated with port P 2 , antenna  40  may transmit and/or receive radio-frequency signals having a second linear polarization (e.g., the electric field E 2  of antenna signals  68  associated with port P 2  may be oriented parallel to the X-axis of  FIG. 5  so that the linear polarizations associated with ports P 1  and P 2  are orthogonal to each other). 
     One of ports P 1  and P 2  may be used at a given time so that antenna  40  operates as a single-polarization antenna or both ports may be operated at the same time so that antenna  40  operates with other polarizations (e.g., as a dual-polarization antenna, a circularly-polarized antenna, an elliptically-polarized antenna, etc.). If desired, the active port may be changed over time so that antenna  40  can switch between covering vertical or horizontal polarizations at a given time. Ports P 1  and P 2  may be coupled to different phase and magnitude controllers or may both be coupled to the same phase and magnitude controller (e.g., in scenarios where antenna  40  is formed within a phased antenna array). If desired, ports P 1  and P 2  may both be operated with the same phase and magnitude at a given time (e.g., when antenna  40  acts as a dual-polarization antenna). If desired, the phases and magnitudes of the radio-frequency signals conveyed over ports P 1  and P 2  may be controlled separately and varied over time so that antenna  40  exhibits other polarizations (e.g., circular or elliptical polarizations). 
     If care is not taken, antennas  40  such as dual-polarization patch antennas of the type shown in  FIG. 5  may have insufficient bandwidth for covering an entirety of a communications band of interest (e.g., a communications band at frequencies greater than 10 GHz). If desired, antenna  40  may include one or more parasitic antenna resonating elements that serve to broaden the bandwidth of antenna  40  (e.g., to extend the bandwidth of antenna  40  to cover an entirety of a corresponding communications band). The parasitic antenna resonating elements may include one or more conductive patches located above patch element  60 , as an example. The length of the parasitic antenna resonating element may be greater than or less than the length of patch element  60  to add additional resonances that broaden the bandwidth of the antenna. The parasitic antenna resonating element may have a cross shape for impedance matching if desired. 
     Device  10  may perform both wireless communications and spatial ranging operations using millimeter and centimeter wave signals (e.g., using millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  of  FIG. 3 ).  FIG. 6  is a diagram showing how device  10  may perform both wireless communications and spatial ranging operations. As shown in  FIG. 6 , device  10  may convey radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies with external wireless equipment such as external device  80  over wireless communications link  84 . 
     External device  80  may be an electronic device such as a wireless base station, a wireless access point, 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 virtual or augmented reality headset 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 desktop computer, a keyboard, a gaming controller, a computer mouse, a mousepad, a trackpad, or touchpad, as examples. 
     At the same time, device  10  may transmit radio-frequency signals  86  (e.g., at millimeter or centimeter wave frequencies). Device  10  may receive reflected radio-frequency signals  88  that are a reflected version of the transmitted radio-frequency signals  86  that have been reflected off of external object  82 . Device  10  may process radio-frequency signals  86  and  88  to identify a distance (range) between device  10  and external object  82  (e.g., by comparing the time at which radio-frequency signals  88  are received with a timestamp in transmitted radio-frequency signals  86 , etc.). Device  10  may perform any desired spatial ranging operations using radio-frequency signals  86  and  88  (e.g., range detection operations, external object detection operations, external object tracking operations, etc.). 
     Wireless communications link  84  may be a two-way communications link (e.g., a communications link maintained using a millimeter wave communications protocol). When performing two-way communications, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  on device  10  ( FIG. 3 ) may encode wireless data using the millimeter wave communications protocol, may transmit the wireless data to external device  80  at millimeter or centimeter wave frequencies, may receive wireless data transmitted by the external device  80  at millimeter or centimeter wave frequencies, and may decode the received wireless data using the millimeter wave communications protocol. Such millimeter wave communications protocols may include, for example, IEEE 802.11ad communications protocols or 5 th  generation wireless systems (5G) communications protocols. 
     The spatial ranging operations performed by millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  ( FIG. 3 ) using radio-frequency signals  86  and  88  of  FIG. 6  involve one-way communications that do not require external communications equipment. In performing spatial ranging operations, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may transmit radio-frequency signals  86  such that the signals include a sequence (series) of pulses or other predetermined signals at millimeter or centimeter wave frequencies (e.g., based on a RADAR protocol or other range or object detection protocol). Millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may then wait for receipt reflected radio-frequency signals  88  that have been reflected off of external object  82 . Upon receiving the reflected version of the transmitted signal, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  or control circuitry  14  ( FIG. 3 ) may compare the transmitted radio-frequency signals  86  (e.g., the sequence of pulses in the transmitted signal) to the received radio-frequency signals  88  (e.g., the sequence of pulses in the received signal) to identify a distance between device  10  and external object  82  (e.g., based on a time delay between the transmitted signal and the received signal and the known propagation speed of the signals over the air and using the range or object detection protocol). The sequence of pulses may, for example, allow millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  to identify that any given received signal is a reflected version of the transmitted signal instead of some other signal received at device  10  (e.g., because the sequence of pulses will be the same for the reflected signal as the known sequence of pulses in the transmitted signal). 
     Device  10  may convey radio-frequency signals over wireless communications link  84  within first and/or second low frequency bands (e.g., frequency bands from 27.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz or a frequency band from 37 GHz to 41 GHz). Device  10  may transmit radio-frequency signals  86  within a high frequency band (e.g., a frequency band from 57 GHz to 71 GHz). Device  10  may also perform bi-directional communications within the high frequency band if desired. Device  10  may include a first set of antennas  40  (e.g., a phased antenna array) for handling wireless communications link  84 . Device  10  and may include a second set of antennas  40  (e.g., one or more antennas arranged in an array pattern that may or may not be operated as a phased antenna array) for transmitting radio-frequency signals  86 . Device  10  may include a third set of antennas  40  (e.g., one or more antennas arranged in an array pattern that may or may not be operated as a phased antenna array) for receiving radio-frequency signals  88 . If desired, the same set of antennas may be used to both transmit radio-frequency signals  86  and to receive radio-frequency signals  88 . 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram showing how wireless circuitry  34  on device  10  may include different sets of antennas for performing wireless communications and spatial ranging operations. As shown in  FIG. 7 , wireless circuitry  34  may include a first set  90  of antennas  40 L that handle radio-frequency signals in first and second low frequency band (e.g., a frequency band from 27.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz and a frequency band from 37 GHz to 41 GHz). Wireless circuitry  34  may also include a second set  92  of antennas  40 H that handle radio-frequency signals in a high frequency band that is higher than the first and second low frequency bands (e.g., a frequency band from 57 GHz to 71 GHz). The antennas  40 L in set  90  may handle wireless communications over wireless communications link  84  of  FIG. 6  whereas the antennas  40 H in set  92  may handle spatial ranging operations associated with radio-frequency signals  86  and  88  of  FIG. 6 . Set  92  may include a first subset of antennas for transmitting radio-frequency signals  86  of  FIG. 6  and may include a second subset of antennas for receiving radio-frequency signals  88  of  FIG. 6  in one suitable arrangement. If desired, the same antennas  40 H in set  92  may both transmit radio-frequency signals  86  and receive radio-frequency signals  88 . 
     The antennas  40 L in set  90  may be operated using selected phases and magnitudes to form a single phased antenna array if desired (e.g., set  90  may sometimes be referred to herein as phased antenna array  90  or phased array  90  of antennas  40 L). Antennas  40 L in set  90  may sometimes be referred to collectively as a phased array antenna. The antennas  40 H in set  92  may be operated using selected phases and magnitudes to form a single phased antenna array if desired (e.g., set  92  may sometimes be referred to herein as phased antenna array  92 ). In another suitable arrangement, antennas  40 H in set  92  may transmit and receive millimeter and centimeter wave signals without operating as a part of a phased antenna array. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , each antenna  40 L in set  90  may be coupled to one or more ports  96  of radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC)  94  over corresponding transmission lines  50 . Each antenna  40 H in set  92  may be coupled to one or more ports  98  of RFIC  94  over corresponding transmission lines  50 . RFIC  94  may include spatial ranging circuitry coupled to ports  98  (e.g., circuitry for transmitting radio-frequency signals  86  of  FIG. 6  over one or more ports  98  and circuitry for receiving radio-frequency signals  88  of  FIG. 6  over one or more ports  98 ). Ports  96  may handle radio-frequency signals at relatively low frequencies (e.g., the operating frequencies of antennas  40 L) whereas ports  98  handle radio-frequency signals at relatively high frequencies (e.g., the operating frequencies of antennas  40 H). RFIC  94  may, for example, form millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  of  FIG. 3 . The example of  FIG. 7  is merely illustrative. In general, any desired number of integrated circuits may be used to implement millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  of  FIG. 3  (e.g., a first integrated circuit may be coupled to set  90  and may include ports  96 , a second integrated circuit may be coupled to set  92  and may include ports  98 , multiple integrated circuits may be coupled to set  92 , etc.). 
     Space is often at a premium within wireless electronic devices such as device  10 . As such, it can be difficult to accommodate both set  90  of antennas  40 L for maintaining wireless communications link  84  of  FIG. 6  and set  92  of antennas  40 H for performing spatial ranging operations within device  10  (e.g., given form factor constraints associated with housing  12  of  FIG. 1 , etc.). If desired, one or more of the antennas  40 L in set  90  may be co-located with one or more antennas  40 H in set  92  to more efficiently utilize space within device  10 . However, if care is not taken, co-located antennas such as co-located antennas  40 H and  40 L may exhibit unsatisfactory radio-frequency performance. 
       FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of multiple co-located antennas  40 H and  40 L that may exhibit satisfactory radio-frequency performance. As shown in  FIG. 8 , co-located antenna structures  100  may include multiple antennas  40 L such as a first antenna  40 L- 1  and a second antenna  40 L- 2 . Co-located antenna structures  100  may sometimes be referred to herein as a unit cell  100  of antennas or antenna unit cell  100 . Antenna  40 L- 1  may cover a first low frequency band whereas antenna  40 L- 2  covers a second low frequency band at higher frequencies than the first low frequency band (so that unit cell  100  collectively covers both the first and second low frequency bands). For example, the first low frequency band may be a frequency band between 27.5 GHz and 29.5 GHz whereas the second low frequency band may be a frequency band between 37 GHz and 41 GHz. One of antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  may be omitted if desired (e.g., so that unit cell  100  covers only one of the first and second low frequency bands). 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , unit cell  100  may also include multiple antennas  40 H such as a first antenna  40 H- 1  and a second antenna  40 H- 2 . Antennas  40 H- 1  and  40 H- 2  may both cover a high frequency band (e.g., the same high frequency band such as a frequency band between 57 GHz and 71 GHz). In the example of  FIG. 8 , unit cell  100  is shown as including only two antennas  40 H for the sake of clarity. In general, unit cell  100  may include any desired number of antennas  40 H (e.g., one antenna  40 H, three antennas  40 H, four antennas  40 H, etc.). 
     Antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  may each be patch antennas such as the patch antenna shown in  FIG. 5 . Antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 L- 1 , and  40 L- 2  may each include a single antenna feed or may both include multiple antenna feeds for covering different polarizations. As shown in  FIG. 8 , antenna  40 L- 1  may include patch element  60 - 1 , an antenna ground (e.g., antenna ground  64  of  FIG. 5 ) formed using ground traces  114 , and an antenna feed that includes a positive antenna feed terminal  56 - 1  coupled to patch element  60 - 1  and a corresponding ground antenna feed terminal coupled to ground traces  114 . Similarly, antenna  40 L- 2  may include patch element  60 - 2 , an antenna ground formed using ground traces  114 , and an antenna feed that includes a positive antenna feed terminal  56 - 2  coupled to patch element  60 - 2  and a corresponding ground antenna feed terminal coupled to ground traces  114 . Antenna  40 H- 1  may include patch element  60 - 3 , an antenna ground formed using ground traces  114 , and an antenna feed that includes a positive antenna feed terminal  56 - 3  coupled to patch element  60 - 2  and a corresponding ground antenna feed terminal coupled to ground traces  114 . Similarly, antenna  40 H- 2  may include patch element  60 - 4 , an antenna ground formed using ground traces  114 , and an antenna feed that includes a positive antenna feed terminal  56 - 4  coupled to patch element  60 - 4  and a corresponding ground antenna feed terminal coupled to ground traces  114 . 
     Patch elements  60 - 1 ,  60 - 2 ,  60 - 3 , and  60 - 4  may each have lateral surfaces extending in the X-Y plane of  FIG. 8 . Patch elements  60 - 3  and  60 - 4  may each be separated from ground traces  114  (e.g., ground) by distance H 1 . Distance H 1  may be, for example, between 0.1 mm and 0.5 mm, between 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm, approximately 0.3 mm, greater than 0.5 mm, less than 0.1 mm, or other distances. Patch element  60 - 1  may be separated from ground traces  114  by distance H 2  that is greater than distance H 1 . Patch element  60 - 2  may be separated from patch element  60 - 1  by distance H 3  and from ground traces  114  by distance H 2 +H 3 . In this way, the patch elements for antennas  40 H- 1  and  40 H- 2  in unit cell  100  may be closer to the antenna ground (e.g., ground traces  114 ) than the patch elements for antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  in unit cell  100 . This may serve to minimize interference between antennas  40 H- 1 / 40 H- 2  and antennas  40 L- 1 / 40 L- 2  in unit cell  100 . 
     The patch elements for the antennas  40 H- 1  and  40 H- 2  in unit cell  100  may lie below the patch elements for the antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  in unit cell  100  but without overlapping the lateral outline of the patch elements for the antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2 . This may allow antennas  40 H- 1  and  40 H- 2  to convey radio-frequency signals  111  in the high communications band without significant shadowing by antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2 . One or more parasitic antenna resonating elements such as parasitic element  102  (e.g., a conductive patch such as a cross-shaped conductive patch) may be mounted over patch element  60 - 2  and may serve to broaden the bandwidth of antenna  40 L- 2  and/or antenna  40 L- 1 . 
     Antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 L- 1 , and  40 L- 2  of  FIG. 8  may be formed on a dielectric substrate such as substrate  104 . Substrate  104  may be, for example, a rigid or printed circuit board or other dielectric substrate. Substrate  104  may include multiple dielectric layers  106  (e.g., multiple layers ceramic or multiple layers of printed circuit board substrate such fiberglass-filled epoxy). Dielectric layers  106  may include a first dielectric layer  106 - 1 , a second dielectric layer  106 - 2  over the first dielectric layer, a third dielectric layer  106 - 3  over the second dielectric layer, a fourth dielectric layer  106 - 4  over the third dielectric layer, a fifth dielectric layer  106 - 5  over the fourth dielectric layer, a sixth dielectric layer  106 - 6  over the fifth dielectric layer, and a seventh dielectric layer  106 - 7  over the sixth dielectric layer. Fewer or additional dielectric layers  106  may be stacked within substrate  104  if desired. 
     With this type of arrangement, antennas  40 L- 1 ,  40 L- 2 ,  40 H- 1 , and  40 H- 2  may be embedded within the dielectric layers of substrate  104 . For example, ground traces  114  (e.g., the antenna ground) may be formed on a surface of second dielectric layer  106 - 2 , patch elements  60 - 3  and  60 - 4  may be formed from conductive traces on a surface of third dielectric layer  106 - 3 , patch element  60 - 1  may be formed from a conductive trace on a surface of fourth dielectric layer  106 - 4 , patch element  60 - 2  may be formed from a conductive trace on a surface of fifth dielectric layer  106 - 5 , and parasitic element  102  may be formed from a conductive trace on a surface of sixth dielectric layer  106 - 6 . Some or all of the lateral area of patch element  60 - 2  may overlap the lateral outline (footprint) of patch element  60 - 1  (in the X-Y plane). Antenna  40 L- 1  may radiate in the first low frequency band without significant signal blocking by antenna  40 L- 2 . 
     Antennas  40 L- 1 ,  40 L- 2 ,  40 H- 1 , and  40 H- 2  may be fed using respective transmission lines. The transmission lines may, for example, be formed from conductive traces  112  on dielectric layer  106 - 1  and portions of ground traces  114 . Conductive traces  112  may form the signal conductor for the transmission lines associated with antennas  40 L- 1 ,  40 L- 2 ,  40 H- 1 , and  40 H- 2 . The transmission line for antenna  40 H- 1  may include a vertical conductive through-via  110 - 3  that extends from conductive traces  112  through dielectric layer  106 - 2 , a hole in ground traces  114 , and dielectric layer  106 - 3  to positive antenna feed terminal  56 - 3  on patch element  60 - 3 . Similarly, the transmission line for antenna  40 H- 2  may include a vertical conductive through-via  110 - 4  that extends from conductive traces  112  through dielectric layer  106 - 2 , a hole in ground traces  114 , and dielectric layer  106 - 3  to positive antenna feed terminal  56 - 4  on patch element  60 - 4 . The transmission line for antenna  40 L- 1  may include a vertical conductive through-via  110 - 1  that extends from conductive traces  112  through dielectric layer  106 - 2 , a hole in ground traces  114 , dielectric layer  106 - 3 , and dielectric layer  106 - 4  to positive antenna feed terminal  56 - 1  on patch element  60 - 1 . Similarly, the transmission line for antenna  40 L- 2  may include a vertical conductive through-via  110 - 2  that extends from conductive traces  112  through dielectric layer  106 - 2 , a hole in ground traces  114 , dielectric layer  106 - 3 , dielectric layer  106 - 4 , a hole in patch element  60 - 1 , and dielectric layer  106 - 5  to positive antenna feed terminal  56 - 2  on patch element  60 - 2 . This example is merely illustrative and, if desired, other transmission line structures may be used (e.g., coaxial cable structures, stripline transmission line structures, etc.). 
     When arranged in this way, antennas  40 L- 1 ,  40 L- 2 ,  40 H- 1 , and  40 H- 2  may be co-located within the same volume while exhibiting satisfactory antenna efficiency in the first and second low frequency bands and in the high frequency band. Antennas  40 H- 1  and  40 H- 2  may, if desired, use radio-frequency signals  111  to perform spatial ranging operations without significant signal blocking by antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  (e.g., radio-freuqency signals  111  of  FIG. 8  may form radio-frequency signals  86  and/or  88  of  FIG. 6 ). 
     The example of  FIG. 8  is merely illustrative and, if desired, additional dielectric layers  106  may be interposed between any of the conductive traces in unit cell  100 . In another suitable arrangement, substrate  104  may be formed from a single dielectric layer (e.g., antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 L- 1 , and  40 L- 2  may be embedded within a single dielectric layer such as a molded plastic layer). In yet another suitable arrangement, substrate  104  may be omitted and the antennas may be formed on other substrate structures or may be formed without substrates. In the example of  FIG. 8 , antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 L- 1 , and  40 L- 2  are shown as each having only a single feed for the sake of simplicity. In order to enhance the polarizations covered by unit cell  100 , antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 L- 1 , and/or  40 L- 2  may be dual-polarized patch antennas that each have two corresponding feeds (e.g., as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
       FIG. 9  is a top view of unit cell  100  (e.g., as taken in the direction of arrow  108  of  FIG. 8 ). As shown in  FIG. 9 , until cell  100  may include additional antennas  40 H such as antennas  40 H- 3  and  40 H- 4 . Antenna  40 H- 3  may include a corresponding patch element  60 - 5  and antenna  40 H- 4  may include a corresponding patch element  60 - 6  (e.g., patch elements formed from conductive traces on dielectric layer  106 - 3  of  FIG. 8 ). In the example of  FIG. 9 , dielectric substrate  104  is not shown for the sake of clarity. 
     Antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 ,  40 H- 4 ,  40 L- 1 , and  40 L- 2  may each be co-located within cavity (volume)  120 . Cavity  120  may have conductive walls (edges) defined by ground traces  114  of  FIG. 8  and sets (fences) of conductive vias  122 . Conductive vias  122  may extend through substrate  104  of  FIG. 8  from ground traces  114  to the top surface of substrate  104  and may laterally surround unit cell  100 . Conductive vias  122  may be held at a ground or reference potential. The fences of conductive vias  122  for unit cell  100  may be opaque at frequencies covered by antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 ,  40 H- 4 ,  40 L- 1 , and  40 L- 2 . Each conductive via  122  may be separated from two adjacent conductive vias  170  by a distance (pitch) that is less than about ⅛ of the longest wavelength of operation of unit cell  100  (e.g., an effective wavelength in the first low frequency band after compensating for the dielectric effects of substrate  104  of  FIG. 8 ). The fences of conductive vias  122  may be replaced with solid metal walls in another suitable arrangement (e.g., sheet metal walls, walls formed from conductive traces, integral portions of the housing of device  10 , etc.). In yet another suitable arrangement, conductive vias  122  may be omitted and cavity  120  may not be laterally surrounded by any conductive walls. 
     Antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  may be centered about point  124 . Point  124  may lie at the center of cavity  120  (unit cell  100 ), as an example. Antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and  40 H- 4  may be located at respective corners of cavity  120  and unit cell  100 . For example, antenna  40 H- 1  may be located adjacent to the bottom-left corner of patch elements  60 - 1  and  60 - 2  (e.g., at the lower-left corner of cavity  120 ), antenna  40 H- 2  may be located adjacent to the bottom-right corner of patch elements  60 - 1  and  60 - 2  (e.g., at the lower-right corner of cavity  120 ), antenna  40 H- 3  may be located adjacent to the top-right corner of patch elements  60 - 1  and  60 - 2  (e.g., at the upper-right corner of cavity  120 ), and antenna  40 H- 4  may be located adjacent to the top-left corner of patch elements  60 - 1  and  60 - 2  (e.g., at the upper-left corner of cavity  120 ). Locating antennas  40 H- 1  through  40 H- 4  in this way may serve to minimize shadowing from antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2 , for example. 
     By locating four antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and  40 H- 4  within unit cell  100 , antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and  40 H- 4  in unit cell  100  may collectively cover a substantially uniform field of view over unit cell  100  (e.g., antenna  40 H- 2  may cover angles to the bottom-right of unit cell  100  that antenna  40 H- 4  cannot cover due to shadowing from antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2 , antenna  40 H- 3  may cover angles to the top-right of unit cell  100  that antenna  40 - 1  cannot cover due to shadowing from antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2 , etc.). In scenarios where unit cell  100  only includes one of antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2 , two of antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and  40 H- 4  may be omitted without sacrificing coverage angles in the high frequency band for unit cell  100  (e.g., because a single one of antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  may produce less shadowing than both antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2 ). 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , patch element  60 - 1  may have edges  132  and patch element  60 - 2  may have edges  130  extending parallel to one of orthogonal axes  126  and  128  (e.g., patch elements  60 - 1  and  60 - 2  may be rectangular patches and/or may have rectangular lateral footprints). In the example of  FIG. 9 , patch element  60 - 1  has a cross-shape (e.g., corners of an otherwise rectangular patch may be removed) for impedance matching. This is merely illustrative. If desired, patch element  60 - 2  may have a cross shape and/or patch element  60 - 1  may have a completely rectangular shape. The edges of patch elements  60 - 1  and  60 - 2  may each be aligned with the sidewalls of cavity  122 . In other words, axes  126  and  128 , edges  132  of patch element  60 - 1 , and edges  130  of patch element  60 - 2  may each extend parallel to a corresponding pair of the sidewalls of cavity  120  (e.g., parallel to a pair of the via fences laterally surrounding cavity  120 ). 
     Patch elements  60 - 3 ,  60 - 4 ,  60 - 5 , and  60 - 6  in antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and  40 H- 4  may be rotated at a non-parallel angle with respect to edges  132  of patch element  60 - 1  and edges  130  of patch element  60 - 2 . For example, edges  138  of patch elements  60 - 3 ,  60 - 4 ,  60 - 5 , and  60 - 6  may each extend parallel to one of orthogonal axes  136  and  134 . Axes  136  and  134  may be oriented at a non-parallel angle with respect to axes  126  and  124  (e.g., by ten degrees, thirty degrees, forty-five degrees, between one and forty-five degrees, etc.). Edges  138  of each antenna  40 H in unit cell  100  may oriented parallel to the edges  138  in each other antenna  40 H in unit cell  100  or each antenna  40 H in unit cell  100  may be provided with a respective orientation. In general, the edges  138  of patch elements  60 - 3 ,  60 - 4 ,  60 - 5 , and  60 - 6  may extend at any desired non-parallel angles with respect to edges  130  of patch element  60 - 2  and edges  132  of patch element  60 - 1 . In other words, the edges  138  of patch elements  60 - 3 ,  60 - 4 ,  60 - 5 , and  60 - 6  may extend at any desired non-parallel angles with respect to the sidewalls of cavity  120  (e.g., with respect to the fences of conductive vias  122  in unit cell  100 ). Orienting patch elements  60 - 3 ,  60 - 4 ,  60 - 5 , and  60 - 6  in this way may serve to minimize shadowing from antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2 , to maximize isolation between the antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and  40 H- 4  and the antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  in unit cell  100 , and to provide antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and  40 H- 4  with as uniform a coverage area as possible, for example. 
     The example of  FIG. 9  is merely illustrative. Patch elements  60 - 1  through  60 - 6  may have any desired shapes. Cavity  120  need not have a rectangular outline (e.g., cavity  120  may have a hexagonal outline if desired). Device  10  may include multiple unit cells such as unit cell  100  of  FIG. 9  (e.g., to form a phased antenna array using antennas  40 L). 
       FIG. 10  is a top-down view showing how multiple unit cells  100  may be used to form a 1-by-N phased antenna array of antennas  40 L. As show in  FIG. 10 , N unit cells  100  (e.g., a first unit cell  100 - 1 , a second unit cell  100 - 2 , an Nth unit cell  100 -N, etc.) may be arranged in a single row. Each unit cell  100  may include corresponding antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  (or only one of antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  in scenarios where one of the antennas is omitted). Collectively, the antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  in each unit cell  100  may form a single phased antenna array  90  for covering the first and/or second low frequency bands (e.g., antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  in  FIG. 10  may be provided with respective phases and magnitudes for performing beam steering). Phased antenna array  90  may be used to convey wireless data over a two-way wireless communications link such as wireless communications link  84  of  FIG. 6 . 
     One or more of the unit cells  100  may include a corresponding set of antennas  40 H (e.g., antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and/or  40 H- 4  of  FIG. 9  formed at respective corners of that unit cell). In the example of  FIG. 10 , the unit cells at opposing ends of phased antenna array  90  (e.g., first unit cell  100 - 1  and Nth unit cell  100 -N) are provided with antennas  40 H. The antennas  40 H in unit cell  100 - 1  may transmit radio-frequency signals (e.g., radio-frequency signals  86  of  FIG. 6 ) in the high frequency band for performing spatial ranging operations. The antennas  40 H in unit cell  100 -N may receive radio-frequency signals (e.g., radio-frequency signals  88  of  FIG. 6 ) in the high frequency band for performing spatial ranging operations. The antennas  40 H in unit cell  100 - 1  may therefore sometimes be referred to herein as a set or array  92 TX of transmit antennas (e.g., a transmit array  92 TX) whereas the antennas  40 H in unit cell  100 -N are sometimes referred to herein as a set or array  92 RX of receive antennas (e.g., a receive array  92 RX). The antennas  40 H in array  92 TX may be provided with respective phases and magnitudes for performing beam steering (e.g., array  92 TX may be a phased antenna array) or may not perform beam steering, if desired. Similarly, the antennas  40 H in array  92 RX may be provided with respective phases and magnitudes for performing beam steering (e.g., array  92 RX may be a phased antenna array) or may not perform beam steering, if desired. Forming arrays  92 TX and  92 RX in unit cells  100  that are located as far apart as possible may serve to maximize isolation between arrays  92 TX and  92 RX (e.g., isolation between the transmitted and received radio-frequency signals used for performing spatial ranging operations). 
     The antennas  40 L- 1 ,  40 L- 2 , and  40 H within each of the unit cells  100  of  FIG. 10  may be embedded within the same substrate if desired (e.g., substrate  104  of  FIG. 8 ). Conductive walls (e.g., fences of conductive vias  122 ) may separate and electromagnetically isolate adjacent unit cells  100 . Vias  122  may be omitted if desired. 
     The example of  FIG. 10  is merely illustrative. In general, any desired number of unit cells  100  may include a corresponding array of antennas  40 H (e.g., each unit cell, two unit cells, one unit cell, etc.). Unit cells  100  may be arranged in other patterns (e.g., rectangular patterns having N columns and M rows, non-rectangular patterns, etc.).  FIG. 11  shows an example in which four unit cells  100  are arranged in a rectangular pattern having two rows and two columns. 
     As shown in  FIG. 11 , phased antenna array  90  may include the antennas  40 L- 1  and  40 L- 2  from unit cells  100 - 1 ,  100 - 2 ,  100 - 3 , and  100 - 4 . Unit cells  100 - 1  and  100 - 2  may be arranged in a first row whereas unit cells  100 - 3  and  100 - 4  are arranged in a second row. Unit cells  100 - 1  and  100 - 3  may be arranged in a first column whereas unit cells  100 - 2  and  100 - 4  are arranged in a second column. Unit cell  100 - 1  may be provided with array  92 TX of antennas  40 H whereas unit cell  100 - 4  is provided with array  92 RX of antennas  40 H to maximize isolation between arrays  92 RX and  92 TX. The example of  FIG. 11  is merely illustrative. Other patterns may be used. Any desired number of antennas  40 H may be formed in any desired unit cells. 
     Antennas  40 H (e.g., antennas  40 H- 1  and  40 H- 2  in  FIG. 8 , antennas  40 H- 1 ,  40 H- 2 ,  40 H- 3 , and  40 H- 4  of  FIG. 9 , and/or antennas  40 H of  FIGS. 10 and 11 ) need not be used to perform spatial ranging operations and may, if desired, be used to perform bi-directional communications in the high frequency band with external wireless equipment (e.g., with external device  80  over wireless communications link  84  of  FIG. 6 ). In this way, electronic device  10  may include multiple sets of antennas for performing wireless communications and/or spatial ranging operations using multiple millimeter and/or centimeter wave frequency bands within a relatively small space and without sacrificing radio-frequency performance. 
     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: 20180928
Publication Date: 20200811
Grant Date: 20200811
Priority Date: 20180928
Inventors: GOMEZ ANGULO, RODNEY A.
AVSER, BILGEHAN
RAJAGOPALAN, HARISH
PAULOTTO, Simone
EDWARDS, JENNIFER M.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04B7/2603", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/40", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/3833", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B1/0064", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q5/42", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/525", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1698", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/48", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1698", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/50", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/026", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0435", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/38", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0414", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q23/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/24", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F1/1698", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/38", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 69946601