PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11340329-B2
Application Number: US-201916563658-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with broadband ranging capabilities

Abstract:
An electronic device may be provided with control circuitry and wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include a phased antenna array and a radio-frequency integrated circuit having transmit and receive ports. The array may include a first set of stacked patch antennas coupled to the transmit ports and a second set of stacked patch antennas coupled to the receive ports. The integrated circuit may transmit ranging signals at millimeter wave frequencies using the transmit ports and the first set of antennas. The integrated circuit may receive a reflected version of the transmitted ranging signals that has been reflected off of an external object using the receive ports and the second set of antennas. The control circuitry may identify a distance between the electronic device and the external object based on the transmitted and received signals.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. Apparatus comprising:
 a radio-frequency integrated circuit having transmit ports and receive ports; 
 a phased antenna array comprising: 
 a first set of stacked patch antennas coupled to the transmit ports, wherein the radio-frequency integrated circuit is configured to transmit millimeter wave signals using the transmit ports and the first set of stacked patch antennas, and 
 a second set of stacked patch antennas coupled to the receive ports, wherein the radio-frequency integrated circuit is configured to receive millimeter wave signals using the receive ports and the second set of stacked patch antennas, each stacked patch antenna in the first and second sets of stacked patch antennas comprising a patch element and a parasitic element overlapping the patch element; and
 control circuitry configured to perform spatial ranging operations based on the transmitted and received millimeter wave signals. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus defined in  claim 1 , wherein each stacked patch antenna in the first and second sets of stacked patch antennas further comprises:
 a ground plane, the corresponding patch element of the corresponding stacked patch antenna overlapping the ground plane; 
 a first antenna feed terminal coupled to the corresponding patch element of the corresponding stacked patch antenna; and 
 a second antenna feed terminal coupled to the ground plane. 
 
     
     
       3. The apparatus defined in  claim 2 , wherein the patch element in each stacked patch antenna in the first and second sets of stacked patch antennas comprises impedance matching notches. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus defined in  claim 2 , wherein the parasitic element in each stacked patch antenna in the first and second sets of stacked patch antennas comprises a rectangular metal patch. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus defined in  claim 4 , the first and second sets of stacked patch antennas are embedded in a dielectric substrate. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus defined in  claim 1 , wherein each stacked patch antenna in the first and second sets of stacked patch antennas is configured to cover a bandwidth greater than 1 GHz. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus defined in  claim 1 , wherein each stacked patch antenna in the first and second sets of stacked patch antennas is configured to radiate in a frequency band from 57 GHz to 61 GHz. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus defined in  claim 1 , wherein each stacked patch antenna in the first and second sets of stacked patch antennas is located in a single row of the phased antenna array. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus defined in  claim 1 , wherein the first set of stacked patch antennas is arranged in a first set of columns of multiple, in-phase, stacked patch antennas, and wherein the second set of stacked patch antennas is arranged in a second set of columns of multiple, in-phase, stacked patch antennas. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus defined in  claim 9 , wherein the radio-frequency integrated circuit comprises a respective phase and magnitude controller coupled to each column in the first and second sets of columns. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus defined in  claim 1 , wherein the received millimeter wave signals comprise a reflected version of the transmitted millimeter wave signals that have been reflected off of an external object, the control circuitry being configured to track a location of the external object based on the transmitted and received millimeter wave signals. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus defined in  claim 1 , wherein each stacked patch antenna in the first set is separated from at least one other stacked patch antenna in the first set by twice an effective wavelength of operation of the phased antenna array, and each stacked patch antenna in the second set is separated from at least one other stacked patch antenna in the second set by one-half the effective wavelength of operation of the phased antenna array. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus defined in  claim 12 , wherein the first set of stacked patch antennas comprises three stacked patch antennas and the second set of stacked patch antennas comprises four stacked patch antennas. 
     
     
       14. An electronic device comprising:
 an integrated circuit chip having transmit ports and receive ports; 
 a phased antenna array, wherein the phased antenna array comprises: 
 transmit antennas coupled to the transmit ports, wherein the transmit antennas and the transmit ports are configured to transmit millimeter wave ranging signals using a bandwidth greater than 1 GHz, and 
 receive antennas coupled to the receive ports, wherein the receive antennas and the receive ports are configured to receive reflected millimeter wave ranging signals using the bandwidth greater than 1 GHz, each antenna in the transmit and receive antennas comprising stacked patch antenna structures that include a patch element and a parasitic element overlapping the patch element; and 
 control circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to perform spatial ranging operations based on the transmitted millimeter wave ranging signals and the received reflected millimeter wave ranging signals. 
 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 14 , wherein the bandwidth is greater than 2 GHz. 
     
     
       16. The electronic device defined in  claim 15 , wherein the transmit antennas and the transmit ports are configured to transmit the millimeter wave ranging signals in a frequency band comprising frequencies from 57 GHz to 61 GHz. 
     
     
       17. An electronic device comprising:
 a phased antenna array having a first set of antennas configured to transmit radio-frequency ranging signals at a frequency greater than 10 GHz and a second set of antennas configured to receive a reflected version of the transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals, wherein each antenna in the first and second sets of antennas comprises a ground plane, a patch antenna resonating element overlapping the ground plane, and a parasitic patch overlapping the patch antenna resonating element; and 
 control circuitry coupled to the phased antenna array, wherein the control circuitry is configured to identify a distance between the apparatus and an external object based on the radio-frequency ranging signals transmitted by the first set of antennas and the reflected version of the transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals received by the second set of antennas. 
 
     
     
       18. The apparatus defined in  claim 17 , wherein each antenna in the first and second sets of antennas is configured to cover a bandwidth greater than 1 GHz, each antenna in the first set is separated from at least one other antenna in the first set by twice an effective wavelength of operation corresponding to the frequency, and each antenna in the second set is separated from at least one other antenna in the second set by one-half the effective wavelength of operation.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/776,968, filed Dec. 7, 2018, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     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. Electronic devices also often include wireless circuitry for performing spatial ranging operations in which transmitted and reflected radio-frequency signals are used to identify a distance between the electronic device and an external object. 
     It may be desirable to support spatial ranging operations at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies between 10 GHz and 300 GHz. However, if care is not taken, the wireless circuitry will exhibit insufficient bandwidth for performing satisfactory spatial ranging operations at these frequencies. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with wireless circuitry that supports millimeter and centimeter wave spatial ranging operations at relatively high bandwidths. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may be provided with control circuitry and wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry and the control circuitry may perform spatial ranging operations using a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) radio detection and ranging (RADAR) scheme. 
     The wireless circuitry may include a radio-frequency integrated circuit having transmit ports and receive ports. Millimeter and centimeter wave transceiver circuitry may be formed on the radio-frequency integrated circuit. Phase and magnitude controllers may be coupled to each of the transmit and receive ports. The wireless circuitry may include a phased antenna array coupled to the radio-frequency integrated circuit. 
     The phased antenna array may include a first set of stacked patch antennas coupled to the transmit ports and a second set of stacked patch antennas coupled to the receive ports. The first and second sets of stacked patch antennas may be formed in a single row of the phased antenna array or may each include columns of multiple, in phase, stacked patch antennas for narrowing a beam width generated by the phased antenna array. 
     The radio-frequency integrated circuit may transmit radio-frequency ranging signals at millimeter wave frequencies using the transmit ports and the first set of stacked patch antennas. The radio-frequency integrated circuit may receive a reflected version of the transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals that has been reflected off of an external object using the receive ports and the second set of stacked patch antennas. The control circuitry may identify a distance between the electronic device and the external object based on the transmitted and received signals. The first and second sets of stacked patch antennas may configure the phased antenna array to support relatively wide bandwidths such as bandwidths greater than 1 GHz. This may allow the electronic device to perform the spatial ranging operations over a relatively wide range of frequencies such as frequencies from 57 GHz to 61 GHz. 
    
    
     
       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 with wireless circuitry 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 schematic diagram showing how illustrative millimeter and centimeter wave transceiver circuitry may be coupled to an antenna using a radio-frequency transmission line in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram of an illustrative phased antenna array that may be adjusted using control circuitry to direct a beam of signals in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram showing how an illustrative electronic device may perform spatial ranging operations using a phased antenna array and millimeter wave signals in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of illustrative stacked patch antenna structures that may be provided in a phased antenna array for performing spatial ranging operations using millimeter wave signals in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 8  is a plot of antenna performance (antenna efficiency) for illustrative stacked patch antenna structures of the type shown in  FIG. 7  in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram showing how an illustrative phased antenna array may include dedicated transmit and receive antennas for performing spatial ranging operations using millimeter wave signals in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram showing how an illustrative phased antenna array may include columns of multiple, in-phase, transmit and receive antennas for performing spatial ranging operations using millimeter wave signals 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 performing wireless communications and/or spatial ranging operations using millimeter and centimeter wave signals. Millimeter wave signals, which are sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency (EHF) signals, propagate at frequencies above about 30 GHz (e.g., at 60 GHz or other frequencies between about 30 GHz and 300 GHz). Centimeter wave signals propagate at frequencies between about 10 GHz and 30 GHz. If desired, device  10  may also contain antennas 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 portable speaker, a keyboard, a gaming controller, a gaming system, 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, portable speaker, 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 sensor 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 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 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 wall  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 (e.g., plastic, glass, sapphire, ceramic, fabric, etc.), 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 . 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  are merely illustrative. In general, housing  12  may have any desired shape (e.g., a rectangular shape, a cylindrical shape, a spherical shape, combinations of these, etc.). Display  8  of  FIG. 1  may be omitted if desired. Antennas may be located within housing  12 , on housing  12 , and/or external to housing  12 . 
     A schematic diagram of illustrative components that may be used in device  10  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , device  10  may include control circuitry  14 . Control circuitry  14  may include storage such as storage circuitry  20 . Storage circuitry  20  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. Control circuitry  14  may include processing circuitry such as processing circuitry  22 . Processing circuitry  22  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . Processing circuitry  22  may include on one or more 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  using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware, and/or software. Software code for performing operations in device  10  may be stored on storage circuitry  20  (e.g., storage circuitry  20  may include non-transitory (tangible) computer readable storage media that stores the software code). The software code may sometimes be referred to as program instructions, software, data, instructions, or code. Software code stored on storage circuitry  20  may be executed by processing circuitry  22 . 
     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. 
     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 such as wireless circuitry  24  for wirelessly conveying radio-frequency signals. While control circuitry  14  is shown separately from wireless circuitry  24  in the example of  FIG. 3  for the sake of clarity, wireless circuitry  24  may include processing circuitry that forms a part of processing circuitry  22  and/or storage circuitry that forms a part of storage circuitry  20  of control circuitry  14  (e.g., portions of control circuitry  14  may be implemented on wireless circuitry  24 ). As an example, control circuitry  14  may include baseband processor circuitry or other control components that form a part of wireless circuitry  24 . 
     Wireless circuitry  24  may include millimeter and centimeter wave transceiver circuitry such as millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28 . Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may support communications at frequencies between about 10 GHz and 300 GHz. For example, millimeter/centimeter 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/centimeter 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/centimeter 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. Millimeter/centimeter 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.). 
     Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  (sometimes referred to herein simply as transceiver circuitry  28  or millimeter/centimeter wave circuitry  28 ) may perform spatial ranging operations using radio-frequency signals at millimeter and/or centimeter wave signals that are transmitted and received by millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28 . The received signals may be a version of the transmitted signals that have been reflected off of external objects and back towards device  10 . Control circuitry  14  may process the transmitted and received signals to detect or estimate a range between device  10  and one or more external objects in the surroundings of device  10  (e.g., objects external to device  10  such as the body of a user or other persons, other devices, animals, furniture, walls, or other objects or obstacles in the vicinity of device  10 ). If desired, control circuitry  14  may also process the transmitted and received signals to identify a two or three-dimensional spatial location of the external objects relative to device  10 . 
     Spatial ranging operations performed by millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  are unidirectional. If desired, millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may also perform bidirectional communications with external wireless equipment. Bidirectional communications involve both the transmission of wireless data by millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  and the reception of wireless data that has been transmitted by external wireless equipment. The wireless data may, for example, include data that has been encoded into corresponding data packets such as wireless data associated with a telephone call, streaming media content, internet browsing, wireless data associated with software applications running on device  10 , email messages, etc. 
     If desired, wireless circuitry  24  may include transceiver circuitry for handling communications at frequencies below 10 GHz such as non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  26 . Non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  26  may include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver circuitry that handles 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands for Wi-Fi® (IEEE 802.11) communications, wireless personal area network (WPAN) transceiver circuitry that handles the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® communications band, cellular telephone transceiver circuitry that handles cellular telephone communications bands from 700 to 960 MHz, 1710 to 2170 MHz, 2300 to 2700 MHz, and/or or any other desired cellular telephone communications bands between 600 MHz and 4000 MHz, GPS receiver circuitry that receives GPS signals at 1575 MHz or signals for handling other satellite positioning data (e.g., GLONASS signals at 1609 MHz), television receiver circuitry, AM/FM radio receiver circuitry, paging system transceiver circuitry, near field communications (NFC) circuitry, etc. Non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  26  and millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may each include one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive radio-frequency components, switching circuitry, transmission line structures, and other circuitry for handling radio-frequency signals. 
     Wireless circuitry  24  may include antennas  30 . Non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  26  may transmit and receive radio-frequency signals below 10 GHz using one or more antennas  30 . Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may transmit and receive radio-frequency signals above 10 GHz (e.g., at millimeter wave and/or centimeter wave frequencies) using antennas  30 . 
     In satellite navigation system links, cellular telephone links, and other long-range links, radio-frequency signals are typically used to convey data over thousands of feet or miles. In Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® links at 2.4 and 5 GHz and other short-range wireless links, radio-frequency signals are typically used to convey data over tens or hundreds of feet. Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may convey radio-frequency signals over short distances that travel 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 are 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  30  in wireless circuitry  24  may be formed using any suitable antenna types. For example, antennas  30  may include antennas with resonating elements that are formed from stacked patch antenna structures, loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures, slot antenna structures, planar inverted-F antenna structures, monopole antenna structures, dipole antenna structures, helical antenna structures, Yagi (Yagi-Uda) antenna structures, hybrids of these designs, etc. If desired, one or more of antennas  30  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 non-millimeter/centimeter wave wireless link for non-millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  26  and another type of antenna may be used in conveying radio-frequency signals at millimeter and/or centimeter wave frequencies for millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28 . Antennas  30  that are used to convey radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies may be arranged in one or more phased antenna arrays. 
     A schematic diagram of an antenna  30  that may be formed in a phased antenna array for conveying radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , antenna  30  may be coupled to millimeter/centimeter (MM/CM) wave transceiver circuitry  28 . Millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  may be coupled to antenna feed  34  of antenna  30  using a transmission line path that includes radio-frequency transmission line  32 . Antenna feed  34  may include a positive antenna feed terminal such as positive antenna feed terminal  36  and may include a ground antenna feed terminal such as ground antenna feed terminal  38 . Radio-frequency transmission line  32  may include a positive signal conductor such as signal conductor  40  that is coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  36 . Radio-frequency transmission line  32  may include a ground conductor such as ground conductor  42  that is coupled to ground antenna feed terminal  38 . 
     Radio-frequency transmission line  32  may include a coaxial cable, a coaxial probe realized by metalized vias, a microstrip transmission line, a stripline transmission line, an edge-coupled microstrip transmission line, an edge-coupled stripline transmission lines, a waveguide structure, combinations of these, etc. Multiple types of transmission lines may be used to form the transmission line path that couples millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  to antenna feed  34 . Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, phase shifter circuitry, amplifier circuitry, and/or other circuitry may be interposed on radio-frequency transmission line  32 , if desired. 
     Radio-frequency transmission lines in device  10  may be integrated into ceramic substrates, rigid printed circuit boards, and/or flexible printed circuits. In one suitable arrangement, radio-frequency transmission lines in device  10  may be 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). 
       FIG. 5  shows how antennas  30  for handling radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies may be formed in a phased antenna array. As shown in  FIG. 5 , phased antenna array  48  (sometimes referred to herein as array  48 , antenna array  48 , or array  48  of antennas  30 ) may be coupled to radio-frequency transmission lines  32 . For example, a first antenna  30 - 1  in phased antenna array  48  may be coupled to a first radio-frequency transmission line  32 - 1 , a second antenna  30 - 2  in phased antenna array  48  may be coupled to a second radio-frequency transmission line  32 - 2 , an Nth antenna  30 -N in phased antenna array  48  may be coupled to an Nth radio-frequency transmission line  32 -N, etc. While antennas  30  are described herein as forming a phased antenna array, the antennas  30  in phased antenna array  48  may sometimes also be referred to as collectively forming a single phased array antenna. 
     Antennas  30  in phased antenna array  48  may be arranged in any desired number of rows and columns or in any other desired pattern (e.g., the antennas need not be arranged in a grid pattern having rows and columns). During signal transmission operations, radio-frequency transmission lines  32  may be used to supply signals (e.g., radio-frequency signals such as millimeter wave and/or centimeter wave signals) from millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  ( FIG. 4 ) to phased antenna array  48  for wireless transmission. During signal reception operations, radio-frequency transmission lines  32  may be used to convey signals received at phased antenna array  48  (e.g., from external wireless equipment or transmitted signals that have been reflected off of external objects) to millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  ( FIG. 4 ). 
     The use of multiple antennas  30  in phased antenna array  48  allows beam steering arrangements to be implemented by controlling the relative phases and magnitudes (amplitudes) of the radio-frequency signals conveyed by the antennas. In the example of  FIG. 5 , antennas  30  each have a corresponding radio-frequency phase and magnitude controller  46  (e.g., a first phase and magnitude controller  46 - 1  interposed on radio-frequency transmission line  32 - 1  may control phase and magnitude for radio-frequency signals handled by antenna  30 - 1 , a second phase and magnitude controller  46 - 2  interposed on radio-frequency transmission line  32 - 2  may control phase and magnitude for radio-frequency signals handled by antenna  30 - 2 , an Nth phase and magnitude controller  46 -N interposed on radio-frequency transmission line  32 -N may control phase and magnitude for radio-frequency signals handled by antenna  30 -N, etc.). 
     Phase and magnitude controllers  46  may each include circuitry for adjusting the phase of the radio-frequency signals on transmission lines  32  (e.g., phase shifter circuits) and/or circuitry for adjusting the magnitude of the radio-frequency signals on transmission lines  32  (e.g., power amplifier and/or low noise amplifier circuits). Phase and magnitude controllers  46  may sometimes be referred to collectively herein as beam steering circuitry (e.g., beam steering circuitry that steers the beam of radio-frequency signals transmitted and/or received by phased antenna array  48 ). 
     Phase and magnitude controllers  46  may adjust the relative phases and/or magnitudes of the transmitted signals that are provided to each of the antennas in phased antenna array  48  and may adjust the relative phases and/or magnitudes of the received signals that are received by phased antenna array  48 . Phase and magnitude controllers  46  may, if desired, include phase detection circuitry for detecting the phases of the received signals that are received by phased antenna array  48 . The term “beam” or “signal beam” may be used herein to collectively refer to wireless signals that are transmitted and received by phased antenna array  48  in a particular direction. The signal beam may exhibit a peak gain that is oriented in a particular pointing direction at a corresponding pointing angle (e.g., based on constructive and destructive interference from the combination of signals from each antenna in the phased antenna array). The term “transmit beam” may sometimes be used herein to refer to radio-frequency signals that are transmitted in a particular direction whereas the term “receive beam” may sometimes be used herein to refer to radio-frequency signals that are received from a particular direction. 
     If, for example, phase and magnitude controllers  46  are adjusted to produce a first set of phases and/or magnitudes for transmitted radio-frequency signals, the transmitted signals will form a transmit beam as shown by beam B 1  of  FIG. 5  that is oriented in the direction of point A. If, however, phase and magnitude controllers  46  are adjusted to produce a second set of phases and/or magnitudes for the transmitted signals, the transmitted signals will form a transmit beam as shown by beam B 2  that is oriented in the direction of point B. Similarly, if phase and magnitude controllers  46  are adjusted to produce the first set of phases and/or magnitudes, radio-frequency signals (e.g., radio-frequency signals in a receive beam) may be received from the direction of point A, as shown by beam B 1 . If phase and magnitude controllers  46  are adjusted to produce the second set of phases and/or magnitudes, radio-frequency signals may be received from the direction of point B, as shown by beam B 2 . 
     Each phase and magnitude controller  46  may be controlled to produce a desired phase and/or magnitude based on a corresponding control signal  44  received from control circuitry  14  of  FIG. 3  (e.g., the phase and/or magnitude provided by phase and magnitude controller  46 - 1  may be controlled using control signal  44 - 1 , the phase and/or magnitude provided by phase and magnitude controller  46 - 2  may be controlled using control signal  44 - 2 , etc.). If desired, control circuitry  14  may actively adjust control signals  44  in real time to steer the transmit or receive beam in different desired directions over time. Phase and magnitude controllers  46  may provide information identifying the phase of received signals to control circuitry  14  if desired. 
     When performing spatial ranging operations using radio-frequency signals at millimeter and centimeter wave frequencies, the radio-frequency signals are conveyed over a line of sight path between phased antenna array  48  and an external object. If the external object is located at point A of  FIG. 5 , phase and magnitude controllers  46  may be adjusted to steer the signal beam towards point A (e.g., to steer the pointing direction of the signal beam towards point A). Phased antenna array  48  may transmit radio-frequency signals towards point A and may receive a reflected version of the transmitted signals that have reflected off of the external object at point A. Control circuitry  14  ( FIG. 3 ) may then process the transmitted and received signals to identify a distance (range) between phased antenna array  48  and the external object at point A. Control circuitry  14  may use information about how phased antenna array  48  was steered while transmitting and receiving the radio-frequency signals to pinpoint the spatial location of the external object (e.g., to identify both the distance between phased antenna array  48  and the external object and the pointing angle of the line-of-sight path between the external object and phased antenna array  48 ). 
     Similarly, if the external object is located at point B, phase and magnitude controllers  46  may be adjusted to steer the signal beam towards point B (e.g., to steer the pointing direction of the signal beam towards point B). Phased antenna array  48  may transmit radio-frequency signals towards point B and may receive a reflected version of the transmitted signals that have reflected off of the external object at point B. These signals may both be processed to identify the position of the external object at point B. If desired, control circuitry  14  ( FIG. 3 ) may control phase and magnitude controllers  46  to sweep over different beam directions while transmitting and receiving radio-frequency signals for performing spatial ranging operations. This may allow control circuitry  14  to identify and track the location of one or more external objects over time, even if the external objects move relative to phased antenna array  48 . In the example of  FIG. 5 , beam steering is shown as being performed over a single degree of freedom for the sake of simplicity (e.g., towards the left and right on the page of  FIG. 5 ). However, in practice, the beam may be steered over two or more degrees of freedom (e.g., in three dimensions, into and out of the page and to the left and right on the page of  FIG. 5 ). 
       FIG. 6  is a diagram showing how device  10  may perform spatial ranging operations using radio-frequency signals at millimeter and/or centimeter wave frequencies. As shown in  FIG. 6 , circuitry on device  10  (e.g., millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  of  FIG. 3 ) may use one or more phased antenna arrays  48  to transmit radio-frequency ranging signals  54 . Radio-frequency ranging signals  54  may be transmitted by phased antenna array  48  at a millimeter or centimeter wave frequency. Radio-frequency ranging signals  54  may include a sequence (e.g., series) of pulses or other predetermined signals at millimeter or centimeter wave frequencies (e.g., pulses that are generated based on a RADAR protocol or other range or object detection protocol). 
     Device  10  may then wait for receipt of a reflected version of transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals  54  that has been reflected off of an external object in the vicinity of device  10  (e.g., within a line-of-sight of device  10 ). In the example of  FIG. 6 , the transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals  54  are reflected off of external object  50  as reflected signals  56 . Upon receiving reflected signals  56  using phased antenna array  48 , circuitry on device  10  (e.g., control circuitry  14  of  FIG. 3 ) may compare the transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals  54  (e.g., the sequence of pulses in the transmitted signals) to the received reflected signals  56  (e.g., the sequence of pulses in the received signals) to identify distance R 1  between device  10  and external object  50 . The control circuitry may identify distance R 1  based on a time delay between the transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals  54  and the received reflected signals  56 , as well as the known propagation speed of the signals over the air. The sequence of pulses may, for example, allow millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  to identify that any given received signal is a reflected version of the transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals  54  instead of some other signal received at device  10  (e.g., because the sequence of pulses will be the same for the reflected signals as the known sequence of pulses in the transmitted radio-frequency ranging signals). 
     If desired, device  10  may use the known pointing angle of radio-frequency ranging signals  54  and reflected signals  56  in combination with the identified distance (e.g., distance R 1 ) to determine the two or three-dimensional spatial location of external object  50  (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z coordinates for external object  50  in the vicinity of device  10 ). These operations may be repeated to track the location of external object  50  relative to device  10  over time. 
     If desired, device  10  may track the location of multiple external objects relative to device  10  in this manner. As shown in  FIG. 6 , for example, radio-frequency ranging signals  54 ′ and reflected signals  56 ′ may be used to identify distance R 2  between device  10  and an additional external object  52 . Device  10  may use the known pointing angle of radio-frequency ranging signals  54 ′ and reflected signals  56 ′ in combination with distance R 2  to determine the spatial location of external object  52 . These operations may be repeated to track the location of external object  52  over time. 
     In one suitable arrangement, a first set of antennas in phased antenna array  48  may be used to transmit radio-frequency ranging signals  54  and  54 ′ and a second set of antennas in phased antenna array  48  may be used to receive reflected signals  56  and  56 ′. In another suitable arrangement, the same antennas may be used to both transmit the radio-frequency ranging signals and receive the reflected signals. In some scenarios, phased antenna array  48  need only operate at relatively narrow bandwidths (e.g., bandwidths less than 1 GHz). However, to optimize spatial ranging operations, it may be desirable to be able to support greater bandwidths using phased antenna array  48 . 
     Any desired antenna structures may be used for implementing the antennas in phased antenna array  48 . If care is not taken, the antennas in phased antenna array  48  may exhibit insufficient bandwidth for performing satisfactory spatial ranging operations. In one suitable arrangement that is sometimes described herein as an example, stacked patch antenna structures may be used for implementing the antennas in phased antenna array  48 . The stacked patch antenna structures may allow phased antenna array  48  to exhibit sufficiently wide bandwidths for optimizing spatial ranging operations. Illustrative stacked patch antenna structures that may be used in phased antenna array  48  are shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     Stacked patch antenna structures  58  of  FIG. 7  may be used to form each antenna  30  ( FIGS. 3-5 ) of phased antenna array  48  ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ). As shown in  FIG. 7 , stacked patch antenna structures  58  may include a patch antenna resonating element  60  that is separated from and parallel to an antenna ground plane such as ground plane  64 . 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 . Ground plane  64  may lie within a plane that is parallel to the plane of patch element  60 . Patch element  60  and ground plane  64  may therefore lie in separate parallel planes that are separated by a distance  66 . Patch element  60  and ground plane  64  may be formed from conductive traces patterned onto a dielectric substrate such as a ceramic substrate, rigid printed circuit board substrate, or flexible printed circuit board substrate (not shown in the example of  FIG. 7  for the sake of clarity). 
     The length of the sides of patch element  60  may be selected so that stacked patch antenna structures  58  resonate at a desired operating frequency. For example, the sides of patch element  60  may each have a length  72  that is approximately equal to half of the wavelength of the signals conveyed by stacked patch antenna structures  58  (e.g., the effective wavelength given the dielectric properties of the materials surrounding patch element  60 ). 
     The example of  FIG. 7  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 ground plane  64  may have different shapes and relative orientations. 
     Stacked patch antenna structures  58  may be fed using positive antenna feed terminal  36  coupled to patch element  60  and ground antenna feed terminal  38  coupled to ground plane  64 . A radio-frequency transmission line (e.g., radio-frequency transmission line  32  of  FIG. 4 ) may be coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  36  and ground antenna feed terminal  38 . Patch element  60  may include impedance matching notches  70  at the side of patch element  60  coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  36  (e.g., to match the impedance of patch element  60  to the impedance of the radio-frequency transmission line). 
     In the example of  FIG. 7 , stacked patch antenna structures  58  only convey radio-frequency signals using a single polarization. If desired, stacked patch antenna structures  58  may be provided with multiple feeds for covering multiple polarizations (e.g., orthogonal horizontal and vertical polarizations, circular polarizations, elliptical polarizations, etc.). 
     If care is not taken, patch element  60  may have insufficient bandwidth on its own for covering the entirety of a frequency band of interest (e.g., a frequency band at frequencies greater than 10 GHz). For example, in scenarios where phased antenna array  48  ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ) is configured to cover a millimeter wave frequency band between 57 GHz and 61 GHz, patch element  60  may have insufficient bandwidth on its own to cover the entirety of the frequency range between 57 GHz and 61 GHz. In order to maximize the bandwidth of antennas  30  ( FIGS. 3-5 ) and thus phased antenna array  48  ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ), stacked patch antenna structures  58  may include one or more parasitic antenna resonating elements that serve to broaden the bandwidth of the antenna. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , a bandwidth-widening parasitic antenna resonating element such as parasitic antenna resonating element  62  may be formed from conductive structures located at a distance  68  over patch element  60 . Parasitic antenna resonating element  62  may sometimes be referred to herein as parasitic resonating element  62 , parasitic antenna element  62 , parasitic element  62 , parasitic patch  62 , parasitic conductor  62 , parasitic structure  62 , parasitic  62 , or patch  62 . Parasitic element  62  is not directly fed, whereas patch element  60  is directly fed via positive antenna feed terminal  36  and ground antenna feed terminal  38 . Parasitic element  62  may create a constructive perturbation of the electromagnetic field generated by patch element  60 , creating a new resonance for stacked patch antenna structures  58  (e.g., parasitic element  62  may have a length that is greater or less than length  72  of patch element  60 ). This may serve to broaden the overall bandwidth of stacked patch antenna structures  58  (e.g., to cover the entire millimeter wave frequency band from 57 GHz to 61 GHz). 
     At least some or an entirety of parasitic element  62  may overlap patch element  60 . If desired, parasitic element  62  may have a cross or “X” shape. In order to form the cross shape, parasitic element  62  may include notches or slots formed by removing conductive material from the corners of a square or rectangular metal patch. Removing conductive material from parasitic element  62  to form a cross shape may serve to adjust the impedance of patch element  60  so that the impedance of patch element  60  is matched to the corresponding radio-frequency transmission line. If desired, parasitic element  106  may have other shapes or orientations (e.g., a rectangular shape, a square shape, or other shapes having straight and/or curved edges). 
     If desired, stacked patch antenna structures  58  of  FIG. 7  may be formed on a dielectric substrate (not shown in  FIG. 7  for the sake of clarity). The dielectric substrate may be, for example, a rigid printed circuit board, a flexible printed circuit, a ceramic substrate, or other dielectric substrate. The dielectric substrate may include multiple stacked dielectric layers (e.g., multiple layers of printed circuit board substrate such as multiple layers of fiberglass-filled epoxy, multiple layers of ceramic substrate, etc.). Ground plane  64 , patch element  60 , and parasitic element  62  may be formed on different layers of the dielectric substrate. 
     When configured in this way, stacked patch antenna structures  58  may cover a relatively wide millimeter wave communications band of interest such as a frequency band between 57 GHz and 61 GHz.  FIG. 8  is a plot of antenna performance (antenna efficiency) as a function of frequency for antennas  30  ( FIGS. 3-5 ) in phased antenna array  48  ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ) that are implemented using stacked patch antenna structures  58  ( FIG. 7 ). As shown in  FIG. 8 , the antennas may exhibit a relatively high bandwidth (e.g., an antenna efficiency greater than threshold efficiency TH) from a first frequency (e.g., 57 GHz) to a second frequency (e.g., 61 GHz). In the absence of parasitic element  62  of  FIG. 7 , the antennas will exhibit a much lower bandwidth (e.g., 1 GHz or less). In the presence of parasitic element  62  of  FIG. 7 , the antennas may exhibit a relatively high bandwidth (e.g., greater than 1 GHz, greater than 2 GHz, greater than 5 GHz, between 1 GHz and 5 GHz, between 1 GHz and 7 GHz, etc.). In this way, the bandwidth of the phased antenna array may be maximized to optimize the spatial ranging operations that are used to track one or more external objects relative to device  10  (e.g., external objects  50  and  52  of  FIG. 6 ). The example of  FIG. 8  is merely illustrative and, in general, the antennas may exhibit antenna efficiency curves of any desired shape extending across any desired millimeter and/or centimeter wave frequencies. 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram showing how wireless circuitry  24  may use different sets of antennas in phased antenna array  48  for transmitting and receiving radio-frequency ranging signals (e.g., using a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) RADAR scheme). As shown in  FIG. 9 , wireless circuitry  24  may include a radio-frequency integrated circuit chip (RFIC)  74 . RFIC  74  may include radio-frequency components such as millimeter/centimeter wave transceiver circuitry  28  ( FIG. 3 ) and phase and magnitude controllers  46  ( FIG. 5 ) for phased antenna array  48 . 
     Phased antenna array  48  may be configured to operate using a MIMO RADAR scheme. When configured in this way, phased antenna array  48  may include a set  76  of antennas  30  ( FIGS. 3-5 ) that are used solely for transmitting radio-frequency signals (sometimes referred to herein as transmit antennas  30 TX) and a set  78  of antennas  30  that are used solely for receiving radio-frequency signals (sometimes referred to herein as receive antennas  30 RX). Transmit antennas  30 TX and receive antennas  30 RX may each be implemented using stacked patch antenna structures  58  of  FIG. 7  to cover a sufficiently wide bandwidth (e.g., from 57 GHz to 61 GHz). Transmit antennas  30 TX and receive antennas  30 RX that have been formed using stacked patch antenna structures  58  of  FIG. 7  may sometimes be referred to herein as stacked patch antennas. 
     Each transmit antenna  30 TX may be coupled to a corresponding transmit port  80 TX of RFIC  74  over respective radio-frequency transmission lines  32 . RFIC  74  may include a corresponding phase and magnitude controller  46  ( FIG. 5 ) coupled to each transmit port  80 TX. Each receive antenna  30 RX may be coupled to a corresponding receive port  80 RX of RFIC  74  over respective radio-frequency transmission lines  32 . RFIC  74  may include a corresponding phase and magnitude controller  46  ( FIG. 5 ) coupled to each receive port  80 RX. In one suitable arrangement that is described herein as an example, set  76  includes three transmit antennas  30 TX whereas set  78  includes four receive antennas  30 RX. This is merely illustrative and, if desired, other numbers of transmit and receive antennas may be used. 
     Each transmit antenna  30 TX in set  76  may be separated from one or more adjacent (neighboring) transmit antennas  30 TX in set  76  by distance 2λ. Distance 2λ may be twice the wavelength of operation λ of phased antenna array  48  (e.g., where the wavelength of operation λ is an effective wavelength of operation that is modified from a corresponding free space wavelength by the dielectric constant of the substrate used in forming phased antenna array  48 ). The wavelength of operation λ may be selected to lie at the center of the frequency band covered by phased antenna array  48  or at any other desired frequencies within the frequency band covered by phased antenna array  48  (e.g., wavelength of operation λ may be selected to correspond with any desired frequency between 57 GHz and 61 GHz). 
     Each receive antenna  30 RX in set  78  may be separated from one or more adjacent receive antennas  30 RX in set  78  by distance λ/2 (e.g., half the wavelength of operation of phased antenna array  48  or one-quarter of the distance separating transmit antennas  30 TX). Configuring phased antenna array  48  in this way may, for example, allow RFIC  74  to convolve the signals received by receive antennas  30 RX to produce a virtual array of receive antennas having more receive antennas than are physically present in phased antenna array  48 . This may, for example, optimize the spatial resolution obtained by phased antenna array  48  given the fixed physical size of phased antenna array  48 . 
     Wireless circuitry  24  may perform spatial ranging operations. For example, RFIC  74  may transmit radio-frequency ranging signals (e.g., radio-frequency ranging signals  54  or  54 ′ of  FIG. 6 ) over transmit ports  80 TX and transmit antennas  30 TX. Corresponding reflected signals (e.g., reflected signals  56  or  56 ′ of  FIG. 6 ) may be received by RFIC  74  over receive antennas  30 RX and receive ports  80 RX. Control circuitry  14  ( FIG. 3 ) may process the transmitted and received signals to identify and track the location of one or more external objects (e.g., external objects  50  and  52  of  FIG. 6 ) relative to device  10 . Forming transmit antennas  30 TX and receive antennas  30 RX using stacked patch antenna structures  58  of  FIG. 7  (e.g., configuring phased antenna array  48  to operate at a bandwidth greater than 1 GHz) may, for example, limit undesirable tilting of the boresight beam of phased antenna array  48  as frequency is changed relative to scenarios where phased antenna array  48  has a bandwidth less than 1 GHz. 
     Because transmit antennas  30 TX and receive antennas  30 RX of  FIG. 9  are all formed within a single row of phased antenna array  48 , the beam of signals handled by phased antenna array  48  may be relatively wide. In order to further focus (narrow) the beam of signals, phased antenna array  48  may include columns of multiple, in-phase, transmit antennas  30 TX and columns of multiple, in-phase, receive antennas  30 RX.  FIG. 10  is a diagram showing how phased antenna array  48  may include columns of multiple, in-phase, transmit antennas  30 TX and columns of multiple, in-phase, receive antennas  30 RX. 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , each transmit antenna  30 TX may be located in a corresponding column  84  of in-phase transmit antennas  30 TX. Similarly, each receive antenna  30 RX may be located in a corresponding column  86  of in-phase receive antennas  30 RX. In the example of  FIG. 10 , each column  84  of transmit antennas  30 TX includes four transmit antennas  30 TX and each column  86  of receive antennas  30 RX includes four receive antennas  30 RX. This is merely illustrative and, in general, columns  86  and  84  may include any desired number of antennas. 
     Each column  84  of transmit antennas  30 TX may be coupled to the same transmit port  80 TX of RFIC  74  over the same (shared) radio-frequency transmission line  32 . Similarly, each column  86  of receive antennas  30 RX may be coupled to the same receive port  80 RX of RFIC  74  over the same (shared) radio-frequency transmission line  32 . Radio-frequency ranging signals that are transmitted over a given transmit port  80 TX may be provided to each transmit antenna  30 TX in the corresponding column  84  coupled to that transmit port  80 TX at the same phase and magnitude (e.g., because the transmit antennas  30 TX in each column  84  share the same receive port  80 RX and the same phase and magnitude controller  46  of  FIG. 5 ). Each transmit antenna  30 TX may be separated from one or two adjacent transmit antennas  30 TX in the same column  84  by a corresponding segment  82  of radio-frequency transmission line  32 . Segments  82  may have a length that is selected so that the radio-frequency ranging signals provided to a given column  84  are in-phase at the location of each transmit antenna  30 TX in that column  84 . For example, segments  82  may each have a length that is approximately equal to λ/2. 
     Similarly, each receive antenna  30 RX may be separated from one or two adjacent receive antennas  30 RX in the same column  86  by a corresponding segment  82  of radio-frequency transmission line  32 . Segments  82  may have a length that is selected so that the reflected signals (e.g., reflected signals  56  or  56 ′ of  FIG. 6 ) are provided from a given column  86  to the corresponding receive port  80 RX in-phase from each receive antenna  30 RX in that column  86 . For example, segments  82  in set  78  of phased antenna array  48  may each have a length that is approximately equal to λ/2. By distributing transmit antennas  30 TX and receive antennas  30 RX across multiple rows of phased antenna array  48  in this way, the signal beam handled by phased antenna array  48  may be more focused (narrow) than in scenarios where phased antenna array  48  includes only a single row of antennas. 
     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: 20190906
Publication Date: 20220524
Grant Date: 20220524
Priority Date: 20181207
Inventors: PAULOTTO, Simone
DI NALLO, CARLO
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G01S13/66", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/0209", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q5/335", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/247", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S7/032", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/38", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q5/385", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/225", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/46", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/0209", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S7/032", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/50", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/48", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S2013/0254", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/26", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/0006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S2013/0254", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q5/385", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S7/032", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/0209", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S2013/0254", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01S13/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 70970871