PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10418687-B2
Application Number: US-201615217805-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic device with millimeter wave antennas on printed circuits

Abstract:
An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas and transceiver circuitry such as millimeter wave transceiver circuitry. The antennas may be formed from metal traces on printed circuits. A flexible printed circuit may have an area on which the transceiver circuitry is mounted. Protruding portions may extend from the area on which the transceiver circuitry is mounted and may be separated from the area on which the transceiver circuitry is mounted by bends. Antenna resonating elements such as patch antenna resonating elements and dipole resonating elements may be formed on the protruding portions and may be used to transmit and receive millimeter wave antenna signals through dielectric-filled openings in a metal electronic device housing or a dielectric layer such as a display cover layer formed from glass or other dielectric.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a dielectric layer mounted to the housing; and 
 wireless circuitry in the housing, wherein the wireless circuitry includes:
 millimeter wave transceiver circuitry; 
 a flexible printed circuit having a main portion and having a bent protruding portion that protrudes from the main portion; and 
 a millimeter wave antenna resonating element, wherein the bent protruding portion and the millimeter wave antenna resonating element are interposed between the millimeter wave transceiver circuitry and the dielectric layer, the flexible printed circuit includes first and second opposing surfaces, the millimeter wave antenna resonating element is mounted on the first surface at the bent protruding portion, and the millimeter wave transceiver circuitry is mounted on the second surface at the main portion. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the flexible printed circuit has an additional bent protruding portion and has an additional millimeter wave antenna resonating element mounted on the additional bent protruding portion. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 2  wherein the additional millimeter wave antenna resonating element comprises a dipole resonating element. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  wherein the bent protruding portion is bent at a right angle with respect to the main portion. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 4  wherein the bent protruding portion extends along a first dimension and wherein the additional bent protruding portion extends along a second dimension that is perpendicular to the first dimension. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 5  wherein the millimeter wave antenna resonating element comprises a patch antenna resonating element. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 6  wherein the dielectric layer comprises a display cover layer through which the patch antenna resonating element transmits and receives millimeter wave antenna signals. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 7  wherein the millimeter wave antenna resonating element comprises one of a plurality of millimeter wave antenna resonating elements in a beam steering array that is configured to transmit and receive millimeter wave antenna signals through the display cover layer. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 8  further comprising a metal trace in the flexible printed circuit that couples the additional millimeter wave antenna resonating element to the millimeter wave transceiver circuitry. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 9  wherein the second surface at the bent protruding portion is parallel to the first surface at the main portion. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 10  wherein the millimeter wave transceiver circuitry comprises a millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit on a printed circuit substrate and the printed circuit substrate is mounted on the main portion of the flexible printed circuit, the electronic device further comprising:
 a plastic mold cap on the millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit and printed circuit substrate; and 
 a thin-film shielding layer on the plastic mold cap. 
 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the millimeter wave transceiver circuitry comprises a millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit on a printed circuit substrate. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 12  further comprising:
 a plastic mold cap on the millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit and printed circuit substrate; and 
 a thin-film shielding layer on the plastic mold cap. 
 
     
     
       14. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a display in the housing that has a display cover layer; 
 a flexible printed circuit having first and second portions and a bent portion that extends between the first and second portions; 
 a millimeter wave transceiver on the first portion; 
 an array of millimeter wave antenna resonating elements on the second portion that transmits and receives millimeter wave antenna signals through the display cover layer, wherein the second portion and the array of millimeter wave antenna resonating elements are interposed between the millimeter wave transceiver and the display cover layer, the flexible printed circuit includes first and second opposing surfaces, the millimeter wave antenna resonating element is mounted on the first surface at the second portion, and the millimeter wave transceiver circuitry is mounted on the second surface at the first portion; and 
 metal traces that extend across the bent portion to couple the millimeter wave transceiver to the array of millimeter wave antenna resonating elements. 
 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 14  wherein the flexible printed circuit has a third portion and has an additional bent portion that extends between the first and third portions. 
     
     
       16. The electronic device defined in  claim 15  further comprising at least one millimeter wave antenna resonating element on the third portion. 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 16  wherein the housing has a metal portion with a dielectric-filled slot and the millimeter wave antenna resonating element on the third portion is configured to transmit and receive millimeter wave antenna signals through the dielectric-filled slot. 
     
     
       18. Apparatus, comprising:
 a first printed circuit; 
 a second printed circuit having a main portion and a bent protruding portion, wherein the second printed circuit is flexible; 
 a millimeter wave antenna resonating element formed on the second printed circuit wherein the second printed circuit is soldered to the first printed circuit; 
 a millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit, wherein the bent protruding portion and the millimeter wave antenna resonating element are interposed between the millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit and a dielectric layer, the second printed circuit includes first and second opposing surfaces, the millimeter wave antenna resonating element is mounted on the first surface at the bent protruding portion, and the millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit is mounted to the second surface at the main portion; 
 a plastic cap covering the millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit; and 
 a thin-film shield layer on the plastic cap. 
 
     
     
       19. The apparatus defined in  claim 18  further comprising:
 a glass layer, wherein the millimeter wave antenna resonating element is configured to transmit and receive millimeter wave antenna signals through the glass layer. 
 
     
     
       20. The apparatus defined in  claim 19  wherein the millimeter wave antenna resonating element comprises a patch antenna resonating element formed from metal traces on the printed circuit substrate and a via in the printed circuit substrate that is coupled to the millimeter wave antenna resonating element.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with wireless communications circuitry. 
     Electronic devices often include wireless communications circuitry. For example, cellular telephones, computers, and other devices often contain antennas and wireless transceivers for supporting wireless communications. 
     It may be desirable to support wireless communications in millimeter wave communications bands. Millimeter wave communications, which are sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency (EHF) communications, involve communications at frequencies of about 10-400 GHz. Operation at these frequencies may support high bandwidths, but may raise significant challenges. For example, millimeter wave communications are often line-of-sight communications and can be characterized by substantial attenuation during signal propagation. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved wireless communications circuitry such as communications circuitry that supports millimeter wave communications. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas and transceiver circuitry such as millimeter wave transceiver circuitry. The antennas may be organized in beam steering arrays. 
     The antennas may be formed from metal traces on printed circuits. A printed circuit substrate with metal traces that form antenna resonating elements may be soldered to a flexible or rigid printed circuit. A millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuit that is covered with a mold cap and shielding layer may be mounted on the printed circuit and may transmit and receive millimeter wave antenna signals using the antenna resonating elements on the printed circuit substrate. 
     A flexible printed circuit may have an area on which millimeter wave transceiver circuitry is mounted. Protruding portions of the flexible printed circuit may extend from the portion of the flexible printed circuit on which the transceiver circuitry is mounted and may be separated from the portion on which the transceiver circuitry is mounted by bends. Antenna resonating elements such as patch antenna resonating elements and dipole resonating elements may be formed on the protruding portions. The antenna resonating elements and may be used to transmit and receive millimeter wave antenna signals through a dielectric-filled opening in a metal electronic device housing or through a dielectric layer such as a display cover layer formed from glass or other dielectric. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with wireless communications circuitry in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with wireless communications circuitry in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of a portion of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of an illustrative transceiver circuit and antenna in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram of an illustrative dipole antenna in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an illustrative patch antenna that may be used in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a portion of an illustrative electronic device with millimeter wave antennas and millimeter wave transceiver circuitry on a flexible printed circuit in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is across-sectional side view of illustrative millimeter wave transceiver circuitry and antennas on a flexible printed circuit in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of illustrative wireless circuitry on a printed circuit in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An electronic device such as electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  may contain wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas. The antennas may include phased antenna arrays that are used for handling millimeter wave communications. Millimeter wave communications, which are sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency (EHF) communications, involve signals at 60 GHz or other frequencies between about 10 GHz and 400 GHz. If desired, device  10  may also contain wireless communications circuitry for handling satellite navigation system signals, cellular telephone signals, local wireless area network signals, near-field communications, light-based wireless communications, or other wireless communications. 
     Electronic device  10  may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wristwatch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user&#39;s head, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 1 , device  10  is a portable device such as a cellular telephone, media player, tablet computer, or other portable computing device. Other configurations may be used for device  10  if desired. The example of  FIG. 1  is merely illustrative. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , device  10  may include a display such as display  14 . Display  14  may be mounted in a housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). 
     Display  14  may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Capacitive touch screen electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive structures. 
     Display  14  may include an array of display pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic display pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode display pixels, an array of electrowetting display pixels, or display pixels based on other display technologies. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass, clear plastic, sapphire, or other transparent dielectric. Openings may be formed in the display cover layer. For example, an opening may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate a button such as button  16 . An opening may also be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate ports such as speaker port  18 . Openings may be formed in housing  12  to form communications ports (e.g., an audio jack port, a digital data port, etc.). Openings in housing  12  may also be formed for audio components such as a speaker and/or a microphone. Dielectric-filled openings  20  such as plastic-filled openings may be formed in metal portions of housing  12  (e.g., to serve as antenna windows and/or to serve as gaps that separate portions of antennas from each other). 
     Antennas may be mounted in housing  12 . If desired, some of the antennas (e.g., antenna arrays that may implement beam steering, etc.) may be mounted under an inactive border region of display  14  (see, e.g., illustrative antenna locations  50  of  FIG. 1 ). Display  14  may contain an active area with an array of pixels (e.g., a central rectangular portion). Inactive areas of display  14  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, along the peripheral edges of housing  12 , on the rear of housing  12 , under the display cover layer that is used in covering and protecting display  14  on the front of device  10  (e.g., a glass cover layer, a sapphire cover layer, a plastic cover layer, other dielectric cover layer structures, etc.), under a dielectric window on a rear face of housing  12  or the edge of housing  12 , or elsewhere in device  10 . 
     A schematic diagram showing illustrative components that may be used in device  10  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , device  10  may include storage and processing circuitry such as control circuitry  28 . Control circuitry  28  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  28  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . This processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Control circuitry  28  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  28  may be used in implementing communications protocols. Communications protocols that may be implemented using control circuitry  28  include internet protocols, wireless local area network protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols—sometimes referred to as WiFi®), protocols for other short-range wireless communications links such as the Bluetooth® protocol, cellular telephone protocols, MIMO protocols, antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols, etc. 
     Device  10  may include input-output circuitry  44 . Input-output circuitry  44  may include input-output devices  32 . Input-output devices  32  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output devices  32  may include user interface devices, data port devices, and other input-output components. For example, input-output devices may include touch screens, displays without touch sensor capabilities, buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, speakers, status indicators, light sources, audio jacks and other audio port components, digital data port devices, light sensors, accelerometers or other components that can detect motion and device orientation relative to the Earth, capacitance sensors, proximity sensors (e.g., a capacitive proximity sensor and/or an infrared proximity sensor), magnetic sensors, and other sensors and input-output components. 
     Input-output circuitry  44  may include wireless communications circuitry  34  for communicating wirelessly with external equipment. Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry formed from one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive RF components, one or more antennas  40 , transmission lines, and other circuitry for handling RF wireless signals. Wireless signals can also be sent using light (e.g., using infrared communications). 
     Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  90  for handling various radio-frequency communications bands. For example, circuitry  34  may include transceiver circuitry  36 ,  38 ,  42 , and  46 . 
     Transceiver circuitry  36  may be wireless local area network transceiver circuitry. Transceiver circuitry  36  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. 
     Circuitry  34  may use cellular telephone transceiver circuitry  38  for handling wireless communications in frequency ranges such as a low communications band from 700 to 960 MHz, a midband from 1710 to 2170 MHz, and a high band from 2300 to 2700 MHz or other communications bands between 700 MHz and 2700 MHz or other suitable frequencies (as examples). Circuitry  38  may handle voice data and non-voice data. 
     Millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  46  (sometimes referred to as extremely high frequency transceiver circuitry) may support communications at extremely high frequencies (e.g., millimeter wave frequencies such as extremely high frequencies of 10 GHz to 400 GHz or other millimeter wave frequencies). For example, circuitry  46  may support IEEE 802.11ad communications at 60 GHz. Circuitry  46  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.). 
     Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include satellite navigation system circuitry such as Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver circuitry  42  for receiving GPS signals at 1575 MHz or for handling other satellite positioning data (e.g., GLONASS signals at 1609 MHz). Satellite navigation system signals for receiver  42  are received from a constellation of satellites orbiting the earth. 
     In satellite navigation system links, cellular telephone links, and other long-range links, wireless signals are typically used to convey data over thousands of feet or miles. In WiFi® and Bluetooth® links at 2.4 and 5 GHz and other short-range wireless links, wireless signals are typically used to convey data over tens or hundreds of feet. Extremely high frequency (EHF) wireless transceiver circuitry  46  may convey signals over these short distances that travel between transmitter and receiver over a line-of-sight path. To enhance signal reception for millimeter wave communications, phased antenna arrays and beam steering techniques may be used (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. 
     Wireless communications circuitry  34  can include circuitry for other short-range and long-range wireless links if desired. For example, wireless communications circuitry  34  may include circuitry for receiving television and radio signals, paging system transceivers, near field communications (NFC) circuitry, etc. 
     Antennas  40  in wireless communications circuitry  34  may be formed using any suitable antenna types. For example, antennas  40  may include antennas with resonating elements that are formed from loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures, slot antenna structures, planar inverted-F antenna structures, 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). Antennas  40  can include phased antenna arrays for handling millimeter wave communications. 
     In configurations for device  10  in which housing  12  has portions formed from metal, openings may be formed in the metal portions to accommodate antennas  40 . For example, openings in a metal housing wall may be used in forming slot antenna structures and inverted-F antenna structures for cellular telephone antennas. These openings may be filled with a dielectric such as plastic. As shown in  FIG. 1 , for example, a portion of plastic-filled opening  20  may run up one or more of the sidewalls of housing  12 .  FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of housing  12  of device  10  of  FIG. 1  showing how opening  20  of  FIG. 1  may be formed within the rear wall of housing  12  and may run across the width of device  12 . Openings such as opening  20  (e.g., plastic-filled openings or other dielectric filled openings) may be formed in other metal portions of housing  12  (e.g., front face housing portions on the front face of device  10 , sidewall housing portions, rear wall housing portions on the rear face of device  10 , etc.). The arrangements shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3  are merely illustrative. 
     In addition to forming parts of a cellular telephone antenna (e.g., a gap that separates an inverted-F antenna resonating element from an antenna ground structure and/or a slot in a hybrid slot inverted-F antenna, etc.), openings such as opening  20  may serve as antenna windows for millimeter wave antennas. One or more millimeter wave antennas may, for example, be aligned along slot-shaped (elongated) opening  20  of  FIG. 3 . 
     A schematic diagram of a millimeter wave antenna or other antenna  40  coupled to transceiver circuitry  90  (e.g., millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  46  and/or other transceiver circuitry  90 ) is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  90  may be coupled to antenna feed  102  of antenna  40  using transmission line  92 . Antenna feed  102  may include a positive antenna feed terminal such as positive antenna feed terminal  98  and may have a ground antenna feed terminal such as ground antenna feed terminal  100 . Transmission line  92  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  94  that is coupled to terminal  98  and a ground transmission line signal path such as path  96  that is coupled to terminal  100 . Transmission line paths such as path  92  may be used to route antenna signals within device  10 . For example, transmission line paths may be used to couple antenna structures such as one or more antennas in an array of antennas to transceiver circuitry  90 . Transmission lines in device  10  may include coaxial cable paths, microstrip transmission lines, stripline transmission lines, edge-coupled microstrip transmission lines, edge-coupled stripline transmission lines, transmission lines formed from combinations of transmission lines of these types, etc. Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, and other circuitry may be interposed within transmission line  92  and/or circuits such as these may be incorporated into antenna  40  (e.g., to support antenna tuning, to support operation in desired frequency bands, etc.). 
     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  28  may be used to select an optimum antenna to use in device  10  in real time and/or to select an optimum setting for adjustable wireless circuitry associated with one or more of antennas  40 . Antenna adjustments may be made to tune antennas to perform in desired frequency ranges, to perform beam steering with a phased antenna array, and to otherwise optimize antenna performance. Sensors may be incorporated into antennas  40  to gather sensor data in real time that is used in adjusting antennas  40 . 
     In some configurations, antennas  40  may include antenna arrays (e.g., phased antenna arrays to implement beam steering functions). For example, the antennas that are used in handling millimeter wave signals for extremely high frequency wireless transceiver circuits  46  may be implemented as phased antenna arrays. The radiating elements in a phased antenna array for supporting millimeter wave communications may be patch antennas, dipole antennas, 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. 
     An illustrative dipole antenna is shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , dipole antenna  40  may have first and second arms such as arms  40 - 1  and  40 - 2  and may be fed at antenna feed  102 . If desired, a dipole antenna such as dipole antenna  40  of  FIG. 5  may be incorporated into a Yagi antenna (e.g., by incorporating a reflector and directors into dipole antenna  40  of  FIG. 5 ). 
     An illustrative patch antenna is shown in  FIG. 6 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , patch antenna  40  may have a patch antenna resonating element  40 P that is separated from and parallel to a ground plane such as antenna ground plane  40 G. Arm  40 A may be coupled between patch antenna resonating element  40 P and positive antenna feed terminal  98  of antenna feed  102 . Ground antenna feed terminal  100  of feed  102  may be coupled to ground plane  40 G. 
     Antennas of the types shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  and/or other antennas  40  may be used in forming millimeter wave antennas. The examples of  FIGS. 5 and 6  are merely illustrative. 
     Antennas  40  may be formed from sheet metal parts (e.g., strips of sheet metal embedded in molded plastic or attached to dielectric supports using adhesive, etc.), may be formed from wires, may be formed from portions of conductive housing structures (e.g., metal walls in housing  12 ), and/or may be formed from conductive structures such as metal traces on a printed circuit or other substrate. Printed circuits in device  10  may be rigid printed circuit boards formed from rigid printed circuit board substrate material (e.g., fiberglass-filled epoxy) and/or may be flexible printed circuit boards (e.g., printed circuits formed from sheets of polyimide or other flexible polymer layers). 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an interior portion of device  10  in an illustrative configuration in which antennas  40  have been formed from metal traces on flexible printed circuit  150 . 
     Antennas  40  may include dipole antennas such as dipole antennas  40 ′ that are aligned with respective portions of plastic-filled slot  20  in metal housing wall  12 . Each dipole antenna  40 ′ may have arms that run along the length of slot  20 . By aligning dipole antennas  40 ′ (e.g., Yagi antennas or other dipoles) with slot  20 , antennas  40 ′ may transmit and/or receive millimeter wave signals. Antennas  40  may also include patch antennas such as patch antennas  40 ″. Dipole antennas  40 ′ and patch antennas  40 ″ may be arranged in arrays to support beam steering operations. Antenna ground for patch antennas  40 ″ may be formed using metal traces in printed circuit  150  and/or other conductive structures (e.g., portions of housing  12 , metal shield structures, etc.). 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , flexible printed circuit  150  may have a main portion such as portion  150 M and one or more bent protruding areas. For example, flexible printed circuit  150  may have areas such as areas  150 A and  150 B (e.g., extended portions that extend from main portion  150 M so that a bent portion of flexible printed circuit  150  lies between the extended portions and main portion  150 M). 
     Protruding portions of flexible printed circuit  150  such as protrusions  150 A and  150 B of  FIG. 7  may be formed from elongated strips of flexible printed circuit substrate material that extend outwardly from the flexible printed circuit substrate material in main area  150 M. Circuitry  152  may be formed on main portion  150 M and/or other portions of printed circuit  150 . Circuitry  152  may be, for example, transceiver circuitry such as transceiver circuitry  90  of  FIG. 2  (e.g., millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  46  or other transceiver circuitry). Circuitry  152  may be formed from a system-in-package device based on multiple integrated circuits and/or one or more other integrated circuits (e.g., millimeter wave transceiver integrated circuits). If desired, circuitry  152  may include a power regulator integrated circuit, inductors, and other circuits. Circuitry  152  may be mounted under one or more shields. A shield may be formed from a shielding can or may be formed from a thin-film shielding layer formed on a plastic layer (sometimes referred to as a mold cap or plastic cap) that covers one or more integrated circuits and/or other electrical components in circuitry  152 . A thin-film shielding layer may be formed from shielding materials such as metal and/or magnetic materials and may have a thickness of less than 100 microns, less than 50 microns, less than 25 microns, less than 12 microns, more than 1 micron, more than 5 microns, or other suitable thickness. 
     Transmission lines formed from metal traces such as metal traces  154  may be used to couple antennas  40  on portions  150 A and  150 B to transceiver circuitry  152 . Metal traces  154  may extend between circuitry  152  and antennas  40 ′ and  40 ″ across bent portions  156  of flexible printed circuit  150 . 
     If desired, patch antenna resonating elements for antennas  40 ″ may be formed on the underside of printed circuit  150  so that these resonating elements face upwards (in the positive Z direction of  FIG. 7 ) after arm  150 B of flexible printed circuit  150  has been folded back on itself as shown in  FIG. 7 . This allows patch antennas  40 ″ to transmit and receive antenna signals through the display cover layer of device  10  in one of regions  50  ( FIG. 1 ). Dipole antennas  40 ′ may transmit and receive antenna signals through dielectric-filled openings such as opening  20  (as an example). 
     During operation, transceiver circuitry  152  may transmit and/or receive antenna signals (e.g., millimeter wave signals) to antennas  40 ′ and/or antennas  40 ″. If desired, transceiver circuitry  152  may adjust the phase and magnitude of the signals being conveyed through printed circuit  150  to implement beam steering. 
     In the example of  FIG. 7 , arm  150 A is bent upwards at 90° relative to main portion  150 M, so that the surface normal for arm  150 A is perpendicular to the surface normal for main portion  150 M and arm  150 B is bent by 180° relative to main portion  150 M so that the surface normal for the tip of arm  150 B is parallel to the surface normal of portion  150 M (although reversed by 180°). Each arm extends outwardly from main portion  150 M in a direction that is at a right angle with respect to the other (i.e., arm  150 A extends along the Y dimension and arm  150 B extends along the X dimension in the arrangement of  FIG. 7 ). Other configurations may be used for the bent protruding portions of printed circuit  150 , if desired (e.g., configurations in which bent arms are bent by less than 90°, by 90-180°, by more than 180°, configurations in which arms  150 A and  150 B extend in directions that are not perpendicular to each other, etc.). The configuration of  FIG. 7  is merely illustrative. 
     A cross-sectional side view of a portion of a device such as device  10  of  FIG. 7  taken along dimension Y and viewed in dimension X is shown in  FIG. 8 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , display  14  may have an active area such as active area AA that contains a display module (display) such as display module  170  (e.g., an organic light-emitting diode display, a liquid crystal display, etc.) and a clear display cover layer  172  (e.g., a layer of glass, a layer of sapphire, a layer of transparent plastic, and/or other clear dielectric materials). Display module  170  may contain an array of pixels in active area AA. Display module  170  may, if desired, be omitted from regions such as regions  50  of  FIG. 1 , thereby forming inactive areas such as inactive area IA that do not contain pixels and that do not display images for a user. As shown in  FIG. 8 , an array of antennas (e.g., a beam steering array) such as patch antennas  40 ″ may be formed on printed circuit arm  150 B under inactive area IA (i.e., so that patch antennas  40 ″ lie in a plane parallel to the plane of display cover layer  172  in inactive area IA). Arm  150 A of printed circuit  150  may bend upwards until arm  150 A lies in a plane parallel to the sidewall of housing  12 . Arms  150 A and  150 B may be supported by plastic support structures. Opaque masking material such as ink layer  171  may be formed on the underside of display cover layer  172  in inactive area IA to help block internal components such as antennas  40 ″ from view. 
     Support structures such as dielectric support structures may be used to support flexible printed circuit  150 . For example, a support structure such as curved support structure  174  may be used to support arm  150 A, so that one or more antennas  40 ′ may be aligned with dielectric-filled opening  20  in housing  12 . Support structure  174  may be formed from plastic or other dielectric. Optional adhesive  176  may, if desired, be used to attach flexible printed circuit arm  150 A to support structure  174  and may be used to attach main portion  150 M of flexible printed circuit  150  to a rear wall portion of housing  12 . Metal housing portions of housing  12  may serve as antenna ground. Metal traces on printed circuit  150  (e.g., ground traces) may be coupled to metal portions of housing  12  (antenna ground) using conductive structures such as metal screw  166  or other fasteners. A connector such as connector  168  may be used to interconnect circuitry on printed circuit  150  to other circuitry in device  10 . For example, connector  168  may be coupled to a connector on a rigid or flexible printed circuit that contains integrated circuits and other electrical components. 
     Circuitry  152  on main portion  150 M of printed circuit  150  may include one or more integrated circuits and/or other electrical components such as components  160 . Components  160  may form transceiver circuitry  90  (e.g., millimeter wave transceiver circuitry  46  and/or other transceiver circuitry). A dielectric such as a plastic mold cap  162  (encapsulant) may cover components  160 . A layer of metal and/or other shielding layers may be used to form shield  164 . Shield  164  may be formed using sheet metal or thin-film layer(s) deposited on mold cap  162 . Circuitry  152  may be a system-in-package device in which components  164  are soldered to metal traces in a system-in-package substrate such as printed circuit  178  or printed circuit  178  may be omitted. In configurations in which printed circuit  178  is omitted, components  160  may be mounted directly on printed circuit  150  (e.g., using solder). 
       FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional side view of a printed circuit to which circuitry  152  has been mounted using a configuration in which electrical components  184  in circuitry  152  are soldered directly to printed circuit  180  using solder  182  and no intervening printed circuit. If desired, components  184  may be mounted on an optional printed circuit substrate and the optional printed circuit substrate may be soldered to printed circuit  180 . The configuration of  FIG. 9  is merely illustrative. 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , antennas  40  may be formed from components mounted on printed circuit  180  such as antenna traces  40 E on printed circuit substrate  194 . Antenna traces  40 E may be patch antenna resonating elements, dipole antenna elements, or other antenna resonating elements and may be coupled by metal traces such as vias  40 V and solder  182  to metal traces in printed circuit  180 . The elevated height (in dimension  192  in the example of  FIG. 9 ) of antenna traces  40 E relative to antenna ground (e.g., ground traces in printed circuit  180  and/or metal portions of housing  12  under printed circuit  180 ) may help enhance the performance of antennas  40 . Antennas  40  of  FIG. 9  may operate through display cover layer  172  as described in connection with  FIG. 8 , may be aligned with a plastic-filled opening in metal portions of housing  12  such as slot  20  of  FIG. 8 , and/or may be mounted elsewhere in device  10 . There may be any suitable number of antennas  40  on printed circuit substrate  194  and the other arrays of antenna resonating elements in device  10  (e.g., 2-32, 16-25, more than 2, more than 4, more than 16, fewer than 16, fewer than 32, etc.). 
     Circuitry  152  (e.g., transceiver circuitry  90  such as transceiver circuitry  46 ) may be implemented using components (e.g., integrated circuits, etc.) such as components  184 . Components  184  may be mounted to printed circuit  180  using solder  182 . A plastic mold cap such as mold cap  186  or other encapsulant may, if desired, be formed over components  184 . Shield  188  may be formed from metal and/or other shielding materials. Shield  188  may be a shield can or may be a shielding structure formed from thin-film shielding layers on mold cap  186 . Connectors such as connector  190  may be attached to printed circuit  180  (e.g., using solder) to facilitate connection of printed circuit  180  to other printed circuits and components in device  10 . Printed circuit  180  may be a rigid printed circuit or a flexible printed circuit. 
     Device  10  may include antennas such as antennas  40  of  FIG. 9 , antennas  40  of  FIG. 7 , and/or other antennas  40  at one, two, three, or four corners of device  10 , along one or more edges of device  10 , in portions of the rear housing wall of housing  12  of device  10 , under corner portions or edge portions of display cover layer  172 , and/or in other portions of device  10 . 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20160722
Publication Date: 20190917
Grant Date: 20190917
Priority Date: 20160722
Inventors: MOW, MATTHEW A.
NOORI, BASIM H.
TSAI, MING-JU
HAN, XU
Lee, Victor C.
PASCOLINI, MATTIA
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q19/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/526", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/28", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/526", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B10/90", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2291", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q19/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2291", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q3/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q3/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/28", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q19/30", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q3/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/2291", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/28", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04B10/90", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q21/065", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/526", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 59997888