Electronic Devices Having Antennas that Radiate Through a Display

    公开(公告)号:US20200136234A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-04-30

    申请号:US15884245

    申请日:2018-01-30

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a display and a phased array antenna that transmits radio-frequency signals at frequencies greater than 10 GHz. The display may include a conductive layer that is used to form pixel circuitry and/or touch sensor electrodes. A filter may be formed from conductive structures within the conductive layer. The conductive structures may include an array of conductive patches separated by slots or may include conductive paths that define an array of slots. The filter may include an additional array of conductive patches stacked under the array of conductive patches to allow the slots to be narrower than would be resolvable to the unaided human eye. The periodicity of the conductive structures and the slots in the filter may be selected to tune a cutoff frequency of the filter to be greater than frequencies handled by the phased antenna array.

    Antenna arrays having multi-layer substrates

    公开(公告)号:US10594028B2

    公开(公告)日:2020-03-17

    申请号:US15895482

    申请日:2018-02-13

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a phased antenna array for conveying millimeter wave signals. The array may be mounted to a substrate that includes transmission line layers having a first dielectric permittivity and antenna layers having a second dielectric permittivity that is less than the first dielectric permittivity. A ground plane may be interposed between the antenna layers and the transmission line layers. The array may be mounted to the antenna layers and transceiver circuitry may be mounted to the transmission line layers. Transmission line traces may be formed on the transmission line layers. The relatively high permittivity of the first set of dielectric layers may allow the transmission line traces to be routed relatively close together with minimal electromagnetic interference. The relatively low permittivity of the second set of dielectric layers may allow the array to operate with satisfactory antenna efficiency, gain, and bandwidth.

    Antenna arrays having surface wave interference mitigation structures

    公开(公告)号:US10553945B2

    公开(公告)日:2020-02-04

    申请号:US15710361

    申请日:2017-09-20

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with wireless communications circuitry and control circuitry. The wireless communications circuitry may include centimeter and millimeter wave transceiver circuitry and a phased antenna array. A dielectric cover may be formed over the phased antenna array. The phased antenna array may transmit and receive antenna signals through the dielectric cover. The dielectric cover may have a surface that faces the phased antenna array and may have a curvature. The antenna elements of the phased antenna array may be formed on a dielectric substrate. The dielectric substrate may have one or more thinned regions between antenna elements of the phased antenna array to reduce surface wave interference between adjacent antennas. The dielectric substrate may have a smaller thickness in the thinned region than in the regions under the antenna elements. The dielectric substrate may be totally removed in the thinned region.

    Electronic Device With Millimeter Wave Antennas on Printed Circuits

    公开(公告)号:US20200014095A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-01-09

    申请号:US16572370

    申请日:2019-09-16

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    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.

    Electronic Device Having Adjustable Antenna Settings

    公开(公告)号:US20190393918A1

    公开(公告)日:2019-12-26

    申请号:US16017847

    申请日:2018-06-25

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may include control circuitry, sensors, and wireless circuitry having antennas. The sensors may generate sensor data that is used by the control circuitry to identify an operating environment for the device. The sensor data may include a grip map generated by a touch-sensitive display, infrared facial recognition image signals or other image signals, an angle of arrival of sound received by a set of microphones, impedance data from an impedance sensor, and any other desired sensor data. The control circuitry may use the sensor data, radio-frequency spatial ranging data, information about whether audio is being played over an ear speaker, and/or information about communications protocols in use to identify the operating environment. The control circuitry may adjust antenna settings for the wireless circuitry based on the identified operating environment to ensure that the antennas operate with satisfactory antenna efficiency regardless of operating conditions.

    Antenna arrays having conductive shielding buckets

    公开(公告)号:US10476170B2

    公开(公告)日:2019-11-12

    申请号:US15906979

    申请日:2018-02-27

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a sidewall, a display module separated from the sidewall by a gap, a display cover, a conductive bucket mounted to the display cover within the gap, and a phased antenna array mounted to the bucket for conveying millimeter wave signals through the display cover. The sidewall may form part of an antenna for conveying non-millimeter wave signals. The array may include resonating elements on a substrate. The resonating elements may be fed using feed terminals coupled to alternating sides of the resonating elements. Dielectric layers having a dielectric constant lower than that of the display cover may be provided on a surface of the display cover within the bucket. The array may operate with satisfactory efficiency despite the small amount of available space within the device, electromagnetic interference from the sidewall and the display module, and dielectric loading by the display cover.

    Electronic device with over-the-air wireless self-testing capabilities

    公开(公告)号:US10454596B2

    公开(公告)日:2019-10-22

    申请号:US15940758

    申请日:2018-03-29

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include antennas. The antennas may include phased antenna arrays for handling millimeter wave signals. Antennas may be located in antenna signal paths. The antenna signal paths may include adjustable components such as adjustable filters, adjustable gain amplifiers, and adjustable phase shifters. Circuitry may be incorporated into an electronic device to facilitate wireless self-testing operations. Wireless self-testing may involve use of one antenna to transmit an over-the-air antenna test signal that is received by another antenna. The circuitry that facilitates the wireless self-testing operations may include couplers, adjustable switches for temporarily shorting antenna signal paths together, mixers for mixing down radio-frequency signals to allow digitization with analog-to-digital converters, and other circuitry for supporting self-testing operations.

    Computer Stylus Having Integrated Antenna and Sensor Structures

    公开(公告)号:US20190265808A1

    公开(公告)日:2019-08-29

    申请号:US15906937

    申请日:2018-02-27

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A computer stylus may be provided that includes an elongated body with a tip and an opposing end coupled together by a shaft that includes a metal tube. The stylus may include a substrate at the end of the elongated body and conductive traces on the substrate. The traces may form a sensor electrode for a sensor and an antenna resonating element for an antenna in the stylus. The sensor may include an electrode that gathers sensor signals. Control circuitry may wirelessly transmit the sensor signals to external equipment using the antenna. The sensor electrode may be coupled to the metal tube by a filter. The filter may form an open circuit at radio-frequencies and a short circuit at the frequency of the sensor signals. The filter may mitigate deterioration in wireless performance of the antenna associated with the presence of the sensor.

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