Electronic device with millimeter wave antenna arrays

    公开(公告)号:US10998616B2

    公开(公告)日:2021-05-04

    申请号:US16272932

    申请日:2019-02-11

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas. The antennas may include millimeter wave antenna arrays formed from arrays of patch antennas, dipole antennas or other millimeter wave antennas on millimeter wave antenna array substrates. Circuitry such as upconverter and downconverter circuitry may be mounted on the substrates. The upconverter and downconverter may be coupled to wireless communications circuitry such as a baseband processor circuit using an intermediate frequency signal path. The electronic device may have opposing front and rear faces. A display may cover the front face. A rear housing wall may cover the rear face. A metal midplate may be interposed between the display and rear housing wall. Millimeter wave antenna arrays may transmit and receive antenna signals through the rear housing wall.

    Electronic Devices with Dielectric Resonator Antennas

    公开(公告)号:US20210119338A1

    公开(公告)日:2021-04-22

    申请号:US17111131

    申请日:2020-12-03

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with a phased antenna array and a display cover layer. The phased antenna array may include a dielectric resonator antenna. The dielectric resonator antenna may include a dielectric resonating element embedded in a lower permittivity dielectric substrate. The substrate and the resonating element may be mounted to a flexible printed circuit. A slot may be formed in ground traces on the flexible printed circuit and aligned with the resonating element. The slot may excite resonant modes of the resonating element. The resonating element may convey corresponding radio-frequency signals through the cover layer. A dielectric matching layer may be interposed between the resonating element and the cover layer. If desired, the slot may radiate additional radio-frequency signals and the matching layer may have a tapered shape. Dielectric resonator antennas for covering different polarizations and frequencies may be interleaved across the array.

    Systems having windows with patterned coatings

    公开(公告)号:US10978777B1

    公开(公告)日:2021-04-13

    申请号:US16033010

    申请日:2018-07-11

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: A system such as a vehicle may have windows. A window may have a structural window layer formed from one or more glass layers. A conductive coating such as an infrared-light blocking coating or other optical filter layer may be formed on the window. The conductive coating may include one or more silver layers or other conductive material. Unpatterned portions of the conductive coating are conductive along orthogonal dimensions. A region of the conductive coating may have parallel line-shaped openings that render the coating conductive in only a single dimension while enhancing radio transparency. Another region of the conductive coating may have a two-dimensional pattern of openings such as a mesh-shaped opening formed from intersecting straight and/or curved lines. In this region, the coating is locally rendered insulating and radio-frequency transparent. Antennas and ohmic heating elements may be formed in the coating.

    Electronic Device Wide Band Antennas

    公开(公告)号:US20210098869A1

    公开(公告)日:2021-04-01

    申请号:US16584159

    申请日:2019-09-26

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may have a housing with metal sidewalls. One of the metal sidewalls may have an opening. The electronic device may have a speaker module that has a speaker housing member. Conductive structures on the speaker housing member may have an opening that forms a slot element. The opening of the metal sidewall may be aligned with slot element. The slot element and an interior cavity of the speaker housing member may form a cavity-backed slot antenna. An antenna feed structure may be disposed at the opening of the speaker housing member. An antenna feed may be directly coupled to the antenna feed structure. The antenna feed structure may indirectly feed the slot antenna resonating element by capacitive coupling. A sealing member may be disposed at the opening of the metal sidewall.

    Electronic Devices With Millimeter Wave Antennas And Metal Housings

    公开(公告)号:US20210083367A1

    公开(公告)日:2021-03-18

    申请号:US17108762

    申请日:2020-12-01

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may include one or more antennas. The antennas may include millimeter wave antenna arrays. Non-millimeter-wave antennas such as cellular telephone antennas may have conductive structures separated by a dielectric gap. In a device with a metal housing, a plastic-filled slot may form the dielectric gap. The conductive structures may be slot antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures such as an inverted-F antenna resonating element and a ground, or other antenna structures. The plastic-filled slot may serve as a millimeter wave antenna window. A millimeter wave antenna array may be mounted in alignment with the millimeter wave antenna window to transmit and receive signals through the window. Millimeter wave antenna windows may also be formed from air-filled openings in a metal housing such as audio port openings.

    Electronic device slot antennas
    387.
    发明授权

    公开(公告)号:US10916832B2

    公开(公告)日:2021-02-09

    申请号:US15900610

    申请日:2018-02-20

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device may include first, second, and third antennas and conductive housing structures. The first, second, and third antennas may each include slots having open ends defined by gaps in the conductive housing structures. The second antenna may be interposed between the first and third antennas. The first and second antennas may convey signals at the same frequencies. The third antenna may convey signals at a lower frequency than the first and second antennas. A switch may be coupled across the third slot and may have a first state at which the switch forms a closed end of the third slot and a second state at which the third slot has two opposing open ends. Control circuitry may selectively activate one of two feeds for the third antenna and may adjust the switch so that the third antenna exhibits satisfactory antenna efficiency regardless of environmental conditions for the device.

    Electronic Devices Having Millimeter Wave Ranging Capabilities

    公开(公告)号:US20210033714A1

    公开(公告)日:2021-02-04

    申请号:US17074259

    申请日:2020-10-19

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device such as a wristwatch may be provided with a phased antenna array for conveying first signals at a first frequency between 10 GHz and 300 GHz and a non-millimeter wave antenna for conveying second signals at a second frequency below 10 GHz. The device may include conductive housing sidewalls and a display. Conductive structures in the display and the conductive housing sidewalls may define a slot element in the non-millimeter wave antenna. The phased antenna array may be mounted within the slot element, aligned with a spatial filter in the display, or aligned with a dielectric window in the conductive housing sidewalls. Control circuitry may process signals transmitted by the phased antenna array and a reflected version of the transmitted signals that has been received by the phased antenna array to detect a range between the device and an external object.

    Electronic Device Handle Antennas
    390.
    发明申请

    公开(公告)号:US20200303824A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-09-24

    申请号:US16357289

    申请日:2019-03-18

    Applicant: Apple Inc.

    Abstract: An electronic device such as a desktop computer may have a housing. The housing may include a conductive inner frame, conductive handles coupled to the inner frame, and a conductive outer sleeve over the inner frame. The handles may protrude through openings in the outer sleeve. Conductive plates may be aligned with the openings and attached to the inner frame. The handles may pass through holes in the conductive plates. Slot antennas may be formed in the conductive plates. The slot antennas may each include a high band slot that indirectly feeds a pair of low band slots. The conductive plates and the inner frame may define cavities for the antennas. Multi-band slot antennas may be formed within the handles themselves. The handles may include solid metal with a channel or may include hollow metal structures to accommodate transmission lines for the antennas.

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