System with wireless communication

Abstract

A head-mounted device has a head-mounted housing. The head-mounted housing may have a rear-facing display for showing an image to a user. The image can be viewed from the eye's field of vision when the user is wearing the head-mounted device. A peripheral conductive member may extend along the peripheral edge of the front of the housing. Dielectric-filled gaps may divide the peripheral conductive member into elongated conductive segments. An antenna resonant element of an antenna may be formed on the front of the conductive segment. Radio frequency transceiver circuitry, such as cellular telephone transceiver circuitry, may be coupled to the antenna.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 63 / 072,004, filed August 28, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates generally to electronic devices, and more specifically to electronic devices such as head-mounted devices. Background Technology

[0003] Electronic devices, such as head-mounted devices, may have displays for showing images. The displays may be housed within the head-mounted support structure. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Electronic devices, such as head-mounted devices, may include displays for showing visual content to a user. A head-mounted support structure may be used to support a rear-facing display. The rear-facing display may show left and right images, which can be viewed from the eye's range of motion through corresponding left and right lenses located at the rear of the head-mounted support structure. A forward-facing display may be mounted on the front of the head-mounted support structure and may be positioned away from the rear-facing display.

[0005] The head-mounted support structure may have peripheral conductive members, such as elongated metal members, extending along the outer edge of the forward-facing display on the front. Gap spaced with a dielectric, such as a polymer-filled gap, can divide the peripheral conductive members into multiple segments. These segments can be used to form antenna resonant elements for an antenna.

[0006] The radio frequency transceiver circuitry in a head-mounted device can be coupled to an antenna using transmission lines. The radio frequency transceiver circuitry can be configured to transmit and receive signals at one or more frequencies between 600 MHz and 6 GHz and / or other frequencies of interest.

[0007] The head-mounted device may have a left cooling fan and a right cooling fan for cooling the left and right heat sinks, respectively. The left and right heat sinks may be coupled to a left-facing rear-facing display and a right-facing rear-facing display, respectively. Peripheral conductive components may have openings forming airflow inlet and outlet ports. Antenna resonant elements may be formed from segments extending around and / or along the edges of the airflow ports. Antenna resonant elements may also be formed from metal traces on a substrate such as a printed circuit board. Attached Figure Description

[0008] Figure 1 It is a side view of an exemplary electronic device, such as a head-mounted device, according to one implementation scheme.

[0009] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system with electronic equipment according to one implementation scheme.

[0010] Figure 3 This is a diagram of an exemplary wireless communication circuit for an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0011] Figure 4 This is a diagram of an exemplary antenna for an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0012] Figure 5 It is a graph of the antenna efficiency as a function of the operating frequency of an illustrative antenna, based on one implementation scheme.

[0013] Figure 6 This is a front view of an exemplary head-mounted device with an antenna according to one embodiment.

[0014] Figure 7 This is a side view of an exemplary head-mounted device according to one embodiment, having a fan for moving cooling air from an air inlet to an air outlet.

[0015] Figure 8 and Figure 9 This is a top view of an exemplary head-mounted device housing component having an airflow port and a portion configured to form an antenna, according to an embodiment.

[0016] Figure 10 This is a front view of an exemplary head-mounted device with an antenna according to one embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The head-mounted device includes a head-mounted support structure that allows the device to be worn on a user's head. A display can be used to present visual content to the user. The head-mounted device may have a rear-facing display that shows an image to the user when the head-mounted device is being worn. The head-mounted device may also have a front-facing display that can be publicly viewed. For communication with other devices, the head-mounted device may be equipped with an antenna. The antenna may be formed by a housing structure, such as a display bezel, frame member, or other conductive housing structure.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a side view of an illustrative head-mounted electronic device. (Example:) Figure 1 As shown, the head-mounted device 10 may include a head-mounted support structure 26. The support structure 26 (which may sometimes be referred to as a housing or shell) may have walls or other structures separating internal regions of the device 10, such as internal region 42, from external regions surrounding the device 10, such as external region 44. Electrical components 30 (e.g., integrated circuits, sensors, control circuits, input-output devices, etc.) may be mounted on printed circuitry and / or other structures within the device 10 (e.g., in internal region 42).

[0019] To present an image to a user from an eye-tracking range, such as eye-tracking range 34, device 10 may include displays such as display 14 and lenses such as lens 38. These components may be mounted in an optical module such as optical module 36 (e.g., a lens barrel) to form respective left and right optical systems. For example, there may be a left display for presenting an image to the user's left eye via a left lens in the left eye-tracking range and a right display for presenting an image to the user's right eye in the right eye-tracking range. When the rear R of structure 26 rests against the outer surface of the user's face, the user's eyes are located in eye-tracking range 34.

[0020] Support structure 26 may include a main housing support structure such as portion 26M. Main housing portion 26M may have a portion located on the front F of device 10. A forward-facing, publicly viewable display such as display 52 may be mounted on the front F of portion 26M. Display 52 may be positioned away from the rear-facing display 14. Display 52 may be generally located... Figure 1 In the XZ plane. The outer peripheral edge of the display 52 may be surrounded by a peripheral conductive member. When viewed along the -Y direction, the peripheral conductive member that may extend along the outer peripheral edge of the front F and serve as the display bezel of the display 52 may have an annular shape. If desired, the support structure 26 may include optional headbands (sometimes referred to as head straps) such as strap 26B and / or other head-mounted support structures configured to extend around the user's head to help support the device 10 on the user's head during use.

[0021] exist Figure 2 The diagram illustrates an exemplary system that may include a head-mounted device. Figure 2 As shown, system 8 may have one or more electronic devices 10. Device 10 may include a head-mounted device (e.g., Figure 1 Device 10), accessories such as headsets, associated computing devices (e.g., cellular phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, desktop computers and / or telecomputing devices that supply content to the head-mounted device) and / or other devices that communicate with the head-mounted device.

[0022] Each electronic device 10 may have a control circuit 12. The control circuit 12 may include storage and processing circuitry for controlling the operation of the device 10. The circuit 12 may include storage devices such as hard disk drive storage devices, non-volatile memory (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory configured to form a solid-state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random access memory), etc. The processing circuitry in the control circuit 12 may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, graphics processing units, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and other integrated circuits. Software code may be stored on the storage devices in the circuit 12 and run on the processing circuitry in the circuit 12 to implement control operations for the device 10 (e.g., data acquisition operations, operations involving adjusting components of the device 10 using control signals, etc.). The control circuit 12 may include wired and wireless communication circuitry. For example, the control circuit 12 may include radio frequency transceiver circuitry, such as cellular telephone transceiver circuitry, wireless local area network transceiver circuitry (e.g., Circuits), millimeter-wave transceiver circuits, and / or other wireless communication circuits.

[0023] To support interaction with external devices, control circuitry 12 can be used to implement communication protocols. Communication protocols that can be implemented using control circuitry 12 include Internet Protocol (IP), wireless LAN protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocol—sometimes referred to as...). Protocols for other short-range wireless communication links, such as Protocols such as Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) protocols, IEEE 802.11ad protocol, cellular telephone protocols, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) protocols, antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) protocols, IEEE 802.15.4 ultra-wideband communication protocol, or other ultra-wideband communication protocols, etc. Each communication protocol may be associated with a corresponding Radio Access Technology (RAT) that specifies the physical connection method used to implement the protocol.

[0024] During operation, the communication circuitry of the devices in system 8 (e.g., the communication circuitry of control circuitry 12 of device 10) can be used to support communication between electronic devices. For example, one electronic device can transmit video data, audio data, and / or other data to another electronic device in system 8. The electronic devices in system 8 can use wired and / or wireless communication circuitry to communicate over one or more communication networks (e.g., the Internet, a local area network, etc.). The communication circuitry can be used to allow device 10 to receive data from and / or provide data to external equipment (e.g., tethered computers, portable devices such as handheld devices or laptops, online computing equipment such as remote servers or other remote computing equipment, or other electrical equipment).

[0025] Device 10 may include an input-output device 22. Input-output device 22 can be used to allow a user to provide user input to device 10. Input-output circuitry 22 can also be used to acquire information about the environment in which device 10 operates. Output components in circuitry 22 can allow device 10 to provide output to a user and can be used to communicate with external electrical equipment.

[0026] like Figure 2 As shown, input-output device 22 may include one or more displays such as display 14. In some configurations, device 10 includes a left display device and a right display device. Device 10 may include, for example, left and right components such as a left scanning mirror display device and a right scanning mirror display device or other image projector, a silicon-based liquid crystal display device, a digital mirror device or other reflective display device; a left and right display panel based on a light-emitting diode pixel array (e.g., an organic light-emitting display panel or display device based on a pixel array formed from crystalline semiconductor light-emitting diode dies); a liquid crystal display panel; and / or other left and right display devices that provide images to the left and right eye-tracking ranges for viewing by the user's left and right eyes, respectively.

[0027] During operation, display 14 can be used to display visual content to the user of device 10. The content presented on display 14 may include virtual objects and other content provided to display 14 by control circuitry 12. This virtual content may sometimes be referred to as computer-generated content. Computer-generated content may be displayed in the absence of real-world content, or it may be combined with real-world content. In some configurations, real-world images may be captured by a camera (e.g., a forward-facing camera, sometimes referred to as a front-facing camera) such that computer-generated content can be electronically overlaid on portions of the real-world image (e.g., when device 10 is a virtual reality headset).

[0028] Input-output device 22 may include sensor 16. Sensor 16 may include, for example, a 3D sensor (e.g., a 3D image sensor such as a structured light sensor that emits a light beam and uses a 2D digital image sensor to acquire image data for a 3D image from a light spot generated when a target is illuminated by the light beam, a binocular 3D image sensor that acquires 3D images using two or more cameras in a binocular imaging arrangement, a 3D light detection and ranging sensor (sometimes called a lidar sensor), a 3D radio frequency sensor, or other sensors that acquire 3D image data), a camera (e.g., an infrared and / or visible light digital image sensor), and a gaze tracking sensor (e.g., a gaze tracking system based on an image sensor and, if necessary, a light source that emits one or more light beams that, when a target is illuminated by the light beam, acquires image data for a 3D image from a light spot generated when the target is illuminated by the light beam), a camera (e.g., an infrared and / or visible light digital image sensor), and a gaze tracking sensor (e.g., a gaze tracking system based on an image sensor and, if necessary, a light source that emits one or more light beams that, when illuminated by the light beam, acquire image data for a 3D image from a light spot generated when a ... gaze tracking sensor (e.g., a gaze tracking system based on an image sensor and, if necessary, a light source that emits one or more light beams that, when illuminated by the light beam, acquire image data for a 3D image from a light spot generated when a target is illuminated by the light beam), a gaze tracking sensor (e. The sensors include: image sensors (for tracking after reflection from the user's eye), touch sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, light-based (optical) proximity sensors, other proximity sensors, force sensors (e.g., strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, resistive force sensors, etc.), sensors such as switch-based contact sensors, gas sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, magnetic sensors, audio sensors (microphones), ambient light sensors, microphones for acquiring voice commands and other audio inputs, sensors configured to acquire information about motion, position and / or orientation (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, compasses, and / or inertial measurement units including all of these sensors or subgroups of one or both of these sensors), and / or other sensors.

[0029] User input and other information can be acquired using sensors and other input devices in input-output device 22. If desired, input-output device 22 may include other devices 24, such as haptic output devices (e.g., vibrating components), light-emitting diodes and other light sources, speakers such as earphones for generating audio output, circuitry for receiving wireless power, circuitry for wirelessly transmitting power to other devices, batteries and other energy storage devices (e.g., capacitors), joysticks, buttons and / or other components.

[0030] Electronic device 10 may have a head-mounted support structure such as head-mounted support structure 26 (e.g., a head-mounted housing structure such as housing walls, straps, etc.). The head-mounted support structure may be configured to be worn on a user's head during operation of device 10 (e.g., against the user's face, thereby covering the user's eyes) and may support display 14, sensor 16, other components 24, other input-output devices 22, and control circuitry 12 (e.g., see...). Figure 1 (Component 30 and optical module 36).

[0031] Figure 3 This is a diagram of an exemplary wireless communication circuit used in device 10. Figure 3The wireless circuit 12C may include radio frequency transceiver circuitry 62 for handling various radio frequency communication bands. Transceiver circuitry 62 may include wireless local area network (WLAN) and wireless personal area network (WPAN) transceiver circuitry. Transceiver circuitry 62 may be designed for... (IEEE 802.11) Communication processing is available in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands or other WLAN bands, and it can handle the 2.4 GHz band. The circuit 62 may also include cellular transceiver circuitry for processing wireless communications in a frequency range (communication band) between 600 MHz and 6 GHz and / or other cellular communication bands, such as the cellular low frequency band (LB) from 600 MHz to 960 MHz, the cellular low-mid frequency band (LMB) from 1410 MHz to 1510 MHz, the cellular intermediate frequency band (MB) from 1710 MHz to 2170 MHz, the cellular high frequency band (HB) from 2300 MHz to 2700 MHz, the cellular ultra-high frequency band (UHB) from 3300 MHz to 5850 MHz, or other communication bands between 600 MHz and 5850 MHz (e.g., frequencies between 600 MHz and 6 GHz) or other suitable frequencies (as an example). The cellular transceiver circuitry can process voice data and non-voice data.

[0032] If desired, circuit 62 may include satellite navigation system circuitry, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver circuitry, for receiving GPS signals at 1575 MHz or for processing other satellite positioning data (e.g., GLONASS signals at 1609 MHz). Satellite navigation system signals for circuit 62 are received from a group of satellites orbiting the Earth. If desired, circuit 62 may include circuitry for other short-range and long-range wireless links. For example, circuit 62 may include circuitry for receiving television and radio signals, a paging system transceiver, near-field communication (NFC) transceiver circuitry (e.g., an NFC transceiver operating at 13.56 MHz or another suitable frequency), etc.

[0033] In NFC links, wireless signals are typically transmitted at most a few inches. In satellite navigation system links, cellular phone links, and other long-range links, wireless signals are typically used to transmit data over a range of thousands of feet or miles. In WLAN and WPAN links at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and other short-range wireless links, wireless signals are typically used to transmit data over a range of tens or hundreds of feet. Because the operating environment of device 10 can be switched to not using and to using higher-performance antennas in their locations, antenna diversity schemes can be used, if necessary, to ensure that the antennas have begun to be blocked or otherwise degraded.

[0034] Transceiver circuit 62 may include ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver circuitry that supports communication using the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol and / or other ultra-wideband communication protocols. In an IEEE 802.15.4 system, a pair of electronic devices can exchange wireless timestamp messages. The timestamps in the messages can be analyzed to determine the time of flight of the messages, thereby determining the distance (range) between the devices and / or the angle between the devices (e.g., the angle of arrival of an incoming radio frequency signal). The UWB transceiver circuitry in circuit 62 can operate at one or more ultra-wideband communication frequencies between approximately 5 GHz and approximately 8.3 GHz, between 3 GHz and 10 GHz, and / or at other frequencies (e.g., the 6.5 GHz UWB communication band, the 8 GHz UWB communication band, and / or other suitable frequency bands). As an example, device 10 may transmit and / or receive radio frequency signals in ultra-wideband frequencies with an external wireless device to determine the distance between device 10 and the external wireless device and / or to determine the angle of arrival of the radio frequency signals (e.g., to determine the relative orientation and / or position of the external wireless device relative to device 10). The external wireless device may be an electronic device in system 8 such as device 10 or may include any other desired wireless device. Radio frequency signals processed by device 10 in an ultra-wideband communication band and using an ultra-wideband communication protocol may sometimes be referred to herein as ultra-wideband signals. Radio frequency signals transmitted and / or received by device 10 in other communication bands (e.g., using communication protocols other than ultra-wideband communication protocols) may sometimes be referred to herein as non-ultra-wideband (non-UWB) signals. Non-UWB signals processed by device 10 may include radio frequency signals in, for example, cellular telephone communication bands, WLAN communication bands, etc.

[0035] Wireless circuit 12C may include antenna 40. Antenna 40 may be formed using any suitable type of antenna structure. For example, antenna 40 may include antennas with resonant elements, formed from loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted F-shaped antenna structures, slot antenna structures, planar inverted F-shaped antenna structures, helical antenna structures, dipole antenna structures, monopole antenna structures, or combinations of two or more of these designs. If desired, one or more of antennas 40 may be cavity-backed antennas.

[0036] Different types of antennas can be used for different frequency bands and combinations thereof. For example, one type of antenna can be used when forming a local wireless link antenna, and another type of antenna can be used when forming a remote wireless link antenna. Dedicated antennas can be used to transmit radio frequency signals in a specific frequency band. For example, antenna 40 can be configured to handle only cellular telephone signals or only wireless LAN signals. If needed, antenna 40 can handle only signals for the UWB communication band (e.g., UWB signals) or antenna 40 can be configured to transmit radio frequency signals in the UWB communication band and in non-UWB communication bands (e.g., wireless LAN signals and / or cellular telephone signals). Antenna 40 may include two or more antennas for handling signals in a given frequency band (e.g., to implement a MIMO scheme). For example, circuit 62 may use at least two, at least four, or other groups of antennas 40 to handle cellular signals.

[0037] Space is typically very precious in electronic devices (such as device 10). To minimize space consumption within device 10, the same antenna 40 can be used to cover multiple communication frequency bands. For example, each antenna 40 can be used to cover multiple cellular telephone frequency bands and / or other suitable frequency ranges between 600 MHz and 6 GHz.

[0038] Generally, transceiver circuit 62 may include one or more radio frequency transceivers (e.g., GPS receiver circuitry, WLAN / WPAN circuitry, cellular transceiver circuitry, and / or UWB transceiver circuitry). Transceiver circuit 62 may be coupled to antenna 40 using radio frequency transmission line paths such as radio frequency transmission line path 54.

[0039] To provide an antenna structure such as antenna 40 capable of covering communication frequencies of interest, antenna 40 may be provided with circuitry such as filter circuitry (e.g., one or more passive filters and / or one or more tunable filter circuits). Discrete components such as capacitors, inductors, and resistors may be incorporated into the filter circuitry. The capacitor, inductor, and resistor structures may also be formed from patterned metal structures (e.g., a portion of the antenna). If desired, antenna 40 may be provided with adjustable circuitry such as tunable component 50 to tune the antenna in the communication (frequency) band of interest. Tunable component 50 may be part of a tunable filter or a tunable impedance matching network, may be part of an antenna resonant element, may span the gap between the antenna resonant element and the antenna ground, etc.

[0040] The tunable component 50 may include switches, tunable inductors, tunable capacitors, and / or other adjustable components. Tunable components such as these may be based on switches and networks of: fixed components, distributed metal structures that generate associated distributed capacitance and inductance, variable solid-state devices for generating variable capacitance and inductance values, tunable filters, or other suitable tunable structures. During operation of device 10, control circuitry 12 may issue control signals on one or more control paths to adjust the inductance value, capacitance value, or other parameters associated with the tunable component 50, thereby tuning antenna 40 to cover a desired communication frequency band. Antenna tuning components such as tunable component 50 used to adjust the frequency response of antenna 40 may, herein, be referred to as antenna tuning component, tuning element, antenna tuning element, tuning element, adjustable tuning component, adjustable tuning element, switch, or adjustable component.

[0041] The radio frequency (RF) transmission line 54 may include a positive signal path and a ground signal path. The RF transmission line 54 may include a coaxial cable transmission line, a strip transmission line, a microstrip transmission line, a coaxial probe implemented using metallized vias, an edge-coupled microstrip transmission line, an edge-coupled strip transmission line, a waveguide structure (e.g., a coplanar waveguide or a grounded coplanar waveguide), a combination of these types of RF transmission lines, and / or other transmission line structures.

[0042] If desired, the positive signal conductor and ground signal conductor of each RF transmission line 54 may be formed by metal traces on rigid and / or flexible printed circuits. In a suitable arrangement, the RF transmission lines may include metal traces integrated within a multilayer laminate (e.g., layers of conductive materials (such as copper or other metals) and dielectric materials (such as resin) laminated together with or without an intervening adhesive). If desired, the multilayer laminate may be folded or bent in multiple dimensions (e.g., two-dimensional or three-dimensional) and may retain its bent or folded shape after bending (e.g., the multilayer laminate may be folded into a specific three-dimensional structural shape to accommodate other device components and may be rigid enough to retain its shape after folding without being held in place by reinforcements or other structures).

[0043] The matching network (e.g., an adjustable matching network formed using tunable component 50) may include components such as inductors, resistors, and capacitors for matching the impedance of each antenna 40 to the impedance of the corresponding RF transmission line 54. Matching network components may be provided as discrete components (e.g., surface mount technology components) or may be formed from housing structures, printed circuit board structures, traces on plastic supports, etc. Components such as these may also be used to form filter circuitry in antenna 40 and may be tunable and / or fixed components. In some configurations, the presence of a user's head near antenna 40 can affect antenna performance (e.g., antenna resonant frequency and / or input impedance). The impedance matching circuitry of antenna 40 may be configured to help adapt to the changed impedance and other characteristics of the antenna when device 10 is worn on the head and / or when device 10 is not worn on the head. As an example, the switches in component 50 may adjust depending on whether device 10 is in a head-mounted or under-head operating mode.

[0044] The RF transmission line 54 can be coupled to an antenna feed configuration associated with the antenna 40. For example, each antenna 40 can be formed as an inverted F-shaped antenna, a slot antenna, a monopole antenna, a dipole antenna, or other antennas having an antenna feed section 56 with a positive antenna feed terminal such as positive antenna feed terminal 58 and a ground antenna feed terminal such as ground antenna feed terminal 60. Other types of antenna feed arrangements can be used if desired. If desired, the antenna 40 can be fed using multiple feed sections, each feed section coupled to a corresponding port of the RF transceiver circuitry 62 via a corresponding RF transmission line path. In some configurations, the transmission line path can be coupled to multiple locations on a given antenna (e.g., the antenna can include multiple positive antenna feed terminals coupled to signal conductors of the RF transmission line). If desired, a switch can be inserted on the signal line between the RF transceiver circuitry 62 and the positive antenna feed terminals (e.g., selectively activating one or more positive antenna feed terminals at any given time). Figure 3 The exemplary power supply configuration is merely illustrative.

[0045] Control circuitry 12 may use information from proximity sensors, wireless performance metrics such as received signal strength information, device orientation information from orientation sensors, device motion data from accelerometers or other motion detection sensors, information about the usage scenario of device 10, information about whether audio and / or video is being played, information from one or more antenna impedance sensors, information about the desired frequency band to be used for communication, and / or other information to determine when antenna 40 is affected by the presence of nearby external objects or otherwise needs to be tuned. In response, control circuitry 12 may adjust adjustable inductors, adjustable capacitors, switches, or other tunable components such as tunable component 50 to ensure antenna 40 operates as needed. Tunable component 50 may also be adjusted to extend the coverage of antenna 40 (e.g., to cover a desired communication frequency band that extends over a wider frequency range than the range antenna 40 would cover without tuning).

[0046] Antenna 40 may include an antenna resonant element structure (sometimes referred to herein as a radiating element structure), an antenna ground plane structure (sometimes referred herein as a ground plane structure, ground structure, or antenna ground structure), an antenna feed section such as antenna feed section 56, and other components (e.g., tunable component 50). Antenna 40 may be configured to form any suitable type of antenna.

[0047] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary antenna structure that can be used to form antenna 40. For example... Figure 4 As shown, antenna 40 may include antenna resonant elements such as antenna resonant element 68 (e.g., an inverted F-shaped antenna resonant element) and antenna grounding portions such as antenna grounding portion 66 (sometimes referred to herein as ground plane). Antenna resonant element 68 may have a main resonant element arm such as arm 70. The length of arm 70 may be selected such that antenna 40 resonates at a desired operating frequency (e.g., where the length of arm 70 is approximately equal to one-quarter of the effective wavelength corresponding to a frequency in the communication band handled by antenna 40). Antenna resonant element 68 may also exhibit resonance at a resonant frequency.

[0048] If necessary, other conductive structures near arm 70 may contribute to the radiation response of antenna 40 (e.g., antenna 40 may include parasitic antenna resonant elements and / or the performance of antenna 40 may be affected by conductive structures separated from arm 70 (such as conductive portions of other antennas near antenna 40)). Arm 70 may be separated from antenna ground 66 by an opening filled with a dielectric (e.g., an air gap or a gap filled with a polymer). Antenna ground 66 may be formed by a housing structure such as a conductive support plate, a conductive portion of a display, conductive traces on a printed circuit board, a metal portion of an electronic component, or other conductive grounding structures.

[0049] If needed, arm 70 can be coupled to antenna ground 66 via one or more return paths, such as return path 72. The positive antenna feed terminal 58 of antenna feed 56 can be coupled to arm 70. Ground antenna feed terminal 60 can be coupled to antenna ground 66 (e.g., antenna feed 56 can extend parallel to return path 72). If needed, antenna resonant element 68 can include more than one resonant arm to support radiation in multiple communication bands (e.g., antenna resonant element 68 can include one or more arms other than arm 70, such as...). Figure 4 (Additional arms 70'). Each arm can help support radiation in one or more corresponding communication frequency bands. In a suitable arrangement (which may sometimes be described herein as an example), the antenna resonant element 68 may include two arms (70 and 70') extending from opposite sides of the antenna feed section 56 and / or return path 72. The antenna resonant element arms such as arms 70 and / or 70' may have other shapes and may follow any desired path (e.g., a path with curved segments and / or straight segments). In some configurations, the antenna resonant element structure such as arms 70 and / or 70' may be formed by a housing structure (e.g., a peripheral conductive member forming an annular frame for device 10 and / or a display bezel facing the front display 52 on the front of device 10, a metal housing frame member, and / or other metal housing structures).

[0050] If needed, the antenna resonant element 68 may include one or more tunable components 50. For example... Figure 4 As shown, for example, component 50 can be coupled between arm 70 (and, if necessary, arm 70') and antenna ground 66, can be inserted into return path 72, and can couple discrete segments of arm 70 (and / or arm 70') together, etc. Tunable component 50 can exhibit responsiveness to control circuitry 12 ( Figure 2 Capacitors, resistors, and / or inductors that are adjusted by providing control signals to the tunable components. Figure 5 This is an illustrative graph of antenna performance (antenna efficiency) relative to frequency (e.g., the frequency range of 600MHz to 6GHz, frequencies above 6GHz, frequencies below 600MHz, etc.). Figure 5As shown, antenna 40 may exhibit one or more frequency resonances such as frequency resonances BD1, BD2, ... . Using adjustments to the tunable component 50, one or more of these frequency resonances can be tuned during operation of device 10 to cover one or more desired additional frequencies of interest (see, for example, a tuned version of frequency resonance BD1' corresponding to frequency resonance BD1). The size, shape, and location of the tunable component 50, antenna 40, the location of the fixed impedance matching component of antenna 40, the antenna feed of antenna 40, and / or other RF circuitry in device 10 may be configured to accommodate antenna load effects caused by the presence of a user's head against the rear surface of headset 10 (e.g., at a location typically within 0.5 cm to 10 cm of antenna 40). Antenna 40 may also be configured to radiate away from the rear of device 10 (if desired).

[0051] Figure 6 This is a front view of a portion of device 10 in an exemplary configuration, wherein device 10 has an antenna 40 formed by an annular peripheral conductive member (member 26E) extending along the peripheral edge of the front face F of the device. In the exemplary configuration, an outward-facing (publicly viewable) display 52 (e.g., a touchscreen display) is mounted on the front face F of device 10 and faces forward in the +Y direction. Display 52 may be formed of a liquid crystal display panel, an organic light-emitting diode display panel, or other pixel array, and may be covered with a protective display cover layer. When a user is wearing device 10, display 52 is facing away from the user. Member 26E may be formed of metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.) and / or other conductive materials and may serve as a protective annular member (e.g., a display bezel) for device 10 and display 14.

[0052] like Figure 6 As shown, component 26E can be divided into multiple segments by gaps 80 filled with a dielectric (e.g., filled with a polymer). By merging multiple gaps 80 at different locations along the length of component 26E, component 26E is formed with an antenna resonant element suitable for forming antenna 40 (see, for example...). Figure 4 The resonant element arms 70 and 70' are segments of the same length. The antenna grounding structure may be formed by ground traces on printed circuit boards, conductive display structures in display 52, conductive housing structures (e.g., portions of support structure 26), and / or other grounding elements. Figure 6In the example, the peripheral conductive member 26E has been divided into multiple segments, including upper edge segments 26E-1 and 26E-2 (e.g., segments adjacent to the user's right and left eyebrows, respectively) and lower edge segments 26E-3 and 26E-4 (e.g., segments formed along the lower peripheral edge of the support structure 26 and on the opposite side of the display 52 on the bridge of the nose portion NB of the support structure 26). Parts of the device 10, such as the bridge of the nose portion NB, can be configured to rest on the user's nose to help support the device 10 on the user's face. As an example, Figure 6 The exemplary peripheral conductive component segment can be used to form four antennas 40 (e.g., cellular telephone antennas or other antennas) and can be operated in a MIMO antenna configuration.

[0053] Device 10 may include a component cooling system. Components such as display 14 in optical module 36 can generate heat. A pair of fans (e.g., a left fan and a right fan) with corresponding airflow inlets and outlets can be used to help remove this heat. Figure 7 As shown, for example, a fan such as fan 82 can be used to draw cooling air through a heat sink such as heat sink 84. Heat sink 84 can be mounted on the rear surface of display 14 in optical module 36 (by way of example). Support structure 26 may have airflow inlets such as inlet 86 and corresponding airflow outlets such as outlet 88. During operation, fan 82 can draw air through inlet 86 in direction 90 and exhaust air through outlet 88 in direction 92, thereby cooling heat sink 84 and display 14.

[0054] Figure 8 This is a view of a portion of device 10, showing how airflow ports such as port 94 (e.g., airflow inlet port 86 and / or airflow outlet port 88) can be formed by elongated openings extending along a portion of the length of the peripheral conductive member 26E of the support structure 26 (e.g., along the upper or lower edge of device 10). Dielectric-filled gaps 80 can be positioned along the sides of each port 94 to form conductive member segments 96 for forming antenna resonant elements 68 (e.g., arms 70 and / or 70') of the antenna 40. Figure 8 In the exemplary configuration, each gap 80 extends sufficiently through member 26E to isolate a segment (e.g., segment 96) of member 26E extending along the side of port 94, but does not penetrate the entire thickness of member 26E, such that member 26E remains electrically continuous along its length.

[0055] If necessary, the gap 80 may extend completely through member 26E (e.g., from the surface of member 26E on the front F to the opposite side of member 26E), as... Figure 9As shown. This produces a bifacial segment 96M. Each port 94 may have an elongated shape with a curved profile that follows the curved shape of member 26E (e.g., a curved shape that helps device 10 adapt to the curved shape of a user's face). Each bifacial segment 96M may have a first elongated portion 98 extending along one side of port 94 and a second elongated portion 100 extending along the opposite side of port 94. The first and second portions join at each end of port 94 such that segment 96M completely surrounds the opening of port 94. Segment 96M and / or other antenna structures may be used to form the resonant element arm of antenna 40, such as Figure 4 The first and second portions of the arm 70, segment 96M (and thus multiple segments 96M) may have curved shapes (e.g., when viewed from above, these curved structures follow the curvature of the member 26E for conforming to the curved cross-sectional profile of the user's face).

[0056] exist Figure 10 In an exemplary example, a segment of the peripheral conductive member 26E (see, for example, an exemplary bent elongated conductive member segment 102 of the peripheral conductive member 26E) has been used and a supplementary antenna structure (e.g., conductive structure 104, which may form an additional antenna resonant element arm or other portion of the antenna 40) has been used to form an antenna such as antenna 40. As an example, segment 102 may form a first antenna resonant element arm or other antenna resonant element structure of antenna 40, and structure 104 may form a second antenna resonant element arm or other antenna resonant element structure of antenna 40. Structure 104 may be formed from machined metal components, printed circuit boards, or other substrates (see, for example, substrate 106) with metal traces, and may be formed from metal foil, wire, and / or other conductive structures. In an exemplary configuration, antenna 40 may have an antenna ground structure formed by metal traces on a printed circuit board or other substrate (e.g., substrate 106), may have an antenna ground structure formed by a portion of support structure 26, and / or may have an antenna ground structure formed by a portion of display 52 (as an example).

[0057] According to one embodiment, a head-mounted device is provided, comprising: a head-mounted support structure having a rear and an opposing front; a rear-facing display supported by the head-mounted support structure and configured to provide an image viewable from an eye-tracking range; a peripheral conductive member extending along a peripheral edge of the head-mounted support structure on the front; a dielectric-filled gap dividing the peripheral conductive member into segments; and an antenna formed from one of the segments of the peripheral conductive member.

[0058] According to another embodiment, the peripheral conductive member forms an antenna resonant element arm of the antenna, the antenna including an antenna ground portion and an antenna feed portion, the antenna feed portion having a first feed terminal coupled to the antenna ground portion and a second feed terminal coupled to the antenna resonant element arm, the headset including: a cellular telephone radio frequency transceiver circuit; and a transmission line that couples the cellular telephone radio frequency transceiver circuit to the antenna resonant element arm.

[0059] According to another embodiment, the head-mounted device includes a forward-facing display on the front, with the peripheral conductive member extending along the peripheral edge of the forward-facing display.

[0060] According to another embodiment, the head-mounted support structure includes a headband.

[0061] According to another embodiment, the peripheral conductive member includes an airflow port.

[0062] According to another implementation, the segment surrounds the airflow port.

[0063] According to another embodiment, the peripheral conductive member has a first elongated metal portion extending along a first side of the airflow port and a second elongated metal portion extending along a opposite second side of the airflow port.

[0064] According to another embodiment, the first elongated metal portion forms the segment and the segment does not include the second elongated metal portion.

[0065] According to another implementation, the antenna includes metallic traces.

[0066] According to another embodiment, the head-mounted device includes a printed circuit on which the metal trace is formed, and the metal trace is configured to form an antenna resonant element arm of the antenna.

[0067] According to another embodiment, the peripheral conductive member includes an airflow port, and the head-mounted device includes: a heat sink coupled to one of the rear-facing displays; and a fan configured to cause airflow through the airflow port to cool the heat sink.

[0068] According to another embodiment, the segment has a metal portion surrounding an opening in the segment that forms the airflow port.

[0069] According to another embodiment, the peripheral conductive member has a first elongated metal portion extending along a first side of the airflow port and forming the segment, and a second elongated metal portion extending along a opposite second side of the airflow port, and the second elongated metal portion is separated from the first elongated metal portion through the gap filled with dielectric.

[0070] According to one embodiment, a head-mounted device is provided, comprising: a left optical system and a right optical system, each of the left and right optical systems having a display and a lens, the left and right optical systems being configured to display images viewable from a left eye movement range and a right eye movement range, respectively; a head-mounted support structure supporting the left and right optical systems; radio frequency transceiver circuitry; and an antenna coupled to the radio frequency transceiver circuitry, the antenna being a portion of the head-mounted support structure.

[0071] According to another embodiment, the head-mounted support structure includes a peripheral conductive member extending along the outer periphery of the front of the head-mounted support structure, and the antenna includes a portion of the peripheral conductive member.

[0072] According to another embodiment, the antenna includes a segment of the peripheral conductive member, and first and second polymer-filled dielectric gaps in the peripheral conductive member are formed at opposite first and second ends of the segment.

[0073] According to another embodiment, the head-mounted device includes a forward-facing display formed on the front of the head-mounted support structure and facing away from the left and right eye movement ranges, with a peripheral conductive member extending along the edge of the forward-facing display.

[0074] According to one embodiment, a head-mounted device is provided, comprising: a head-mounted device having opposing front and rear sides; a left-facing rearview display and a right-facing rearview display configured to display an image within an eye-tracking range; a peripheral conductive member extending along a peripheral edge of the front side; a dielectric-filled gap dividing the peripheral conductive member into multiple segments; and a plurality of antennas on the front side, each of the plurality of antennas including an antenna resonant element formed by a corresponding segment of the plurality of segments.

[0075] According to another embodiment, the head-mounted device includes a radio frequency transceiver circuit coupled to the plurality of antennas, the radio frequency transceiver circuit being configured to transmit and receive signals at frequencies between 600 MHz and 6 GHz.

[0076] According to another embodiment, the head-mounted device includes a forward-facing display on the front, with the peripheral conductive member extending along the edge of the forward-facing display.

[0077] The foregoing description is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described implementation scheme. The described implementation scheme can be implemented independently or in any combination.

Claims

1. A head-mounted device, comprising: A head-mounted support structure having a rear and an opposite front; A rear-facing display, supported by the head-mounted support structure and configured to provide an image viewable from the eye-tracking range; A peripheral conductive member extends along the peripheral edge of the head-mounted support structure on the front side, wherein the peripheral conductive member has an opening forming an airflow port; A first dielectric-filled gap and a second dielectric-filled gap, the first dielectric-filled gap and the second dielectric-filled gap dividing the peripheral conductive member into segments; and An antenna formed by a given segment of the peripheral conductive member, wherein the given segment forming the antenna extends between a first dielectric-filled gap and a second dielectric-filled gap, and extends along at least one edge of the opening in the peripheral conductive member forming the airflow port.

2. The head-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral conductive member forms an antenna resonant element arm of the antenna, wherein the antenna further includes an antenna ground portion and an antenna feed portion, the antenna feed portion having a first feed terminal coupled to the antenna ground portion and a second feed terminal coupled to the antenna resonant element arm, the head-mounted device further including: Cellular telephone radio frequency transceiver circuit; as well as A transmission line that couples the cellular telephone radio frequency transceiver circuit to the antenna resonant element arm.

3. The head-mounted device of claim 2, further comprising a forward-facing display on the front, wherein the peripheral conductive member extends along the peripheral edge of the forward-facing display.

4. The head-mounted device according to claim 3, wherein the head-mounted support structure includes a headband.

5. The head-mounted device of claim 1, wherein the airflow port allows air to pass through a heat sink for mounting to the rear surface of one of the rear-facing displays.

6. The head-mounted device of claim 1, wherein the given segment forming the antenna surrounds the opening in the peripheral conductive member forming the airflow port along the four edges of the opening.

7. The head-mounted device of claim 1, wherein the peripheral conductive member has a first elongated metal portion extending along a first side of the opening in the peripheral conductive member forming the airflow port and a second elongated metal portion extending along a opposite second side of the opening in the peripheral conductive member forming the airflow port.

8. The head-mounted device of claim 7, wherein the first elongated metal portion forms the given segment and wherein the given segment does not include the second elongated metal portion.

9. The head-mounted device of claim 1, wherein the antenna comprises a metallic trace.

10. The head-mounted device of claim 9 further includes a printed circuit, wherein the metal traces are formed on the printed circuit, and wherein the metal traces are configured to form an antenna resonant element arm of the antenna.

11. The head-mounted device according to claim 1, further comprising: A heat sink, which is mounted to the rear side of one of the rear-facing displays; as well as A fan configured to cause air to flow through the airflow port to cool the heat sink.

12. The head-mounted device of claim 1, wherein the given segment has opposing metal portions surrounding the opening in the peripheral conductive member forming the airflow port.

13. The head-mounted device of claim 1, wherein the peripheral conductive member has a first elongated metal portion extending along a first side of the opening in the peripheral conductive member forming the airflow port and forming the segment, wherein the peripheral conductive member has a second elongated metal portion extending along a opposite second side of the opening in the peripheral conductive member forming the airflow port, and wherein the second elongated metal portion is separated from the first elongated metal portion through a first dielectric-filled gap and a second dielectric-filled gap.

14. A head-mounted device, comprising: A left optical system and a right optical system, each of the left optical system and the right optical system having a display and a lens, wherein the left optical system and the right optical system are configured to display images that can be viewed from the left eye movement range and the right eye movement range, respectively; A head-mounted support structure that supports the left optical system and the right optical system; RF transceiver circuit; An antenna coupled to the radio frequency transceiver circuit, wherein the antenna includes a portion of the head-mounted support structure; A heat sink, the heat sink being mounted to the rear surface of the display of the left optical system; as well as An airflow port, formed by an opening in the head-mounted support structure and configured to allow air to pass through to cool the heat sink, wherein the portion of the head-mounted support structure of the antenna extends along the side of the opening.

15. The head-mounted device of claim 14, wherein the head-mounted support structure includes a peripheral conductive member extending along the front peripheral edge of the head-mounted support structure and wherein the portion of the head-mounted support structure of the antenna includes a portion of the peripheral conductive member.

16. The head-mounted device of claim 15, wherein the antenna includes a segment of the peripheral conductive member, and wherein a first polymer-filled dielectric gap and a second polymer-filled dielectric gap in the peripheral conductive member are formed at opposite first and second ends of the segment.

17. The head-mounted device of claim 14, wherein the portion of the head-mounted support structure of the antenna extends along the other side of the opening.

18. A head-mounted device, comprising: A head-mounted support structure having opposing front and rear sections; A left-facing rearview display and a right-facing rearview display, the left-facing rearview display and the right-facing rearview display being configured to display images within the eye-tracking range; A peripheral conductive member extending along the front peripheral edge; A front-facing display on the front, the front-facing display being formed by a pixel array and separate from the left-facing rear-facing display and the right-facing rear-facing display, wherein the peripheral conductive member extends along the outer edge of the front-facing display; The gaps filled with dielectric material divide the peripheral conductive member into multiple segments; as well as The plurality of antennas on the front, each of the plurality of antennas including an antenna resonant element formed by a corresponding segment of the plurality of segments.

19. The head-mounted device of claim 18, further comprising a radio frequency transceiver circuit coupled to the plurality of antennas, wherein the radio frequency transceiver circuit is configured to transmit and receive signals at frequencies between 600 MHz and 6 GHz.

20. The head-mounted device of claim 19, wherein the forward-facing display extends across the bridge of the nose of the head-mounted support structure.

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