Antenna system with floating conductor

Abstract

An antenna system includes: a patch antenna element arranged at a first layer of the antenna system; an energy coupler configured and coupled to the patch antenna element to transfer energy between the patch antenna element and a front-end circuit; a ground conductor arranged at a second layer of the antenna system, the patch antenna element and the ground conductor being arranged at a distance from each other and defining respective sides of a volume defined by a projection of the patch antenna element to the ground conductor, the projection being perpendicular to a surface of the patch antenna element; and a floating conductor offset from the ground conductor and the patch antenna element, the floating conductor including a body extending over a portion of the spaced distance outside and proximate the volume.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 17 / 951,924, filed on September 23, 2022, entitled “ANTENNA SYSTEM WITH FLOATING CONDUCTOR,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication devices are becoming more popular and more complex. For example, mobile telecommunication devices have evolved from simple cell phones to devices with multiple communication capabilities (e.g., multiple cellular communication protocols, Wi-Fi, and other short-range communication protocols) smartphones, supercomputing processors, cameras, etc. Wireless communication devices have antennas to support various functions, such as communication on a range of frequencies, reception of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals (also called satellite positioning signals (SPS signals)), etc.

[0004] As multiple antennas are provided in a single wireless communication device, the available volume for antennas is very limited. For example, a smartphone may have many (e.g., 8 antennas, 10 antennas, or more) antennas with very limited volume due to the device size expected by consumers. As a result, antenna accessories (e.g., modules) may be limited to very small volumes, e.g., a width of 4 mm or less.

[0005] Despite the size constraints on antennas, the expected functionality of antennas continues to increase. With the advent of fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication technology, mmW phased array antennas have received widespread attention by introducing higher antenna gain and beamforming characteristics to address propagation loss and aperture blocking obstacles. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are one of the key enablers of 5G technology, which improves spectral efficiency and system capacity by effectively streaming transmit / receive data with two orthogonal polarization signals (cross-polarization signals) in the desired direction. The trend in consumer electronics is to develop RF accessories (radio frequency accessories) with small form factors that can be easily accommodated in the limited space of emerging smart devices including cellular phones and tablets. The physical requirements for antennas make it difficult to maintain or improve performance (e.g., in terms of coverage, latency, and quality of service over the desired coverage area). In addition, upcoming smart devices will be equipped with 5G technology and operate on five frequency bands (including n258, n261, n257, n260, and n259). These require complex RF components at prices that are attractive to the high-volume production market. Dual-polarized microstrip phased array antennas with antenna-in-package (AIP) or system-in-package (SIP) developed using organic materials and PCB (printed circuit board) manufacturing technology or ceramic materials using LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramic) manufacturing technology are possible architectures for addressing the RF component needs of next-generation consumer electronic devices.

[0006] It is difficult to design a compact and thin 5G phased array antenna system for operation on all five bands and meet the required performance (e.g., in terms of efficiency, polarization isolation, cross-polarization level, polarization orthogonality, scan angle, pattern shape, etc.). Microstrip antennas are an option for antenna design and can be made compact by using high relative permittivity materials and / or through selective antenna element topology. Some techniques used to improve the cross-polarization performance of microstrip antennas (e.g., slot patches, reactive impedance surfaces (RISe), etc.) may not work well on all five bands. Summary of the invention

[0007] An example antenna system includes: a patch antenna element arranged on a first layer of the antenna system; an energy coupler configured and coupled to the patch antenna element to transfer energy between the patch antenna element and a front-end circuit; a ground conductor arranged on a second layer of the antenna system, the patch antenna element and the ground conductor being arranged to be spaced a distance apart from each other and bounding respective sides of a volume defined by a projection of the patch antenna element onto the ground conductor, wherein the projection is perpendicular to a surface of the patch antenna element; and a floating conductor offset from the ground conductor and the patch antenna element, the floating conductor comprising a body extending outside and adjacent to the volume over a portion of the spacing distance.

[0008] Another example antenna system includes: a patch antenna element; a ground conductor; a dielectric material disposed between the patch antenna element and the ground conductor; and a unit for positioning a fringe field corresponding to the patch antenna element and the ground conductor closer to the patch antenna element. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the communication system.

[0010] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 An exploded perspective view of simplified components of a mobile device is shown.

[0011] Figure 3 is a plan view of an apparatus including an antenna system.

[0012] Figure 4 is a perspective view of an example antenna system.

[0013] Figure 5 yes Figure 4 Side plan view of the antenna system shown.

[0014] Figure 6 yes Figure 4 Equivalent circuit diagram of the antenna system shown.

[0015] Figure 7 is a perspective view of another example antenna system.

[0016] Figure 8 yes Figure 7 Side plan view of the antenna system shown.

[0017] Fig. 9 is a perspective view of another example antenna system.

[0018] Fig.10 is a perspective view of another example antenna system.

[0019] Fig.11 is a perspective view of another example antenna system.

[0020] Fig.12 yes Fig.11 Side plan view of the antenna system shown.

[0021] Fig.13 yes Fig.11 A perspective exploded view of the antenna system shown.

[0022] Fig.14 is a perspective view of the linear array of the antenna system.

[0023] Fig.15 is a top view of the edge-fed stacked patch antenna system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Techniques for reducing the size of patch antenna elements and / or reducing cross-polarization of dual-polarized patch antenna elements are discussed herein. For example, one or more floating conductors that are not electrically connected to the patch antenna element or the ground conductor for the patch antenna element are arranged in close proximity to one or more radiating edges (edges that can transmit and / or receive wireless signals). The floating conductors can locate the edge fields of the patch antenna element and intersect the edge fields. However, other configurations can also be used.

[0025] The items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following functions, as well as other functions not mentioned. For example, without using relative dielectric constant materials, the size of patch antenna elements and components containing patch antenna elements can be reduced. For example, the antenna efficiency can be improved by reducing the gain of irrelevant antenna patterns toward the sides of the patch antenna elements (e.g., reducing lateral radiation from the patch antenna elements). The antenna performance (e.g., polarization performance (e.g., cross-polarization, polarization orthogonality and / or polarization isolation), antenna pattern shape and / or efficiency) of the patch antenna element or patch antenna element array can be improved, and the antenna performance of the patch antenna element or patch antenna element array can be improved without significantly (if at all) reducing the antenna bandwidth and / or efficiency compared to an antenna that does not use a floating conductor as discussed herein. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every implementation according to the present disclosure must provide any of the functions discussed, let alone all of the functions. In addition, the above effects may be achieved by means other than those described, and the items / techniques may not necessarily produce the effects.

[0026] refer to Figure 1, the communication system 100 includes a mobile device 112, a network 114, a server 116, and access points (APs) 118, 120. The communication system 100 is a wireless communication system because the components of the communication system 100 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (at least sometimes) using wireless connections, for example, via one or more of the network 114 and / or access points 118, 120 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more base station transceivers). For indirect communication, the communication can be changed during transmission from one entity to another, for example, changing the header information of the data packet, changing the format, etc. The mobile device 112 shown is a mobile wireless communication device (although they can communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection), which includes mobile phones (including smart phones), laptops, and tablet computers. Other mobile devices, whether currently existing or developed in the future, can also be used. In addition, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the communication system 100, and they may communicate with each other and / or with the mobile device 112, the network 114, the server 116, and / or the APs 118, 120. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, automotive devices, etc. The mobile device 112 or other devices may be configured to communicate in different networks and / or for different purposes (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi communications, Wi-Fi communications at multiple frequencies, satellite communications and / or positioning, one or more types of cellular communications (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobile), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), etc.), communication, etc.) to communicate.

[0027] refer to Figure 2 , as Figure 1The mobile device 200 of one of the examples of the mobile devices 112 shown in the figure includes a top cover 210, a display layer 220, a printed circuit board (PCB) layer 230 and a bottom cover 240. The mobile device 200 as shown can be a smart phone or a tablet computer, but the embodiments described herein are not limited to such devices (for example, in other implementations of the concepts described herein, the device can be a router or a customer premises equipment (CPE)). The top cover 210 includes a screen 214. The bottom cover 240 has a bottom surface 244. The sides 212, 242 of the top cover 210 and the bottom cover 240 provide edge surfaces. The top cover 210 and the bottom cover 240 include a housing that holds the display layer 220, the PCB layer 230, and other components of the mobile device 200 that may or may not be on the PCB layer 230. For example, the housing can hold (for example, support, accommodate) the antenna system, front-end circuit, intermediate frequency circuit and processor discussed below, or be integrated with these antenna systems, front-end circuits, intermediate frequency circuits and processors. The housing can be substantially rectangular, having two sets of parallel edges in the illustrated embodiment, and can be configured to be bent or folded. In this example, the housing has rounded corners, although the housing can be substantially rectangular with angles of other shapes such as right angles (e.g., 45°), 90°, other non-right angles, etc. In addition, the size and / or shape of the PCB layer 230 can be disproportionate to the size and / or shape of any one of the top cover or bottom cover, or disproportionate to the periphery of the device. For example, the PCB layer 230 can have a cutout for receiving a battery. In addition, the PCB layer 230 can include a sandwich board and / or a PCB daughter board. The daughter board can be selected to facilitate the design and / or manufacturing process, for example, to strengthen functional separation or to make better use of the space in the housing. Embodiments of the PCB layer 230 other than those illustrated can be implemented.

[0028] The limited space available in UEs (e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc.) poses challenges for antenna design. For example, with 10 or more antennas for LTE and sub-6 GHz bands in a mobile phone, there may not be extra space available for another antenna. Since the antenna frequency bandwidth varies with the antenna size, small antennas generally have narrow bandwidths, so designing a single antenna that covers a wide frequency bandwidth is challenging. In addition, the mechanical stability of the UE (e.g., mobile phone) may be challenging, for example, because non-conductive (e.g., plastic) breaks in the metal frame of the UE may be required to separate the antennas, but the non-conductive breaks may weaken the stability of the frame and may cause heating issues due to the inability to dissipate heat.

[0029] Also refer to Figure 3, the apparatus 300 includes antenna systems 310, 320, 330. The apparatus 300 may be an example of the mobile device 200. This is an example, and other types of apparatuses may be used and / or other numbers of antennas may be provided in the apparatus 300. For example, the apparatus 300 may be an access point or a portion thereof, a base station or a portion thereof, or any number of other devices or portions thereof. As another example, some existing smartphones include eight (8) or more antennas, such as 11 or more antennas. Each of the antenna systems 310, 320, 330 includes one or more energy couplers 312, 322, 332 and one or more antenna elements 314, 324, 334, respectively. Each of the one or more energy couplers 312, 322, 332 is coupled to a front end circuit (FEC) 342, 344, 346. The front end circuits 342, 344, 346 (also referred to as radio frequency (RF) circuits) are coupled to a transceiver 350, and the transceiver 350 is coupled to a processor 360 including a memory 362. The memory 362 may be a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium including software having processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor 360 to perform functions (e.g., possibly after compiling the instructions). The processor 360 may be implemented as a modem or a portion thereof. The processor 360 is communicatively coupled to the transceiver 350, which is communicatively coupled to the front-end circuits 342, 344, 346, which are communicatively coupled to the ECs 312, 322, 332, and the ECs 312, 322, 332 are communicatively coupled to the antenna elements of the antenna systems 310, 320, 330.

[0030] The front end circuits 342, 344, 346 may be configured to provide one or more signals to be radiated by the antenna elements of the antenna systems 310, 320, 330 and / or to receive and process one or more signals received by the respective antenna elements of the antenna systems 310, 320, 330 and provided to the front end circuits 342, 344, and 346 from the respective antenna elements of the antenna systems 310, 320, 330. One or more of the front end circuits 342, 344, and 346 may include corresponding matching circuits to facilitate forwarding signals from the FECs 342, 342, 346 to the ECs 312, 322, 332, and vice versa. The front end circuits 342, 344, 346 may be configured to process (eg, amplify, route, filter, etc.) RF signals received from the transceiver 350 or antenna elements of the antenna systems 310, 320, 330, for example, without significantly adjusting their frequency.

[0031] One or more of the antenna systems 310, 320, 330 may be configured to operate at various frequencies. For example, one or more of the antenna systems 310, 320, 330 may be configured to operate on the n258, n261, n257, n260, and n259 frequency bands.

[0032] Many implementation examples of antenna systems 310, 320, 330 are possible. Different implementations may be used, depending on, for example, one or more desired performance characteristics and / or one or more design constraints (e.g., one or more antenna system locations). For example, one or more of antenna systems 310, 320, 330 may be configured for dual polarization operation.

[0033] Also refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 , antenna system 400 is an example of one of antenna systems 310, 320, 330, and includes a patch antenna element 410, an energy coupler 420, a ground conductor 430, floating conductors 441, 442, and one or more layers of dielectric material 450. Patch antenna element 410 and ground conductor 430 are arranged at corresponding layers of antenna system 400, for example, in or on corresponding layers of a circuit board such as PCB 230. Different layers of a circuit board may include different materials, and a single layer may include multiple materials (e.g., a dielectric material such as patch antenna element 410 and a conductive material). For example, dielectric material 450 may include layers of materials each having a relative dielectric constant between 3.7 and 4.2, but materials with other relative dielectric constants may also be used. An active layer of the circuit board may be provided on a side of the ground conductor 430 opposite to the patch antenna element 410. In Figure 4 and Figure 5 In the example shown in , the patch antenna element 410 is arranged at the first layer 511 of the antenna system 400, and the ground conductor 430 is arranged at the second layer 512 of the antenna system. The energy coupler 420 is a probe feed that is communicatively coupled to the front-end circuit (not shown). The energy coupler 420 is also connected to the patch antenna element 410 at a position to cause single polarization operation of the antenna system 400 (i.e., transmitting and / or receiving signals of one polarization).

[0034] The floating conductors 441, 442 are offset from the ground conductor 430 (also referred to as the ground plane) and the patch antenna element 410 and are therefore not electrically connected to the ground conductor 430 or the patch antenna element 410. Thus, the floating conductors 441, 442 are "floating" because they are not electrically connected to the ground conductor 430 or the patch antenna element 410. Floating conductors 441, 442. In this example, the floating conductors 441, 442 are metallized vias that pass through a portion of the dielectric material 450. The floating conductors 441, 442 extend between the first layer 511 of the patch antenna element 410 and the second layer 512 of the ground conductor 430, and in this example, are disposed entirely between the first layer 511 and the second layer 512. The floating conductors 441, 442 may include pads 543, 544 located at one end of the floating conductors 441, 442, which end is closer to the first layer 511 (of the patch antenna element 410) than the second layer 512 (of the ground conductor 430), and / or the floating conductors 441, 442 may include pads 545, 546 located at the other end of the floating conductors 441 and 442, which other end is closer to the second layer 512 than the first layer 511.

[0035] The floating conductors 441, 442 may be arranged near respective edges 461, 462 of the patch antenna element 410. For example, the floating conductors 441, 442 may be arranged adjacent to respective edges 461, 462 of the patch antenna element 410. The pads 543, 544 may be arranged, for example, within approximately 0.025λ0 of the edges 461, 462. The pads 543, 544 may overlap the patch antenna element 410, for example, by approximately 0.01λ0 or less, where λ0 is the free space wavelength (e.g., at 24.25 GHz). As shown in this example, the pads 543, 544 may be arranged in a metal layer directly below the patch antenna element 410, but the floating conductors 441, 442 may be configured such that the pads 543, 544 are arranged elsewhere, for example, in the same layer as the patch antenna element 410 (e.g., as described below with respect to Figure 7 and Figure 8The pads discussed are the same as those for the patch antenna element.) The floating conductors 441, 442 may be arranged relative to the patch antenna element 410 to intersect the fringe fields 521, 522, and the floating conductors 441, 442 are arranged in a volume that would be occupied by the fringe fields generated by the patch antenna element 410 and the ground conductor 430. The floating conductors 441, 442 may be configured and arranged to conduct energy of the fringe fields 521, 522, wherein the floating conductor 441 is configured and arranged to receive, conduct, and radiate the fringe fields 521, and the floating conductor 442 is configured and arranged to receive, conduct, and radiate the fringe fields 522. The floating conductors 441, 442 may be centered along the edges 461, 462 (arranged in the middle along the length 470 of the antenna element 410, along the centerline 480 of the antenna element 410). The floating conductors 441, 442 facilitate field localization techniques that facilitate containing the field proximate to the patch antenna element 410 of the patch antenna element 410. Thus, floating conductors 441 , 442 may include elements for positioning the fringe fields of patch antenna element 410 closer to patch antenna element 410 than would be the case without floating conductors 441 , 442 .

[0036] The floating conductors 441, 442 can be configured and arranged to have little effect on the matching between the antenna element 410 and the energy coupler 420 (and the front-end circuit). Figure 6 , the equivalent circuit 600 of the antenna system 400 includes resistors 611, 612 corresponding to the radiating slots provided by the edges 461, 462 of the patch antenna element 410 and the ground conductor 430, and a series-coupled inductor 620 (L) and a capacitor 630 (C), wherein the series-coupled LC is connected in parallel with the resistors 611, 612 corresponding to the radiating edges. The floating conductors 441, 442 can improve the polarization performance. The series-coupled LC can be considered as an additional parameter to control the amplitude and / or phase of the degenerate electric field component. This can lead to an improvement in the cross-polarization performance (e.g., cross-polarization isolation) of the patch antenna element 410.

[0037] The floating conductors 441, 442 can be arranged near the edges 491, 492 of the antenna system 400 so that the edges 461, 462 can be significantly offset from the edges 491 and 492, so that the radiation performed by the antenna element 410 can be concentrated away from the edges 491, 492, thereby avoiding the generation of unwanted radiation in unwanted directions (for example, directly away from the edges 491, 492).

[0038] The use of floating conductors 441, 442 can help reduce the size of antenna system 400 and improve the performance of antenna system 400. For example, antenna system 400 can provide dual-polarized five-band operation for 5G phased arrays, for example, with acceptable scan angle performance (e.g., with at least threshold gain) of + / -45° on n258, n261, n257, n260, and n259 bands (i.e., five bands). In the absence of floating conductors 441, 442, patch antenna element 410 may need to be larger in order to provide similar gain and frequency response (e.g., similar back lobe radiation, mutual coupling, cross-polarization, and / or polarization orthogonality) as floating conductors 441, 442 at the same operating frequency.

[0039] Other numbers of floating conductors may be used. For example, one of the floating conductors 441, 442 may be omitted. As another example, more than two floating conductors may be used, which may help reduce the size of the patch antenna element, thereby reducing the size of an antenna assembly including one or more patch antenna elements (e.g., as discussed further below).

[0040] refer to Figure 7 and Figure 8 , the dual-polarized antenna system 700 is configured to operate in multiple frequency bands. Figure 7 Items or portions thereof are shown as transparent or opaque to aid in the clear illustration of the drawings. Antenna system 700 includes low-band patches 710, 720, high-band patches 730, 740, low-band energy couplers 711, 712, high-band energy couplers 731, 732, parasitic elements 741, 742, 743, 744, ground conductor 750, floating conductors 761, 762, body 770 (which includes dielectric material), short-circuit conductor 771, and active layer 780. Although not shown, there may be a gap between ground conductor 750 and active layer 780. Ground conductor 750, low-band patches 710, low-band patches 720, high-band patches 730, and high-band patches 740 may be arranged in various layers of antenna system 700, although different layers are not shown for the sake of clear illustration of the drawings. The layer 810 of the low-band patch 710 is between the layer 820 of the low-band patch 720 and the ground conductor 750, the layer 820 of the low-band patch 720 is between the layer 810 of the low-band patch 710 and the layer 830 of the high-band patch 730, and the layer 830 of the high-band patch 730 is between the layer 820 of the low-band patch 720 and the layer 840 of the high-band patch 740. The dielectric material may cover the high-band patch 740, but Figure 8 Not shown.

[0041] Compared with high frequency band patch 730,740, low frequency band patch 710,720 is configured to use (send and / or receive) lower frequency signal to operate.For example, low frequency band patch 710,720 can be configured to utilize (for example, send and / or receive) frequency to operate at the signal between 24.25GHz and 29.5GHz, and high frequency band patch 730,740 can be configured to utilize frequency to operate at the signal between 37.0GHz and 43.5GHz.Low frequency band patch 710 is approximately square, is fed by low frequency band energy coupler 711,712 capacitance, and wherein the pad 713,714 of low frequency band energy coupler 711,712 is arranged in the opening 791,792 defined by low frequency band patch 710. The low-band energy couplers 711, 712 are coupled to the low-band patch 710 at a position where dual polarization operation (transmission and / or reception) can be performed by the low-band patch 710. The low-band patch 720 overlaps, is concentric with the low-band patch 710, and is arranged close enough to the low-band patch 710 so as to capacitively couple to the low-band patch 710, thereby helping to improve the low-band (i.e., lower frequency than the high-band patches 730, 740) performance. The low-band patches 710, 720 have approximately the same size and shape if not identical. The low-band patches 710, 720 define recesses 715, 716, 725, 726, respectively, each of which extends inwardly from a respective edge of the respective low-band patches 710, 720, such as from edges 717, 718 of the low-band patches 710 (for the sake of clarity of the drawings, the edges of the low-band patches 720 are not labeled). Here, the recesses 715, 716, 725, 726 have an arcuate shape, but other shapes of recesses (i.e., defined by the low-band patches 710, 720) may also be used. The recesses 715, 716, 725, 726 are aligned with the floating conductors 761, 762 and are configured to maintain at least a threshold spacing between the low-band patches 710, 720 and the floating conductors 761, 762.

[0042] Similar to the floating conductors 441, 442, the floating conductors 761, 762 are offset from the ground conductor 750 and the low-band patch 710 and are therefore not electrically connected to the ground conductor 750 or the low-band patch 710 (or the low-band patch 720). Also similar to the floating conductors 441, 442, the floating conductors 761, 762 can be arranged in close proximity to the respective edges 717, 718 of the low-band patch 710. The floating conductors 761, 762 can be arranged near the edges 751, 752 of the ground conductor 750 (which can be the edges of the antenna system 700 (e.g., the body 770)) to help capture and locate the electric field of the low-band patch 710 (and possibly the low-band patch 720) near the edge of the low-band patch 710. This can significantly improve the cross-polarization performance of the antenna system 700, where the ground conductor 750 has a short width 754, for example by balancing the amplitudes of the two degenerate modes and correcting for the non-orthogonality of the two modes (e.g., due to unequal amplitudes of fields in different directions, and / or due to directions of one or both of the fields being different from corresponding desired directions). As shown in this example, the floating conductors 761, 762 can be centered along the length of each edge of the low-band patch 710 (similar to the positioning of the floating conductors 441, 442). The upper pads of the floating conductors 761, 762 are arranged on the same layer as the low-band patch 710, but other configurations can also be used (e.g., arranging the upper pads in a layer between the layer of the low-band patch 710 and the ground conductor 750 (e.g., a layer close to the low-band patch 710)). In an edge-fed stacked patch antenna system, the floating conductors can have an offset from the center of each patch edge to correct the cross-polarization performance by positioning the field and suppressing undesirable degenerate modes. For example, as Fig.15 , edge-fed stacked patch antenna system 1500 includes low-band energy couplers 1511, 1512, high-band patches 1520, high-band energy couplers 1521, 1522, short-circuit pins 1523, floating conductors 1531, 1532, and dielectric material 1540. Antenna system 1500 includes other features that are not shown for the sake of clarity of the accompanying drawings. In addition, all items are shown in solid lines, even if they may be hidden behind one or more other items (e.g., low-band energy couplers 1511, 1512 are hidden behind high-band patches 1520, and there may be one or more other patches).

[0043] High frequency band patch 730,740 is configured to operate with a frequency signal higher than low frequency band patch 710,720. For example, high frequency band patch 730,740 can be approximately square and smaller than low frequency band patch 710,720, and high frequency band patch 730,740 can have approximately the same size if not completely the same. High frequency band patch 730 is directly fed by high frequency band energy coupler 731,732 (it is directly electrically connected to high frequency band patch 730), wherein energy coupler 731,732 passes through the opening (for the sake of clear explanation of the accompanying drawings and without mark) limited by low frequency band patch 710,720 respectively. Energy coupler 731,732 is coupled to high frequency band patch 730 at the position that can carry out dual polarization operation (send and / or receive) by high frequency band patch 730. High frequency band patch 740 is capacitively coupled to high frequency band patch 730, to help improve high frequency band antenna performance. The parasitic elements 741, 742, 743, 744 are arranged in the same layer (i.e., layer 840) of the antenna system 700 as the high-band patch 740, and are configured and arranged to help improve the high-band antenna performance (e.g., increase the gain and / or bandwidth of the high-band patch 730). In this example, the parasitic elements 741, 742, 743, 744 include rectangular conductors, each of which has a length approximately equal to a corresponding edge of the high-band patch 740, and each of which is arranged to be adjacent to a corresponding edge of the high-band patch 740.

[0044] The shorting conductor 771 is configured, arranged and connected to improve the cross-polarization performance of the antenna system 700. The shorting conductor 771 is electrically connected to the ground conductor 750 and the high-band patch 730, for example, at the center of the high-band patch 730 as shown.

[0045] The use of floating conductors 761, 762 may improve antenna performance. Simulations have shown that the use of floating conductors 761, 762 reduces radiation at undesirable locations of the antenna system 700, for example, reducing radiation at the corners of one or more of the patches 710, 720, 730, 740. This may be due to the field localization caused by the floating conductors 761, 762 inhibiting the field from reaching the edges of the patches where radiation is not desired. The floating conductors 761, 762 may be arranged proximate to respective outer edges of the antenna system 700, for example, proximate to respective outer edges 751, 752 of the ground conductor 750. For example, the floating conductors 761, 762 may be arranged as close to the edges 751, 752 as permitted by the manufacturing technology used to manufacture the antenna system 700, for example, the bottom pad 763 is within 0.2λ or within 0.2 mm of the edge 751.

[0046] refer to Fig. 9 , further reference Figure 3-6, antenna system 900 is another example of any of antenna systems 310, 320, 330, and antenna system 900 includes a patch antenna element 910, a floating conductor 920, a ground conductor 930, an energy coupler 940, and a body 950 (which includes one or more layers of one or more dielectric materials). In this example, antenna system 900 includes a plurality of floating conductors 920 arranged along and in close proximity to (e.g., intersecting fringe fields from / to) each of a plurality of edges of patch antenna element 910, here along edges 911, 912 of patch antenna element 910. Floating conductors 920 may extend between ground conductor 930 and a layer of patch antenna element 910, e.g., without reaching ground conductor 930. Floating conductors 920 may reach a layer of patch antenna element 910, or (as shown) may not reach such a layer, thereby extending between a layer of ground conductor 930 and a layer of patch antenna element 910. Two or more of the floating conductors 920 may be connected, for example, floating conductors 920 arranged along the same edge of the patch antenna element 910 may be electrically connected to each other. In this example, the floating conductors 920 are symmetrically arranged along each of the edges 911, 912. The antenna system 900 is a single polarized patch antenna system, where the edges 911, 912 are radiating edges (edges capable of radiating and / or receiving wireless signals) and the floating conductors 920 are arranged along the radiating edges. In this example, there are three floating conductors 920 arranged along each of the edges 911, 912, but other numbers of floating conductors may be arranged along the edges of the patch antenna element. The energy coupler 940 may be electrically connected to the patch antenna element 910 and may be arranged at different locations relative to the patch antenna element 910 to cause desired radiation parallel to the edge of the antenna element 910 (e.g., vh (vertical-horizontal) polarization).

[0047] The floating conductor 920 can introduce a series LC circuit in parallel with the radiating edge of the patch antenna element 910 and the radiating slot provided by the ground conductor 930. The LC circuit can increase the effective capacitance of the patch antenna element 910 and correspondingly reduce the resonant frequency of the patch antenna element 910, so that for a given operating frequency, the patch antenna element 910 can be smaller than it would be without the floating conductor 920. The series coupled LC circuit can be considered an additional parameter that controls the amplitude and / or phase of the degenerate electric field component. This can make the patch antenna element 910 smaller than it would be without the floating conductor 920 for radiating and / or receiving signals of the same frequency. For example, to radiate and / or receive a signal of a particular frequency, a patch antenna element may typically be about 0.5λ at that frequency, and patch antenna element 910 in this example may be a square patch (less than 0.5λ on each side due to floating conductor 920), which may increase the effective capacitance of patch antenna element 910 due to the LC circuit introduced by floating conductor 920 (or by using floating conductors near more than two sides of the (square) patch antenna element, e.g., as Fig.10 and Fig.11 For example, the patch antenna element 910 may be a square, and the length of the side is reduced by about 31% by using the floating conductor 920 compared to not using the floating conductor 920. Therefore, the floating conductor 920 may include a unit for increasing the effective capacitance of the patch antenna element 910.

[0048] Antenna system 900 is an example, and other configurations may be used, such as where floating conductors are arranged along and adjacent to two or more edges of a patch antenna element. Fig.10, the antenna system 1000 includes a patch antenna element 1010, a floating conductor 1020, a ground conductor 1030, an energy coupler 1040, and a body 1050 (which includes one or more layers of one or more dielectric materials). In this example, the floating conductor 1020 is arranged along all four sides of the patch antenna element 1010 and is in close proximity to all four sides of the patch antenna element 1010 (e.g., intersecting the fringe fields from / to the four sides), and the patch antenna element 1010 is a square patch antenna element in this example. The floating conductor 1020 can extend between the ground conductor 1030 and the layers of the patch antenna element 1010, for example, not reach any of the ground conductor 1030 and the layers of the patch antenna element 1010, or can reach the layers of the patch antenna element 1010. Two or more of the floating conductors 1020 can be connected, for example, the floating conductors 1020 arranged along the same edge of the patch antenna element 1010 can be electrically connected to each other. The floating conductor 1020 can introduce a series LC circuit in parallel with the radiating edge (the edge capable of radiating and / or receiving wireless signals) of the patch antenna element 1010 and the radiating slot provided by the ground conductor 1030. The LC circuit can increase the effective capacitance of the patch antenna element 1010 and correspondingly reduce the resonant frequency of the patch antenna element 1010, so that for a given operating frequency, the patch antenna element 1010 can be smaller than without the floating conductor 1020. Simulations of the antenna system 1000 show that improved field localization, improved cross-polarization, and improved coupling are achieved with similar overall antenna efficiency and bandwidth compared to a similar antenna system without the floating conductor 1020. For example, for a layered antenna system configuration with a dielectric material having a relative permittivity less than about 4.2, the antenna system 1000 can have a width 1060 less than about 3 mm (e.g., 2.8 mm or less) for operation between about 24 GHz and about 43 GHz without significantly reducing antenna bandwidth and / or antenna efficiency compared to an antenna system without the floating conductor.

[0049] refer to Figure 11-13 , further reference Fig. 9, the antenna system 1100 includes a low-band patch antenna element 1110, a high-band patch antenna element 1121, 1122, floating conductors 1130, 1140, a ground conductor 1150, a low-band energy coupler 1111, 1112, a high-band energy coupler 1123, 1124, a parasitic element 1125, 1126, a short-circuit conductor 1160, a main body 1170 (which includes one or more layers of one or more dielectric materials) and an active layer 1180. The antenna system 1100 is an example of the antenna system 900 with dual polarization and tilted polarization. In this example, the floating conductor 1140 includes four groups of three floating conductors 1140. In each group of the floating conductors 1140, the floating conductors 1140 are electrically connected to the pads 1141, 1142 at the respective ends of the floating conductors 1140. Each of the four groups of floating conductors 1140 is arranged at a respective corner region of the low-band patch antenna element 1110, with the pad 1141 being in the same layer as the low-band patch antenna element 1110 (although other configurations may be used, e.g., with the pad 1141 being below the layer of the low-band patch antenna element 1110 (towards the ground conductor 1150)). In this example, the low-band patch antenna element 1110 is a square patch antenna element having corners truncated due to the floating conductors 1140. Thus, in this example, the low-band patch antenna element 1110 is an octagonal patch antenna element. The floating conductors 1130 are arranged proximate to two edges of the patch antenna element 1110, centered along these edges. The floating conductors 1130 are arranged proximate to the edges 1151, 1152 of the ground conductor 1150, and therefore proximate to the width boundaries of the antenna system 1100 (or the width boundaries of a linear array of the antenna system 1100, e.g., as described below). The floating conductor 1130 can be arranged as close to the edges 1151, 1152 as possible (e.g., within 0.2λ or within 0.2 mm of the edges 1151 and 1152) (within manufacturing capabilities). The floating conductor 1130 has been shown in simulations to improve the cross-polarization of the antenna system 1100 compared to a similar antenna system without the floating conductor 1130. The simulations also show that the floating conductor 1140 improves cross-polarization by effectively increasing the capacitance of the antenna element 1110 and allows for a significant reduction in the size of the radiating patch antenna element (here, the low-band patch antenna element 1110) near the floating conductor 1140. The floating conductor 1140 can provide a reduction in the size of the patch antenna element while improving the radiation performance (e.g., by positioning the field at an appropriate location) in terms of coupling between ports in the antenna element, cross-polarization, and polarization orthogonality. The simulations also show that the parasitic element 1125 improves polarization performance (e.g., cross-polarization, polarization orthogonality, and / or polarization isolation).

[0050] The low-band energy couplers 1111, 1112 may include L-shaped pads configured and arranged to provide proximity feeding to the low-band patch antenna element 1110 (capable of providing energy to and / or receiving energy from the low-band patch antenna element 1110). For example, the L-shaped pads 1113, 1114 (at Fig.13 ) may be offset from the low-band patch antenna element 1110, but close enough to the low-band patch antenna element 1110 to be capacitively coupled to the antenna element 1110. The low-band energy couplers 1111, 1112 and the high-band energy couplers 1123, 1124 may be coupled to one or more corresponding front-end circuits in the active layer 1180, wherein the front-end circuits include different corresponding matching networks for the low-band patch antenna element 1110 and the high-band patch antenna elements 1121, 1122. The matching network of the low-band patch antenna element 1110 may not include any open-circuit stubs to avoid reflected fields in the high-band frequency range (and therefore avoid reradiation of undesired modes), which may degrade the performance of the high-band patch antenna elements 1121, 1122 in terms of polarization purity and gain / efficiency.

[0051] The low-band patch antenna element 1110 and the high-band patch antenna elements 1121, 1122 can be configured to operate in different frequency bands (e.g., 24.25GHz-29.5GHz and 37.0GHz-43.5GHz), respectively. For example, the low-band patch antenna element 1110 can be larger than the high-band patch antenna elements 1121, 1122. The high-band energy couplers 1123, 1124 can be probe couplers electrically connected to the high-band patch antenna element 1121, and the high-band patch antenna element 1122 can be arranged and configured to be capacitively coupled to the high-band patch antenna element 1121. The parasitic elements 1125, 1126 can be configured and arranged to improve the antenna performance (e.g., gain, efficiency) of the high-band patch antenna elements 1121, 1122. As shown in this example, parasitic elements 1125, 1126 can be arranged in the same layer of the antenna system 1100 as the associated patch antenna element (in this example, the high-band patch antenna element 1122). As shown in this example, the floating conductor 1130 and / or the floating conductor 1140 can be arranged completely between the layer of the ground conductor 1150 and the layer of the parasitic element 1125 (e.g., the layer of the patch antenna element associated with the parasitic element 1125). The parasitic element 1125 in this example is arranged on the opposite side of the high-band patch antenna element 1122 and outside the parasitic element 1122. In this example, the parasitic element 1125 is arranged symmetrically about the high-band patch antenna element 1122. In this example, the high-band patch antenna elements 1121, 1122 have a circular shape, but other shapes of high-band (and / or low-band) patch antenna elements can also be used. In addition, although there are two parasitic elements 1125 and four parasitic elements 1126 in this example, other numbers of parasitic elements (excluding parasitic element 1125 and / or excluding parasitic element 1126) may be used. In addition, the shapes of parasitic elements 1125, 1126 are examples only, and parasitic elements of other shapes may be used. As shown in this example, floating conductor 1130 and / or floating conductor 1140 may be arranged completely between the layer of ground conductor 1150 and the layer of the lowest patch antenna fed by the energy coupler (rather than capacitively coupled by another patch antenna). Therefore, in this example, floating conductor 1130 and / or floating conductor 1140 may be arranged between the layers of ground conductor 1150 (not connected to ground conductor 1150) and up to or below the layer of low-band patch 1110 (i.e., extending to the layer of low-band patch 1110 or extending to a layer smaller than low-band patch 1110). As another example, a floating conductor may extend from a layer separated from a grounded conductor to (or below) a layer of a patch antenna element fed by an energy coupler associated with the floating conductor and below a layer of a patch antenna capacitively coupled to the patch antenna element associated with the floating conductor.A patch antenna element associated with a floating conductor is a patch antenna element configured and arranged relative to the floating conductor such that a fringe field of the patch antenna element will intersect the floating conductor.

[0052] refer to Fig.14 , system 1400 includes a linear array including a plurality of (here five) antenna systems 1410, each of which includes an antenna system such as antenna system 400, or antenna system 700, or antenna system 900, or antenna system 1000, or antenna system 1100, or antenna system 1500. In system 1400, two antenna systems 1410 at each end of the array are integrated together to obtain mechanical strength and maintain geometric symmetry. System 1400 may also include slot antennas 1420, wherein slot antennas 1420 are integrated with each pair of antenna systems 1410 in the integrated antenna system 1410 pair and arranged between them. Bottom filling material may be used to strengthen this integration. One or more of the antenna systems 1410 may be out of phase with respect to one or more of the other antenna systems 1410 (e.g., a pair of integrated antenna systems 1410 may be out of phase with respect to the other antenna systems 1410), which may help improve scanning symmetry, cross-polarization, and / or polarization orthogonality of the system 1400. Spacing of the antenna systems 1410 may be used, which helps suppress any undesirable modes (e.g., due to different propagation of different signal polarizations).

[0053] Implementation Example

[0054] Examples of implementations are provided in the numbered clauses below.

[0055] Clause 1: An antenna system comprising:

[0056] a patch antenna element arranged in a first layer of the antenna system;

[0057] an energy coupler configured and coupled to the patch antenna element to transfer energy between the patch antenna element and a front-end circuit;

[0058] a ground conductor arranged at a second layer of the antenna system, the patch antenna element and the ground conductor being arranged to be spaced a distance from each other and bounding respective sides of a volume defined by a projection of the patch antenna element onto the ground conductor, wherein the projection is perpendicular to a surface of the patch antenna element; and

[0059] A floating conductor is offset from the ground conductor and the patch antenna element, the floating conductor including a body extending outside of and proximate the volume over a portion of the separation distance.

[0060] Clause 2: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein:

[0061] The patch antenna element is configured and arranged relative to the ground conductor so that a fringe field is generated by first energy provided to the patch antenna element by the energy coupler or by second energy wirelessly received by the antenna system; and the floating conductor is arranged to intersect a portion of the fringe field.

[0062] Clause 3: The antenna system of claim 2, wherein the floating conductor comprises a conductive via and a conductive pad electrically connected to the conductive via, the conductive pad being disposed on the first layer.

[0063] Clause 4: The antenna system of claim 3, wherein the conductive pad is adjacent to the patch antenna element.

[0064] Clause 5: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the floating conductor is centered along an edge of the patch antenna element.

[0065] Clause 6: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the floating conductor is a first floating conductor, the antenna system further comprising a second floating conductor, wherein the first floating conductor and the second floating conductor are centered along opposite edges of the patch antenna element.

[0066] Clause 7: The antenna system of Claim 6, further comprising a plurality of third floating conductors, each of the plurality of third floating conductors comprising a set of conductive vias electrically coupled to each other.

[0067] Item 8: The antenna system of claim 7, wherein the patch antenna element has an octagonal perimeter, wherein the plurality of third floating conductors comprises two pairs of third floating conductors among the plurality of third floating conductors, wherein the respective third floating conductors are arranged outside the volume and adjacent to the volume along opposite sides of the octagonal perimeter.

[0068] Clause 9: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the floating conductor is disposed adjacent to an edge of the ground conductor.

[0069] Clause 10: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the floating conductor is disposed entirely between the first layer of the antenna system and the second layer of the antenna system.

[0070] Clause 11: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the floating conductor is part of a plurality of floating conductors arranged symmetrically about a perimeter of the patch antenna element.

[0071] Clause 12: The antenna system of claim 11, wherein the patch antenna element comprises a plurality of edges, and wherein two or more of the plurality of floating conductors are arranged along each of at least two of the plurality of edges of the patch antenna element.

[0072] Clause 13: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein a perimeter of the patch antenna element extends inwardly proximate the floating conductor, maintaining at least a threshold spacing between the patch antenna element and the floating conductor.

[0073] Item 14: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the patch antenna element is a first patch antenna element, and wherein the antenna system further comprises a second patch antenna element arranged in a third layer of the antenna system, the second patch antenna element having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of the first patch antenna element, the first patch antenna element and the second patch antenna element overlapping and co-centered, and the first layer of the antenna system is between the third layer of the antenna system and the second layer of the antenna system and sufficiently close to the third layer of the antenna system so that the first patch antenna element is capacitively coupled to the second patch antenna element.

[0074] Clause 15: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the patch antenna element is a first frequency band patch antenna element, the front end circuit is a first front end circuit, and the energy coupler is a first energy coupler, and wherein the antenna system further comprises:

[0075] a second frequency band patch antenna element disposed in a fourth layer of the antenna system, the first layer of the antenna system being between the fourth layer of the antenna system and the second layer of the antenna system;

[0076] a second energy coupler configured to transfer energy between the second frequency band patch antenna element and the second front end circuit; and

[0077] A short-circuit conductor electrically connects the ground conductor to the center of the second-band patch antenna element.

[0078] Clause 16: The antenna system of claim 15, wherein the second frequency band patch antenna element is a first second frequency band patch antenna element, and wherein the antenna system further comprises:

[0079] a second second frequency band patch antenna element disposed on a fifth layer of the antenna system, the fourth layer of the antenna system being between the fifth layer of the antenna system and the first layer of the antenna system; and

[0080] A plurality of parasitic elements are disposed in the fifth layer of the antenna system, separated from the second second frequency band patch antenna element.

[0081] Item 17: The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the patch antenna element, the energy coupler, and the floating conductor comprise a first antenna system, the antenna system comprising a plurality of antenna systems in a linear array, the plurality of antenna systems comprising the first antenna system and a plurality of second antenna systems, wherein each antenna system in the plurality of second antenna systems is configured similarly to the first antenna system, and wherein at least two of the plurality of antenna systems are out of phase with respect to each other.

[0082] Item 18: The antenna system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of antenna systems consists of five antenna systems, wherein a first pair of antenna systems among the five antenna systems arranged at a first end of the linear array are integrated together, and a second pair of antenna systems among the five antenna systems arranged at a second end of the linear array are integrated together, and wherein the first pair of antenna systems among the five antenna systems are out of phase with respect to the second pair of antenna systems among the five antenna systems.

[0083] Item 19: The antenna system according to claim 1 further includes a parasitic element, which corresponds to an associated patch antenna element and is arranged in the same layer of the antenna system as the associated patch antenna element, wherein the floating conductor is arranged completely between the second layer of the antenna system and the layer of the antenna system of the associated patch antenna element.

[0084] Clause 20: An antenna system comprising:

[0085] Patch antenna element;

[0086] Grounding conductor;

[0087] a dielectric material disposed between the patch antenna element and the ground conductor; and

[0088] Means for positioning a fringe field corresponding to the patch antenna element and the ground conductor closer to the patch antenna element.

[0089] Clause 21: The antenna system of claim 20, wherein the means for locating the fringe field comprises means for increasing an effective capacitance of the patch antenna element.

[0090] Other considerations

[0091] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, configurations other than those shown may be used. Moreover, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or a combination of any of these. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located in a variety of locations, including being distributed so that portions of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0092] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes" and / or "including" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0093] In addition, as used herein, "or" as used in a list of items (which may be preceded by "at least one" or "one or more") represents a disjunctive list, so that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C", or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C", or a list of "A or B or C" represents A, or B, or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A, B, and C), or a combination of more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Therefore, a statement that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform a function related to at least one of A or B, or a statement that an item is configured to perform function A or function B, means that the item can be configured to perform the function related to A, or can be configured to perform the function related to B, or can be configured to perform the function related to both A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or measure B" means that the processor can be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or can be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or can be configured to measure A and measure B (and can be configured to select which one or both of A and B to measure). Similarly, the statement of a unit for measuring at least one of A or B includes a unit for measuring A (which may or may not be able to measure B), or a unit for measuring B (and which may or may not be configured to measure A), or a unit for measuring A and B (which may or may not be able to select which one or both of A and B to measure). As another example, the statement that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform at least one of function X or perform function Y means that the item can be configured to perform function X, or can be configured to perform function Y, or can be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase “a processor configured to measure at least one of X or Y” means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select which one or both of X and Y to measure).

[0094] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" a certain item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions other than the item and condition.

[0095] Substantial variations may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed. Unless otherwise indicated, the functional or other components shown in the drawings and / or discussed herein that are connected or communicated with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, they may be connected directly or indirectly to enable communication between them.

[0096] The systems and devices discussed above are examples only. Various configurations may appropriately omit, replace, or add various processes or components. For example, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of these configurations may be combined in a similar manner. In addition, technology is developing, so many elements are only exemplary, and they do not limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure or claims.

[0097] A wireless communication system refers to a system that transmits communications wirelessly between wireless communication devices (also called wireless communication devices), that is, by electromagnetic waves and / or sound waves propagating in the air space, rather than by wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication system (also called a wireless communication system, a wireless communication network, or a wireless communication network) may not have all communications sent wirelessly, but is configured to have at least some communications sent wirelessly. In addition, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the function of the device is exclusively used for communication, or even mainly used for communication, or that the communication using the wireless communication device is exclusively wireless, or even mainly wireless, or that the device is a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (one-way or two-way), for example, including at least one radio device for wireless communication (each radio device is part of a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver).

[0098] Specific details are given in the specification to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, configurations can be practiced without these specific details. For example, in order to avoid confusion with these configurations, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures and techniques are shown without unnecessary details. This specification provides example configurations, but they do not limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the claims. On the contrary, the previous descriptions of these configurations provide instructions for implementing the described technology. Various changes can be made to the functions and arrangements of the elements.

[0099] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / code to a processor for execution and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as a signal). In many implementations, processor-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical disks and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0100] Several example configurations have been described, and various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the present disclosure. Moreover, many operations may be performed before, during, or after consideration of the above elements. Therefore, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0101] Unless otherwise stated, "about" and / or "approximately" as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount, duration, etc., encompasses a variation of ±20% or ±10%, ±5% or ±0.1% from the specified value, as appropriate, and applies to the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other embodiments described herein. Unless otherwise stated, "substantially" as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount, duration, physical property (e.g., frequency), etc., also encompasses a variation of ±20% or ±10%, ±5% or ±0.1% from the specified value, as appropriate, and applies to the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other embodiments described herein.

[0102] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or above) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., at the resolution of the computing system, the second threshold is one value higher than the first threshold. A statement that a value is less than (or is within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly less than the first threshold, e.g., at the resolution of the computing system, the second threshold is one value lower than the first threshold.

Claims

1. An antenna system, comprising: a patch antenna element arranged in a first layer of the antenna system; an energy coupler configured and coupled to the patch antenna element to transfer energy between the patch antenna element and a front-end circuit; a ground conductor arranged at a second layer of the antenna system, the patch antenna element and the ground conductor being arranged to be spaced a distance from each other and bounding respective sides of a volume defined by a projection of the patch antenna element onto the ground conductor, wherein the projection is perpendicular to a surface of the patch antenna element; as well as A floating conductor is offset from the ground conductor and the patch antenna element, the floating conductor including a body extending outside of and proximate the volume over a portion of the separation distance.

2. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The patch antenna element is configured and arranged relative to the ground conductor so that a fringe field will be generated by first energy provided to the patch antenna element by the energy coupler or by second energy wirelessly received by the antenna system; as well as The floating conductor is arranged to intersect a portion of the fringe field.

3. The antenna system according to claim 2, wherein: The floating conductor includes a conductive via and a conductive pad electrically connected to the conductive via, the conductive pad being arranged on the first layer.

4. The antenna system according to claim 3, wherein: The conductive pad is adjacent to the patch antenna element.

5. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The floating conductor is centered along an edge of the patch antenna element.

6. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The floating conductor is a first floating conductor and the antenna system further includes a second floating conductor, wherein the first floating conductor and the second floating conductor are centered along opposite edges of the patch antenna element.

7. The antenna system of claim 6, further comprising a plurality of third floating conductors, each of the plurality of third floating conductors comprising a set of conductive vias electrically coupled to each other.

8. The antenna system according to claim 7, wherein: The patch antenna element has an octagonal perimeter, wherein the plurality of third floating conductors includes two pairs of third floating conductors, wherein respective third floating conductors are arranged outside of and proximate to the volume along opposite sides of the octagonal perimeter.

9. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The floating conductor is arranged adjacent to an edge of the ground conductor.

10. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The floating conductor is disposed entirely between the first layer of the antenna system and the second layer of the antenna system.

11. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The floating conductor is part of a plurality of floating conductors arranged symmetrically about a perimeter of the patch antenna element.

12. The antenna system according to claim 11, wherein: The patch antenna element includes a plurality of edges, and wherein two or more of the plurality of floating conductors are arranged along each of at least two of the plurality of edges of the patch antenna element.

13. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The perimeter of the patch antenna element extends inwardly proximate the floating conductor, maintaining at least a threshold spacing between the patch antenna element and the floating conductor.

14. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The patch antenna element is a first patch antenna element, and wherein the antenna system further comprises a second patch antenna element arranged in a third layer of the antenna system, the second patch antenna element having a shape and size similar to that of the first patch antenna element, the first patch antenna element and the second patch antenna element overlapping and centered together, and the first layer of the antenna system is between the third layer of the antenna system and the second layer of the antenna system and sufficiently close to the third layer of the antenna system so that the first patch antenna element is capacitively coupled to the second patch antenna element.

15. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The patch antenna element is a first frequency band patch antenna element, the front end circuit is a first front end circuit, and the energy coupler is a first energy coupler, and wherein the antenna system further comprises: a second frequency band patch antenna element disposed in a fourth layer of the antenna system, the first layer of the antenna system being between the fourth layer of the antenna system and the second layer of the antenna system; a second energy coupler configured to transfer energy between the second frequency band patch antenna element and the second front end circuit; and A short-circuit conductor electrically connects the ground conductor to the center of the second-band patch antenna element.

16. The antenna system according to claim 15, wherein: The second frequency band patch antenna element is a first second frequency band patch antenna element, and wherein the antenna system further comprises: a second second frequency band patch antenna element disposed on a fifth layer of the antenna system, the fourth layer of the antenna system being between the fifth layer of the antenna system and the first layer of the antenna system; and A plurality of parasitic elements are disposed in the fifth layer of the antenna system, separated from the second second frequency band patch antenna element.

17. The antenna system according to claim 1, wherein: The patch antenna element, the energy coupler and the floating conductor include a first antenna system, the antenna system includes a plurality of antenna systems in a linear array, the plurality of antenna systems include the first antenna system and a plurality of second antenna systems, wherein each antenna system in the plurality of second antenna systems is configured similarly to the first antenna system, and wherein at least two of the plurality of antenna systems are out of phase with respect to each other.

18. The antenna system according to claim 17, wherein: The multiple antenna systems consist of five antenna systems, wherein a first pair of antenna systems among the five antenna systems arranged at a first end of the linear array are integrated together, and a second pair of antenna systems among the five antenna systems arranged at a second end of the linear array are integrated together, and wherein the first pair of antenna systems among the five antenna systems are out of phase with respect to the second pair of antenna systems among the five antenna systems.

19. The antenna system of claim 1, further comprising a parasitic element corresponding to an associated patch antenna element and arranged in a same layer of the antenna system as the associated patch antenna element, wherein: The floating conductor is disposed entirely between the second layer of the antenna system and the layer of the antenna system of the associated patch antenna element.

20. An antenna system, comprising: Patch antenna element; Grounding conductor; a dielectric material disposed between the patch antenna element and the ground conductor; as well as Means for positioning a fringe field corresponding to the patch antenna element and the ground conductor closer to the patch antenna element.

21. The antenna system according to claim 20, wherein: The means for locating the fringe fields includes means for increasing an effective capacitance of the patch antenna element.

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