Transceiving apparatus and user equipment comprising the same

Abstract

A transceiving apparatus is provided, in which the same antenna elements may be efficiently (in terms of power consumption and antenna performance) used in both TX and RX directions. More specifically, first and second antenna elements are arranged at the same or opposite edges of a ground plane. A first receiving unit is coupled to the first antenna element to receive an RX signal. The second receiving unit is coupled to the second antenna element to receive an RX signal. A transmitting unit is arranged to generate a TX signal which is then split by a splitting unit into first and second TX sub-signals. These TX sub-signals have a phase difference defined based on at least one of: (i) an arrangement of each of the antenna elements on the ground plane; (ii) a frequency of the TX signal; and (iii) an excitation mode of each of the antenna elements. Additionally, two TX-RX isolation units are arranged such that each of the first / second receiving unit and the splitting unit is coupled to the first / second antenna element through the first / second TX-RX isolation unit.

Description

[0001] TRANSCEIVING APPARATUS AND USER EQUIPMENT COMPRISING THE SAME

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a transceiving apparatus in which the same antenna elements are efficiently used for both signal transmission and reception, as well as to a user equipment (UE) comprising the transceiving apparatus.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Although the number of antennas in mobile User Equipments (UEs) (e.g., mobile phones, handsets, etc.) has increased, the volume reserved for the antennas has remained the same or even reduced. Consequently, the antennas become easily inefficient in terms of data rate and coverage. Such an inefficient antenna will also increase power consumption, thereby reducing a battery life. To achieve higher communication quality and throughput, antenna performance is critical. Several options exist, including antenna diversity for signal reception and transmission and novel antenna designs that allow the antenna performance to be increased. At the same time, power consumption is the key requirement for the mobile UEs, which means high demands for transmit (TX) antenna efficiency.

[0006] Typically, multiple antennas (the so-called Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna technology) are used to improve data throughput or signal quality in a receive (RX) direction. There can be 2x2, 4x4 or even 8x8 MIMO antenna configurations in the RX direction. However, only a single antenna is normally used in a TX direction, which can be insufficient to achieve adequate transmission efficiency and can also lead to increased power consumption (i.e., more power can be required to perform signal transmission by using a single TX antenna).

[0007] SUMMARY

[0008] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0009] It is an objective of the present disclosure to provide a technical solution that allows the same antenna elements to be efficiently (in terms of power consumption and antenna performance) used for both signal transmission and reception. The objective above is achieved by the features of the independent claims in the appended claims. Further embodiments and examples are apparent from the dependent claims, the detailed description, and the accompanying drawings.

[0010] According to a first aspect, a transceiving apparatus is provided. The transceiving apparatus comprises a ground plane, a first antenna element arranged at a first edge of the ground plane, and a second antenna element arranged at the first edge or a second edge of the ground plane. The second edge may be adjacent or opposite to the first edge. The transceiving apparatus further comprises a first receiving unit and a second receiving unit. The first receiving unit is coupled to the first antenna element and configured to receive an RX signal through the first antenna element. The second receiving unit is coupled to the second antenna element and configured to receive an RX signal through the second antenna element. The transceiving apparatus further comprises a transmitting unit configured to generate a TX signal, and a splitting unit coupled between the transmitting unit and each of the first antenna element and the second antenna element. The splitting unit is configured to receive the TX signal from the transmitting unit and split the TX signal into a first TX sub-signal and a second TX sub-signal. The first TX sub-signal and the second TX sub-signal have a phase difference defined based on at least one of: (i) an arrangement of each of the first antenna element and the second antenna element on the ground plane; (ii) a frequency of the TX signal; and (iii) an excitation mode of each of the first antenna element and the second antenna element. The transceiving apparatus further comprises a first TX-RX isolation unit and a second TX-RX isolation unit. The first TX-RX isolation unit is arranged such that each of the first receiving unit and the splitting unit is coupled to the first antenna element through the first TX-RX isolation unit. The second TX-RX isolation unit is arranged such that each of the second receiving unit and the splitting unit is coupled to the second antenna element through the second TX-RX isolation unit. By using the transceiving apparatus thus configured, it is possible to improve the efficiency of using the antenna elements in both TX and RX directions, thereby improving communication quality and also reducing power consumption. Furthermore, no extra antenna volume is needed because the first and second antenna elements initially available for the RX direction may also be used in the TX direction by applying the TX-RX isolation units and the phase difference between the antenna elements. It should be noted that, in this case, the antenna elements may operate in the RX direction in the same manner as in the prior art, i.e. , provide MIMO support.

[0011] In one exemplary embodiment of the first aspect, each of the first TX-RX isolation unit and the second TX-RX isolation unit is configured as a duplexer or TX-RX switch. The duplexers or TX-RX switches may allow the antenna elements to be switched more efficiently between the TX and RX directions.

[0012] In one exemplary embodiment of the first aspect, the second antenna element is arranged at the second edge opposite to the first edge. In this embodiment, the phrase difference between the first TX sub-signal and the second TX sub-signal is equal to 180 degrees. By using this phase difference in the opposite arrangement of the antenna elements, one may achieve the best efficiency of using the antenna elements, especially at a frequency ranging from 698 to 960 MHz.

[0013] In one exemplary embodiment of the first aspect, the transceiving apparatus further comprises a power amplifier (PA) coupled between the transmitting unit and the splitting unit. The PA is configured to amplify the TX signal. Such TX signal amplification may be required to achieve better TX performance.

[0014] In another exemplary embodiment of the first aspect, the transceiving apparatus further comprises a first PA coupled between the splitting unit and the first TX-RX isolation unit and a second PA coupled between the splitting unit and the second TX-RX isolation unit. The first PA is configured to amplify the first TX sub-signal, and the second PA is configured to amplify the second TX sub-signal. Such TX sub-signal amplification may be required to achieve better TX performance.

[0015] In one exemplary embodiment of the first aspect, the splitting unit comprises a power divider and a phase delay element. The power divider is configured to divide the TX signal into the first TX sub-signal and the second TX sub-signal, while the phase delay element is configured to provide the phase difference between the first TX sub-signal and the second TX sub-signal. The splitting unit thus configured may properly split the TX signal into the TX sub-signals.

[0016] In one exemplary embodiment of the first aspect, the phase delay element is configured as a phase shifter. The phase shifter may allow one to provide a desired phase difference between the TX sub-signals more efficiently.

[0017] In another exemplary embodiment, the splitting unit is coupled to the first antenna element and the second antenna element through a first signal line and a second signal line, respectively. In this embodiment, the phase delay element is configured as a signal-line segment embedded in one of the first signal line and the second signal line. By adding the signal-line segment to the first or second signal line, one may easily and simply provide a desired phase difference between the TX sub-signals.

[0018] In one exemplary embodiment of the first aspect, the signal-line segment is configured as a meander line. The meander line may provide a desired phase difference between the TX subsignals, while requiring less mounting area (e.g., compared to a simple straight signal-line segment providing the same phase difference). Thus, the meander line may make the whole transceiving apparatus more compact in size.

[0019] According to a second aspect, a UE is provided. The UE comprises the transceiving apparatus according to the first aspect. The UE thus configured may be efficient in terms of power consumption and communication quality (in both TX and RX directions).

[0020] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent upon reading the following detailed description and reviewing the accompanying drawings.

[0021] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The present disclosure is explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a transceiving apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment;

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the splitting unit included in the transceiving apparatus of FIG. 1 according to a first exemplary embodiment;

[0025] FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of the splitting unit included in the transceiving apparatus of FIG. 1 according to a second exemplary embodiment;

[0026] FIG. 4 schematically explains the necessity of using a phase difference between antenna elements included in the transceiving apparatus of FIG. 1 ;

[0027] FIGs. 5A-5D show different arrangements of the antenna elements at adjacent and opposite edges of a ground plane;

[0028] FIG. 6 shows a Total Radiated Power (TRP) in dB versus a frequency in GHz, as obtained by using the transceiving apparatus of FIG. 1 ;

[0029] FIG. 7 schematically explains one “death grip” scenario, in which a user hand closes the antenna element(s) arranged at the bottom edge of a mobile phone;

[0030] FIG. 8 shows a TRP in dB versus a frequency in GHz, as obtained by using the transceiving apparatus of FIG. 1 in the “death grip” scenario of FIG. 7; FIG. 9 schematically explains another “death grip” scenario, in which a user hand presses a mobile phone against a user ear, thereby deteriorating the performance of the antenna element(s) arranged at the top edge of the mobile phone; and

[0031] FIG. 10 shows a TRP in dB versus a frequency in GHz, as obtained by using the transceiving apparatus of FIG. 1 in the “death grip” scenario of FIG. 9.

[0032] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] Various embodiments of the present disclosure are further described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many other forms and should not be construed as limited to any certain structure or function discussed in the following description. In contrast, these embodiments are provided to make the description of the present disclosure detailed and complete.

[0034] According to the detailed description, it will be apparent to the ones skilled in the art that the scope of the present disclosure encompasses any embodiment thereof, which is disclosed herein, irrespective of whether this embodiment is implemented independently or in concert with any other embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the apparatuses disclosed herein may be implemented in practice by using any numbers of the embodiments provided herein. Furthermore, it should be understood that any embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented using one or more of the features presented in the appended claims.

[0035] The word “exemplary” is used herein in the meaning of “used as an illustration”. Unless otherwise stated, any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” should not be construed as preferable or having an advantage over other embodiments.

[0036] Any positioning terminology, such as “left”, “right”, “top”, “bottom”, “above” “below”, “upper”, “lower”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, etc., may be used herein for convenience to describe one element’s or feature's relationship to one or more other elements or features in accordance with the figures. It should be apparent that the positioning terminology is intended to encompass different orientations of the apparatus disclosed herein, in addition to the orientation(s) depicted in the figures. As an example, if one imaginatively rotates the apparatus in the figures 90 degrees clockwise, elements or features described as “left” and “right” relative to other elements or features would then be oriented, respectively, “above” and “below” the other elements or features. Therefore, the positioning terminology used herein should not be construed as any limitation of the present disclosure. Although the numerative terminology, such as “first”, “second”, “third”, “fourth”, etc., may be used herein to describe various embodiments and features, these embodiments and features should not be limited by this numerative terminology. This numerative terminology is used herein only to distinguish one feature or embodiment from another feature or embodiment. For example, a first antenna element and a second antenna element could be renamed a second antenna element and a first antenna element, respectively, without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure.

[0037] As used in the embodiments disclosed herein, a transceiving apparatus may refer to an apparatus configured to perform data reception and transmission by using radio waves. The radio waves may refer to a type of electromagnetic radiation that occurs in different frequency bands of the radio spectrum (e.g., in the so-called centimeter-wave (cmWave) and millimeterwave (mmWave) bands). The radio waves are used, for example, in wireless communications, such as point-to-point communications, intersatellite links, and point-to-multipoint communications, etc. However, the application of the radio waves is not limited to wireless communications only, and they may be also used, for example, for (air, ground or marine) vehicle navigation and control, road obstacle detection, distance ranging (radar applications), contactless vital-sign monitoring, occupancy detection, etc. For this reason, the transceiving apparatus according to the embodiments disclosed herein may be used in the same use scenarios as the radio waves. Furthermore, the transceiving apparatus may be implemented as part of a user equipment (UE) that may refer to a wireless customer premises equipment (CPE) (e.g., a wireless router, switch, etc.), a mobile device, a mobile station, a terminal, a subscriber unit, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a cordless phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless communication device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a single-board computer (SBC) (e.g., a Raspberry Pi device), a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometric sensor, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., an audio player, a video player, etc.), a vehicular component or sensor (e.g., a driver-assistance system), a smart meter / sensor, an unmanned vehicle (e.g., an industrial robot, a quadcopter, etc.) and its component (e.g., a self-driving car computer), industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an Internet-of-Things (loT) device, an Industrial loT (I loT) device, a machine-type communication (MTC) device, a group of Massive loT (MIoT) or Massive MTC (mMTC) devices / sensors, or any other suitable device that uses the radio waves for operation. In some embodiments, the UE may refer to at least two collocated and inter-connected UEs thus defined. The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein provide a technical solution that allows the same antenna elements of a transceiving apparatus to be efficiently (in terms of power consumption and antenna performance) used in both TX and RX directions. More specifically, first and second antenna elements are arranged at the same or opposite edges of a ground plane. A first receiving unit is coupled to the first antenna element and configured to receive an RX signal through the first antenna element. The second receiving unit is coupled to the second antenna element and configured to receive an RX signal through the second antenna element. A transmitting unit is arranged to generate a TX signal which is then split by a splitting unit coupled between the transmitting unit and each of the first and second antenna elements into first and second TX sub-signals. These TX sub-signals have a phase difference defined based on at least one of: (i) an arrangement of each of the first and second antenna elements on the ground plane; (ii) a frequency of the TX signal; and (iii) an excitation mode of each of the first and second antenna elements. To use each of the antenna elements in the TX and RX directions, a first TX-RX isolation unit is arranged such that each of the first receiving unit and the splitting unit is coupled to the first antenna element through the first TX-RX isolation unit, and a second TX-RX isolation unit is arranged such that each of the second receiving unit and the splitting unit is coupled to the second antenna element through the second TX-RX isolation unit.

[0038] From the RX point of view, the first and second antenna elements are combined to improve communication quality and / or throughput (since two separate RX signals are used). From the TX point of view, the first and second antenna elements are combined to achieve TRP improvement (only one TX signal is generated and then split into two TX sub-signals).

[0039] FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a transceiving apparatus 100 according to one exemplary embodiment. The transceiving apparatus 100 comprises a ground plane 102, a first antenna element 104 arranged at a first (lower) edge of the ground plane 102, and a second antenna element 106 arranged at a second (upper) edge of the ground plane 102. The term “ground plane” used herein may refer to a flat or nearly flat horizontal conducting surface that serves to reflect radio waves radiated or received by the antenna elements 104 and 106 from other elements of the transceiving apparatus 100 or a UE accommodating the latter. It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited to a certain type of antenna elements to be used in the transceiving apparatus 100. Each of the antenna elements 104 and 106 may be implemented, for example, as a monopole antenna, an inverted-F antenna (IFA), a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA), a dipole antenna, etc., depending on particular applications of the transceiving apparatus 100. Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to a certain number of antenna elements used in the transceiving apparatus 100 - in some other embodiments, there may be more than one first antenna element 104 and more than one second antenna element 106 (in this case, an array of first antenna elements 104 may be arranged opposite to an array of second antenna elements 106).

[0040] As also shown in FIG. 1 , the transceiving apparatus 100 further comprises a first receiving unit 108 and a second receiving unit 110. The first receiving unit 108 is coupled to the first antenna element 104 through a first TX-RX isolation unit 112 and configured to receive an RX signal through the first antenna element 104. The second receiving unit 110 is coupled to the second antenna element 106 through a second TX-RX isolation unit 114 and configured to receive an RX signal through the second antenna element 106. Again, it does not matter for the purposes of the present disclosure what type of receiving units is used in the transceiver 100. For example, each of the receiving units 108 and 110 may be implemented as any conventional or machine learning (ML)-based receiver, which are well-known in the art and therefore are not described herein in detail. Relative to the TX-RX isolation units 112 and 114, they may refer to any suitable devices that can provide isolation between TX and RX paths. For example, the TX-RX isolation units 112 and 114 may be implemented as well-known duplexers or TX- RX (or TX / RX) switches. In other words, the TX-RX isolation units 112 and 114 are configured to provide switching between the receiving units 108, 110 and a transmitting unit 116.

[0041] The transmitting unit 116 is configured to generate a TX signal which is then split by a splitting unit 118 into a first TX sub-signal and a second TX sub-signal. Again, the transmitting unit 116 may be a conventional or ML-based transmitter, which are well-known in the art and therefore are not described herein in detail. The splitting unit 118 is coupled between the transmitting unit 116 and each of the first and second TX-RX isolation units 112, 114. More specifically, each of the first receiving unit 108 and the splitting unit 118 is coupled to the first antenna element 104 through the first TX-RX isolation unit 112, while each of the second receiving unit 110 and the splitting unit 118 is coupled to the second antenna element 106 through the second TX-RX isolation unit 114. The first and second TX sub-signals provided by the splitting unit 118 to the first and second TX-RX isolation units 112 and 114, respectively, have a phase difference defined based on one or more of the following conditions: (i) the arrangement of each of the first and second antenna elements 104 and 106; (ii) the frequency of the TX signal generated by the transmitting unit 116; and (iii) the excitation mode provided by each of the first and second antenna elements 104 and 106.

[0042] In one embodiment, the splitting unit 118 may comprise a power divider configured to divide the TX signal into the first and second TX sub-signals and a phase delay element configured to provide the phase difference between the first and second TX sub-signals. The power divider and / or the phase delay element may be controllable, i.e., the amplitudes and / or phases of the first and second TX sub-signals may be adjusted during the operation of the transceiving apparatus 100. The phase delay element may be implemented as one or more phase shifters, the examples of which are well-known in the art and therefore are not described herein in detail. Alternatively, the phase delay element may be implemented as a signal-line segment embedded in a signal line either between the splitting unit 118 and the first antenna element 104 (i.e., before the TX-RX isolation unit 112) or between the splitting unit 118 and the second antenna element 106 (i.e., before the TX-RX isolation unit 114). Such a signal-line segment may be shaped as a meander, if required and depending on particular applications.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the splitting unit 118 included in the transceiving apparatus 100 according to a first exemplary embodiment. In the first exemplary embodiment, the splitting unit 118 comprises a power divider 200 and a phase delay element constituted by two phase shifters 202 and 204. The power divider 200 receives a TX signal S generated by the transmitting unit 116 and splits the TX signal S into two TX sub-signals Si and S2 which are then provided to the phase shifters 202 and 204, respectively. Each of the phase shifters 202 and 204 provides a controllable phase shift of corresponding one of the TX sub-signals Si and S2, so that a desired phase difference between them is achieved. After that, the TX subsignals Si(Qi) and 82(02) are provided to the TX-RX isolation units 112 and 114, respectively. In some other embodiment, the phase shifters 202 and 204 may be combined into one phase shifter configured to process the TX sub-signals Si and Ss in parallel.

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of the splitting unit 118 included in the transceiving apparatus 100 according to a second exemplary embodiment. In the second exemplary embodiment, the splitting unit 118 comprises a power divider 300 and a phase delay element represented by a meander line 302 embedded in a signal line 304 connecting the splitting unit 118 (i.e., the power divider 300) and the second TX-RX isolation unit 114. It should be obvious to those skilled in the art that the meander line 302 may be alternatively embedded in a signal line 306 connecting the splitting unit 118 (i.e., the power divider 300) and the first TX-RX isolation unit 112. The power divider 300 receives a TX signal S generated by the transmitting unit 116 and splits the TX signal S into two TX sub-signals Si and S2. The presence of the meander line 302 causes the difference between the signal lines 304 and 306, thereby causing the phase difference between the TX sub-signals Si and S2. In other words, due to the different lengths of the signal lines 304 and 306, the second TX sub-signal S2 acquires a phase shift 0 (in this case, the first TX sub-signal Si remains unchanged in phase). The meander line 302 should not be construed as any limitation of the present disclosure; in some other embodiments, a desired difference between the lengths of the signal lines 304 and 306 (and, consequently, a desired phase difference between the TX sub-signals Si and S2) may be obtained by embedding a signal-line segment of any suitable length and shape (e.g., straight or curved in a different manner, such as saw-like, etc.) in one of the signal lines 304 and 306.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 1 , the transceiving apparatus 100 may optionally comprise a power amplifier (PA) coupled between the transmitting unit 116 and the splitting unit 118 and configured to to amplify the TX signal before it is split into the first and second TX sub-signals. Alternatively, the transceiving apparatus 100 may optionally comprise two PAs each coupled between the splitting unit 118 and one of the first and second TX-RX isolation units 112, 114; in this case, amplification is assumed to be performed (equally or differently) on each of the TX sub-signals rather than the initial TX signal.

[0046] FIG. 4 schematically explains the necessity of using the phase difference between the antenna elements 104 and 106 included in the transceiving apparatus 100. As follows from FIG. 4, if the first antenna element 104 is fed with the first TX sub-signal having a phase of 0 degrees, then the second antenna element 106 should be fed with the second TX sub-signal having a different phase, preferably a phase of 180 degrees at the opposite arrangement of the antenna elements 104 and 106 (see the upper scenario in FIG. 2). If this condition is not met (i.e., the phase of the second TX sub-signal is also equal to 0 degrees), then the antenna elements 104 and 106 will radiate with the same phase, thereby providing no improvement of their performances in the TX direction (see the lower scenario in FIG. 2). That is, the radio waves radiated by the antenna elements 104 and 106 will adversely affect each other (more specifically, currents of the antenna elements 104 and 106 will cancel each other, thereby deteriorating their performance in the TX direction). Thus, in case of a proper different phase, the currents of the antenna elements 104 and 106 will have the same direction and, consequently, enhance their performance in the TX direction.

[0047] FIGs. 5A-5D show different arrangements of the antenna elements 104 and 106 at the adjacent and opposite edges of the ground plane 102. More specifically, the antenna elements 104 and 106 may be arranged at the opposite (e.g., left and right) edges of the ground plane 102 symmetrically (see FIG. 5A) or asymmetrically (see FIG. 5C) to each other, or may be arranged at the adjacent (e.g., bottom and right) edges of the ground plane 102 (see FIG. 5B), or may be arranged at the same (e.g., left) edge of the ground plane 102 (see FIG. 5D). As already mentioned above, if the antenna elements 104 and 106 are arranged at the opposite edges of the ground plane 102, the phase difference between the first and second TX sub-signals outputted by the splitting unit 118 is preferably equal to 180 degrees. FIG. 6 shows a Total Radiated Power (TRP) in dB versus a frequency in GHz, as obtained by using the transceiving apparatus 100. More specifically, curves 1-3 shown in FIG. 6 are obtained when the antenna elements 104 and 106 are arranged at the opposite edges of the ground plane 102 and fed with the TX sub-signals having a phase difference of 180 degrees. Additionally, Table 1 given below lists other parameters and benefits provided by using the transceiving apparatus 100 in a Free Space (FS) scenario in frequency bands B28 and B8. In FIG. 6, Curve 1 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using the antenna element 106 alone, Curve 2 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using the antenna element 104 alone, and Curve 3 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using both the antenna elements 104 and 106 in the TX direction. As can be seen, the TRP can be improved by about 2 dB at a frequency of about 750 MHz if both the antenna elements 104 and 106 are used in the TX direction - this in turn implies that power consumption may be reduced by about 2 dB at the same frequency.

[0048] Table 1: Measurement results obtained at the opposite arrangement of the antenna elements 104, 106 on the ground 102 and at the phase difference of 180 degrees

[0049] FIG. 7 schematically explains one “death grip” scenario, in which a user hand 700 closes the antenna element(s) arranged at the bottom edge of a mobile phone 702. In particular, it is assumed that the transceiving apparatus 100 is integrated in the mobile phone 702, with the first antenna element 104 being arranged in a mounting position 704 or 706 and the second antenna element 106 being arranged in a mounting position 708 or 710. The user hand 700 may cover the bottom part of the mobile 702 such that the first antenna element 104 is (at least partly) covered by user fingers or a user palm. Thus, the performance of the antenna element 104 is adversely affected by the user hand 700. In this case, it is preferably to have two PAs arranged as discussed above (i.e. , each of the two PAs is coupled between the splitting unit 118 and one of the first and second TX-RX isolation units 112, 114), and to split the TX signal such that the first TX sub-signal intended for the first antenna element 104 has a near-zero amplitude (i.e. , the main part of the TX signal generated by the transmitting unit 116 is provided to the second (uncovered) antenna element 106 as the second TX sub-signal); in the meantime, it is still required that the first TX sub-signal has a different phase compared to that of the second TX sub-signal (preferably, the phase difference between the first and second TX sub-signals is equal to 180 degrees, given the opposite arrangement of the antenna elements 104 and 106).

[0050] FIG. 8 shows a TRP in dB versus a frequency in GHz, as obtained by using the transceiving apparatus 100 in the case of the “death grip” scenario of FIG. 7. Curve 1 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using the antenna element 104 alone, Curve 2 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using both the antenna elements 104 and 106, and Curve 3 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using the antenna element 106 alone. As can be seen, the smallest TRP is provided by using the antenna element 104 alone, which is caused by fact that the performance of the antenna element 104 is adversely affected by the user hand 700. If one uses both the antenna elements 104 and 106 in the TX direction as discussed above, the TRP is improved by about 3 dB at the frequency of about 750 MHz, but it is smaller by about 1 dB compared to the TRP obtained by using the antenna element 106 alone at the same frequency. However, it should be noted that the use of the antenna element 106 alone typically requires some power reduction to fulfill standard Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) requirements.

[0051] FIG. 9 schematically explains another “death grip” scenario, in which a user hand 900 presses a mobile phone 902 against a user ear 904, thereby deteriorating the performance of the antenna element(s) arranged at the top edge of the mobile phone 902. It is again assumed that the transceiving apparatus 100 is integrated in the mobile phone 902, with the first antenna element 104 being arranged in a mounting position 906 or 908 (the latter is partly hidden under the user hand 900) and the second antenna element 106 being arranged in a mounting position 910 or 912. In the “death grip” scenario shown in FIG. 9, the performance of the antenna element 106 is deteriorated due to its proximity to the user ear 904 and a user head 914. In this case, it is again preferably to have two PAs arranged as discussed above (i.e., each of the two PAs is coupled between the splitting unit 118 and one of the first and second TX-RX isolation units 112, 114), and to split the TX signal such that the second TX sub-signal intended for the second antenna element 106 has a near-zero amplitude (i.e., the main part of the TX signal generated by the transmitting unit 116 is provided to the first antenna element 104 as the first TX sub-signal), while maintaining a proper phase difference between the first and second TX sub-signals. FIG. 10 shows a TRP in dB versus a frequency in GHz, as obtained by using the transceiving apparatus 100 in the case of the “death grip” scenario of FIG. 9. In FIG. 10, Curve 1 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using the antenna element 104 alone, Curve 2 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using both the antenna elements 104 and 106 at the phase difference equal to 180 degrees, Curve 3 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using both the antenna elements 104 and 106 at the phase difference equal to 210 degrees, Curve 4 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using both the antenna elements 104 and 106 at the phase difference equal to 250 degrees, and Curve 5 corresponds to the TRP obtained by using the antenna element 106 alone. As can be seen, the smallest TRP is provided by using the antenna element 106 alone, which is caused by fact that the performance of the antenna element 106 is adversely affected by the user ear 904 and the user head 914. If one uses both the antenna elements 104 and 106 at the phase difference of 180 degrees, the TRP is improved, but it is smaller by about 1 dB compared the TRP obtained by using the antenna element 104 alone. At the same time, the TRP obtained by using both the antenna elements 104 and 106 may exceed the one obtained by using the antenna element 104 alone if the phase difference is increased by at least 70 degrees (see the values given in the insert in FIG. 10). Thus, by tuning the phase difference, it is possible to achieve better TRP values.

[0052] Although the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein, it should be noted that any various changes and modifications could be made in the embodiments of the present disclosure, without departing from the scope of legal protection which is defined by the appended claims. In the appended claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or operations, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A transceiving apparatus comprising: a ground plane; a first antenna element arranged at a first edge of the ground plane; a second antenna element arranged at the first edge or a second edge of the ground plane, the second edge being adjacent or opposite to the first edge; a first receiving unit coupled to the first antenna element, the first receiving unit being configured to receive a receive, RX, signal through the first antenna element; a second receiving unit coupled to the second antenna element, the second receiving unit being configured to receive an RX signal through the second antenna element; a transmitting unit configured to generate a transmit, TX, signal; a splitting unit coupled between the transmitting unit and each of the first antenna element and the second antenna element, the splitting unit being configured to: receive the TX signal from the transmitting unit; and split the TX signal into a first TX sub-signal and a second TX sub-signal, the first TX sub-signal and the second TX sub-signal having a phase difference defined based on at least one of: (i) an arrangement of each of the first antenna element and the second antenna element on the ground plane; (ii) a frequency of the TX signal; and (iii) an excitation mode of each of the first antenna element and the second antenna element; a first TX-RX isolation unit arranged such that each of the first receiving unit and the splitting unit is coupled to the first antenna element through the first TX-RX isolation unit; and a second TX-RX isolation unit arranged such that each of the second receiving unit and the splitting unit is coupled to the second antenna element through the second TX-RX isolation unit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the first TX-RX isolation unit and the second TX-RX isolation unit is configured as a duplexer or TX-RX switch.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the second antenna element is arranged at the second edge opposite to the first edge, and wherein the phrase difference between the first TX sub-signal and the second TX sub-signal is equal to 180 degrees.

4. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a power amplifier, PA, coupled between the transmitting unit and the splitting unit, the PA being configured to amplify the TX signal.

5. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a first PA coupled between the splitting unit and the first TX-RX isolation unit, the first PA being configured to amplify the first TX sub-signal; and a second PA coupled between the splitting unit and the second TX-RX isolation unit, the second PA being configured to amplify the second TX sub-signal.

6. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the splitting unit comprises: a power divider configured to divide the TX signal into the first TX sub-signal and the second TX sub-signal; and a phase delay element configured to provide the phase difference between the first TX sub-signal and the second TX sub-signal.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the phase delay element is configured as a phase shifter.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the splitting unit is coupled to the first antenna element and the second antenna element through a first signal line and a second signal line, respectively, and wherein the phase delay element is configured as a signal-line segment embedded in one of the first signal line and the second signal line.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the signal-line segment is configured as a meander line.

10. A user equipment comprising the transceiving apparatus according to any one of claims

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