Electronic devices

Abstract

This invention provides an electronic device that improves the positioning effect of a positioning array antenna. [Solution] The electronic device includes an antenna module 110 and a metal casing 120, the antenna module 110 being installed within the metal casing 120 and including an insulating substrate 111, two patch antennas 113, a grounding surface 115, and two grounding extension segments 117. The two patch antennas 113 are installed side by side and spaced apart along a first direction, the distance between the center points of the two patch antennas 113 is less than or equal to 0.5 wavelengths of the frequency band, and the two grounding extension segments 117 are connected to the grounding surface 115, with one of the grounding extension segments 117 extending to the side shell 121 of the metal casing 120.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device provided with an antenna having an excellent positioning effect.

Background Art

[0002] When a conventional ultra-wideband positioning array antenna performs positioning on a positioning tag, there may be a problem of phase duplication in the signal measured by the positioning array antenna, thereby causing an incorrect determination of the angle and affecting the positioning effect.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] How to improve the positioning effect of the positioning array antenna has become an issue to be developed in this field.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] The present invention provides an electronic device provided with an antenna having an excellent positioning effect.

[0005] The electronic device of the present invention includes an antenna module and a metal casing. The metal casing includes a side shell. The antenna module is mounted in the metal casing and is suitable for resonating a frequency band. The antenna module includes an insulating substrate, two patch antennas, a grounding surface, and two grounding extension segments. The insulating substrate includes opposing first and second surfaces. The two patch antennas are mounted on the first surface, and the two patch antennas are mounted side by side and spaced apart along the first direction. Each of the two patch antennas includes a central axis extending along the first direction, a feed end, and a center point, the feed end is located on the central axis and offset from the center point, and the distance between the center point of one of the two patch antennas and the center point of the other is less than or equal to 0.5 wavelengths of the frequency band. The grounding surface is mounted on the second surface. The two grounding extension segments are connected to the grounding surface, and one of the two grounding extension segments extends to the side shell of the metal casing. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] As described above, the antenna module of the electronic device of the present invention can avoid phase overlap of the measured signal and is advantageous for a monotonic linear distribution of phase, thus avoiding misjudgment of the angle, and thereby providing an excellent positioning effect. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a localized enlarged cross-sectional view of region A of the electronic device in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figure 2 is a top view of a partial component of the antenna module. [Figure 4] This is a side view of the antenna module shown in Figure 2 when a far-field plane wave is incident on it. [Figure 5] Figure 4 is a top view of the far-field plane wave incident on one of the patch antennas. [Figure 6]Figure 2 shows the relationship between the angle Φ, angle θ, and phase difference of the electronic device 100. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a localized enlarged cross-sectional view of region A of the electronic device in Figure 1. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the electronic device 100 of this embodiment is, for example, a laptop computer. The electronic device 100 includes an antenna module 110 and a metal casing 120, the antenna module 110 being installed inside the metal casing 120 (e.g., the bottom cover of the laptop computer) and close to the side. The antenna module 110 of this embodiment is, for example, an ultra-wideband (UWB) phase difference of arrival (PDoA) positioning array antenna. In this embodiment, the antenna module 110 is installed on a positioning anchor device and is involved in two-dimensional plane scanning. When a user carrying a positioning tag device appears within ±45 degrees in front of the electronic device 100, the electronic device 100 can accurately lock the user and unlock the screen, eliminating the need to enter a password and allowing it to synchronously run preset program software to improve usability. Alternatively, if the user moves away from the electronic device 100, the electronic device 100 automatically closes and locks its screen to prevent information leakage.

[0009] Figure 3 is a top view of a partial component of the antenna module of Figure 2. Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the antenna module 110 of this embodiment is suitable for resonant outputting a frequency band and includes an insulating substrate 111, two patch antennas 113, a grounding surface 115, and two grounding extension segments 117. The insulating substrate 111 includes opposing first surfaces 1111 and second surfaces 1112. The two patch antennas 113 are mounted on the first surface 1111. The two patch antennas 113 are mounted side by side and spaced apart along a first direction D1, as shown in Figure 3. Each of the two patch antennas 113 includes a central axis C extending along the first direction D1, a feed end F, and a center point 1131. The center point 1131 is located on the central axis C. The feed end F is located on the central axis C and offset from the center point 1131. The distance S1 between the center point 1131 of one of the two patch antennas 113 and the center point 1131 of the other is less than or equal to 0.5 wavelengths of the frequency band. The ground surface 115 is installed on the second surface 1112, and the ultra-wideband tip 10 is installed on the ground surface 115. Two ground extension segments 117 are connected to the ground surface 115. The metal casing 120 includes a side shell 121, and one of the two ground extension segments 117 extends to the side shell 121.

[0010] The following describes in detail how to position the antenna module 110.

[0011] Figure 4 is a side view when a far-field plane wave is incident on the antenna module shown in Figure 2. Figure 5 is a top view when the far-field plane wave from Figure 4 is incident on one of the patch antennas within it. Referring to Figures 4 and 5, when a far-field plane wave is incident on the antenna module 110, there is an angle Φ between the incident wave and the axial direction X, as shown in Figure 5, and an angle θ between the incident wave and the axial direction Z, as shown in Figure 4. For example, when the incident wave is parallel to the axial direction Z, the angle θ is 0 degrees. When the incident wave is parallel to the axial direction X, the angle Φ is 0 degrees and the angle θ is 90 degrees. In this embodiment, the first direction D1 shown in Figure 3 is parallel to the axial direction X, and the second direction D2 shown in Figure 3 is parallel to the axial direction Y, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0012] The antenna module 110 can calculate the angle θ and angle Φ of the far-field plane wave incidence by taking the phase difference when the far-field plane wave reaches the two patch antennas 113 as the distance S2 shown in Figure 4, and thus determine the direction from which the signal came. The antenna module 110 can also calculate the distance between the electronic device 100 and the user based on the signal propagation time for round trip.

[0013] It should be noted that the electronic device 100 of this embodiment can avoid phase overlap of signals measured by the antenna module 110 by arranging the two center points 1131 of the two patch antennas 113 described above such that the distance S1 between them is 0.5 times the wavelength of the frequency band or less. This is advantageous for a monotonic linear distribution of phase, thus avoiding misjudgment of angles and thereby providing an excellent positioning effect.

[0014] In this embodiment, the angular range that the antenna module 110 can detect is such that the angle Φ is between ±45 degrees and the angle θ is between ±60 degrees, resulting in a field of view (FOV) of 90 degrees, which supports signal arrival phase difference positioning and distance measurement applications, and can support human presence detection (HPD). However, the angular range that the antenna module 110 can detect is not limited to the above.

[0015] In this embodiment, the frequency band in which the antenna module 110 resonates is between 7737MHz and 8237MHz, and is applicable to the ultra-wideband channel 9 (center frequency of 8GHz) frequency band, including the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and China. Furthermore, the distance S1 between the two center points 1131 of the two patch antennas 113 is 16.9 millimeters (mm) (i.e., 0.45 times the wavelength), but the present invention does not limit the distance S1 between the two center points 1131, and in other embodiments, the distance S1 between the two center points 1131 may be any distance of 18.75 millimeters (mm) or less (i.e., 0.5 times the wavelength or less).

[0016] In this embodiment, the patch antenna 113 is, for example, a single-frequency band antenna and has a direct probe feeding structure via a through-hole. Also, in this embodiment, the overall size of the insulating substrate 111 of the antenna module 110, the two patch antennas 113, and the grounding surface 115 is, for example, 28.9 × 10 × 1.6 millimeters (mm), but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0017] In order to achieve substantially identical amplitudes and phases for the two patch antennas 113, in this embodiment, a coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission line (not shown) with an impedance of 50 ohms is disposed on the second surface 1112 of the insulating substrate 111, and two identical corresponding feeding terminals F are used. One end of the coplanar waveguide transmission line is electrically connected to the feeding terminal F, and the other end is electrically connected to the ultra-wideband chip 10, and length-based phase compensation adjustment is performed based on the phase difference value of the received signal to achieve phase correction.

[0018] Referring to FIG. 3, each of the two patch antennas 113 of this embodiment is a rectangle with four rounded corners, and the effective perimeter provides a current path that locally extends corresponding to the chamfered portion. Thereby, even without adding a tuning matching circuit element, the rounded corners of the two patch antennas 113 can improve the impedance matching bandwidth.

[0019] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the diameter of the circle formed by each of the arcs at the four corners is length R, the width of the feeding terminal F is length d, and the length W along the second direction D2 of the patch antenna 113 is 2R + d. In this embodiment, the second direction D2 is perpendicular to the first direction D1. Also, the value of 2R + d is, for example, 6 millimeters (mm). However, the relationship among the length W, the length R, and the length d of the patch antenna 113 is not limited thereto.

[0020] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the two ground extension segments 117 of the antenna module 110 extend outward beyond the ground plane 115 in a direction opposite to the ground plane 115 as shown in FIG. 2. The ground extension segment 117 is, for example, a laser direct structuring (LDS) totem, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Hereinafter, the arrangement of the ground extension segment 117 in the electronic device 100 will be described in detail.

[0021] Referring to Figure 2, the electronic device 100 of this embodiment further includes an electronic assembly 130 (e.g., a speaker). The metal casing 120 further includes a bottom shell 123, and the metal casing 120 is positioned beneath a non-metallic component 140 (e.g., a laptop keyboard). The electronic assembly 130 is housed within the metal casing 120, and the antenna module 110 is located between the side shell 121 and the electronic assembly 130. One of the two ground extension segments 117 extends to the side shell 121 as described above and extends along the side shell 121 away from the bottom shell 123. The other of the two ground extension segments 117 extends to the upper surface 1311 of the insulating housing 131 of the electronic assembly 130.

[0022] Furthermore, the two ground extension segments 117 have the same length (i.e., the total length from the ground surface 115 to the end of the extension segment) and are installed symmetrically on both sides of the ground surface 115. The length of each of the two ground extension segments 117 is at least 0.5 times the wavelength of the frequency band, and the extension length and area of ​​the patch antenna 113 in the orthogonal direction can be flexibly adjusted by the phase difference distribution in space.

[0023] It should be noted that the electronic device 100 of the present embodiment forms a continuous ground plane by two ground extension segments 117, and constitutes a phase difference positioning array antenna design structure with an electrically balanced ground plane, so that phase duplication at higher frequencies can be effectively reduced or eliminated. Therefore, the angle Φ can have a wider coverage range. Also, the right ground extension segment 117 shown in FIG. 2 extends to the metal casing 120, so that the antenna module 110 can be grounded to the metal casing 120, and the reaction effect of the antenna module 110 can be concentrated. And, the left ground extension segment 117 shown in FIG. 2 extends to the insulating housing 131 of the electronic assembly 130, has a length symmetric to that of the right ground extension segment 117, and can avoid the occurrence of phase ripple. Therefore, it can avoid the concentration of the reaction effect not occurring, thereby avoiding the failure of the positioning effect and realizing a more linearly dependent signal arrival phase difference performance. Thereby, even when the bandwidth of the electronic device 100 of the present embodiment reaches 500 MHz and the detection angle range reaches 90 degrees, it can still provide an excellent positioning effect.

[0024] In the present embodiment, the material of the ground extension segment 117 is, for example, a conductive foam, aluminum foil, or copper foil, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Also, in the present embodiment, the length of each of the two ground extension segments 117 is, for example, 18.75 millimeters (mm) or more. Also, in the present embodiment, the material of the non-metal component 140 may be, for example, plastic, carbon fiber, leather, ceramic, or glass, or other low microwave loss materials, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0025] Figure 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between angle Φ, angle θ, and phase difference of the electronic device 100 in Figure 2. Referring to Figure 6, when the signal angle Φ is between ±45 degrees and the angle θ is between ±60 degrees, the phase difference of the signal detected by the antenna module 110 of the electronic device 100 in this embodiment has a relatively small amplitude of vibration and therefore has an excellent positioning effect. Furthermore, the VSWR of each patch antenna 113 of the antenna module 110 in this embodiment is all less than 3.5, the isolation degree is all 20 dB or more, and the antenna efficiency is greater than -3 dB, so the antenna module 110 can have excellent performance. In addition, the increased balanced ground surface (i.e., the two ground extension segments 117) has the advantage of improving the antenna front-to-back ratio (i.e., suppressing side lobes and back lobes), and the energy of the antenna radiation pattern is raised to the upper hemisphere, targeting users coming from the front or side.

[0026] As described above, the antenna module of the electronic device of the present invention includes two patch antennas installed side by side with spacing between them. The feed end of each patch antenna is offset from the center point, and the distance between the two center points of the two patch antennas is 0.5 wavelengths or less of the frequency band. As a result, the antenna module of the electronic device of the present invention can avoid phase overlap of the measured signal, which is advantageous for a monotonic linear distribution of phase, thus avoiding misjudgment of the angle and thereby providing an excellent positioning effect. Furthermore, the antenna module of the present invention further includes two ground extension segments, one of which is grounded to a metal casing, and the other is installed symmetrically in length, so that phase ripple can be avoided and phase overlap at high frequencies can be further reduced, thereby ensuring the positioning effect of the antenna module. [Industrial applicability]

[0027] The antenna module of the present invention is applicable to communication electronic devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 10 ultra-wideband frequency chips 100 Electronic Devices 110 Antenna Module 111 Insulating substrate 1111 Page 1 1112 2nd page 113 Patch Antenna 1131 Center point 115 Ground plane 117 Grounding extension segment 120 Metal Casing 121 Side Shell 123 Bottom Shell 130 Electronic Assembly 131 Insulating Housing 1311 Upper surface 140 Non-metallic parts Area A C center axis d length D1 1st direction D2 2nd direction F feed end R length S1, S2 distance W Length θ, Φ angle X, Y, Z axis direction

Claims

1. Metal casing including side shells, It is installed within the aforementioned metal casing and is suitable for resonant output in a frequency band. An insulating substrate including opposing first and second surfaces, Two patch antennas are installed on the first surface, spaced apart and aligned along the first direction, each including a central axis, a feed end, and a center point extending along the first direction, wherein the feed end is located on the central axis and offset from the center point, and the distance between one center point and the other center point is 0.5 times the wavelength of the frequency band or less. Antenna module including, The contact surface installed on the second surface, Two ground extension segments are connected to the ground surface, one of which extends to the side shell of the metal casing, Electronic devices including

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein each of the two patch antennas is a rectangle with four corners that are arcs.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the diameter of the circle formed by each of the four arcs is R, the width of the feed end is d, the length of the patch antenna along the second direction is 2R + d, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the two ground extension segments extend outwards from the ground surface in the direction opposite to the ground surface.

5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the two ground extension segments are of the same length and are installed symmetrically on both sides of the ground surface.

6. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the length of each of the two ground extension segments is 0.5 times the wavelength of the frequency band or more.

7. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the metal casing includes a bottom shell, and the one of the two ground extension segments that extends to the side shell extends along the side shell in a direction away from the bottom shell.

8. The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising an electronic assembly installed within the metal casing, wherein the antenna module is located between the side shell and the electronic assembly, and the other of the two ground extension segments extends to the electronic assembly.

9. The electronic device according to claim 8, wherein the electronic assembly has an insulating housing, and the other of the two ground extension segments extends to the upper surface of the insulating housing.

10. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the frequency band in which the antenna module resonates is between 7737 MHz and 8237 MHz.

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