Communication device
By integrating a user's body as a second antenna through capacitive coupling and optimizing circuit configurations, the communication device ensures effective FM radio reception and maintains mobile communication sensitivity even without earphones.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- KYOCERA CORP
- Filing Date
- 2023-04-14
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-24
Smart Images
Figure 0007879834000001 
Figure 0007879834000002 
Figure 0007879834000003
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This disclosure relates to a communication device.
Background Art
[0002] There are electronic devices equipped with FM (Frequency Modulation) radios. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a mobile phone capable of receiving FM radio signals.
Prior Art Documents
Patent Documents
[0003]
Patent Document 1
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0004] Communication devices such as mobile phones and smartphones use earphones connected to the communication device as an antenna for receiving FM radio broadcast waves. Therefore, when there are no earphones, there is a possibility that the communication device cannot receive FM radio broadcast waves. There is room for improvement in the method of receiving FM radio broadcast waves in communication devices.
[0005] An object of this disclosure is to provide a communication device capable of appropriately listening to an FM radio.
Means for Solving the Problems
[0006] The communication device of this disclosure includes a housing, a first antenna provided in the housing for transmitting and receiving information with an external device using radio waves in a first frequency band, and a coupling unit connected to the first antenna and directly or indirectly connecting a user holding the housing to the first antenna and functioning as a second antenna for the user to receive radio waves in a second frequency band lower than the first frequency band.
Effects of the Invention
[0007] This disclosure allows for proper listening to FM radio. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0008] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication circuit related to a comparative example. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication circuit according to the second embodiment. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the wiring of a communication circuit related to a comparative example. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the wiring of a communication circuit according to the third embodiment. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating a method for recognizing the position of the metal casing portion that the user touches, according to the fourth embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. However, the present invention is not limited by these embodiments, and in the following embodiments, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals to omit redundant explanations.
[0010] In the following explanation, we will establish an XYZ Cartesian coordinate system and describe the positional relationships of each part while referring to this XYZ Cartesian coordinate system. The direction parallel to the X-axis in the horizontal plane will be defined as the X-axis direction, the direction parallel to the Y-axis in the horizontal plane perpendicular to the X-axis will be defined as the Y-axis direction, and the direction parallel to the Z-axis perpendicular to the horizontal plane will be defined as the Z-axis direction. Furthermore, the plane containing the X-axis and Y-axis will be appropriately referred to as the XY plane, the plane containing the X-axis and Z-axis will be appropriately referred to as the XZ plane, and the plane containing the Y-axis and Z-axis will be appropriately referred to as the YZ plane. The XY plane is parallel to the horizontal plane. The XY plane, XZ plane, and YZ plane are orthogonal to each other.
[0011] [First Embodiment] (Communication equipment) Using Figure 1, an example of the configuration of a communication device according to the first embodiment will be described. Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication device according to the first embodiment.
[0012] As shown in Figure 1, the communication device 1 according to the first embodiment is, for example, a smartphone. Figure 1 shows the back of a smartphone. If the communication device 1 is equipped with a function to listen to FM radio, then normally, earphones are connected to the earphone jack of the communication device 1, and the earphones connected to the earphone jack are used as an antenna to receive FM radio broadcast signals. Therefore, if there are no earphones connected to the communication device 1, it is not possible to properly receive FM radio broadcast signals.
[0013] Therefore, in this disclosure, for example, a metal housing portion, which is an antenna for mobile communication that transmits and receives radio waves in the high frequency band and is provided on the surface of the communication device 1, is electrically connected to the receiving circuit of an FM radio. The antenna for mobile communication is also called the first antenna. The metal housing portion is also called the coupling portion. In this case, the user can make their body function as an antenna for the FM radio by directly contacting a part of their body, such as their hand, with the coupling portion of the communication device 1, thereby directly coupling their body with the receiving circuit of the FM radio. The antenna for the FM radio is also called the second antenna. In the communication device 1, the coupling portion is provided, for example, in area 2 or area 3 on the upper side 1A of the communication device 1, or in area 4 or area 5 on the lower side 1B. The coupling portion may also be provided on the right side 1C or on the left side 1D when viewed from the rear direction of the communication device 1.
[0014] For example, from the perspectives of design and waterproofness, etc., the coupling part may be built-in without being exposed on the surface of the communication device 1. In this case, the user can capacitively connect the human body and the coupling part by contacting a part of the human body such as a hand at the position where the metal housing part is built-in in the communication device 1. In this case, the user can make the human body function as an antenna for an FM radio by capacitively connecting a part of the human body such as a hand to the coupling part of the communication device 1. That is, the communication device 1 can make the human body function as a second antenna. In other words, in this embodiment, the antenna for mobile communication can be shared as an antenna for receiving the broadcast radio waves of the FM radio.
[0015] When the metal housing part is used as the coupling part, since the metal housing part is a necessary structure for the communication device 1, it is less affected by design. Also, the area of the receiving circuit of the FM radio can be ensured appropriately, and since the distance between the human body and the receiving circuit of the FM radio becomes close when the human body is coupled to the coupling part, the human body and the receiving circuit of the FM radio can be efficiently coupled.
[0016] Also, the coupling part may be a metal housing exposed near the outermost package (upper side 1A, lower side 1B, right side 1C, or left side 1D) of the communication device 1 instead of the metal housing part that is the antenna for mobile communication. In this case, it is preferable that the metal housing is electrically separated from the metal housing part that is the antenna for mobile communication and is connected to the reference potential (for example, ground).
[0017] Also, the coupling part may be a plated antenna built-in in the communication device 1. In this case, the user can capacitively connect the human body and the plated antenna by touching the position where the plated antenna is built-in.
[0018] As described above, in the first embodiment, by coupling the antenna for mobile communication and the human body, the human body can be made to function as an antenna for receiving the broadcast radio waves of the FM radio. Thereby, in the first embodiment, the FM radio can be properly listened to even in the situation without earphones.
[0019] [Second Embodiment] (Communication Circuit According to Comparative Example) First, before explaining the communication circuit of the communication device 1 according to the second embodiment, which is an example of the embodiment, the communication circuit according to the comparative example will be explained. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the communication circuit according to the comparative example.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, the communication circuit 10a includes a first antenna 11, a matching circuit 12, a filter circuit 13, a first communication circuit 14, a second communication circuit 15, an FM circuit 16, and a control unit 100.
[0021] The first antenna 11 is an antenna for mobile communication. The first antenna 11 may be, for example, an antenna corresponding to WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), GPS (Global Positioning System), etc. The first antenna 11 is a first antenna capable of supporting a multi-band capable of transmitting and receiving radio waves in a plurality of frequency bands. The frequency band of the radio waves received by the first antenna 11 is called the first frequency band.
[0022] The matching circuit 12 has its input terminal connected to the output terminal of the first antenna 11. The matching circuit 12 is a circuit that matches the output impedance of the first antenna 11 and the input impedance of the filter circuit 13.
[0023] The filter circuit 13 has its input terminal connected to the output terminal of the matching circuit 12. The filter circuit 13 selects signals according to the purposes of each circuit by allowing signals of a specific frequency to pass through and blocking signals of frequencies outside the specific frequency for the signals flowing to the first communication circuit 14, the second communication circuit 15, and the FM circuit 16. For example, the filter circuit 13 distributes high frequencies to specific frequencies corresponding to each circuit and inputs them based on the frequency characteristics of the filter circuit 13 for each of the first communication circuit 14, the second communication circuit 15, and the FM circuit 16.
[0024] The input terminal of the first communication circuit 14 is connected to the output terminal of the filter circuit 13. The first communication circuit 14 is a circuit that transmits and receives radio waves in the third frequency band among the radio waves in the first frequency band received by the first antenna 11.
[0025] The second communication circuit 15 has an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the filter circuit 13. The second communication circuit 15 is a circuit that transmits and receives radio waves in the fourth frequency band, which is different from the third frequency band, among the radio waves in the first main frequency band received by the first antenna 11.
[0026] The FM circuit 16 has an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the filter circuit 13. The FM circuit 16 is a circuit that receives FM radio broadcast signals.
[0027] The control unit 100 controls each part of the communication circuit 10a. The control unit 100 includes, for example, an information processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), and a storage device such as RAM or ROM. The control unit 100 may be implemented by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The control unit 100 may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software.
[0028] In the comparative example, since the first antenna 11 corresponds to a higher frequency band than the FM radio broadcast signal, passing through the matching circuit 12 may significantly degrade the reception sensitivity and reception bandwidth of the FM radio broadcast signal. In addition, power flows to the FM circuit 16, which reduces the reception sensitivity of the radio waves used for mobile communication. Therefore, this disclosure provides a configuration that does not degrade the reception sensitivity of both the FM radio signal and the radio waves used for mobile communication.
[0029] (Communication circuit according to the second embodiment) Using Figure 3, an example of the configuration of a communication circuit according to the second embodiment, which is an example of an embodiment, will be described. Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a communication circuit according to the second embodiment.
[0030] As shown in Figure 3, the communication circuit 10 includes a first antenna 11, a matching circuit 12, a filter circuit 13, a first communication circuit 14, a second communication circuit 15, an FM circuit 16, a first block circuit 17, a second block circuit 18, and a control unit 100. The communication circuit 10 differs from the communication circuit 10a shown in Figure 2 in that it includes a first block circuit 17 and a second block circuit 18.
[0031] The first blocker circuit 17 has an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the first antenna 11. The output terminal of the first blocker circuit 17 is connected to the input terminal of the FM circuit 16. The first blocker circuit 17 blocks radio waves in frequency bands other than FM radio broadcast waves from the radio waves input from the first antenna 11. In other words, the first blocker circuit 17 allows only FM radio broadcast waves to pass through and outputs them to the FM circuit 16.
[0032] The second blocking circuit 18 has an input terminal connected to the output terminal of the first antenna 11. The output terminal of the second blocking circuit 18 is connected to the matching circuit 12. The second blocking circuit 18 blocks all radio waves input from the first antenna 11 except for those used for mobile communication. In other words, the second blocking circuit 18 allows only the radio waves used for mobile communication to pass through and outputs them to the matching circuit 12.
[0033] As described above, in the second embodiment, the radio waves input from the first antenna 11 are split into FM radio broadcast waves and mobile communication waves before passing through the matching circuit 12. As a result, the second embodiment can prevent the FM radio broadcast waves and mobile communication waves from interfering with each other, thereby improving the reception sensitivity of the FM radio broadcast waves.
[0034] [Third Embodiment] (Wiring of the communication circuit in the comparative example) First, before describing the wiring of the communication circuit of the communication device 1 according to the third embodiment, we will describe the circuit configuration of a comparative example. Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the wiring of a communication circuit according to a comparative example.
[0035] As shown in Figure 4, the first interruption circuit 17 and the second interruption circuit 18 are connected to the ground wiring 20. In the example shown in Figure 4, the output terminal of the first antenna 11 and the input terminal of the first interruption circuit 17 are connected by wiring 30.
[0036] The reception sensitivity of relatively high-frequency radio waves used for mobile communication is more likely to deteriorate if a stub is present compared to the reception sensitivity of relatively low-frequency radio waves such as FM radio. In the comparative example, as shown in Figure 4, the output terminal of the first antenna 11 and the input terminal of the first block circuit 17 are connected by wiring 30. Therefore, in the comparative example, the wiring 30 connecting the output terminal of the first antenna 11 and the input terminal of the first block circuit 17 acts as a stub, which may degrade the reception sensitivity of radio waves used for mobile communication.
[0037] (Wiring of the communication circuit according to the third embodiment) An example of the wiring of the communication circuit according to the third embodiment will be explained using Figure 5. Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the wiring of the communication circuit according to the third embodiment.
[0038] In the third embodiment, the first cutoff circuit 17 is positioned so that no stub is generated between the first antenna 11 and the first cutoff circuit 17. As shown in Figure 5, the first cutoff circuit 17 is positioned directly below the output terminal of the first antenna 11. This allows the output terminal of the first antenna 11 and the input terminal of the first cutoff circuit 17 to be connected without providing the wiring 30 shown in Figure 4.
[0039] As described above, in the third embodiment, the output terminal of the first antenna 11 and the input terminals of the first block circuit 17 can be arranged so that no stub is generated between them. As a result, the third embodiment can prevent deterioration of the reception sensitivity of radio waves for mobile communication.
[0040] [Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment, which is an example of an embodiment, will be described. When a user tries to listen to FM radio by touching the coupling part of the communication device 1 with their finger or the like, it is conceivable that they may not be able to recognize which part of the metal casing of the communication device 1 they should touch. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the user using the communication device 1 is made aware of the position of the metal casing that they should touch when listening to FM radio.
[0041] Using Figure 6, a method for recognizing the position of the metal casing that the user touches according to the fourth embodiment will be explained. Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating a method for recognizing the position of the metal casing that the user touches according to the fourth embodiment.
[0042] As shown in Figure 6, the communication device 1 has a display unit 6 on its front. The display unit 6 displays various types of images. The display unit 6 is, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic electro-luminescence (EL) display.
[0043] As shown in Figure 6, the control unit 100 of the communication device 1 displays character information 40, device information 41, location information 42, and supplementary information 43 on the display unit 6.
[0044] The text information 40 is displayed when listening to FM radio and no earphones are connected to the earphone jack of the communication device 1. When no earphones are connected to the earphone jack of the communication device 1, the control unit 100 displays the text information 40 on the display unit 6, for example, "No earphones are inserted. Touching the area shown in the diagram below directly with your finger will improve FM reception."
[0045] Device information 41 is a diagram showing the entire communication device 1. Location information 42 indicates a location that the user can touch while listening to FM radio to improve FM radio reception. In other words, by visually viewing device information 41 and location information 42, the user can appropriately understand the location on the communication device 1 to touch when listening to FM radio.
[0046] The supplementary information 43 includes any other information. The control unit 100 can display any other information on the display unit 6 in addition to the character information 40, device information 41, and location information 42.
[0047] As described above, the fourth embodiment displays the position the user touches when listening to FM radio. This allows the user to recognize the position they touch when listening to FM radio, and thus enable them to listen to FM radio properly.
[0048] While embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited by the content of these embodiments. Furthermore, the aforementioned components include those that are readily conceivable to those skilled in the art, those that are substantially identical, and those that fall within the so-called equivalent range. Moreover, the aforementioned components can be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, or modifications of the components can be made without departing from the spirit of the embodiments described above. [Explanation of symbols]
[0049] 1. Communication device 10,10a Communication Circuit 11 Antenna No. 1 12 Matching circuit 13 Filter Circuit 14. First communication circuit 15. Second communication circuit 16 FM circuit 17. First circuit breaker 18. Second circuit breaker 20 Ground wiring 30 Wiring 40-character information 41 Device information 42 Location information 43 Supplementary Information 100 Control Unit
Claims
1. The casing and A first antenna is provided in the housing and transmits and receives information to and from an external device using radio waves in a first frequency band, A coupling unit connected to the first antenna, which directly or indirectly connects the user who grips the housing to the first antenna, and which causes the user to function as a second antenna that receives radio waves in a second frequency band lower than the first frequency band, Equipped with, The system includes a first receiving circuit that receives radio waves in the third frequency band within the first frequency band, a second receiving circuit that receives radio waves in a fourth frequency band different from the third frequency band, and a third receiving circuit that receives radio waves in the second frequency band. The first antenna, the first receiving circuit, and the second receiving circuit are connected via a matching circuit. The wiring connecting the first antenna and the third receiving circuit is branched from the wiring connecting the first antenna and the matching circuit. Communication device.
2. Housing and A first antenna is provided in the housing and transmits and receives information to and from an external device using radio waves in a first frequency band, A coupling unit connected to the first antenna, which directly or indirectly connects the user who grips the housing to the first antenna, and which causes the user to function as a second antenna that receives radio waves in a second frequency band lower than the first frequency band, A display unit provided in the aforementioned housing, The system comprises a control unit for controlling the display unit, The control unit causes the position of the antenna provided on the housing to be displayed on the display unit. Communication device.
3. It includes a first block circuit disposed between the first antenna and the third receiving circuit, The first blocking circuit is located inside the housing, directly below the first antenna. The communication device according to claim 1.