Spiraled Slot Antenna Structure for Compact Wideband Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional slot antennas require a large ground plane and a slit length of half-wavelength, limiting their integration in compact wireless devices due to size constraints, which hinders the design of compact antenna units for devices with aesthetically pleasing and compact form factors.
Innovation Solution
A compact spiraled slot antenna is constructed using existing components like heat spreaders and PCBs, with a spiraled design that extends in multiple planes to maintain effective length while reducing overall footprint, allowing for multiple antennas in a small form factor, and includes features like air steps and ground steps to tune the antenna for wide bandwidth and different frequency ranges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional slot antenna uses a half-wavelength slit length to enable radiation resonance, then the antenna achieves proper radiation performance, but the antenna size becomes too large for compact wireless devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the conventional linear half-wavelength slot into a spiraled configuration that extends into multiple dimensions. The slot follows a spiral path around a central axis, converting a one-dimensional length constraint into a three-dimensional structure. This allows the effective radiating length to remain approximately λ/2 while the overall footprint and bounding box dimensions are significantly reduced, enabling integration in compact wireless devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The spiraled slot design effectively nests the antenna structure within a smaller volume by coiling the slot around a central region. The slot winds inward toward the center and then outward, creating a nested-like configuration that packs the required half-wavelength length into a compact form factor suitable for modern portable devices.
2Reliability
If a slot antenna uses a large ground plane to meet design requirements, then the antenna achieves proper radiation characteristics, but the overall device size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reduces the ground plane area requirement by transitioning from a conventional planar slot antenna to a spiraled configuration. The spiral structure concentrates the radiating elements around a central axis, allowing the ground plane to be confined to a smaller circular or circular-like region rather than requiring a large rectangular area. This dimensional reorganization maintains radiation characteristics while reducing the stationary ground plane area.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple conventional slot antennas are placed in a compact device, then more wavelength capabilities are available, but the device form factor becomes too large
Solution Approach 1:
By implementing multiple spiraled slot antennas with different spiral parameters (such as different numbers of turns, spiral densities, or feeding configurations), the patent enables support for multiple wavelength capabilities within a compact volume. Each spiral variant can be tuned to different frequency bands while sharing the same compact three-dimensional space, achieving multi-band functionality without proportionally increasing device volume.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The compact spiraled slot antenna achieves a wide bandwidth and maintains performance similar to conventional antennas, enabling more antennas to be integrated in small devices while conserving space, supporting frequencies like 5 GHz to 6 GHz or 6 GHz to 7 GHz for WiFi 6E bands.
Implementation Method 1
This plate and hole or slot is driven as an antenna by a driving frequency, the slot radiates electromagnetic waves
Implementation Method 2
The slot is adapted to have a frequency range of 5 GHz to 6 GHz, or 6 GHz to 7 GHz for a new WiFi 6E band
Data Source
AI summary
A wireless device with a slot antenna includes one or more heat spreaders, a PCB with vias to allow current to flow through the PCB, various components disposed on the PCB, and a slot antenna compliment. By layering the components, e.g., heat spreaders, PCB, slot antenna compliment, etc. one or more slot antennas are formed from these components as to integrate the slot antennas into the existing structure. The formed slot antenna is a spiraled shape as to reduce the overall footprint of the slot antenna while keeping the required quarter-wavelength total effective length of an open-slot antenna. The formed slot antenna is wide enough to allow the antenna to accommodate a wide bandwidth and may include a plurality of steps to further allow for tuning of the length of the slot antenna. The wireless device can further include a housing enclosing the internal components.