Apple Inc.

Tyco Electronics Logistics Ag

Rangestar Wireless, Inc.

Enrique Ayala

Gregory Allen Springer

Douglas Blake Kough

Matthew Ian McDonald

Bing Chiang

Robert J Hill

Hao Xu

Juan Zavala

Rob Hill

Matthew Ian Mcdonald

An antenna may be formed from conductive regions that define a gap that is bridged by shunt inductors. The inductors may have equal inductances and may be located equidistant from each other to form a scatter-type antenna structure. The inductors may also have unequal inductances and may be located along the length of the gap with unequal inductor-to-inductor spacings, thereby creating a decreasing shunt inductance at increasing distances from a feed for the antenna. This type of antenna structure functions as a horn-type antenna. One or more scatter-type antenna structures may be cascaded to form a multiband antenna. Antenna gaps may be formed in conductive device housings.

Antennas with periodic shunt inductors

Dual slot antennas are provided for portable electronic devices such as handheld electronic devices. A dual slot antenna may have an open slot that has an open end that is not encircled by conductive material and may have a closed slot in which each end is surrounded by conductor. The closed and open slots may have portions that run parallel to each other. The antenna may be fed using feed terminals that bridge the closed and open slots in the vicinity of the portions of the slots that run parallel to each other. The slots may have portions that are angled with respect to each other. An end portion of one of the slots may be bent and widened for impedance matching and broadened bandwidth. Other portions of the slots may also be angled with respect to their main longitudinal axes.

Dual-band antenna with angled slot for portable electronic devices

Antenna support structures and antennas are provided for wireless electronic devices such as portable electronic devices. Antenna resonating elements may be formed from conductive coatings on two-shot molded interconnect device dielectric antenna support structures. The conductive coatings may be formed from wet-plated copper or other conductive materials. The antenna support structure may have tabs that electrically connect antenna resonating elements to the case of a wireless electronic device that serves as an antenna ground plane. The antenna support structure may be curved about its longitudinal axis so that the antenna resonating elements on the support structure protrude upwards to enhance antenna performance. In a portable electronic device such as a portable computer, the antenna support structure may be mounted within a dielectric portion of the computer housing that is located between the display portion of the housing and the base of the housing.

Antennas and antenna carrier structures for electronic devices

Electronic devices and antennas for electronic devices are provided. The antennas may have ground plane elements with dielectric-filled openings. The dielectric-filled openings may be configured to form one or more rectangular slots. The antennas may be fed using transmission lines having first and second conductors. The first conductor of a given transmission line may be coupled to the ground plane element on one side of the slots. The second conductor of the transmission line may be coupled to a planar conductive element. The planar conductive element may couple to the ground plane element on the other side of the slots. The slots may be separated by a portion of the ground plane element. The planar conductive element may bridge at least one of the slots and may overlap the portion of the ground plane element that separates the slots without electrically contacting that portion of the ground plane element.

Feed networks for slot antennas in electronic devices

An electronic device comprising a first conductive unit and a second conductive unit disposed such that a gap exists between the first component and the second component. The electronic device further includes one or more components disposed along the gap and configured to counteract one or more capacitance effects in the gap, wherein at least one of the first conductive unit and the second conductive unit represents a part of an antenna. By counteracting the capacitance effects in the gap, certain radiation attributes of the antenna, such as radiation efficiency, can be improved. The one or more components are also employed to counteract one or more capacitance effects in a slot of a conductive unit in an electronic device.

Methods and apparatus for improving the performance of an electronic device having one or more antennas

Microslot antennas may be provided for electronic devices such as portable electronic devices. The microslot antennas may have dielectric-filled microslots that are formed in a ground plane element. The ground plane element may be formed from part of a conductive device housing. The microslots may be narrow enough that they are not readily noticeable to the naked eye. The microslots may have lengths that allow the microslot antenna to provide antenna coverage in one or more communications bands. A first group of the microslots may be used to provide coverage in a first communications band and a second group of the microslots may be used to provide coverage in a second communications band.

Microslot antennas for electronic devices

An antenna assembly including a resonator element having a complex shaped surface topography and discrete edge features disposed at various elevations above a ground plane and which is operatively connected to the ground plane of a wireless communication device (WCD). The resonator assembly may comprise a flexible or deformable resonator support substrate of dielectric material supporting a conductive resonator element or portion. Alternatively, the resonator element may comprise a electrically conducting resonator element formed to retain its complex shape and surface topography. In the latter form, the resonator element may be formed by traditional metal stamping techniques. The complex topography of the resonator element, the discrete resonator segments together provide WCD design flexibility by permitting the antenna assembly to be located at a variety of locations relative to a WCD, including the interior, the exterior, or within a portion of the housing of the WCD itself as long as the resonator element is coupled to the ground plane of a printed wiring board of a WCD. The antenna assembly preferably includes a resonator element comprising a complex substantially hemispherical, or a curving, topography and having a complex set of linear peripheral edge features. In addition, the ground terminal location and the signal feed terminal location are not located along an end region of the complex-shaped resonator element as in traditional planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) types, but are preferably disposed closely spaced apart in a central region of the resonator element.

Low profile dual-band conformal antenna

A multiband antenna operates in at least a first frequency band and a second frequency band, a higher frequency band. A dipole has a first conductive leg and a second conductive leg and may be directly fed between the first and second legs. At least a portion of the first leg of the dipole has a meander configuration. The first leg has an electrical length of about one-quarter wavelength, or an odd multiple thereof, in the first frequency band and the second leg has an electrical length of about one-quarter wavelength, or an odd multiple thereof, or more in the first frequency band. A non-driven parasitically-excited conductive element is closely spaced to the first dipole leg and is electrically connected to the second dipole leg. The parasitic element has an electrical length of about one-quarter wavelength, or an odd multiple thereof, in the second frequency band.

Growing community of inventors

Watsonville, CA, United States of America

Enrique Ayala