CN114171903B

CN114171903B - Packaged antenna and wireless communication device having the packaged antenna

Info

Publication number: CN114171903B
Application number: CN202010948665.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卢冰清
Original assignee: Futaihua Industry Shenzhen Co Ltd; Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd
Current assignee: Futaihua Industry Shenzhen Co Ltd; Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-10
Filing date: 2020-09-10
Publication date: 2025-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 2040-09-10
Also published as: CN114171903A

Abstract

The present invention provides a packaged antenna and a wireless communication device having the packaged antenna, wherein the packaged antenna comprises a substrate, an intermediate dielectric layer and a radiation unit stacked in sequence from bottom to top, wherein the radiation unit is used to receive a first feed signal to excite a first working mode and generate a radiation signal of a first radiation frequency band, and the substrate is a dielectric material and is used to receive a second feed signal to excite a second working mode and generate a radiation signal of a second radiation frequency band. The packaged antenna provided by the present invention can increase the working mode of the packaged antenna without increasing the volume of the antenna.

Description

Packaged antenna and wireless communication device with same

Technical Field

The present invention relates to antennas, and more particularly, to a packaged antenna supporting multiple frequency bands simultaneously and a wireless communication device having the same.

Background

Lower cost, more reliable, faster and higher density circuits are the goal pursued by integrated circuit packages that increase the integration density of various electronic components by continually reducing feature sizes. The antenna is taken as an indispensable component in the radio frequency front-end system, and the system integration and encapsulation of the antenna and the radio frequency front-end circuit become the necessary trend of the future radio frequency front-end development while the radio frequency circuit is developed towards the integration and miniaturization directions. However, most of the existing package antennas only support one working mode, so when the wireless communication device needs to support different working modes, different package antennas still need to be arranged, which occupies excessive space in the mobile phone.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a packaged antenna that supports multiple frequency bands simultaneously and a wireless communication device having the packaged antenna.

In one aspect, the invention provides a package antenna, which includes a substrate, an intermediate dielectric layer and a radiation unit, wherein the substrate, the intermediate dielectric layer and the radiation unit are sequentially stacked from bottom to top, the radiation unit is configured to receive a first feed-in signal to excite a first working mode to generate a radiation signal of a first radiation frequency band, and the substrate is made of a dielectric material and is configured to receive a second feed-in signal to excite a second working mode to generate a radiation signal of a second radiation frequency band.

Further, the dielectric coefficient and/or the length of the substrate are/is changed to adjust the frequency range of the second radiation frequency band.

Further, the substrate is made of polycarbonate.

Further, the second working mode is a Sub-6G working mode, and the second radiation frequency band comprises a frequency band of 3.2 GHz-5.0 GHz.

Further, the middle dielectric layer is arranged on one surface of the substrate, one side, far away from the substrate, of the middle dielectric layer is provided with the radiation unit, and the middle dielectric layer is provided with a containing cavity for containing the radio frequency unit.

Further, the radio frequency unit includes a switching module, where the switching module is configured to control the package antenna to switch between the first working mode and the second working mode.

Further, the package antenna further comprises a connector, one end of the switching module is electrically connected to the connector, and the other end of the switching module is electrically connected to the radio frequency unit and the substrate respectively.

Further, the switching module includes a first signal input end, a second signal input end, a first signal output end and a second signal output end, wherein the first signal input end and the second signal input end are respectively and electrically connected to the connector, the first signal output end is electrically connected to the radio frequency unit, and the second signal output end is electrically connected to the substrate.

Further, the first working mode is a millimeter wave working mode, and the first radiation frequency band comprises 28 GHz-40 GHz frequency bands.

Another aspect of the invention provides a wireless communication device comprising a packaged antenna as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

According to the package antenna provided by the invention, the substrates with different dielectric coefficients are changed, so that the substrates play a supporting role, and meanwhile, when receiving a feed-in signal, the package antenna can excite a corresponding working mode and generate a radiation signal of a corresponding radiation frequency band. Thus, the working mode of the packaged antenna can be increased without increasing the space of the antenna.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a package antenna according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a circuit schematic diagram of a switching module in the packaged antenna shown in fig. 1.

Description of the main reference signs

Packaged antenna 100

Substrate 10

First surface 101

Second surface 102

Intermediate dielectric layer 20

Accommodating chamber 201

Radiating element 30

Connector 40

Radio frequency unit 50

Switching module 51

The invention will be further described in the following detailed description in conjunction with the above-described figures.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present invention will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is apparent that the embodiments described are only some embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "electrically connected" to another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "electrically connected" to another element, it can be in contact, e.g., by way of a wire connection, or can be in contactless connection, e.g., by way of contactless coupling.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used herein in the description of the invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The term "and/or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Some embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.

It will be appreciated that antennas are an important component in wireless systems, both in split and integrated form. The integrated Antenna mainly comprises two major types of on-Chip antennas (Antennaon-Chip, aoC) and Package antennas (Antenna-in-Package, aiP). Wherein, the package antenna refers to an antenna which is integrated in a package carrying a chip through a packaging material and a process. The packaged antenna well gives consideration to the antenna performance, cost and volume, and is the main stream direction of millimeter wave technology application. The packaging antenna system has the advantages of short design period, convenience and flexibility, can adopt the same chip to match with different packaging antennas so as to meet different requirements, and is more convenient and faster when the antennas are replaced due to the packaging and modularized antenna design.

Referring to fig. 1, the present invention provides a package antenna 100, which can be applied to a wireless communication device such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, etc. for transmitting and receiving radio waves to transmit and exchange wireless signals.

The package antenna 100 includes a substrate 10, an intermediate dielectric layer 20, a radiating element 30, and a connector 40.

It can be understood that in this embodiment, the substrate 10, the intermediate dielectric layer 20 and the radiating element 30 are sequentially stacked from bottom to top. The substrate 10 is used to support the package antenna 100. The intermediate dielectric layer 20 is provided with a receiving cavity 201 for receiving the radio frequency unit 50. The radiation unit 30 is configured to receive a feed signal to excite a first operation mode to generate a radiation signal in a first radiation frequency band. The connector 40 is disposed on one side of the package antenna 100, and is used for electrically connecting the package antenna 100 with other electronic components.

In this embodiment, the substrate 10 is made of a dielectric material and can be used as an antenna to receive a feed signal. It is understood that different dielectric materials have different dielectric coefficients. By changing the dielectric coefficient and the length of the substrate 10, the substrate 10 can excite different second working modes, thereby generating radiation signals of corresponding second radiation frequency bands so as to meet different engineering requirements.

In this embodiment, the substrate 10 is a rectangular parallelepiped with a length of 0.02 m and a width of 0.00481 m. When the second operation mode is a Sub-6G operation mode, that is, the first frequency band is a frequency band of 3.2ghz to 5.0ghz, the calculation formula (3) of the dielectric coefficient of the material required when the substrate 10 excites the Sub-6G operation mode may be obtained according to the calculation formula (1) of the antenna wavelength and the frequency and the calculation formula (2) of the antenna wavelength and the length.

It can be understood that the calculation formula of the antenna wavelength and frequency is:

It can be appreciated that in an embodiment, the calculation formula of the wavelength and the length of the antenna is:

in the formulas (1) and (2), λ represents an antenna wavelength, c represents a light speed, f represents a frequency band supported by the antenna, ε represents a dielectric coefficient of an antenna material, and a represents an antenna length. Thus, the dielectric constant of the substrate 10 can be obtained from formula (3):

For example, when the substrate 10 is required to operate in the Sub-6G band, the operating band is 3.2GHz to 5.0GHz. The center frequency of 3.2 GHz-5.0 GHz is 4.1GHz. By combining the formula (1) and the formula (2), substituting the light speed c of 3.0×108 m/s, the antenna length a of 0.02 m, and the frequency f of 4.1GHz into the formula (3), the dielectric coefficient of the material required for exciting the Sub-6G operation mode of the substrate 10 can be obtained to be about 3.346. Referring to the material-related dielectric constant table, it was found that the dielectric constant of Polycarbonate (PC) was 3.3.

Thus, in this embodiment, when the length of the substrate 10 is 0.02 m and the material of the substrate 10 is polycarbonate, the substrate 10 may excite the Sub-6G working mode to generate a radiation signal in the 3.2 ghz-5.0 ghz band after receiving the feed signal. In this embodiment, the second working mode is a Sub-6G working mode, and the second radiation frequency band is a 3.2 ghz-5.0 ghz frequency band.

It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the length of the antenna may have other proportional relationships with the corresponding wavelength. For example, the length of the antenna may also be one quarter wavelength, or three quarters wavelength, of the corresponding antenna. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, antenna designs may be made as appropriate. The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical scheme of the present invention, and are not limited thereto.

It will be appreciated that in the present embodiment, when the substrate 10 is provided with a corresponding feeding point, an electrical signal is fed. The substrate 10 is further provided with a corresponding grounding point for providing grounding to the substrate 10.

In this embodiment, the substrate 10 includes a first surface 101 and a second surface 102 opposite to the first surface 101. The second surface 102 is provided with the intermediate dielectric layer 20.

The intermediate dielectric layer 20 is provided with at least one accommodating cavity 201 for accommodating the radio frequency unit 50. The RF unit 50 includes a wireless transceiver and an RF front-end component. In one embodiment, the RF unit 50 may also be an integrated circuit chip for wireless communication, and may be used to perform functions such as microwave mixing, power amplification, low noise amplification, and RF switching. The invention does not limit the types and the number of the rf units in the accommodating cavity 201.

The material of the intermediate dielectric layer 20 is a non-conductive material, and the non-conductive material includes one or more of injection molding materials such as EMC (Epoxy Molding Compound ), ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), PC (Polycarbonate), PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate ), and the like.

It will be appreciated that in this embodiment, each of the radiating elements 30 is a millimeter wave antenna. The first working mode is a millimeter wave working mode, and the first radiation frequency band comprises 28GHz-40GHz frequency bands. In this embodiment, four radiation units 30 are disposed on a side of the intermediate dielectric layer 20 away from the substrate 10. Thus, 4 of the radiating elements 30 form a millimeter wave antenna array.

Of course, in other embodiments, the radiating element 30 is not limited to a millimeter wave antenna, and may be other types of antennas, and the type, structure and operating frequency band of the radiating element 30 are not limited herein.

It is understood that in one embodiment, the radiating element 30 may be a chip-type antenna having a corresponding feed terminal and ground.

It will be appreciated that in an embodiment, the exposed surfaces of the radiating element 30 and the intermediate dielectric layer 20 may be further covered with a coating to protect the radiating element 30 and to package the packaged antenna 100, so that the packaged antenna 100 is more attractive.

It will be appreciated that the intermediate dielectric layer 20 may be provided with metal vias (not shown). The rf unit 50 is connected to the substrate 10 and to the radiating unit 30 through the metal via.

It will be appreciated that the intermediate dielectric layer 20 may also be provided with a ground layer. The access point of the substrate 10 may be electrically connected to the ground layer through the metal vias, thereby providing a ground for the substrate 10 when the substrate 10 is functioning as an antenna.

The connector 40 is disposed at one end of the package antenna 100, and is used for electrically connecting the package antenna 100 with other electronic components. In this embodiment, the connector 40 is a board-to-board connector. It can be appreciated that the electrical signal is fed to the package antenna 100 through the connector 40, so that the substrate 10 excites the second operation mode to generate the radiation signal of the second radiation frequency band, and/or the radiation unit 30 excites the first operation mode to generate the radiation signal of the first radiation frequency band. It is understood that the connector 40 may be electrically connected to a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU) of the wireless communication device 200.

Referring to fig. 2, in one embodiment, the rf unit 50 includes a switching module 51. The switching module 51 is configured to switch the package antenna 100 between the first operation mode and the second operation mode.

In one embodiment, the switching module 51 has one end electrically connected to the connector 40 and the other end electrically connected to the radiating unit 30 and the substrate 10, respectively. The switching module 51 includes a first signal input terminal GPIO1, a second signal input terminal GPIO2, a first signal output terminal RF1, a second signal output terminal RF2, a power supply terminal VDD and a ground terminal GND.

The power terminal VDD is electrically connected to a power source for supplying power to the switching module 51. The ground GND is configured to provide a ground for the switching module 51. The first signal input terminal GPIO1 and the second signal input terminal GPIO2 are electrically connected to the connector 40, respectively. The first signal output terminal RF1 is electrically connected to the radiating element 30. The second signal output terminal RF2 is electrically connected to the substrate 10.

It will be appreciated that the connector 40 outputs a first control signal to the first signal input GPIO1 of the switching module 51, and the connector 40 also outputs a second control signal to the second signal input GPIO2 of the switching module 51. Under the control of the first control signal and the second control signal, the first signal output end RF1 of the switching module 51 outputs a first feed-in signal to the first radiating unit 30 to excite the first working mode, or the second signal output end RF2 of the switching module 51 outputs a second feed-in signal to the substrate 10 to excite the second working mode.

When the first control signal is at a first level, for example, a high level, and the second control signal is at a second level, for example, a low level, the first feed-in signal output by the first signal output end RF1 is at the first level, and the second feed-in signal output by the second signal output end RF2 is at the second level. In this way, the radiation unit 30 receives the first feed-in signal to excite the first operation mode to generate the radiation signal of the first radiation frequency band.

When the first control signal is at a second level and the second control signal is at a first level, the first feed-in signal output by the first signal output end RF1 is at the second level, and the second feed-in signal output by the second signal output end RF2 is at the first level. In this way, the substrate 10 receives the second feeding signal to excite the second working mode to generate the radiation signal of the second radiation frequency band.

When the first control signal and the second control signal are both at the first level or both at the second level, neither the radiation unit 30 nor the substrate 10 excite the first working mode nor the second working mode.

It will be appreciated that in this embodiment, the rf unit 50 includes other rf components in addition to the switching module 51. For example, the radio frequency unit 50 may also include power amplifiers, filters, low noise amplifiers, and the like. The power amplifier is used for amplifying radio frequency signals in a transmitting channel, the filter is used for filtering signals, and the low-noise amplifier is used for amplifying received signals in a receiving channel.

It is understood that in other embodiments, the switching module 51 is not limited to the circuit configuration described in the present embodiment. The engineering personnel can select a proper switching module according to the actual needs and the frequency range.

It can be understood that the material of the substrate 10 of the package antenna 100 is changed, so that the substrate 10 can play a supporting role and simultaneously excite the second working mode when receiving the feeding signal. In this way, the operating mode of the packaged antenna 100 can be increased without increasing the antenna space. In addition, the present invention further provides a switching module 51, so that antenna switching between the radiating element 30 and the substrate 10 can be effectively performed, so as to flexibly use the package antenna 100.

The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present invention and not for limiting the same, and although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that modifications and equivalents may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make other changes and modifications within the spirit of the invention, which are intended to be within the scope of the invention, without departing from the technical spirit of the invention. Such variations, which are in accordance with the spirit of the invention, are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims

1. A packaged antenna is characterized by comprising a substrate, a middle dielectric layer and a radiation unit, wherein the substrate, the middle dielectric layer and the radiation unit are sequentially stacked from bottom to top, the radiation unit is used for receiving a first feed-in signal to excite a first working mode to generate a radiation signal of a first radiation frequency band, the substrate is made of dielectric materials and is used as an antenna to receive a second feed-in signal to excite a second working mode to generate a radiation signal of a second radiation frequency band, and the substrate is made of polycarbonate.

2. The packaged antenna according to claim 1, wherein the dielectric constant and/or the length of the substrate is varied to adjust the frequency range of the second radiation band.

3. The packaged antenna of claim 1, wherein the second operating mode is a Sub-6G operating mode, and the second radiation frequency band comprises a 3.2 GHz-5.0 GHz frequency band.

4. The package antenna of claim 1, wherein the intermediate dielectric layer is disposed on a surface of the substrate, the radiating element is disposed on a side of the intermediate dielectric layer away from the substrate, and the intermediate dielectric layer is provided with a receiving cavity for receiving the radio frequency unit.

5. The packaged antenna of claim 4, wherein the radio frequency unit comprises a switching module configured to control the packaged antenna to switch between the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation.

6. The packaged antenna of claim 5, wherein the packaged antenna further comprises a connector, wherein one end of the switching module is electrically connected to the connector, and the other end of the switching module is electrically connected to the radiating element and the substrate, respectively.

7. The package antenna of claim 6, wherein the switching module comprises a first signal input, a second signal input, a first signal output, and a second signal output, the first signal input and the second signal input being electrically connected to the connector, respectively, the first signal output being electrically connected to the RF unit, the second signal output being electrically connected to the substrate.

8. The package antenna of claim 1, wherein the first operating mode is a millimeter wave operating mode and the first radiation frequency band comprises a 28 GHz-40 GHz frequency band.

9. A wireless communication device comprising a packaged antenna according to any one of claims 1 to 8.