JP2001313519A - Chip antenna parts - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a chip antenna component with a high degree of design freedom, which is downsized by integrally forming an antenna element and a lamination circuit section. SOLUTION: The antenna element 1 and the lamination circuit section 2 are formed integrally, the lamination circuit section 2 has one signal input terminal 3 and two signal output terminals 4, 5, the signal output terminal 4 is electrically connected to the antenna element 1 and a circuit 6 such as a branch circuit is formed inside the lamination circuit section 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a chip antenna component generally used for an antenna device used for communication, and more particularly to a small chip antenna component in which an antenna element and a laminated circuit portion are integrated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The current trend in the design of wireless communication devices is to provide devices that can handle a plurality of different systems. Such a communication device requires a wireless communication component capable of transmitting and receiving signals in a plurality of different frequency bands corresponding to each communication system. In addition, in order to keep the overall size and weight of the communication device small, it is required that each component be multifunctional and small and light.

Generally, an antenna used in a radio communication apparatus having an individual antenna according to each communication system includes a plurality of antennas for transmitting a signal between each antenna and a corresponding transceiver. A power supply line is required. In order to reduce the size and weight of the communication device and to reduce the cost, it is desirable to share components as much as possible and reduce the number of components, and it is desirable to use a single feeder line even when feeding power to the antenna.

[0004] From a single transmission line through which a plurality of signals having different frequencies are transmitted, the signals are demultiplexed into transmission lines different for each frequency and transmitted to a plurality of antennas, or a plurality of signals having different frequencies received by a plurality of antennas are received. As a method of multiplexing a signal onto a single transmission line, for example, as shown in FIG.
A single transmission line 2 through which a plurality of signals having different frequencies are transmitted
6 is connected to a demultiplexer 27, and is demultiplexed for each different frequency and transmitted to each of the antenna elements 29a, 29b, and 29c via feed lines 28a, 28b, and 28c, as shown in FIG. A single transmission line 30 through which a plurality of signals having different frequencies are transmitted is individually connected and sequentially connected to demultiplexers 31a, 31b, and 31c operating at different frequencies, and the signals of the corresponding frequencies are respectively transmitted. Power supply line 32
a, 32b, 32c, each antenna element 33a,
A method of transmitting the data to 33b and 33c is known.

[0005]

When the circuit shown in FIG. 8 is specifically constructed, the antenna elements 29a, 29b, 29
It is common practice to form the c and the duplexer 27 separately and electrically connect them. However, when a duplexer and an antenna are formed on the surface of a dielectric substrate, This is disadvantageous for miniaturization because the substrate area is required for both the antenna and the duplexer. In addition, when connecting one duplexer to a plurality of antenna elements, the design of the duplexer is required. Therefore, there is a drawback that the layout of the antenna is limited because the arrangement of the antennas is restricted, and that the duplexer needs to be redesigned when an antenna is added or removed.

Also, in the circuit shown in FIG. 9, when a duplexer and an antenna are formed on the surface of a dielectric substrate, the area of the substrate is required for both the size of the antenna and the size of the duplexer. Was disadvantaged.

Accordingly, the present invention has as its main object to solve the above problems, and specifically,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a chip antenna component that can be miniaturized by integrally forming an antenna element and a laminated circuit portion such as a duplexer and has a high degree of freedom in design.

[0008]

The present inventors have conducted various studies to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and as a result, have found that an antenna element, at least one signal input terminal and two or more signal input terminals are provided. It has been found that the above object can be achieved by integrally forming a laminated circuit section having an output terminal and connecting at least one of the signal output terminals to the antenna element.

In the above configuration, it is desirable that a demultiplexing circuit and / or a multiplexing circuit be formed in the laminated circuit portion, and the demultiplexing circuit and the multiplexing circuit are formed of a directional coupling circuit and a ring type circuit. It is desirable to have a directional filtering circuit comprising a resonance circuit, and it is desirable that the antenna element is a planar antenna such as a microstrip antenna.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a chip antenna component of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing one embodiment of a chip antenna component of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is (a) a schematic perspective view and (b) a bottom view. The chip antenna component A shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a structure in which the antenna element 1 and the laminated circuit unit 2 are integrated. Further, the laminated circuit unit 2 includes one signal input terminal 3 and two signal output terminals 4 in the dielectric substrate.
And the signal output terminal 4 is electrically connected to the antenna element 1.

In the chip antenna component A shown in FIG. 1, the antenna element 1 includes an antenna radiation conductor 7 and a ground layer 8.
Consisting of a microstrip antenna formed by: The laminated circuit section 2 includes various passive circuits. In this embodiment, a demultiplexing circuit is formed, and the laminated circuit section 2 of the chip antenna component A in FIG. In the dielectric substrate, a circuit using a strip line is formed by the ground layers 8 and 9 and the branching circuit pattern 6.

Further, the antenna element 1 and the laminated circuit section 2
A ground layer 8a is adhered and formed on the side surface of the substrate, and the ground layer 8 and the ground layer 9 are electrically connected to each other by the ground layer 8a and maintained at the same potential.

As is clear from FIG. 2B showing a bottom view of the chip antenna component A, the signal input terminal 3 and one signal output terminal 5 in the multilayer circuit portion 2 are connected to the bottom surface of the multilayer circuit portion 2. Are respectively connected as connection pads 3a and 5a, and perform electrical connection to other wiring circuits via the connection pads 3a and 5a. A ground layer 9 is formed around the connection pads 3a and 5a. This ground layer 9 may be formed inside the laminated circuit section 2.

The pattern of the connection pads 3a and 5a is not limited to that shown in FIG. 2B, but may be, for example, a coplanar line structure.

According to the present invention, since the antenna element 1 and the laminated circuit section 2 are integrated by the above structure,
Unlike the case where a circuit that feeds a plurality of antennas from a single feeder line via a duplexer as shown in FIG. 8 is formed, the arrangement of the multiple antennas is limited by the structure of the duplexer. Therefore, it is not necessary to redesign the duplexer when adding or deleting an antenna, and it is possible to provide an antenna component having a high degree of freedom in design. This is advantageous for miniaturization.

In the present invention, a known circuit can be used as the demultiplexing circuit (combining circuit) 6, and an example of a specific circuit pattern is shown in FIG. The demultiplexing circuit 6 includes directional coupling circuits a and b and a directional filtering circuit x including a ring-type resonance circuit c.

In the demultiplexing circuit 6 shown in FIG. 3, one signal f1 of two signals f1 and f2 having different frequencies inputted from the port 10 on the transmitter side is directionally filtered from the transmission line 11. At a frequency determined by the directional coupling circuit a and the ring-type resonance circuit c in the circuit x, another directional coupling circuit b formed on the other side is coupled to the ring-type resonance circuit c by the directional coupling circuit a. Is coupled to the other transmission line 12 and transmitted to the output terminal 4 connected to the feed line to the antenna element 1. The other signal f2 further travels on the transmission line 11 and is transmitted to the second output terminal. Note that this demultiplexing circuit
When the signal transmission directions are opposite, the signal transmission circuit naturally functions as a multiplexing circuit.

4 and 5 show another embodiment according to the present invention. In this configuration, the antenna element 1 is a slot antenna, and the slot antenna 1 is electromagnetically coupled to a branching circuit 6 formed inside the laminated circuit unit 2. In this case, one of the two output terminals does not appear in a physically obvious form, but exists as a port from which a signal is electrically extracted from the branching circuit.

6 and 7 show still another embodiment according to the present invention. In this configuration, the dielectric resonator antenna 1 is integrally joined to the surface of the laminated circuit section 2 having the branching circuit 6 built therein.

In the present invention, the antenna element 1 and the laminated circuit section 2 can be joined and integrated by an adhesive or the like. Also,
When the antenna element 1 and the laminated circuit section 2 are made of ceramics, the antenna element 1 and the laminated circuit section 2 can be integrated by firing.

The through conductor 4 serving as an output terminal for connecting the antenna element 1 to a circuit such as a demultiplexing circuit built in the multilayer circuit part 2 constitutes the antenna element 1 and the multilayer circuit part 2. It can also be formed by filling a conductor in a hole formed in the dielectric or embedding a metal pin. When the dielectric is ceramics,
It is also possible to form the ground layers 8, 9 and the demultiplexing circuit 6 on the antenna element by applying a metal paste and filling the through-hole with the metal paste, followed by simultaneous firing.

The method of feeding power from the branching circuit 6 to the antenna element 1 is not limited to the formation of the through conductor 4. For example, a slot is provided in the ground layer 8, and the transmission line of the antenna element 1 and the branching circuit 6 is provided. 12 can also be electromagnetically coupled.

Further, according to the chip antenna component of the present invention, a circuit such as a power distribution circuit or a phase shift circuit can be used as a circuit formed inside the laminated circuit portion, and operates at a single frequency. Also for the purpose of configuring an array antenna, a small chip antenna component that is easy to handle can be provided.

In the chip antenna component according to the present invention, the antenna element 1 and the laminated circuit portion 2 are made of a ceramic material such as alumina, glass, glass ceramics or aluminum nitride, an organic insulating material containing an organic resin such as an epoxy resin, or the like. It can be formed of a known insulating material such as an organic-ceramic composite material. Further, the antenna element 1, the ground layers 8, 9, the input terminals 3, the output terminals 4, 5 and the branching circuit 6 can be formed of a known conductor material such as copper, silver, gold, tungsten, molybdenum, and the like. .

The antenna element 1 and the laminated circuit section 2 may be formed of the same dielectric material. What is necessary is just to select a dielectric material having an appropriate dielectric constant.

Further, in the chip antenna component of the present invention, the laminated circuit section 2 essentially has a passive circuit, and the passive circuit includes other than the above-mentioned demultiplexing circuit and / or the multiplexing circuit. , A power distribution circuit, a phase shift circuit and the like, and these circuits may be formed by one or a combination of two or more.

Since the chip antenna component of the present invention has an input terminal and an output terminal, such a component can be mounted on the surface of a predetermined wiring board by soldering or the like.
Thereby, for example, it is possible to attach an antenna component having a demultiplexing circuit to a predetermined portion of any wiring board, and it is possible to further increase the degree of freedom in circuit design.

[0029]

As described above in detail, according to the chip antenna component of the present invention, when a signal including a plurality of different frequencies is fed to a plurality of antennas using a single feed line,
When configuring an array antenna, it is possible to provide a small chip antenna component having a small mounting area, a high degree of freedom in antenna arrangement, and easy design change.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view for explaining one embodiment of a chip antenna component of the present invention.

2A is a schematic perspective view and FIG. 2B is a bottom view of the chip antenna component of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a pattern diagram for explaining a branching circuit in the chip antenna component of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining another embodiment of the chip antenna component of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the chip antenna component of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view for explaining still another embodiment of the chip antenna component of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of the chip antenna component of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows a conceptual diagram of a circuit with an antenna and a demultiplexing circuit.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram of another circuit including an antenna and a demultiplexing circuit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna element 2 Laminated circuit part 3 Signal input terminal 4,5 Signal output terminal 6 Demultiplexing circuit 7 Antenna radiation conductor 8,9 Ground layer 10 Input port 11,12 Transmission line x Directional filtering circuit a, b Directional coupling circuit c Ring type resonance circuit A Chip antenna parts

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01Q 23/00 H01Q 23/00 F term (Reference) 5J006 LA01 LA21 LA25 5J021 CA06 FA32 FA33 HA05 HA10 JA07 5J045 AA02 AB05 AB06 DA10 EA07 HA03 MA07 NA01 5J046 AA07 AB13 PA07

Claims (4)

[Claims] At least one antenna element and a laminated circuit portion are integrally formed, wherein the laminated circuit portion has at least one signal input terminal and two or more signal output terminals, A chip antenna component, wherein one signal output terminal is connected to the antenna element. 2. A circuit according to claim 1, wherein a demultiplexing circuit and / or a multiplexing circuit are formed in said laminated circuit portion.
The described chip antenna parts. 3. The demultiplexing circuit and / or the multiplexing circuit,
3. The chip antenna component according to claim 2, comprising a directional coupling circuit and a ring-type resonance circuit. 4. The chip antenna component according to claim 1, wherein said antenna element is a planar antenna such as a microstrip antenna.