CN112689986A

CN112689986A - Antenna configuration for mobile devices

Info

Publication number: CN112689986A
Application number: CN201980059218.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 艾江; 欧阳月辉; 龚贻文
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-17
Filing date: 2019-09-17
Publication date: 2021-04-20
Also published as: WO2020061003A1

Abstract

A mobile phone includes: a mobile phone rear cover; two non-metal antenna covers respectively positioned on two longitudinal sides of the mobile phone rear cover; and one or more antennas located below the two non-metallic antenna covers.

Description

Antenna configuration for mobile devices

Technical Field

The present invention relates to antenna configuration for mobile devices such as handsets and other User Equipment (UE), and more particularly to antenna setup within such devices.

Background

Metal back-shell UEs, such as cell phones, have many benefits over glass back-shell phones. For example, a metal back shell phone may be lighter, thinner, and more durable when it is dropped without fear that the glass back cover will be broken. In addition, a metal back shell phone may have better thermal performance than a glass back shell phone.

Considerable challenges exist in the design and manufacture of UEs, particularly handheld UEs, in view of the density of the component parts stored in the relatively compact space defined by the housing of the UE, such as the transmit-receive circuitry, audio speakers, devices for wired charging, headphones and other connections to the UE, batteries and their associated charging circuitry, cameras and associated flash devices, and the like. A more complex problem is the consumer demand for UEs that can connect with multiple wireless air interface networks, such as cellular (3G, 4G LTE, emerging 5G — all promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP)), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11xx ("WiFi") air interface standards, the bluetooth family, and many of these respective air interface technologies require antenna structures that are separate and distinct from one another. Thus, there are numerous conflicting considerations in designing a UE to ensure that the UE meets the consumer's expectations for features, performance, and aesthetics.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention relates to antenna configuration for User Equipment (UE), such as a mobile phone, a very large mobile phone (also referred to as a "tablet"), a tablet, and the like. As used in this description, references to "handset" encompass more general UEs, and are understood to be synonymous with UEs, unless the context clearly implies. In some implementations, the described antenna configuration of the handset may allow for a narrow bezel handset design without any visible antenna outside the handset. In some implementations, the described antenna configuration of a handset may allow greater design flexibility and less constraints on the mechanical structure or layout of the antenna inside the handset. In some implementations, the described antenna configurations of a handset may prevent or mitigate the hand-grip effect and improve Over The Air (OTA) performance of the handset antenna.

In some implementations, a handset includes: a mobile phone rear cover; two non-metal antenna covers on two longitudinal sides of the mobile phone rear cover respectively; and one or more antennas under the two non-metallic antenna covers. The above and other described implementations can each optionally include one or more of the following features.

The first feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the mobile phone rear cover is a metal rear cover.

The second feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the mobile phone rear cover is a single metal cover.

The third feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the two non-metallic antenna covers are made of one or more of plastic, film, glass or ceramic.

The fourth feature, which can be combined with any of the following features, further comprises one or more connectors, wherein the one or more connectors are not on both longitudinal sides of the handset back cover.

The fifth feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the one or more connectors comprise one or more of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector, a headphone jack, or a charger connector.

The sixth feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the one or more antennas comprise a plurality of antennas for supporting cellular communication, dual band Global Positioning System (GPS) communication, and dual band WiFi communication.

The seventh feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the two non-metallic antenna covers are co-molded with the back cover of the mobile phone.

The eighth feature may be combined with any one of the features wherein the two non-metallic antenna covers are assembled to the back case of the mobile phone by glue or pressure sensitive adhesive tape.

The ninth feature may be combined with any one of the features wherein an entirety or a major portion of each of the two non-metallic antennas extends along a respective one of two longitudinal sides of the handset back cover.

The tenth feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein an entirety or a major portion of each of the one or more antennas extends along a respective longitudinal side of the handset back cover.

The eleventh feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the one or more antennas comprise: a first antenna for supporting wireless communication of a low frequency band (LB), a second antenna for supporting wireless communication of one or more of a medium frequency band (MB) and a high frequency band (HB), and wherein the first antenna and the second antenna extend along one of two longitudinal sides of the handset back cover below one of the two non-metallic antenna covers, wherein the first antenna is located near a forehead side of the handset back cover, and wherein the second antenna is located near a chin side of the handset back cover.

The twelfth feature, which may be combined with any one of the following features, further includes a slot interposed between the first antenna and the second antenna, and the slot is located at 1/3 a distance from the longitudinal side of the chin side of the back cover of the cellular phone on one of the two longitudinal sides of the back cover of the cellular phone.

In some implementations, a method includes molding a back cover of a cell phone; molding two non-metallic antenna covers; respectively assembling the two nonmetal antenna covers to two corresponding longitudinal sides of the mobile phone rear cover; and one or more antennas are arranged below the two non-metal antenna covers. The above and other described implementations can each optionally include one or more of the following features.

The third feature may be combined with any of the following features, wherein molding the two non-metallic antenna covers comprises molding the two non-metallic antenna covers using one or more of plastic, film, glass, or ceramic.

The fourth feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the assembling of the two non-metallic antenna covers to two corresponding longitudinal sides of the mobile phone rear cover respectively comprises: two non-metallic antenna covers are assembled to two corresponding longitudinal sides of the mobile phone rear cover, respectively, using glue or pressure sensitive tape.

The fifth feature may be combined with any of the following features, wherein the one or more antennas comprise a plurality of antennas for supporting cellular communication, dual-band GPS communication, and dual-band WiFi communication.

In some implementations, a method includes: co-molding the mobile phone back cover with the two non-metallic antenna covers, wherein each of the two non-metallic antenna covers is on a respective longitudinal side of the mobile phone back cover; and one or more antennas are arranged below the two non-metal antenna covers. The above and other described implementations can each optionally include one or more of the following features.

The first feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein co-molding the handset back cover with the two non-metallic antenna covers comprises molding the handset back cover using a metallic material, and molding the two non-metallic antenna covers using one or more of plastic, film, glass, or ceramic.

The third feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein the one or more antennas comprise a plurality of antennas for supporting cellular communication, dual-band GPS communication, and dual-band WiFi communication.

The fourth feature may be combined with any one of the following features, wherein an entirety or a major portion of each of the two non-metallic antenna covers extends along a respective longitudinal side of the handset back cover; and wherein an entirety or a major portion of each of the one or more antennas extends along a respective longitudinal side of the handset back cover.

The details of one or more implementations of the subject matter of this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.

Drawings

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a conventional antenna configuration for a handset;

fig. 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary antenna configuration of a handset, according to one implementation.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example configuration of a non-metallic antenna cover of a cell phone according to one implementation.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary antenna configuration of a handset according to one implementation;

fig. 3B is a cross-sectional view of a longitudinal side of an example handset, shown in accordance with one implementation.

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary metallic back cover of a handset, according to one implementation;

FIG. 4B is a schematic illustration of a side view of the exemplary metal back cover shown in FIG. 4A;

fig. 4C is a schematic diagram illustrating an enlarged side view of the exemplary metal back cover shown in fig. 4A.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary antenna layout of a handset according to one implementation.

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process of configuring a metallic back cover of a handset according to one implementation.

Fig. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating another exemplary process of configuring a metallic back cover of a handset according to one implementation.

Fig. 8 is a plot showing an exemplary antenna configuration of a handset, according to one implementation.

Fig. 9 is a plot showing a comparison of system efficiency between handsets having different antenna configurations of a device (e.g., handset), according to one implementation.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.

Detailed description of the invention

The following detailed description describes antenna configurations of User Equipment (UE), such as a cell phone, a very large cell phone (also referred to as a "tablet"), a tablet, etc., and is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the disclosed subject matter in the context of one or more particular implementations.

Various modifications, changes, and arrangements to the disclosed implementations may be made, and such modifications, changes, and arrangements will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined may be applied to other implementations and applications without departing from the scope of the present invention. In some instances, details that are not necessary for an understanding of the described subject matter may be omitted so as not to obscure one or more described implementations with unnecessary detail, as such details are within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art. The present invention is not intended to be limited to the implementations described or shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described.

The present invention provides techniques for solving the antenna design problem of mobile phones such as metal back shell phones. Because the metal housing blocks radiation, visible metal antenna elements are typically disposed along portions of the perimeter of the handset, which may limit the usable form factor of the handset. Most conventional metal back case cell phone designs have the antenna gap on the forehead and chin sides of the phone, which is not aesthetically appealing. For example, a user may desire to have a seamless handset design with a unitary metal cover (e.g., a cover that is continuous in appearance).

To address the above issues, in some implementations, all invisible metal antennas (e.g., including a main set antenna, a diversity antenna, and a non-cellular antenna, such as WiFi, Global Positioning System (GPS), and Near-field communication (NFC) antennas) may be disposed at both longitudinal sides of the cell phone, leaving no antenna elements at the forehead and chin sides of the cell phone. The non-metallic cover may cover the antenna at both longitudinal sides of the handset. A portion of the metal antenna may be divided into several pieces, such as horizontal pieces or vertical pieces, to increase the length and coverage of the antenna. Since there is no antenna at the forehead and chin sides, there are few design constraints on the internal mechanical structure, which makes it possible to design a narrow bezel handset. In turn, it can help achieve a very desirable full screen handset design because these components no longer take up space, which can now be reused for screen displays with a minimum size bezel.

In some implementations, the entire unitary metal cover can be used as a ground and can be connected with a crescent-shaped metal piece as an antenna element along both longitudinal sides of the handset. The metal piece can be divided into a low frequency band, a medium frequency band, a high frequency band, and a WiFi and Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna according to the separation groove. Additional protruding structures on the metallic piece may form grounding and feeding points along the entire length of the metallic spacer, serving as antenna structures for the handset. In some implementations, all metallic antenna elements are hidden by the non-metallic cover along both longitudinal sides of the handset. The non-metallic cover may be plastic, glass, ceramic, or other material, and may be a co-molded component or a separate component assembled to the metallic cover, for example, by glue or pressure sensitive tape.

In some implementations, the antenna structure and the separation slot are inside the handset, hidden in the antenna cover, and there is no visible metallic antenna element, and there is no hand-grip effect shorting the external antenna, which may solve the main problems of currently exposed antenna architectures.

In some implementations, the antenna element is decoupled from the chin side connector of the handset (e.g., USB and headset), providing greater design flexibility to achieve a narrow bezel design. In some implementations, such a design may provide improved Over The Air (OTA) performance because OTA performance is less, if not absent, subject to interference caused by connecting with connectors (e.g., USB and headset connectors).

In some implementations, the antenna element is also decoupled from the front camera or sensor module on the forehead side. This design makes it possible to place more optical, digital or motion sensors or other types of mechanisms near the front camera or sensor module to provide more advanced vision, imaging or sensing capabilities such as three-dimensional (3D) imaging, augmented reality, virtual reality, motion detection and tracking, etc.

With the described technology, a novel industrial design of a metal back shell handset can be achieved. For example, the frames on the forehead and chin sides of the cell phone screen may be much smaller than a conventional cell phone. More light modules can be implemented on the forehead side to enable advanced functions such as face recognition (ID) and the like. In some implementations, the metal backshell can be made by a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) process that is cost effective and versatile to produce complex, aesthetically appealing three-dimensional (3D) shapes. In contrast, glass backshells are typically made from a sheet of glass of uniform thickness and are formed in a simple two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional shape. Furthermore, using the described techniques, there is no antenna gap/slot visible in the back cover of the handset. All antenna elements can be hidden in the antenna cover, which gives the handset an attractive appearance design.

The described techniques may help improve user experience. For example, since there is no antenna on the forehead and chin sides of the cell phone, the user experience can be improved when the user holds the cell phone horizontally to watch videos and play games, for example. The described techniques may have global application and achieve additional or different advantages.

Fig. 1A is a schematic diagram of a conventional antenna configuration 100a of a handset, and fig. 1B is a schematic diagram of an exemplary antenna configuration 100B of a handset, shown according to one implementation. The conventional antenna configuration 100a of the cellular phone has one or more antennas 110a disposed on the forehead side of the cellular phone and one or more antennas 110b disposed on the chin side of the cellular phone. In contrast, the exemplary antenna configuration 100b provides two or

more antennas

120a and 120b along both longitudinal sides of the handset. In some implementations, each of the

antennas

120a and 120b extends in a straight line along a respective longitudinal side of the handset. In some implementations, each of the

antennas

120a and 120b is substantially (e.g., more than 95% or 99% of each of the

antennas

120a and 120 b) only on the respective longitudinal side, while none or only a very small fraction (e.g., less than 5% or even 1%) of either of the

antennas

120a and 120b extends on either of the other two sides, i.e., the forehead or chin side of the cell phone. In the example of the antenna configuration 100b, no antenna is located at the forehead or chin side of the handset. In some implementations, in the example of the antenna configuration 100b, no visible antenna elements are present on the exterior of the handset.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example configuration of a non-metallic antenna cover 220 of a cell phone 200 according to one implementation. In this example, the handset 200 includes an outer metal housing 210 that may also serve as an antenna radiating structure. The outer metal housing 210 may be, for example, a metal back cover. The handset 200 further includes a non-metallic antenna cover 220 covering the exterior of the outer metal housing 210. The non-metallic antenna cover 220 may be made of a non-metallic material such as plastic, film, glass, ceramic, or other materials. Without the non-metallic antenna cover 220, the antenna radiating structure 210 from one end 212 to the other end 214 may be shorted by user contact. As a result, the radiation performance of the antenna may be greatly reduced, which is known as a "dead-grip" or "hand-grip" effect. With the non-metallic antenna cover 220, when a user's hand 250 or other surface contacts the mobile phone 200, a layer of non-metallic material 220 exists between the hand 250 and the antenna radiating structure 210, thereby reducing the effect that the user contact may have on the antenna performance, and improving the radiation performance of the antenna.

Fig. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of an antenna configuration 300a of a cell phone 300 according to one implementation, and fig. 3B is a cross-sectional view 300B of a longitudinal side of the example cell phone 300 according to an implementation. The antenna configuration 300a of the cell phone 300 includes a cell phone back cover 310 (e.g., a single metal back cover), a cell phone front cover 350 (e.g., a touch screen, LED screen, or other display device), two non-metallic antenna covers 320a and 320b on both longitudinal sides of the cell phone back cover 310, antennas 330a-330f under the two non-metallic antenna covers 320a and 320b, and one or more connectors 340 on the bottom or chin side of the cell phone 300. The connector may be, for example, one or more of a USB connector, a headphone jack, or a charger connector.

In some implementations, a non-metallic antenna cover on the longitudinal side of the handset or the handset back cover means that an entire or major portion (e.g., more than 95% or 99%) of the non-metallic antenna cover extends along the longitudinal side, while a negligible (e.g., less than 5% or even 1%) portion of no non-metallic antenna cover or non-metallic antenna cover extends on either of the other two sides, i.e., the forehead or chin side of the handset. Thus, any antenna below the non-metallic antenna cover extends, for example, along the longitudinal side such that the entire or a major portion (e.g., more than 95% or 99%) of the antenna extends along the longitudinal side, while no antenna or negligible (e.g., less than 5% or even 1%) portion of the antenna extends on either of the other two sides of the handset. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the entirety of the two non-metallic antenna covers 320a and 320b extends along both longitudinal sides of the phone back cover 310, respectively, while no part of the two non-metallic antenna covers 320a and 320b extends along the forehead or chin side of the phone back cover 310 or the phone 300. Antennas 330a-330c are below non-metallic antenna cover 320a and antennas 330e-330f are below non-metallic antenna cover 320 b. The entirety of the antennas 330a-330c extends along the left longitudinal side of the handset 300, while the entirety of the antennas 330e-330f extends along the right longitudinal side of the handset 300.

As discussed above, two non-metallic antenna covers 320a and 320b are added to the left/right longitudinal sides of the handset 300 to protect the antennas 330a-330f from the hand grip effect. The antennas 330a-330f are decoupled from the connector 340 so that the radiation performance impact may be small when using these connectors. Furthermore, the antennas 330a-330f are decoupled from any cameras or sensors (not shown) on the top or forehead side of the cell phone 300, and thus may place less constraints on the design and placement of the cameras or sensors.

Fig. 4A is a schematic diagram 400A of an exemplary metallic back cover 410 of a cell phone 400, shown according to one implementation, fig. 4B is a schematic diagram 400B of a side view of the exemplary metallic back cover 410 shown in fig. 4A, and fig. 4C is a schematic diagram 400C showing an enlarged side view of the exemplary metallic back cover 410 shown in fig. 4A. The metal back cover 410 may be used as a ground. As shown in fig. 4A, two non-metallic antenna covers 420a and 420b are on both longitudinal sides of the handset back cover 410. Under non-metal antenna cover 420a are

antennas

430a and 430b, and under non-metal antenna cover 420b are

antennas

430d and 430 e. Fig. 4A-4C illustrate example positions of

antennas

430d and 430e under non-metallic antenna covers 420a and 420 b. In some implementations, additional antennas may be present and may be disposed under the non-metallic antenna covers 420a and 420b in different ways.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary antenna layout of a handset 500 according to one implementation. As shown, handset 500 includes five antennas 510a-510d with different frequency coverage. All five antennas 510a-510d are closely arranged along both longitudinal sides of the handset 500. The five antennas 510a-510d may be located under two non-metallic antenna covers (not shown) on both longitudinal sides of the handset 500 (e.g., in a manner similar to fig. 3A and 4A-4C). The combined antennas 510a-510d may support cellular communications (e.g., 4G Advanced with 4x4 multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO)), dual band GPS signals, and dual band WiFi with MIMO. The antennas 510a-510d may be covered by two non-metallic antenna covers (not shown). In some implementations, the handset 500 may include additional or different antennas, and the antennas may be arranged in different configurations under the non-metallic antenna cover along both longitudinal sides of the handset 500.

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process 600 of configuring a metallic back cover of a handset according to one implementation. The cell phone may comprise a smart phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), mobile audio or video player, game console or other handheld or hand held device. The handset may be one of the example handsets 100 and 500 as described with respect to fig. 1-5.

At 610, a handset back cover (e.g., back cover 310 or 410) is molded. In some implementations, the cell phone back cover is a metal back cover. In some implementations, the cell phone back cover is a monolithic metal cover. The unitary metal cover may comprise an apparently continuous metal cover. For example, unlike the conventional configuration 100a of the handset, the unitary metal cover has no gaps or slots to accommodate the antenna, particularly on the forehead side or chin side of the handset. In some implementations, the handset back cover can be molded using known metal molding techniques.

At 620, two non-metallic antenna covers (e.g., non-metallic antenna covers 210, 320a-320b, and 420a-420b) are molded. In some implementations, molding the two non-metallic antenna covers includes molding the two non-metallic antenna covers using one or more of plastic, film, glass, ceramic, or other non-metallic materials. For example, a combination or mixture of non-metallic materials may be used to mold the two non-metallic antenna covers. In some implementations, the two non-metallic antenna covers may be the same or different.

At 630, two non-metallic antenna covers are assembled to two respective longitudinal sides of the handset back cover, e.g., according to the example configurations shown in fig. 3A-3B and 4A-4C. Two non-metallic antenna covers form an outer surface on two respective longitudinal sides of the handset. Thus, when a person grips both longitudinal sides of the handset, the person may touch one or both of the two non-metallic antenna covers, thereby avoiding the "dead grip" problem.

In some implementations, assembling the two non-metallic antenna covers to the two respective longitudinal sides of the handset back cover includes attaching, securing, or otherwise assembling the two non-metallic antenna covers to the two respective longitudinal sides of the handset back cover, for example, using glue, pressure sensitive tape, or other material.

At 640, one or more antennas are disposed under the two non-metallic antenna covers, e.g., according to the example configurations shown in fig. 3A-3B, 4A-4C, and 5. In some implementations, the one or more antennas include multiple antennas to support different frequency bands, based on different technologies, and wireless communication according to a standard or protocol. For example, the one or more antennas include multiple antennas for supporting cellular communications, dual-band GPS communications, and dual-band WiFi communications.

Fig. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating another exemplary process 700 of configuring a metallic back cover of a handset according to one implementation.

At 710, a handset back cover (e.g., back cover 310 or 410) is co-molded with two non-metallic antenna covers (e.g., non-metallic antenna covers 320a-320b and 420a-420 b). In some implementations, each of the two non-metallic antenna covers is on a respective longitudinal side of the handset back cover, e.g., as shown in fig. 3A-3B and 4A-4C.

In some implementations, co-molding the back cover of the handset with the two non-metallic antenna covers includes using a single mold (e.g., an apparently continuous mold) for the back cover of the handset and the two non-metallic antenna covers such that the back cover of the handset and the two non-metallic antennas are connected or assembled together after removal from the mold. In some implementations, other techniques can be used to co-mold the handset back cover with the two non-metallic antenna covers so that the handset back cover and the two non-metallic antennas are connected or assembled together after co-molding. In some implementations, co-molding the back cover of the handset with the two non-metallic antenna covers includes molding the back cover of the handset using a metallic material and molding the two non-metallic antenna covers using one or more of plastic, film, glass, or ceramic. In some implementations, nano-injection molding techniques can be used to bond plastic materials with metals during the injection molding process.

At 720, one or more antennas are disposed under two non-metallic antenna covers, e.g., according to the example configurations shown in fig. 3A-3B, 4A-4C, and 5. In some implementations, the one or more antennas include multiple antennas to support different frequency bands (e.g., low frequency band (LB), medium frequency band (MB), and high frequency band (HB)), based on different technologies, and wireless communication according to standards or protocols. For example, the one or more antennas include multiple antennas for supporting cellular communications, dual-band GPS communications, and dual-band WiFi communications.

Fig. 8 is a plot showing an exemplary antenna configuration 800 of a handset 805 according to one implementation. The antenna configuration 800 of the handset 805 may be an example of the configuration 300a of the handset 300 as shown in figure 3A. The antenna configuration 800 shows an example layout of

multiple antennas

810, 820, 830, 840, 850, and 860 of the handset 805. In some implementations, the antenna plurality of

antennas

810, 820, 830, 840, 850, and 860 may be under two non-metallic antenna covers (not shown) on both longitudinal sides of the cell phone 805, respectively. For example, the

antennas

810, 820, 830 may be below a non-metallic antenna cover (not shown) on the left longitudinal side of the cell phone 805, and the

antennas

840, 850, 860 may be below a non-metallic antenna cover (not shown) on the right longitudinal side of the cell phone 805.

As shown, the antenna 810 may support GPS and Wi-Fi communication as well as medium and/or high frequency band (MHB) communication for MIMO. Antenna 820 may support wireless communications for MHBs. Antenna 830 may support wireless communication for LBs. The antenna 840 may support low, medium, and/or high frequency band (LMHB) wireless communication and NFC communication. Antenna 850 may support wireless communications for MHBs. The antenna 860 may support, for example, LMHB wireless communication for MIMO, as well as Wi-Fi communication for MIMO. Each of the plurality of

antennas

810, 820, 830, 840, 850, and 860 may have one or more of a ground, a feed, or a switch.

In some implementations, one or more of the switches of the

multiple antennas

810, 820, 830, 840, 850, and 860 may be used to balance antenna performance on the left and right sides of the cell phone 805. For example, the plurality of

antennas

810, 820, 830, 840, 850, and 860 may be configured such that antennas (e.g.,

antennas

810, 820, 840, and 850) near the top of the cell phone 805 (also referred to as the forehead) and on the left and right sides of the cell phone 805 are used to support communication for LB, while antennas (e.g., antennas 830 and 860) near the bottom of the cell phone 805 (also referred to as the chin) and on the left and right sides of the cell phone 805 are used to support communication for LB. For example, the switching of antennas 860 may be used to support LB communication for MIMO.

In some implementations, the length of the one or more antennas supporting LB communication (also referred to as LB antennas) along the longitudinal side or edge of the cell phone 805 may be 1/3 or about 1/3 (e.g., with a tolerance range of 1% to 5%) of the length of the longitudinal edge of the cell phone 805, while the length of the one or more antennas supporting MHB communication (also referred to as MHB antennas) along the longitudinal side or edge of the cell phone 805 may be 2/3 or about 2/3 of the length of the longitudinal edge of the cell phone 805. For example, the LB antenna 830 may have a length that is 1/3 or about 1/3 of the length of the longitudinal side of the cell phone 805, while the two

MHB antennas

810 and 820 together may have a length that is 2/3 or about 2/3 of the length of the longitudinal side of the cell phone 805. Fig. 8 shows a slot 825 between the MHB antenna 820 and the LB antenna 830, where the slot 825 is located on a longitudinal edge of the handset 805 at 1/3 or about 1/3 from the length of the longitudinal edge at the bottom of the handset 805. In some implementations, the lengths of the multiple antennas may also be configured in other ways to balance and improve the overall antenna performance of the handset 805.

Fig. 9 is a plot 900 illustrating a system efficiency comparison between handsets having different antenna configurations of a device (e.g., handset), according to one implementation. The total system efficiency of the five

exemplary antenna configurations

910, 920, 930, 940 and 950 of the device are compared and plotted as

curves

915, 925, 935, 945, and 955, respectively, in fig. 9. The five

exemplary antenna configurations

910, 920, 930, 940, and 950 include different locations of the slot between antennas in the device (e.g., the slot between an MHB antenna and an LB antenna). Specifically,

exemplary antenna configurations

910, 920, 930, and 940 have slots at 67% distance (100/150), 33% distance (50/150), 80% distance (120/150), 98% distance (147/150), respectively, from the bottom, and exemplary antenna configuration 950 has slots at the bottom of the device.

Of the five exemplary antenna configurations, the exemplary antenna configuration 920 with a gap at 33% distance (50/150) from the bottom of the device shows the best system efficiency, as shown by curve 925. An exemplary antenna configuration 920 may be an example of the antenna configuration 800 of the cell phone 805 with the slot 825 located on a longitudinal edge of the cell phone 805 at a distance 1/3 or approximately 1/3 from the bottom of the cell phone 805 by the length of the longitudinal edge.

While this specification includes many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular implementations of particular inventions. In the context of separate implementations, certain features described in this specification can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Particular implementations of the present subject matter have been described. Other implementations, modifications, and arrangements of the described implementations are within the scope of the following claims as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Although operations may be described in the drawings or claims in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed (some operations may be considered optional) to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking or parallel processing (or a combination of multitasking and parallel processing) may be advantageous and may be performed as appropriate.

Moreover, the separation or integration of various system modules and components in the implementations previously described should not be understood as requiring such separation or integration in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Accordingly, the example implementations described previously do not define or limit the invention. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Moreover, any claimed implementation is considered to be suitable for use with at least one computer-implemented method; a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions to perform a computer-implemented method; and a computer system comprising computer memory interoperably coupled with a hardware processor for performing a computer-implemented method or instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

Claims

1. A cellular phone, comprising:

a mobile phone rear cover;

two non-metal antenna covers respectively positioned on two longitudinal sides of the mobile phone rear cover; and

one or more antennas located below the two non-metallic antenna covers.

2. The handset according to claim 1, wherein the handset back cover is a metal back cover or a single metal cover.

3. A handset as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein an integral or major portion of each of the two non-metallic antennas extends along a respective one of the two longitudinal sides of the handset back cover.

4. A handset as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein an entire or major portion of each of the one or more antennas extends along a respective longitudinal side of the handset back cover.

5. The handset of any preceding claim, further comprising one or more connectors, wherein the one or more connectors are not on the two longitudinal sides of the handset back cover.

6. The handset of claim 5, wherein the one or more connectors comprise one or more of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector, a headset jack, or a charger connector.

7. A handset as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said one or more antennas comprise:

a first antenna for supporting low frequency band (LB) wireless communication,

a second antenna for supporting one or more of medium frequency (MB) and high frequency (HB) wireless communication,

wherein the first antenna and the second antenna extend along one of two longitudinal sides of the handset back cover below one of the two non-metallic antenna covers,

wherein the first antenna is located near a forehead side of the handset rear cover,

the second antenna is located near the chin side of the mobile phone rear cover.

8. The handset of claim 7 further comprising a slot between the first antenna and the second antenna and located around 1/3 or 1/3 on one of the two longitudinal sides of the handset back cover from the length of the longitudinal side of the chin side of the handset back cover.

9. A handset as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the two non-metallic antenna covers are assembled to the handset back cover by glue or pressure sensitive tape.

10. A method, comprising:

molding a rear cover of the mobile phone;

molding two non-metallic antenna covers;

respectively assembling the two non-metal antenna covers to two corresponding longitudinal sides of the mobile phone rear cover; and

one or more antennas are arranged below the two non-metal antenna covers.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the cell phone back cover is a metal back cover.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the handset back cover is a one-piece metal cover.

13. The method of any of claims 10-12, wherein the molding the two non-metallic antenna covers comprises molding the two non-metallic antenna covers using one or more of plastic, film, glass, or ceramic.

14. The method according to any of claims 10 to 13, wherein said assembling said two non-metallic antenna covers to two respective longitudinal sides of said handset back cover respectively comprises: and respectively assembling the two nonmetal antenna covers to two corresponding longitudinal sides of the mobile phone rear cover by using glue or pressure sensitive adhesive tape.

15. The method of any of claims 10-14, wherein the one or more antennas comprise a plurality of antennas configured to support cellular communications, dual-band GPS communications, and dual-band WiFi communications.

16. A method, comprising:

co-molding a mobile phone back cover with two non-metallic antenna covers, wherein each of the two non-metallic antenna covers is located on a respective longitudinal side of the mobile phone back cover; and

one or more antennas are arranged below the two non-metal antenna covers.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein co-molding the handset back cover with the two non-metallic antenna covers comprises:

molding the mobile phone rear cover by using a metal material; and

molding the two non-metallic antenna covers using one or more of plastic, film, glass, or ceramic.

18. The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein the handset back cover is a one-piece metal cover.

19. The method of any of claims 16-18, wherein the one or more antennas comprise a plurality of antennas configured to support cellular communications, dual-band GPS communications, and dual-band WiFi communications.

20. The method of any of claims 16 to 19, wherein an entire or major portion of each of the two non-metallic antenna covers extends along the respective longitudinal side of the handset back cover; wherein an entirety or a major portion of each of the one or more antennas extends along a respective longitudinal side of the handset back cover.