CN113316237A

CN113316237A - Antenna system

Info

Publication number: CN113316237A
Application number: CN202010462427.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 萧明福
Original assignee: Taiwan Luxshare Precision Ltd
Current assignee: Taiwan Luxshare Precision Ltd
Priority date: 2020-02-26
Filing date: 2020-05-27
Publication date: 2021-08-27
Also published as: TWI723787B; TW202133565A

Abstract

The invention provides an antenna system, which comprises a plurality of antennas, a wireless radio frequency module, at least one temperature sensor and a processor. The wireless radio frequency module is electrically connected with the antennas. The at least one temperature sensor is used for sensing the ambient temperature of the electronic device. The processor is electrically connected with the at least one temperature sensor and the wireless radio frequency module, judges the use situation of a user according to the temperature change generated in the time interval by the environment temperature sensed by the at least one temperature sensor, and outputs at least one group of power setting parameters to the wireless radio frequency module according to the use situation, so that the wireless radio frequency module adjusts the transmission power of the antenna according to the power setting parameters.

Description

Antenna system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an antenna system, and more particularly, to an antenna system capable of adjusting transmission power of an antenna.

Background

In response to the development of communication technology, the development of consumer electronics is also becoming more widespread, and users are concerned about whether the electromagnetic radiation generated by the consumer electronics will affect the health of human bodies when using the consumer electronics to bring convenience.

In the design of wireless communication antennas used in consumer electronics, in addition to paying attention to the transmission efficiency of Total Radiated Power (TRP) and Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS), an index, namely Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of electromagnetic wave energy, is also paid attention to, which is an important index for measuring the influence of electromagnetic radiation on human health. Since the SAR value is closely related to the radiation power of the wireless communication device, the SAR value is generally proportional to the total radiation power, and therefore, it is important to balance the SAR value with the total radiation power in order to avoid the adverse effect of electromagnetic waves on human health.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides an antenna system disposed in an electronic device and including a plurality of antennas, a radio frequency module, at least one temperature sensor, and a processor. The wireless radio frequency module is electrically connected with the antennas. The at least one temperature sensor is used for sensing the ambient temperature of the electronic device. The processor is electrically connected with the at least one temperature sensor and the wireless radio frequency module, judges the use situation of a user according to the temperature change generated in the time interval by the environment temperature sensed by the at least one temperature sensor, and outputs at least one group of power setting parameters to the wireless radio frequency module according to the use situation, so that the wireless radio frequency module adjusts the transmission power of the antenna according to the power setting parameters.

In an embodiment, when the temperature variation is within the first temperature interval, the processor determines the usage situation as the first usage situation according to the first temperature interval, so that the radio frequency module correspondingly adjusts the transmission power according to the power setting parameter respectively to reduce the transmission power by the first value. When the temperature change is in the second temperature interval, and the temperature value of the second temperature interval is greater than that of the first temperature interval, the processor judges the use situation to be the second use situation according to the second temperature interval, so that the wireless radio frequency module correspondingly adjusts the transmission power according to the power setting parameters respectively to reduce the second value, and the second value is greater than the first value.

In one embodiment, the antenna system is located in a housing of the electronic device, and the at least one temperature sensor further includes a first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor respectively located on an upper surface and a lower surface of the housing. The processor judges the use situation to be a first use situation according to the temperature change generated by the environment temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor, so that the wireless radio frequency module correspondingly adjusts the transmission power according to the power setting parameters respectively to reduce the first numerical value. The processor judges the use situation to be a second use situation according to the temperature change generated by the environment temperature sensed by the second temperature sensor, so that the wireless radio frequency module correspondingly adjusts the transmission power according to the power setting parameters respectively to reduce a second value, and the second value is greater than the first value.

In summary, according to the antenna system provided by the present invention, the antenna system can determine different usage situations according to different temperature changes, so as to adjust the transmission power of the antenna in stages according to the usage situations, so as to reduce the influence of radiation on the human body, meet the safety regulations of the SAR, and maintain the good transmission performance of the electronic device.

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings and specific examples, but the invention is not limited thereto.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an antenna system according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device in a first usage scenario according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device in a second usage scenario according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device in a third use scenario according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of an antenna system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram of an antenna system according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to still another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram of an antenna system according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numerals

10 antenna system

12,14,16,18 antenna

Radio frequency module (20)

22 temperature sensor

24 processor

26 first temperature sensor

28 second temperature sensor

30 electronic device

32: shell

321 upper surface

322 lower surface

323 first window

324 second window

34 user operation interface

36 antenna module

37 first antenna module

38 second antenna module

40, table top

42, hand part

44 human body

46 external peripheral device

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings, which are provided for illustration purposes and the like:

fig. 1 is a block diagram of an antenna system according to an embodiment of the invention, and fig. 2 is a diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention, please refer to fig. 1 and fig. 2, wherein an antenna system 10 is located in an electronic device 30, and the antenna system 10 includes a plurality of

antennas

12,14,16, and 18, a radio frequency module 20, at least one temperature sensor 22, and a processor 24. The radio frequency module 20 is electrically connected to the

antennas

12,14,16,18 to transmit and receive radio frequency signals through the

antennas

12,14,16,18, the at least one temperature sensor 22 is used for sensing an ambient temperature of the electronic device 30, and the processor 24 is electrically connected to the at least one temperature sensor 22 and the radio frequency module 20. The processor 24 determines a usage situation of the user according to a temperature variation of the ambient temperature sensed by the at least one temperature sensor 22 within a time interval, where the usage situation may correspond to a manner of using the electronic device 30 by the user or a proximity between the user and the electronic device 30. In one embodiment, the time interval is 5-10 seconds, but is not limited thereto. The processor 24 may correspondingly output a plurality of sets of power setting parameters to the radio frequency module 20 according to the usage situation, so that the radio frequency module 20 adjusts the transmission powers of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 according to the power setting parameters. In one embodiment, the processor 24 may output a set of power setting parameters to the radio frequency module 20 according to the usage situation, so that the radio frequency module 20 adjusts the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 according to the set of power setting parameters. In an embodiment, the processor 24 may control the radio frequency module 20 to correspondingly adjust the output power of all the

antennas

12,14,16,18 or to correspondingly adjust the output power of a part of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 according to the usage situation.

In one embodiment, the temperature sensor 22 may be a thermistor sensor, an infrared sensor, or a digital temperature sensor, but not limited thereto.

In an embodiment, the electronic device 30 may be a notebook computer, a tablet computer, or other consumer electronics products, but not limited thereto, and in the embodiment, the electronic device 30 is a notebook computer as an example. The electronic device 30 includes a housing 32, the antenna system 10 is disposed in the housing 32, the housing 32 has an upper surface 321 and a lower surface 322, a user operation interface 34, such as a keyboard, a touch panel or a touch screen, is disposed on the upper surface 321 of the housing 32, where the keyboard is taken as an example, and the lower surface 322 of the housing 32 is a placement surface for placing on a carrier.

As shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, in the present embodiment, there are four

antennas

12,14,16, and 18, and the four

antennas

12,14,16, and 18 may be disposed on an inner surface of a frame around the casing 32 of the electronic device 30. In other embodiments, the number of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 may be any other number, and the electronic device 30 may select an appropriate number of antennas and the installation position thereof according to the actual circuit design requirement, but not limited thereto. Moreover, the temperature sensor 22 may be disposed on the housing 32 and close to the front side of the human body, so as to facilitate sensing the ambient temperature of the electronic device 30 and enhance the correlation between the ambient temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 22 and the usage situation of the user, but not limited thereto, the temperature sensor 22 may also be disposed at other suitable positions on the housing 32 of the electronic device 30.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, when the electronic device 30 is turned on, the antenna system 10 is turned on, the temperature sensor 22 starts to operate, the temperature sensor 22 starts to sense the ambient temperature around the electronic device 30, and when the ambient temperature changes within a time interval, the processor 24 determines the usage situation of the user according to the temperature change and performs power adjustment at different stages according to different usage situations. When the temperature variation is within a first temperature range, the processor 24 determines the usage situation as a first usage situation according to the first temperature range, and the processor 24 outputs corresponding power setting parameters to the radio frequency module 20 according to the first usage situation, so that the radio frequency module 20 correspondingly adjusts the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 to decrease by a first value according to the power setting parameters. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the first usage scenario is a usage scenario in which the placement surface of the electronic device 30 is placed on the tabletop 40, and the hand 42 of the human body is close to or in contact with the electronic device 30, so as to adjust the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 down according to the first usage scenario. When the temperature variation is in a second temperature interval, and the temperature value of the second temperature interval is greater than the temperature value of the first temperature interval, the processor 24 determines that the usage situation is a second usage situation according to the second temperature interval, and the processor 24 outputs corresponding power setting parameters to the radio frequency module 20 according to the second usage situation, so that the radio frequency module 20 correspondingly adjusts the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 by a second value according to the power setting parameters, wherein the second value is greater than the first value. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, the second use situation is a use situation in which the placing surface of the electronic device 30 is located on a human body 44, and the human body 44 is, for example, a thigh of a user. Since the electronic device 30 is closer to the human body 44 in the second usage situation than in the first usage situation, that is, the closeness between the user and the electronic device 30 in the second usage situation is higher than that between the user and the electronic device 30 in the first usage situation, the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 needs to be adjusted more (the second value is greater than the first value).

In one embodiment, the first temperature range is 2-3 ℃ and the second temperature range is 4-5 ℃, but not limited thereto. In a first usage scenario, the user places the electronic device 30 on a table for use, and only the hand 42 contacts the electronic device 30; in the second use situation, the user directly places the electronic device 30 on the thigh for use, that is, the human body 44 contacts the electronic device 30 in a relatively larger area, so that the temperature change of the second use situation is larger than that of the first use situation within the same time interval, and the temperature value of the second use situation is higher than that of the first use situation, so that the use situation can be determined by the temperature interval and the temperature value.

Moreover, when the temperature variation is within a third temperature interval, and the temperature value of the third temperature interval is smaller than the temperature value of the first temperature interval, the processor 24 determines that the usage situation is the third usage situation according to the third temperature interval, and the processor 24 still maintains the same power setting parameter to the radio frequency module 20, so that the radio frequency module 20 correspondingly maintains the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 according to the power setting parameter, respectively. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, the third usage scenario is a usage scenario in which the electronic device 30 is operated by using the wired external peripheral device 46, and since the human body is relatively not close to the electronic device 30 (that is, the user of the third usage scenario is far away from the electronic device 30 compared to the first usage scenario and the second usage scenario), the radiation of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 has less influence on the human body, so that the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 can be maintained the same. In one embodiment, the third temperature range is 1-2 ℃, but not limited thereto.

In an embodiment, after the processor 24 adjusts the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 according to the first usage scenario, the second usage scenario, or the third usage scenario, the temperature sensor 22 may start to operate and sense the ambient temperature of the electronic device 30 after waiting a predetermined time, for example, 180 seconds. In an embodiment, when the processor 24 adjusts the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 according to the first use scenario, the second use scenario, or the third use scenario and waits for a predetermined time, the temperature sensor 22 starts to operate again to sense the ambient temperature of the electronic device 30, and the sensed temperature value is the same as the previously sensed temperature value or changes by less than a threshold (e.g., 1-2 ℃), which indicates that the use scenario is not changed, and the processor 24 does not adjust the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 correspondingly.

In an embodiment, if the ambient temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 22 does not change or the temperature change is very small, it can be regarded as a fourth usage situation, and the processor 24 outputs the corresponding power setting parameter to the radio frequency module 20 according to the fourth usage situation, so that the radio frequency module 20 correspondingly increases or maintains the values of the transmission powers of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 according to the power setting parameters, respectively, so that the

antennas

12,14,16,18 perform better transceiving performance. The fourth usage scenario is a usage scenario in which the human body is far enough away from the electronic device 30, for example, the electronic device 30 is operated by a wireless peripheral device, so that the user can get a safe distance away from the electronic device 30, and at this time, even if the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 is increased or the predetermined higher transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 is maintained, the health of the human body will not be damaged.

In one embodiment, the temperature sensor 22 may be integrated with at least one of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 into a single physical module, as shown in fig. 2 and 6, the temperature sensor 22 and the antenna 18 are integrated into a single physical antenna module 36, which is exemplified by the antenna 18, but not limited thereto, and the temperature sensor 22 may also be integrated with

other antennas

12,14, 16. The

antennas

12,14,16,18 are electrically connected to the radio frequency module 20, and the temperature sensor 22 is electrically connected to the processor 24, so that the processor 24 determines the usage situation of the user according to the temperature variation generated by the ambient temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 22 in the time interval to determine that the electronic device 10 is in the first usage situation, the second usage situation, the third usage situation, or the fourth usage situation, and the processor 24 adjusts or maintains the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 accordingly.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram of an antenna system according to still another embodiment of the invention, fig. 8 is a diagram of an electronic device according to still another embodiment of the invention, please refer to fig. 7 and 8, the antenna system 10 includes two temperature sensors, a first temperature sensor 26 and a second temperature sensor 28, the first temperature sensor 26 and the second temperature sensor 28 are electrically connected to the processor 24, and the first temperature sensor 26 is located on the upper surface 321 of the housing 32, the second temperature sensor 28 is located on the lower surface 322 of the housing 32, and, a first window 323 is further formed on the upper surface 321 of the housing 32 to expose the first temperature sensor 26, a second window 324 is further formed on the lower surface 322 of the housing 32 to expose the second temperature sensor 28, so as to respectively sense the ambient temperature of the electronic device 30 by the first temperature sensor 26 and the second temperature sensor 28. When the ambient temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor 26 changes within a time interval (5-10 seconds), the processor 24 determines the usage situation as a first usage situation according to the temperature change, and the processor 24 outputs a corresponding power setting parameter to the radio frequency module 20 according to the first usage situation, so that the radio frequency module 20 correspondingly adjusts the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 to decrease by a first value according to the power setting parameter. In this embodiment, the first usage situation is a usage situation (as shown in fig. 3) in which the electronic device 30 is placed on a desktop and the human hand is close to or in contact with the electronic device 30, and the first temperature sensor 26 can more accurately sense the temperature change caused by the heat of the user's hand through the first window 323. On the other hand, if the ambient temperature sensed by the second temperature sensor 28 generates a temperature change within the time interval, the processor 24 determines that the usage situation is a second usage situation according to the temperature change, and the processor 24 outputs a corresponding power setting parameter to the radio frequency module 20 according to the second usage situation, so that the radio frequency module 20 correspondingly adjusts the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 to decrease by a second value according to the power setting parameter, wherein the second value is greater than the first value. In the present embodiment, the second usage situation is a usage situation (as shown in fig. 4) in which the placement surface of the electronic device 30 is directly placed on the human body, and the second temperature sensor 28 can more accurately sense the temperature change caused by the heat of the thigh of the user through the second window 324.

As shown in fig. 7 and 8, if the environmental temperatures sensed by the first temperature sensor 26 and the second temperature sensor 28 both generate temperature changes within the time interval, which indicates that the human body is very close to the electronic device 30, the processor 24 will mainly use the second usage scenario, and directly adjust the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 by the radio frequency module 20 to reduce the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 to a second value that is larger according to the second usage scenario, so as to directly adjust the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16,18 to a safe range. Alternatively, if the environmental temperatures sensed by the first temperature sensor 26 and the second temperature sensor 28 both generate temperature changes within the time interval, and the temperature change of the environmental temperature sensed by the second temperature sensor 28 is higher, the processor 24 determines that the situation is a second use situation; if the ambient temperatures sensed by the first temperature sensor 26 and the second temperature sensor 28 both generate temperature changes within the time interval, and the temperature change of the ambient temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor 26 is higher, the processor 24 determines that the situation is the first use situation.

In an embodiment, the first temperature sensor 26 and the second temperature sensor 28 may be further integrated with the two

antennas

12,14,16,18 into a single entity module according to the installation location, as shown in fig. 8 and 9, the first temperature sensor 26 and the antenna 16 are integrated into a single entity of the first antenna module 37, the second temperature sensor 28 and the antenna 18 are integrated into a single entity of the second antenna module 38, which is exemplified by the

antennas

16,18, but not limited thereto, the first temperature sensor 26 or the second temperature sensor 28 may also be integrated with the

other antennas

12, 14. The

antennas

12,14,16, and 18 are also electrically connected to the rf module 20, and the first temperature sensor 26 and the second temperature sensor 28 are respectively electrically connected to the processor 24, so that the processor 24 determines the usage situation of the user according to a temperature change of the ambient temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor 26 or the second temperature sensor 28 in a time interval to determine that the electronic device 130 is in the first usage situation or the second usage situation, and the processor 24 adjusts the transmission power of the

antennas

12,14,16, and 18 accordingly.

The invention arranges one or a plurality of temperature sensors in the direction of the human body approaching the electronic device, so as to judge the use situation more accurately and reduce the transmission power of the multi-antenna conditionally without influencing the receiving and transmitting performance of the antenna, reduce the harm to the radiation of the human body and respond to the future trend of the 5G multi-antenna. In addition, the invention can continue to use the existing antenna design framework, does not need to make great changes on the designed and formed antenna, circuit and structure, can save the cost and also save the space.

In summary, according to the embodiments of the antenna system provided by the present invention, the antenna system can determine different usage scenarios according to different temperature changes, and adjust the transmission power of the antenna in stages according to the usage scenarios to reduce the effect of radiation on the human body, so as to meet the safety regulations of SAR, such as 1.6W/kg of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or 2.0W/kg of the CE of the european union, and maintain good transmission performance of the electronic device.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it should be understood that various changes and modifications can be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An antenna system disposed in an electronic device, the antenna system comprising:

a plurality of antennas;

the wireless radio frequency module is electrically connected with the plurality of antennas;

at least one temperature sensor for sensing the environmental temperature of the electronic device; and

the processor is electrically connected with the at least one temperature sensor and the wireless radio frequency module, judges the use situation of a user according to the temperature change generated by the environment temperature sensed by the at least one temperature sensor in a time interval, and outputs at least one group of power setting parameters to the wireless radio frequency module according to the use situation, so that the wireless radio frequency module adjusts the transmission power of the plurality of antennas according to the at least one group of power setting parameters.

2. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein when the temperature variation is within a first temperature range, the processor determines the usage scenario to be a first usage scenario according to the first temperature range, such that the radio frequency module correspondingly adjusts the transmission power to decrease a first value according to the at least one set of power setting parameters; and when the temperature change is in a second temperature interval, and the temperature value of the second temperature interval is greater than that of the first temperature interval, the processor judges that the use situation is a second use situation according to the second temperature interval, so that the wireless radio frequency module correspondingly adjusts the transmission power according to the at least one group of power setting parameters respectively to reduce a second numerical value, and the second numerical value is greater than the first numerical value.

3. The antenna system of claim 2, wherein when the temperature variation is within a third temperature interval, and the temperature value of the third temperature interval is smaller than the temperature value of the first temperature interval, the processor determines that the usage situation is a third usage situation according to the third temperature interval, so that the radio frequency module correspondingly maintains the transmission power.

4. The antenna system of claim 2, wherein the first temperature range is 2-3 ℃ and the second temperature range is 4-5 ℃.

5. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor and one of the plurality of antennas are integrated into an antenna module.

6. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the electronic device further comprises a housing, the antenna system being located within the housing.

7. The antenna system of claim 6, wherein the temperature sensor further comprises a first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor respectively located on an upper surface and a lower surface of the housing, the processor determines the usage situation as a first usage situation according to the temperature change generated by the ambient temperature sensed by the first temperature sensor, and the radio frequency module correspondingly adjusts the transmission power to decrease the first value according to the at least one set of power setting parameters; and the processor judges the use situation to be a second use situation according to the temperature change generated by the environment temperature sensed by the second temperature sensor, so that the wireless radio frequency module correspondingly adjusts the transmission power according to the at least one group of power setting parameters respectively to reduce a second value, and the second value is greater than the first value.

8. The antenna system of claim 7, wherein the upper surface of the housing has a user interface and the lower surface of the housing is a placement surface.

9. The antenna system of claim 7, wherein the upper surface of the housing further has a first opening to expose the first temperature sensor, and the lower surface of the housing further has a second opening to expose the second temperature sensor.

10. The antenna system of claim 7, wherein the first temperature sensor and one of the plurality of antennas are integrated into a first antenna module; and the second temperature sensor and another of the plurality of antennas are integrated into a second antenna module.

11. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the time interval is 5-10 seconds.

12. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is a thermistor sensor, an infrared sensor, or a digital temperature sensor.