FI128713B

FI128713B - Connector with antenna, and electronic apparatus with a connector and an antenna

Info

Publication number: FI128713B
Application number: FI20185704A
Authority: FI
Inventors: Kari Vuorinen
Original assignee: Helvar Oy Ab
Priority date: 2018-08-28
Filing date: 2018-08-28
Publication date: 2020-10-30
Also published as: WO2020043936A1; DE112019004156T5; FI20185704A1

Abstract

A connector (100) is provided for making connections between a circuit board (101) and one or more pieces of external wiring (102). The connector body (103) made of electrically insulating material. There are one or more wire attachment points (104) for receiving and holding said pieces of external wiring, one or more circuit board attachment points (105, 108) for making electrically conductive connections to respective portions of said circuit board (101), and one or more electrically conductive first connections (106) between mutually corresponding ones of said wire attachment points (104) and said circuit board attachment points (105). Said connector body (103) constitutes a mechanical support for said wire attachment points (104), said circuit board attachment points (105), and said electrically conductive connections (106). An antenna element (107) is made of electrically conductive material and mechanically supported by said connector body (103). One or more electrically conductive second connections (109) connect mutually corresponding ones of parts of said antenna element (107) and said circuit board attachment points (108).

Description

CONNECTOR WITH ANTENNA, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS WITH A CONNECTOR AND AN ANTENNA

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention is related to hardware used for wireless communications. In particular the invention is related to antennas that are used in electronic de- vices for short-distance wireless communications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Short-distance wireless communications be- tween electronic devices are often preferred over wired connections, because they remove the need of making and maintaining actual contact between the de- vices for the duration of a communications session. Wireless communications of this kind have been sug- gested for example for configuring programmable elec- tronic devices in order to make them operate in a par- ticular way. As an example, the electronic device may be a driver device of semiconductor light sources, and configuring through short-distance wireless communica- tions may be used to upload parameter values, such as desired output current magnitudes, scene presets, net- work addresses, and many others, to the driver device. Equipping an electronic device with an anten- = na for short-distance wireless communications may give N rise to contradicting requirements. On one hand the S antenna should be large enough, and exposed enough, a 30 for efficient communications. On the other hand it is I not desirable that too large a proportion of the over- + all volume and surface space of the device must be al- S located for an antenna. Also, on one hand the designer o should select the materials and shapes of the antenna S 35 structure so that they have optimal performance on the desired wireless frequencies, while on the other hand from the manufacturing point of view it would be ad- vantageous if mostly the same materials and shapes could be used that the electronic device contains any- way. Other things to consider include, but are not limited to, the fact that often not all manufactured units need to be equipped with an antenna, if for ex- ample a particular batch is known to go to a project where later configuration will not be needed. Even visual aspects may come into play: the manufacturer of an electronic device may want to have the antenna not visible or at least not sticking out in the general visual appearance of the product. Standards and regu- lations may have something to say about whether or not the antenna (or any other electrically conducting part) may be accessible to the user.

SUMMARY An objective of the present invention is to provide a way in which an antenna for short-distance wireless communications can be included in an elec- tronic device so that it takes only little space. An- other objective of the invention is to provide such an antenna that causes only little extra cost and work in manufacturing and assembling. A further objective of the invention is to provide an antenna that can take o advantage of materials and structures that would be Oo included in the electronic device anyway. Yet another > objective of the invention is to enable the manufac- = 30 turer to easily choose, whether an antenna should be N included and used in the electronic device or not. E These and further advantageous objectives are <+ achieved by making the antenna an integral or easily S added part of a connector that is used to make connec- = 35 tions between a circuit board and one or more pieces N of external wiring.

According to a first aspect, there is provid- ed a connector for making connections between a cir- cuit board and one or more pieces of external wiring. The connector comprises a connector body made of elec- trically insulating material, and one or more wire at- tachment points for individually receiving, holding, and releasing wire ends of said external wiring. The connector comprises one or more circuit board attach- ment points for making electrically conductive connec- tions to respective portions of said circuit board, and one or more electrically conductive first connec- tions between mutually corresponding ones of said wire attachment points and said circuit board attachment points. Said connector body constitutes a mechanical support for said wire attachment points, said circuit board attachment points, and said electrically conduc- tive connections. The connector comprises an antenna element made of electrically conductive material and mechanically supported by said connector body, and one or more electrically conductive second connections be- tween mutually corresponding ones of parts of said an- tenna element and said circuit board attachment points.

In an example implementation said antenna el- ement is directly mechanically supported by said con- nector body.

In an example implementation at least a ma- = jority of said antenna element is on an outer surface N of said connector body.

S 30 In an example implementation at least a ma- S jority of said antenna element is inside said connect- Ek or body.

a In an example implementation those circuit S board attachment points that are connected to wire at- o 35 tachment points and those circuit board attachment S points that are connected to parts of said antenna el- ement constitute a matrix, dimensions of which adhere to standardized distances between connection points on a circuit board.

In an example implementation said antenna el- ement is indirectly mechanically supported by said connector body so that the antenna element is in a me- chanically separate piece that is attached to said connector body.

In an example implementation said mechanical- ly separate piece extends further than said connector body on a circuit board side of said connector body.

In an example implementation said antenna el- ement is planar and located on or beneath the surface of a planar side of said connector body.

In an example implementation said antenna el- ement is three-dimensional. In an example implementation a primary reso- nance freguency of said antenna element is 13.56 MHz. According to a second aspect there is provid- ed a connector system. The connector system comprises a connector body made of electrically insulating mate- rial and a mechanically separate piece. The connector system comprises one or more wire attachment points for individually receiving, holding, and releasing wire ends of external wiring, one or more circuit board attachment points for making electrically con- ductive connections to respective portions of a cir- cuit board, and one or more electrically conductive > first connections between mutually corresponding ones N of said wire attachment points and said circuit board S 30 attachment points. The connector body constitutes a S mechanical support for said wire attachment points, =E said circuit board attachment points, and said elec- + trically conductive connections. The connector body S and the mechanically separate piece comprise mutually o 35 compatible attachment means for attaching them togeth- S er. The mechanically separate piece comprises an an- tenna element made of electrically conductive materi-

al. The connector system comprises one or more elec- trically conductive second connections between mutual- ly corresponding ones of parts of said antenna element and said circuit board attachment points.

5 According to a third aspect there is provided an electronic device that comprises a circuit board and a connector for making connections between a cir- cuit board and one or more pieces of external wiring, wherein the connector is a connector of the kind de- scribed above.

In an example implementation the electronic device comprises an outer cover made of electrically conductive material, and the antenna element supported by said connector body is at least partly accessible outside said outer cover.

In an example implementation the electronic device comprises a programmable control circuit and electric connections between said antenna element and said programmable control circuit for enabling wire- less communications with said programmable control circuit.

In an example implementation said programma- ble control circuit comprises or has access to a con- figuration memory and is programmed to controllably change values of configuration parameters stored in said configuration memory on the basis of information received through said antenna element.

> In an example implementation the electronic N device is a driver device of semiconductor light S 30 sources.

N i < BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS S The accompanying drawings, which are included = 35 to provide a further understanding of the invention N and constitute a part of this specification, illus- trate embodiments of the invention and together with the description help to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a connector, Figure 2 illustrates a connector according to an embodiment, Figure 3 illustrates a connector according to an embodiment, Figure 4 illustrates a connector according to an embodiment, Figure 5 illustrates a connector according to an embodiment, Figure 6 illustrates a connector according to an embodiment, and Figure 7 illustrates an electronic device ac- cording to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Fig. 1 is a principal and schematic illustra- tion of a connector 100 for making connections between a circuit board 101 and one or more pieces of external wiring 102. The external wiring 102 being "external" means that it comprises electric conductors that are not directly carried by or directly connected to (like soldered to) the circuit board 101. Connectors that o allow making connections between a circuit board and Oo one or more pieces of external wiring are frequently > used for example in electronic devices that are manu- = 30 factured at one place and delivered to another place N to become assembled and wired as parts of some larger E entity. <+ The connector 100 comprises a connector body S 103 made of electrically insulating material, and one = 35 or more wire attachment points 104 for receiving and N holding the pieces of external wiring 102 mentioned above. Typically each wire attachment point 104 is for receiving and holding an end of a wire, but there are also connectors to which a wire is attached at some point along its length. The connector 100 comprises also one or more circuit board attachment points 105 for making elec- trically conductive connections to respective portions of the circuit board 101. There are one or more elec- trically conductive connections 106 between mutually corresponding ones of the wire attachment points 104 and the circuit board attachment points 105. The con- nector body 103 constitutes a mechanical support for the wire attachment points 104, the circuit board at- tachment points 105, and the electrically conductive connections 106.

The invention does not restrict the choice of materials or the manufacturing methods of the connect- or 100, as long as the electrically conductive and in- sulating properties are as described above. As an ex- ample, a wire attachment point 104, a corresponding circuit board attachment point 105, and the electri- cally conductive connection 106 between them may all be portions of a single piece of metal that is placed as an insert to a mould before filling the mould with plastic or resin, so that once hardened the plastic or resin will constitute the connector body 103.

The wire attachment points 104 are typically designed for quick and easy attachment of wires, for = example by pushing an end of a wire into a clamp or N tightening a screw that holds the wire end in place. S 30 The circuit board attachment points 105 may be for ex- S ample pins that go through holes in the circuit board =E 101, and/or conductive pads that can be soldered to 3 corresponding contact pads on the circuit board 101. O It is common, but not mandatory, that all circuit o 35 board attachment points 105 of the connector are of S the same kind. It is also common but not mandatory to place the circuit board attachment points 105 so that the distances between them adhere to a standard, like the commonly used raster of 100 x 100 mils.

A connector of the kind described above can be unitary or modular.

A unitary connector is one that constitutes a single mechanical piece.

A modular con- nector is one that comprises two or more pieces that can be taken apart and reconnected together.

A modular connector may consist for example of a number of sin- gle-wire terminal block units or other similar mod- ules, the plastic bodies of which are designed with snap-on joints on their sides, so that as many modules can be assembled together as are needed for the par- ticular application.

In such a case the mechanical en- tity constituted by the bodies of the modules may be called the connector body of the assembled connector.

In addition to the parts mentioned above the connector comprises an antenna element 107 made of electrically conductive material.

Also the antenna el- ement 107 is mechanically supported by the connector body 103. This mechanical support can be direct or in- direct.

Direct mechanical support means that the an- tenna element, which is made of electrically conduc- tive material, is directly attached to the mechanical piece that also constitutes the connector body.

Indi- rect support means that the electrically conductive antenna element is in a mechanically separate piece that in turn is attached to the mechanical piece that = constitutes the connector body.

The possibility of ei- N ther direct or indirect mechanical support is empha- S 30 sized with a dashed line in fig. 1. a At least one circuit board attachment point =E 108 is dedicated for the antenna element 107. In other = words, the connector 100 comprises one or more elec- S trically conductive connections 109 between part(s) of o 35 the antenna element 107 and one or more of the circuit S board attachment points.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example of one way in which the principle explained above can be implemented in practice. The drawing consists of four orthogonal views of the same connector: a front view on the left in the drawing, and bottom, side, and top views on the right. For graphical clarity the circuit board and ex- ternal wiring are not shown in fig. 2. Directional designations like top, bottom, side, front, and back are used in this text only as references to the orien- tation shown in the drawings, and they do not limit the applicability of the invention in any particular direction in a real-life connector.

The connector body 103 is made of electrical- ly insulating material, for example injection-moulded plastic. The wire attachment points, of which the rightmost wire attachment point 104 is shown as an ex- ample, comprise openings in the connector body 103. An end of a wire can be pushed through the opening into a metallic clamp (not specifically shown) that is a part of a metallic insert inside the connector body 103. A release knob 201 is provided above each wire attach- ment point 104, so that the clamp can be opened and the wire end released by pushing the release knob 201. In the embodiment of fig. 2 the circuit board attachment points 105 are pins that protrude from the bottom surface of the connector body 103. These pins may be part of the metallic inserts mentioned above. > The conductive connections between mutually corre- N sponding ones of the wire attachment points 104 and S 30 circuit board attachment points 105 are likewise parts S of the metallic inserts, and located inside the con- Ek nector body 103 so they are not visible in fig. 2. = As the plastic material of the connector body S 103 surrounds the metallic inserts mentioned above, it o 35 is easy to see how it constitutes a mechanical support S for the wire attachment points, the circuit board at-

tachment points, and the electrically conductive con- nections.

In the embodiment of fig. 2 the antenna ele- ment 107 is an electrically conductive track formed on one side surface of the connector body 103. In this embodiment there are two circuit board attachment points 108 dedicated to the antenna element 107. Elec- trically conductive connections 109 between parts of the antenna element 107 and the corresponding circuit board attachment points 108 go through the material of the connector body 103. They can be made for example so that the pins that constitute the circuit board at- tachment points 108 extend deep enough into the mate- rial of the connector body 103 and their upper ends are bent to become into contact with the corresponding parts of the antenna element 107. Other examples in- clude, but are not limited to, making plated vias through the material of the connector body 103, or us- ing separate metallic inserts that link the ends of the pins to the corresponding parts of the antenna el- ement 107.

The embodiment of fig. 2 is an example of a connector in which at least a majority of the antenna element 107 is on an outer surface of the connector body 103. In particular, in fig. 2 the antenna element 107 is planar and located on the surface of a planar side of the connector body 103. Neither of these is a > reguirement of the invention, and different kinds of N embodiments are described in the following as addi- S 30 tional examples.

S In fig. 3 many parts are similar to those in =E fig. 2 and need not be described in more detail. These = include the connector body 103, wire attachment points S 104, circuit board attachment points 105, the electri- o 35 cally conductive connections therebetween, release S knobs 201, circuit board attachment points 108 dedi-

cated to antenna element, and connections 109 from these to antenna element.

As a difference to fig. 2 the antenna element 107 is not planar but three-dimensional in fig. 3. As a particular example it meanders on one side surface and on the top surface of the connector body 103 in fig. 3, but also many other three-dimensional forms are possible. The use of various surfaces of the con- nector body 103 may be considered for example from the viewpoint of availability of the surfaces. If the electronic device to be manufactured should have a very small vertical dimension and consequently the connector should be very flat, there may be little or no space available on a side, front, or back surfaces thereof. In such a case the top surface is a good al- ternative. Likewise if the overall configuration of the electronic device allows the use of a relatively high connector, a side, front, and/or back surface of the connector may offer a suitable location for the antenna element.

Concerning the embodiments of both fig. 2 and in fig. 3 electrical safety regulations may require that even if the antenna element 107 is located on the surface of the connector body 103 proper, it must be further covered with a layer of electrically insulat- ing material so that no electrically conductive part of the electronic device becomes accessible to the us- > er. The reguired insulating layer may be added for ex- N ample by dipping the completed device in an insulating S 30 resin and allowing it to harden, or by covering the S appropriate parts of the connector and antenna element =E with resin before attaching to the circuit board, or + by attaching one or more pieces of electrically insu- S lating material around the connector area, or by some o 35 other suitable means. S Fig. 4 illustrates an example of a connector in which at least a majority of the antenna element

107 is inside the connector body 103. In this example the antenna element 107 is planar in form, but it could quite as well be three-dimensional. An embedded antenna element of this kind can be made for example as a metallic insert that is placed inside a mould be- fore the connector body 103 is moulded. The embedded antenna element may be a unitary piece together with the pins that will constitute the two circuit board attachment points 108 dedicated to the antenna element 107, in which case the connections 109 therebetween will be just sections of the same unitary piece. Also other technigues can be used to internally connect the embedded antenna element to its dedicated circuit board attachment points 108.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate two exemplary embod- iments in which the antenna element 107 is indirectly mechanically supported by the connector body 103. In both cases the antenna element 107 is in a mechanical- ly separate piece 501 that will be attached to the connector body 103 in the direction of the dashed lines. This kind of an embodiment may be called a con- nector system.

It is advantageous, but not mandatory, to de- sign the connector body 103 and/or the mechanically separate piece 501 of a connector system so that these may be attached together in a quick and simple way without tools or separate attachment means. For this > purpose the connector body 103 and the mechanically N separate piece 501 comprise mutually compatible at- S 30 tachment means for attaching them together. As an ex- S ample, the connector body 103 may define a cavity 502 Ek in which at least a part of the mechanically separate + piece 501 fits in tightly, so that friction and/or a S force induced by some (preferably elastic) deformation o 35 of material is sufficient to keep the two pieces at- S tached to each other. Numerous examples of snap- together-type joints between two mechanical pieces are known, so they do not need to be discussed here in more detail.

As an alternative, a chemical or physical attachment method like glueing, ultrasonic welding, hook-and-loop attachment or the like can be used to attach the two pieces to each other.

The separate piece 501 may be for example a piece of circuit board material, so that the antenna element 107 may be a conductive track on one or more surfaces of the circuit board material.

Figs. 5 and 6 show embodiments in which the antenna element 107 is on such a surface of the separate piece 501 that re- mains visible and accessible after the separate piece 501 has been attached to the connector body 103, but it is possible to make at least some parts of the an- tenna element 107 on such a surface of the separate piece 501 that is not visible or accessible after the separate piece 501 has been attached to the connector body 103. In the embodiments of figs. 5 and 6 the cir- cuit board attachment points 108 that are dedicated to the antenna element 107 come to the structure together with the antenna element 107. In other words, also the circuit board attachment points that are dedicated to the antenna element 107 are mechanically supported by the separate piece 501. This is not necessarily so in all embodiments.

In some embodiments with a separate piece 501, at least one of the circuit board attach- = ment points that are dedicated to the antenna element N 107 may be mechanically supported by the connector S 30 body 103, so that electrically conductive connections a between them and the antenna element 107 are made at =E the time when the separate piece 501 is attached to + the connector body 103. As an example, the antenna el- S ement 107 may be in connection with one or more con- o 35 ductive patches on one or more suitable surfaces of S the separate piece, and the connector body 103 may comprise corresponding conductive patches in connec-

tion with those circuit board attachment points that will be dedicated to the antenna element.

The mutually corresponding pairs of conductive patches may make the necessary electrically conductive connection simply by touching each other, or some other method like solder- ing or glueing with electrically conductive glue can be used.

In the embodiment of fig. 5 the circuit board attachment points 108 that are dedicated to the anten- na element 107 are pins, just like the pins 105 in the connector body 103. Similarly, if the connector body 103 comprised conductive pads for SMD attachment, the separate piece 501 could comprise similar conduction pads.

An advantage of such an arrangement is that the circuit board, to which the assembled connector will be attached, only needs to comprise one kind of at- tachment points, like holes for pins or contact pads for SMD attachment.

Fig. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment that necessitates a slightly different structure of the circuit board but that involves advantages from the viewpoint of manufacturing the separate piece 501. In fig. 6 the mechanically separate piece 501 extends further than the connector body 103 on the bottom side, i.e. the circuit board side, of the connector body 103. In particular, in the embodiment of fig. 6 there are two projections 601 pointing downwards in = the mechanically separate piece 501, formed of the N same material as the rest of the mechanically separate S 30 piece 501. The conductive track that constitutes the S antenna element 107 in fig. 6 continues onto the pro- =E jections 601, so that the circuit board attachment = points 108 that are dedicated to the antenna element S 107 are the ends of said conductive track.

An example o 35 of how a connector according to the embodiment of fig.

S 6 can be attached to a circuit board is described in more detail below, with reference to fig. 7.

Fig. 7 illustrates a part of an electronic device. It comprises a circuit board 101 and a con- nector for making connections between the circuit board 101 and one or more pieces of external wiring

102. The connector is a connector of the kind de- scribed above. In particular, in the embodiment of fig. 7 the connector 1s a connector according to the embodiment described above with reference to fig. 6.

The circuit board 101 comprises a slot 701.

The projections that are shown with reference designa- tor 601 in fig. 6 go through the slot 701, so that the ends of the conductive track that are shown with ref- erence designators 108 in fig. 6 come next to contact pads (not shown) on the underside of the circuit board 101 and can be soldered thereto.

The electronic device, a part of which is shown in fig. 7, is an example of an electronic device that comprises an outer cover made of electrically conductive material. In this exemplary embodiment the outer cover of the electronic device comprises a body part 702 and a cover part 703, both made of sheet met- al. If an antenna would be inside such an outer cover, the electrically conductive outer cover material would seriously weaken its usability for wireless communica- tions.

However, the connector is provided at one end of the electronic device, and made at least partly = visible and accessible to make it easier to couple the N external wiring 102 into place. Being a part of the S 30 connector, also the antenna element 107 supported by S the connector body 103 is at least partly accessible Ek outside the outer cover. Thus it has an at least part- + ly unobstructed path available for wireless communica- S tions with some external device. o 35 The electronic device may comprise a program- S mable control circuit, and electric connections be- tween the antenna element and the programmable control circuit for enabling an external device perform wire- less communications with the programmable control cir- cuit.

In the embodiment of fig. 7 the programmable control circuit is shown schematically as a microcon- troller 704. The electric connections between it and the antenna element 107 are not visible, because they run as conductive tracks on the underside of the cir- cuit board 101. An example of how to use the wireless commu- nications between the programmable control device and an external device is configuring.

The programmable control circuit may comprise (or have access to) a configuration memory, in which values of configuration parameters can be stored for later use.

The programma- ble control device may be programmed to controllably change values of configuration parameters stored in the configuration memory on the basis of information received through the antenna element.

It is also possible that the configuration memory is separate from the programmable control cir- cuit in the sense that an external device may use wireless communications to store values into the con- figuration memory without having the programmable con- trol circuit operational.

The possibility can be in- cluded by saying that the electronic device is config- ured to controllably change values of configuration parameters stored in the configuration memory on the = basis of information received through the antenna ele- N ment.

S 30 The last-mentioned embodiment is particularly S useful in cases where the electronic device should be =E configured without powering it up.

A particular kind 3 of wireless connections may be used that convey, in O addition to information, also the operating power that o 35 the receiving device needs to store the conveyed in- S formation.

Since the amount of conveyed operating pow- er is relatively low, it is advantageous if only a minimum number of circuit need to be powered up in the receiving device.

An example of a standard that defines convey- ing also operating power over the wireless connection is the NFC or Near Field Communications standard, which as a term refers to the standards ISO/IEC 18092 and ISO/IEC 21481 and is compatible with the ISO/IEC 14443-x series of standards.

A primary frequency of NFC is 13.56 MHz, so in order to enable efficient op- eration according to the NFC standard it is advanta- geous if the primary resonance frequency of the anten- na element is 13.56 MHz.

It is also possible that the antenna is used for communications according to some other standards, and/or for communications according to some proprie- tary protocol.

Examples include, but are not limited to, various implementations of wifi and Bluetooth net- works.

An example of an electronic device where a structure resembling that of fig. 7 is a node device of a lighting control system, such as a driver device of semiconductor light sources, a sensor, a control- ler, or the like.

The form factors used for driver de- vices carry some heritage from the days of fluorescent tubes, when it was advantageous to make the electronic ballast elongated in form.

The use of sheet metal for outer covers involves a number of advantages, like ad- > vantageous thermal properties, shielding against radi- N ated electromagnetic interference, high structural S 30 stiffness compared to weight, efficient electric S grounding, and availability of technologically mature =E manufacturing lines.

Many driver devices of semicon- = ductor light sources still employ the elongated shape S and sheet metal cover features, with connectors for o 35 external wiring typically at both ends of the elongat- S ed device.

The connectors at any or both ends of the device can be used to mechanically support an antenna, as has been described above. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that with the advancement of technology, the basic idea of the invention may be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are thus not limited to the examples described above, instead they may vary within the scope of the claims.

o

O N

O <Q +

N

I jami a + oO

PP

LO 00

O N

Claims

1. A connector (100) for making connections between a circuit board (101) and one or more pieces of external wiring (102), comprising: - a connector body (103) made of electrically insulating material, - one or more wire attachment points (104) for individually receiving, holding, and releasing wire ends of said external wiring, - one or more circuit board attachment points (105, 108) for making electrically conductive connec- tions to respective portions of said circuit board (101), and - one or more electrically conductive first connections (106) between mutually corresponding ones of said wire attachment points (104) and said circuit board attachment points (105), wherein said connector body (103) constitutes a me- chanical support for said wire attachment points (104), said circuit board attachment points (105), and said electrically conductive connections (106), characterized in that the connector comprises: - an antenna element (107) made of electrically conductive material and mechanically supported by said connector body (103), and - one or more electrically conductive second connections (109) between mutually corresponding ones = of parts of said antenna element (107) and said cir- N cuit board attachment points (108). g 3 30

2. A connector according to claim 1, wherein - said antenna element (107) is directly mechanically E supported by said connector body (103).

S 5

3. A connector according to claim 2, wherein = at least a majority of said antenna element (107) is N 35 on an outer surface of said connector body (103).

4. A connector according to claim 2, wherein at least a majority of said antenna element (107) is inside said connector body (103).

5. A connector according to any of the pre- ceding claims, in which those circuit board attachment points (105) that are connected to wire attachment points (104) and those circuit board attachment points (108) that are connected to parts of said antenna ele- ment (107) constitute a matrix, dimensions of which adhere to standardized distances between connection points on a circuit board.

6. A connector according to claim 1, wherein said antenna element (107) is indirectly mechanically supported by said connector body (103) so that the an- tenna element (107) is in a mechanically separate piece (501) that is attached to said connector body (103).

7. A connector according to claim 6, wherein said mechanically separate piece (501) extends further (601) than said connector body (103) on a circuit board side of said connector body (103).

8. A connector according to any of the pre- ceding claims, wherein said antenna element (107) is planar and located on or beneath the surface of a pla- O 25 nar side of said connector body (103).

& O 9. A connector according to any of claims 1 = to 7, wherein said antenna element (107) is three- N dimensional.

I jami 3 10. A connector system, comprising a connect- O 30 or body (103) made of electrically insulating material o and a mechanically separate piece (501), wherein: Q - the connector system comprises one or more wire attachment points (104) for individually receiv-

ing, holding, and releasing wire ends of external wir- ing, - the connector system comprises one or more circuit board attachment points (105, 108) for making electrically conductive connections to respective por- tions of a circuit board (101), - the connector system comprises one or more electrically conductive first connections (106) be- tween mutually corresponding ones of said wire attach- ment points (104) and said circuit board attachment points (105), and - said connector body (103) constitutes a me- chanical support for said wire attachment points (104), said circuit board attachment points (105), and said electrically conductive connections (106), characterized in that: - the connector body (103) and the mechanically separate piece (501) comprise mutually compatible at- tachment means for attaching them together - the mechanically separate piece (501) com- prises an antenna element (107) made of electrically conductive material, and - the connector system comprises one or more electrically conductive second connections (109) be- tween mutually corresponding ones of parts of said an- tenna element (107) and said circuit board attachment points (108). o > 11. An electronic device, comprising a cir- O cuit board (101) and a connector (100) for making con- + 30 nections between the circuit board (101) and one or - more pieces of external wiring (102), characterized in n. that the connector (100) is a connector according to 3 any of claims 1 to 10. 2 = 12. An electronic device according to claim N 35 11, wherein the electronic device comprises an outer cover (702, 703) made of electrically conductive mate-

rial, and the antenna element (107) supported by said connector body (103) is at least partly accessible outside said outer cover.

13. An electronic device according to any of claims 11 and 12, comprising a programmable control circuit (704) and electric connections between said antenna element (107) and said programmable control circuit (704) for enabling wireless communications with said programmable control circuit.

14. An electronic device according to claim 13, wherein said programmable control circuit (704) comprises or has access to a configuration memory, and the electronic device is configured to controllably change values of configuration parameters stored in said configuration memory on the basis of information received through said antenna element (107).

15. An electronic device according to any of claims 11 to 14, wherein the electronic device is a node device of a lighting control system. o

O

N

O <Q +

N

I jami a + oO

PP

LO 00 o

N