JP2002016418A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the communication function of communication terminal equipment mounted with an element for providing the communication function from being deteriorated even when this communication terminal equipment is fitted inside the main body of equipment. SOLUTION: Concerning the electronic equipment, with which the communication terminal equipment constituted by mounting an antenna element 6, an element 5 for performing high frequency signal processing, an element 4 for performing baseband signal processing and a memory cell 3 for storage function in a casing 1 having a thickness equal to or less than 3.5 mm is freely, attachably and detachably connected to a main body 10 of equipment, at least one part of the antenna element 6 is housed in the main body 100 of equipment when the communication terminal equipment is connected with the main body 100 of equipment, and an area 104 is provided for inhibiting the location of a metal at least at one part of the main body 100 of equipment covering the periphery of the antenna element 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device in which a communication terminal device in which an information communication function and a storage function are integrated in a small module is detachably connected to a device main body.
The present invention relates to an electronic device to which a detachable ultra-small communication terminal device for connecting the host device to a network as a host device such as a mobile phone, a video device, and an audio device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, data such as music, voice, and images has been digitized and can be easily handled by personal computers and mobile computers. Also, the band is compressed by audio codec and image codec,
An environment has been established in which such data can be easily distributed using digital communication and digital broadcasting.

[0003] In communication of such audio-video (AV) data, it has become possible to transmit and receive data outdoors by using a cellular phone, a cordless phone, or the like, and various home networks have been proposed even at home.

[0004] As a network for such communication, for example, a home network in the 5 GHz band as proposed in IEEE802.11, an L network of 2.45 GHz, etc.
AN, and short-range communication called "Bluetooth"
Wireless communication systems and the like have been proposed, and are expected as next-generation wireless networks.

By using these wireless networks at home or outdoors, it becomes possible to seamlessly exchange various data, access the Internet, transmit and receive data on the Internet, and the like.

[0006] However, in order to realize such an environment, it is necessary to attach a communication function to an apparatus for reproducing and recording music and video, that is, an AV apparatus.

On the other hand, the digitization of AV data enables recording and accumulation in a computer storage such as a hard disk, a magneto-optical (MO) disk, or a semiconductor memory from the viewpoint of data recording and accumulation. This means that the conventional analog recording method (for example, an audio compact cassette, a VHS system video cassette, a so-called laser disk, etc.) having its own format is being replaced.

In particular, a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory has a very small volume per recording capacity, and has a unique interface as a detachable memory module. However, a digital still camera, a video camera, a portable audio device, It has begun to be used in notebook personal computers and the like, and the use of this memory module has been used to transfer, transplant, record, and accumulate data such as voice and images from device to device.

[0009]

As described above, personal AV devices are required to have an interface for connection to various networks, but for example, emphasis is placed on portability for individuals. In the so-called mobile devices that are made, it is very burdensome to provide multiple communication ports and incorporate multiple communication hardware,
It is an obstacle to its spread.

[0010] In addition, it is very burdensome to mount various wireless communication means on a portable device. In particular, simultaneous mounting of a plurality of different communication means using a wireless communication method requires the same band or different bands. This may cause problems such as interference and mutual interference, which is not preferable.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned memory module, data transfer, porting and storage are usually performed by inserting and removing the module itself, but these operations are very complicated.
The improvement is awaited.

Therefore, the present inventors have developed a miniature communication module in which a communication function is mounted in a so-called memory module and which is detachable from an interface of the memory module with a host-side AV device.
It was proposed in one year patent application No. 323453.

This microminiature communication module has various types of antennas, such as an inverted-F type, a dipole type, and a patch type, to and from which a high-frequency signal is input and output. Or on a projecting portion provided on the housing.

By the way, in a host device to which such a miniature communication module is mounted, as shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, a connector 202 of a mother board 201 mounted on the device main body 200 and a connector 202 of the device main body 200 When the terminal row 205 of the communication module 204 inserted from the insertion / removal opening 203 is connected, the communication module 204
The device itself is housed inside the device main body 200. At this time, in the communication module 204, the antenna 206 provided on the surface of the housing is also housed inside the device main body 200. Alternatively, this device body 2
The antenna 206 is arranged at a position very close to 00. FIG. 23 is a partial plan view showing a part of the communication module mounted on the host device in a see-through manner, and FIG. 24 is a side view of the main part viewed from the direction of arrow B in FIG. It is.

Normally, the housing that is the exterior of the host device is E
It is made of metal or the like for MI countermeasures, heat dissipation countermeasures, and the like, and is provided so as to surround the device main body 200.

For this reason, the communication module 204 described above is used.
However, when mounted on such a host device, radio waves incident and radiated from the antenna 206 of the communication module 204 are reflected, so that radio waves cannot be transmitted and received, or impedance matching is performed. However, there arises a problem that the antenna characteristics are significantly degraded without being removed.

In order to avoid such a problem, in the communication module 204, only the antenna 206 is connected to the device main body 20.
Although it is conceivable that the communication module 204 protrudes largely outside the range of 0, the design of the communication module 204 is changed, and it is not preferable to add such a restriction to the communication module 204.

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed in view of such a conventional situation. Even when a communication terminal device equipped with an element for realizing a communication function is mounted inside a device body, An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device in which the communication function of the communication terminal device is prevented from being deteriorated.

[0019]

A communication terminal apparatus according to the present invention that achieves this object includes an antenna element, an element for performing high-frequency signal processing, an element for performing baseband signal processing, and a memory element for storage function. Is 3.5mm thick
In an electronic device in which a communication terminal device mounted on the following housing is detachably connected to a device main body, when the communication terminal device is connected to the device main body, at least a part of an antenna element is connected to the device main body. Is stored inside the
At least a part of the device main body covering the periphery of the antenna element is provided with a region where metal is prohibited from being provided.

In this electronic device, at least a part of the device main body covering the periphery of the antenna element of the communication terminal device is provided with a region where metal is prohibited from being provided.
Even when a part of the antenna element is stored inside the device main body, it is possible to prevent the performance of the antenna element from deteriorating.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, a communication terminal device (communication module) mounted on an electronic device (host device) to which the present invention is applied will be described.

Each of the memory modules proposed so far has a thickness of 3.5 mm or less. On the other hand, a communication terminal device mounted on an electronic device to which the present invention is applied has an information communication function and a storage function by mounting an element for realizing a communication function in such a micro memory module. It is a completely new ultra-small communication module.

Hereinafter, a specific structure of a communication module in which elements for realizing a storage function and a communication function are mounted in a housing similar to a so-called memory stick (trade name) will be described.

The memory stick has an overall thickness of 2.
8mm, memory for storage function is 50.0m
It is housed in a rectangular housing of mx 21.45 mm. The volume including the housing is 3 ml or less. The housing is A
It is made of a molded member such as a BS resin or a liquid crystal polymer (LCP), and is divided into an upper lid and a lower lid.

In this example, in such a limited space,
Elements for adding a storage function and a communication function are mounted at high density.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of the communication module. A terminal 2 serving as a connector for connecting to a host device is provided at one end of a rectangular housing 1. .

Therefore, this module needs to have an input / output interface for exchanging data with the host device.

Although any input / output interface can be used, as described above, in this embodiment, the communication function is basically integrated into the memory modules proposed so far. In this case, the input / output interface of a commercially available memory module is used as it is. Therefore, here, the input / output interface of the Memory Stick is used as it is.

Various elements having a communication function and a storage function are mounted in the housing 1, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show the mounted state. The mounted elements are
Mainly, memory element 3 for storage function and element for performing baseband signal processing (baseband LSI)
4, an element (RF module) for performing high-frequency signal processing 5,
The antenna element 6.

These elements have a thickness of 0.2 m in this example.
m and is accommodated in a limited space in the housing 1 having an overall thickness of 2.8 mm or less.

At one end of the flexible wiring board 7, a connection terminal portion 7a is provided corresponding to the terminal row 2 provided on the housing 1, and the connection terminal section 7a is electrically connected to the terminal row 2. With the connection, data can be exchanged with the host device via the terminal array 2.

Since the housing 1 is rectangular, in this example, the memory element 3 for storage function, the baseband LSI 4, the RF module 5, and the antenna element 6 are arranged in this order from the connection terminal 7a side.

This is determined from the viewpoint of minimizing the loss. If the arrangement is changed, the wiring becomes complicated, and as a result, the loss increases, and the interference by the RF module 5 and the antenna The function of the element 6 may be deteriorated.

Each element is a so-called chip component, and is mounted together with other general components 8 on a flexible wiring board 7 on which various wiring patterns and connection terminals are formed as shown in FIG.

A radio wave absorber 9 is provided so as to fill the space between the baseband LSI 4 and the RF module 5 and the space in the housing 1.

Next, the structure and function of each element will be described.

First, the RF module 5 has a function of detecting and reproducing a high-frequency signal input from the antenna element 6 and converting it into a baseband signal.

The functional elements constituting the RF module include a resonator, a filter, a capacitor, an inductor, and the like. Usually, these are mounted as chip components, but here, in a limited space as described above. In order to accommodate them, they are designed to be built in a multilayer substrate so as to minimize the thickness of the entire device.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the RF module 5. In the RF module 5, a resonator (filter) 52, a capacitor 53, and an inductor 54 are provided in an inner layer or an outer layer of a ceramic substrate (or an organic substrate) 51.
And the like are incorporated and built-in by a multi-layer technology.
The functional elements are electrically connected by wiring patterns, through holes, and the like that connect them, and the ceramic substrate 51 itself operates as one functional component.

By mounting other chip components 55 and an RF semiconductor LSI 56 on a ceramic substrate 51 having these functional elements built therein, the RF module 5 is formed as one chip component.

Here, the RF semiconductor LSI 56 is mounted on the ceramic substrate 51 by flip-chip connection, and an increase in thickness due to the connection is suppressed. Flip chip connection is a mounting method in which a protruding electrode called a bump is formed on an electrode on the surface of a semiconductor chip, and the electrodes of the wiring board and the bump are turned upside down and connected by so-called face-down bonding. In this example, RF
Bump (for example, solder bump) 5 on semiconductor LSI 56
7 is aligned with the electrodes of the ceramic substrate 51, and is heated and melted for face-down bonding. According to the flip-chip connection, for example, a wire routing space is not required as compared with, for example, wire bonding, and the dimension in the height direction can be significantly reduced.

The baseband LSI 4 is an LSI having a controller for controlling communication signal processing and a memory function to be described later, or a function for controlling an interface function when a communication module is inserted into the host-side interface. In some cases, by using the communication function mounted on the communication module of this example, by storing personal information and provider information when an Internet connection is established, connection to a specific site can be semi-automatically performed. It also has a function to enable transmission and reception of information.

The baseband LSI 4 has a single LS
It is ideal if it can be configured as an I chip, but since it is necessary to incorporate various functions, it is usually configured by combining a plurality of LSI chips.

At this time, in consideration of the space factor and the like, it is advantageous to adopt a vertical stacking structure using flip-chip connection as in the case of the RF module 5 described above.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a baseband LSI 4 in which two LSI chips are stacked vertically.

The baseband LSI 4 has a vertical structure in which a second semiconductor LSI (for example, a flash ROM) 42 is mounted on a first semiconductor LSI 41 and further mounted on an intermediate substrate (interposer substrate) 43. It is configured as a stacked chip size package.

The first semiconductor LSI 41 and the second semiconductor LSI 42 are flip-chip connected to each other, and have a structure for suppressing a dimension in the height direction. In particular,
A bump 42a is formed on the second semiconductor LSI 42, and is face-down bonded in alignment with the electrode of the first semiconductor LSI 41.

The first semiconductor LSI 41 on which the second semiconductor LSI 42 is mounted is further mounted on the intermediate substrate 43. In this case, the first semiconductor LSI 41 and the intermediate substrate 43 are electrically connected between the electrodes by wire bonding using the wires 44. Even when three or more semiconductor chips are stacked vertically, electrical connection can be achieved while suppressing the dimension in the height direction by appropriately combining flip chip connection and wire bonding.

Then, the first semiconductor LSI 41,
The second semiconductor LSI 42 is molded and protected by a resin 45, and is electrically and mechanically fixed to the flexible wiring board 7 by soldering the intermediate substrate 43 using solder balls 46.

The storage function memory element 3 is a so-called semiconductor memory, and temporarily stores various data obtained through communication, and temporarily stores music, voice, image data, and the like sent from the host device.

This memory element 3 for storage function is
By connecting memory buses via an interposer, the capacity can be increased three-dimensionally.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of the storage memory element 3 in which the capacity is increased as a four-layer structure.

Each semiconductor memory chip 31 is flip-chip connected to an intermediate substrate (interposer substrate) 32 via a bump 31a, and these are stacked in four stages. The connection between the intermediate substrates 32 and the connection between the lowermost intermediate substrate 32 and the flexible wiring board 7 are performed by soldering using the solder holes 33.

As the semiconductor memory chip 31, a chip thinned to, for example, about 100 μm or less by polishing or the like is used to reduce the overall thickness. Also, a very thin flexible wiring board or the like is used for the intermediate substrate 32, and the overall thickness is also reduced. Thus, the capacity can be increased without greatly increasing the overall thickness.

The antenna element 6 naturally functions as an antenna. For example, the antenna element 6 has various forms such as an inverted F type, a dipole type, a bow tie (bow tie) type, a patch type, a micro trip type, and a monopole type. Can be used, and an antenna element composed of a modification thereof or a combination of a plurality of them can be used. Here, a chip antenna is used.

The chip antenna is a so-called multi-layer structure in which vias are formed by punching or the like on a green sheet made of an oxide such as alumina or a vitreous simple substance such as SiO ₂ , or a mixture, and then laminated and fired. It can be manufactured by the simultaneous firing process, and the dielectric constant of the material is 5
It can be set relatively freely from about 300 to about 300. Therefore, the effective wavelength of the antenna element 6 is
This can be shortened by the so-called “factor of root ε”, which is very effective for downsizing the antenna.

FIG. 8 shows an outline of the structure of the chip antenna and how power is supplied from the flexible wiring board 7.

The antenna element (chip antenna) 6 is mounted on the end opposite to the terminal row 2 serving as a connector for a host device. Further, the antenna element 6 is mounted adjacent to the RF module 5 as a structure for minimizing the loss of the power supply to the antenna element 6.

Here, the chip antenna used as the antenna element 6 has a so-called inverted-F structure, has a chip antenna internal wiring having a length of approximately λ / 4, and has one end portion. The structure is short-circuited to the ground (ground) wiring pattern 71 on the surface of the flexible wiring board 7. Further, the antenna element 6 has a feeding point 61 at an intermediate point thereof, from which feeding and power distribution of the RF signal to the internal wiring of the chip antenna are performed.

As shown in FIG. 9, the antenna element 6 may be provided with a capacitive stub (metal strip pattern) 62 at the tip of the inverted-F structure, which makes it possible to further reduce the effective length of the antenna element. Become.

The flexible wiring board 7 on which the antenna element 6 is mounted has a two-layer structure (double-sided structure) of a back surface composed entirely of a solid ground wiring pattern 72 and a surface layer for routing signal lines. A signal input / output from the RF module 5 is supplied to the antenna element 6 through a line whose impedance is controlled.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the signal lines 73 to the RF module 5 provided on the surface layer are placed inside the gap formed on the ground wiring pattern 71 formed on the same plane. It is wired to the ground wiring pattern 71 via a gap at equal intervals, and forms a so-called coplanar line. The high-frequency line is not limited to the coplanar line, but may be, for example, a microstrip line.

The ground wiring pattern 71 on the surface layer side
Are electrically connected to the ground wiring pattern 72 on the back side by, for example, via holes 74 and the like, so as to reliably fulfill the function as ground.

The ground wiring pattern 72 on the back surface
Are not formed up to the position where the antenna element 6 is mounted. If the ground wiring pattern 72 on the back surface is formed up to the position where the antenna element 6 is mounted, the antenna element 6 may not function.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 show examples of the high-frequency line of the flexible wiring board 7.

In a communication module to be mounted on an electronic device to which the present invention is applied, almost the entire surface is grounded except for a surface on which the antenna element 6 is actually formed (mounted) in order to exhibit a function as an antenna. It is necessary to configure the high-frequency line in consideration of this.

FIG. 10 shows a so-called grounded coplanar line, in which ground wiring patterns 71 and 72 are formed on the back and front surfaces of the base material 7b, respectively, and a signal line 73 is provided between the ground wiring patterns 71 on the front surface.
Are formed with predetermined gaps G1 and G2.

By adopting such a configuration, for example, the thickness H and the dielectric constant of the base 7b, the width W of the signal line 73,
By setting the two gaps G1 and G2, a line having a constant impedance can be manufactured in an infinite combination.

Another one is called a microstrip line shown in FIG. The microstrip line includes a ground wiring pattern 72 on the back surface of the base 7b,
The signal line 73 is provided on the surface. In this case, the substrate 7
A line having a constant impedance can be manufactured by the thickness H, the dielectric constant, and the width W of the signal line 73.

As described above, in order to realize a very small communication module, a wiring board having at least two wiring layers of a substantially solid ground layer and a signal layer is required. Not limited to this, various types of multilayer wiring boards, wiring boards using other types of materials such as ceramics as base materials, and the like can also be sufficiently used.

In the case of a multilayer wiring board, for example, the ground wiring pattern does not necessarily have to be exposed on the back surface, but may be formed in an inner layer or the like.

Further, instead of providing a ground wiring pattern on the flexible wiring board 7 itself, it is also possible to form a ground surface on the inner surface of the housing 1 facing the flexible wiring board 7, for example.

The main components (elements) of the communication module have been described above. As described above, the space between the baseband LSI 4 and the RF module 5 and the space in the housing 1 are filled. , A radio wave absorber 9 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the radio wave absorber 9 is formed in a wiring portion or a part of a space to prevent unnecessary radiation of the digital portion (RF module 5) or to prevent cavity resonance. It acts to suppress spatial electromagnetic resonance called “symbol”.

Of the radio wave absorbers 9, the radio wave absorber 9 disposed between the RF module 5 and the baseband LSI 4
Is provided mainly for the purpose of preventing unnecessary radiation of the EF module 5 which is a digital unit. The radio wave absorber 9 installed in the space is provided for the purpose of suppressing spatial electromagnetic resonance.

As a material for the radio wave absorber 9, a material obtained by pulverizing a magnetic material having high magnetic permeability, such as ferrite or metal, and mixing it with an adhesive resin or the like is used. The element is attached in a form to be mounted on the flexible wiring board 7 like other elements.

The radio wave absorber 9 is not limited to the above-mentioned molded product, but may be of any form, such as a sheet or a paste.

Although the example of the communication module mounted on the communication device to which the present invention is applied has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this example, and various modifications can be made.

For example, in the above example, each element is mounted on the flexible wiring board 7 and accommodated in the housing 1.
As shown in FIG. 12, a wiring pattern P is formed on the inner wall surface of the lower lid of the housing 1, and the RF module 5, the baseband LSI 4, the storage function memory element 3, and other general parts 8 are directly transferred to the wiring pattern P. You may implement it.

However, in this case, the housing 1 needs to have heat resistance enough to withstand a heat treatment step such as reflow, and it is preferable to use a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) or the like.

Further, as for the radio wave absorber 9, in the previous example, the structure in which the molded body is disposed on the flexible wiring board 7 is shown. However, as shown in FIGS. The entire surface may be filled.

In this case, a radio wave absorber in the form of a paste is applied, the upper lid 1a is put on the lower lid 1b as the housing 1, and heat treatment is performed to assemble and seal the housing 1 and form the radio wave absorber. Can be performed at once.

The RF module 5 and the baseband L
The SI 4, the memory element 3 for storage function, and the like are also entirely coated with the radio wave absorber, so that it is possible to particularly improve the moisture resistance reliability and the electrostatic breakdown resistance.

Further, the antenna element 6 is also a chip antenna in the above example, but as shown in FIG.
MID (Molded Interconnect Device)
For example, a dipole antenna DP of approximately λ / 2 may be formed by forming a plating pattern using a two-stage forming method such as e). When the entire surface is filled with the radio wave absorber as in the previous example, the antenna element 6 cannot be placed in the housing 1, and the combination with the antenna formation as in the present example is preferable.

When the antenna element is formed on the surface of the housing 1, the flexible wiring board 7 is connected by a coaxial cable or the like.
It is necessary to connect between the RF input / output terminal and the dipole antenna DP so that power can be supplied.

Alternatively, the antenna element can be formed on the projection 1c provided on the housing 1.

FIG. 16 shows a projection 1 that projects from the host device body when the communication module is inserted into the host device.
This is an example in which a is provided in the housing 1 and a dipole antenna DP is formed here.

The antenna element is not limited to the above-described dipole antenna.
It is also possible to use a tie antenna BT. Others
It is also possible to form a known antenna such as an inverted F antenna, a patch antenna, or the like, and it is also possible to mount a chip antenna in this portion.

As a result, the radiated electromagnetic field from the antenna is not confined in the host device, and the radiation characteristics of the antenna body can be obtained.

As described above, an ultra-small communication module is formed, and its connector is inserted into a host device (eg, AV device, telephone, personal computer, etc.) which is an electronic device to which the present invention is applied. Communication and recording of all types of data and information by accessing the Internet using the communication function or, on the contrary, capturing music and image data from the Internet and temporarily storing it in the memory inside the module The function can be easily given to the host-side device.

Also, the baseband LSI flash R
OM, EPROM, etc., user's personal information, for example,
Write account information and password of Internet provider, PIN code of mobile phone, etc.
By inserting frequently used site information on the Internet, it is possible to semi-automatically acquire and transmit information intended by the user.

Here, in the host device as an electronic device to which the present invention is applied, as shown in FIG. 18, when the communication module described above is mounted, the connector 102 of the motherboard 101 mounted on the device main body 100 is connected to the connector 102. The terminal row 2 of the communication module inserted from the insertion / removal opening 103 of the device main body 100 is connected. Note that FIG.
FIG. 4 is a partial plan view showing a part of the communication module in a see-through manner for explaining a mounting state of the communication module to the host device. Also, here, as the communication module described above, the case 1
1 shows an example in which a dipole antenna DP is formed on the surface.

At this time, in the host device, the communication module itself is housed inside the device main body 100, and
Dipole antenna DP provided on the surface of housing 1
Are also stored inside the device main body 100.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, in this host device, a metal is disposed on a part of the device main body 100 that covers the periphery of the communication module housed inside the device main body 100. A region 104 is provided in which the operation is prohibited. Note that FIG. 19 is a side view of a main part as viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG.

In this host device, the device body 100
The area 104 in which the internal metal is prohibited is provided at least on both main surfaces of the housing 1 where the dipole antenna DP of the communication module is formed, that is, the insertion / removal opening 103 of the device body 100 into which the communication module is inserted. It is provided so as to cover the communication module over the entire circumference. Specifically, the communication module is provided so as to have a width a on both sides in the thickness direction and a width b on both sides in the in-plane direction.

In the present embodiment, the width a in the thickness direction is about three times or more the thickness of the above-described communication module, and the width b in the in-plane direction is about 以上 or more of the width of the above-described communication module. The widths a and b are not necessarily limited. That is, these widths a and b are arbitrarily set according to the characteristics and specifications of the antenna element 6 of the communication module, the characteristics and specifications of the RF module 5, or the characteristics and specifications of the host device.

The region 104 where the metal is prohibited from being disposed is formed of a material which does not adversely affect the characteristics of the antenna element 6, such as a non-magnetic non-conductive material and a low dielectric constant material. I have.

Thus, in the host device, when the communication module described above is housed inside the device main body 100, the antenna element 6 mounted on the communication module is
Can be prevented from deteriorating the antenna characteristics of the antenna element 6 even when at least a part of the antenna element 6 is housed inside the device main body 100.

Therefore, in this host device, good incident / radiation characteristics of the antenna element 6 can be obtained without the radio wave incident / radiated from the antenna element 6 of the communication module being reflected by the ground metal or the like of the device main body 100. This can prevent the transmission / reception characteristics of the radio wave from the antenna element 6 from deteriorating.

In this host device, the device body 10
Only the antenna element 6 from the insertion / removal opening 103 of the device main body 1
The communication module can be mounted on the device main body 100 without greatly protruding out of the device 00.

In the communication module, even if the antenna element 6 is formed so as to protrude from the insertion / removal opening 103 of the device main body 100, depending on the characteristics and specifications of the antenna element 6, the host device side may be used in the present invention. , Good antenna characteristics can be obtained.

Here, in the above-described example, the configuration is such that, in the host device, the region 104 in which metal is prohibited is provided on at least both main surfaces of the housing 1 of the communication module of the device main body 100. As described above, as the antenna element 6 that needs to have such a configuration, an inverted F antenna, a monopole antenna, a bow-tie antenna, and the like can be given in addition to the dipole antenna DP described above.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 20, in the host device to which the present invention is applied, the region 1 where metal is prohibited from being disposed is provided.
04 may be provided on at least both main surfaces of the housing 1 of the communication module of the device main body 100.

In this case, as the antenna element 6 having such a configuration, a microstrip antenna, a patch antenna, or the like can be given.

Next, an example will be described in which a communication module mounted on a host device to which the present invention is applied is applied to, for example, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) system configured as shown in FIG. Note that the present invention can be widely applied to the following host devices.

As shown in FIG. 21, in wireless LAN system 120 connected to public communication network 110, communication devices 130 (130a to 130e) serving as gateways,
A Bluetooth system for realizing data communication between the communication module 140 and the host device 130 to which the communication module 140 is attached is adopted.

[0108] This Bluetooth system is used by 19 companies in Japan and Europe.
It is a name for short-range wireless communication technology that started standardization activities in May 1998. In this Bluetooth system, data communication is performed by constructing a short-range wireless communication network having a maximum data transmission rate of 1 Mbps (effectively 721 Kbps) and a maximum transmission distance of about 10 m. In this Bluetooth system, 2.4 GHz band ISM (Industrial Scien
communication module 140 and host device 130 using frequency hopping spread spectrum technology that sets 79 channels with a bandwidth of 1 MHz in the frequency band and switches channels 1600 times per second.
(130a-130d).

Each host device 130 included in the short-range wireless communication network to which the Bluetooth system is applied employs a slave master system, and controls a master device that determines a frequency hopping pattern in accordance with processing contents and a master device. Communication with the slave device of the communication partner. The master device can simultaneously perform data communication with seven slave devices at a time. A subnet consisting of a total of eight devices, including a master device and a slave device,
It is called "piconet". The host device 130, which is a slave device included in the piconet, that is, the wireless LAN system 120,
It can be one or more piconet slave devices.

A wireless LAN system 120 shown in FIG.
Is a communication device 150 (150a-150) that transmits and receives data to and from a public communication network 110 such as the Internet network.
e) and a short-range wireless communication network 16 which is a short-range wireless communication network.
0, a communication module 140 that transmits and receives control packets including user data and the like to and from the communication device 150 in a Bluetooth system, and performs input and output of control packets including user data and the like between the communication module 140 and the communication module 140. It is composed of host devices 130 (130a to 130e).

The host device 130 is connected to the communication module 14
0 is an electronic device that is mechanically connected to the device 0 and is operated by a user. As the host device 130, for example, P
DA (Personal Digital Assistant) 130a, digital still camera 130b, mail processing terminal 130c, E
MD (Electronic Music Distribution) terminal 130d
Etc.

The communication device 150 is a short-range wireless communication network 16.
0 is a gateway for connecting the communication module 140 and the public communication network 110 through a control packet connection with the communication module 140 and the public communication network 110. As the communication device 150, a personal computer 150a having a modem or the like for connecting to the public communication network 110, for example, cdmaOne (Co
de Division Multiple Access) and W-CDMA (Wi-
de-Band-Code Division Multiple Access) mobile phone 150b, TA / modem 150c, STB
(Set Top Box) 150d, for example, a quasi-public system 150e such as a base station for connecting the communication module 140 conforming to the Bluetooth system and the public communication network 110.

The public communication network 110 includes, for example, an Internet network connected to a personal computer 150a via a telephone line, a mobile communication network (Mobile Network) connected to a mobile phone 150b, and a TA / modem 150c. ISDN connected, satellite communication network (Broadcasting) connected to STB 150d, WLL (Wireless Local Loo) connected to semi-public system 150d
p) etc. An information providing server 111, a mail server 112, an EMD server 113, and a community server 114 are further connected to the Internet network included in the public communication network 110. The information providing server 111 receives a request from the host device 130 via the communication module 140 and the communication device 150, and transmits various information corresponding to the request to the host device 130. Also, the mail server 112
Then, the e-mail is managed, and the e-mail is transmitted to and received from the host device 130 via the communication device 150 and the communication module 140. Further, in the EMD server 113,
The music information is transmitted to the EMD terminal 130d of the host device 130 via the communication device 150 and the communication module 140, and the music providing service is managed. Further, the community server 114 provides, for example, a street corner information and a news information download service to the digital still camera 130b of the host device 130, and manages uploading of information from the host device 130 and the like.

The communication module 140 used in the above-described wireless LAN system is a communication module mounted on the communication device to which the present invention described above is applied.
These control systems have antenna elements 6 and 6 constituting the communication module 140.
Allocated to the RF module 5, the baseband LSI 4, and the storage function memory element 3, and are housed in a single housing 1. For example, the RF module 5 stores a switch unit (SW), a receiving unit, a transmitting unit, and a hopping synthesizer unit. The baseband LSI 4 includes a baseband control unit, an interface unit, a personal information storage unit, a network setting storage unit, and a RAM (Random A
ccess Memory), wireless communication CPU (Central Processing)
Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a memory controller.

[0115]

As described above in detail, according to the electronic device of the present invention, it is prohibited to dispose metal on at least a part of the device main body covering the periphery of the antenna element of the communication terminal device. Since the region is provided, it is possible to prevent the performance of the antenna element from deteriorating even when a part of the antenna element is housed inside the device main body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of a communication module.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a mounting state of each element constituting the communication module.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a mounting state of each element constituting the communication module.

FIG. 4 is an exploded plan view showing a mounting state of an element on a flexible wiring board.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a cross-sectional structure of an RF module.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a cross-sectional structure of a baseband LSI.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a cross-sectional structure of a storage function memory element.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a partially cutaway mounting structure of the chip antenna to the flexible wiring board.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a chip antenna provided with a capacitive stub.

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part showing an example of a wiring board having a grounded coplanar structure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part showing an example of a wiring board having a microstrip structure.

FIG. 12 is an exploded plan view showing an attached state of elements when wiring is formed on a housing.

FIG. 13 is an exploded view schematically showing a mounting example covered with a radio wave absorber.

FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing a sealed state in a mounting example covered with a radio wave absorber.

FIG. 15 is a schematic plan view showing an example in which an antenna element is formed on a housing.

FIG. 16 is a schematic plan view showing an example in which a dipole antenna is formed on a protruding portion of a housing.

FIG. 17 is a schematic plan view showing an example in which a bow-tie antenna is formed on a protruding portion of a housing.

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary plan view showing a part of the communication module in a see-through manner for explaining a mounting state of the communication module to the host device.

FIG. 19 is a side view of the main part as viewed from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 18 and shows a state where regions where metal is prohibited are provided on both main surfaces of the housing of the communication module; is there.

FIG. 20 is a schematic side view as viewed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 18 and shows a state in which a region where metal is prohibited is provided on one main surface side of the housing of the communication module; .

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a network including a wireless LAN system.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a communication module.

FIG. 23 is a partial plan view showing a part of the communication module with respect to a conventional host device in a state in which the communication module is mounted on the device.

FIG. 24 is a side view of the main part as viewed from the direction of arrow B in FIG. 23;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case, 2 connector part, 3 memory element for storage functions, 4 baseband LSI, 5 RF module, 6 antenna element, 9 radio wave absorber, 100 main body, 101 motherboard, 102 connector, 10
3 slot, 104 area where metal is prohibited to be placed,
130 Host device, 140 Communication module

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01Q 23/00 G06K 19/00 H 5K011 H04B 1/38 K F term (Reference) 5B035 AA07 BA05 BB09 BC00 CA23 5J021 AA01 AB03 AB06 CA06 FA29 FA30 HA05 HA10 JA00 5J045 AA01 BA01 DA09 HA03 HA05 LA03 NA03 5J046 AA02 AB07 AB13 PA07 5J047 AA02 AB07 AB13 FD06 5K011 AA06 AA15 GA05 JA01 JA03 KA04

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A communication terminal device comprising an antenna element, an element for performing high-frequency signal processing, an element for performing baseband signal processing, and a memory element for storage function mounted in a housing having a thickness of 3.5 mm or less. In an electronic device that is detachably connected to the device main body, when the communication terminal device is connected to the device main body, at least a part of the antenna element is housed inside the device main body, An electronic device, wherein an area where metal is prohibited is provided in at least a part of the device main body that covers a periphery of the antenna element. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the region where the metal is prohibited from being disposed is formed of a non-magnetic non-conductive material or a low-dielectric-constant material. 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the area where the metal is prohibited from being disposed is provided on at least one principal surface side of the device main body covering at least a periphery of the antenna element. Electronics. 4. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the antenna element is made of any one of a microstrip antenna and a patch antenna, a modification thereof, or a combination of a plurality of them. 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the area where the metal is prohibited from being disposed is provided on both main surfaces of the device main body covering at least a periphery of the antenna element. Electronics. 6. The antenna element according to claim 1, wherein the antenna element is any one of an inverted-F antenna, a dipole antenna, a monopole antenna, a bow-tie antenna, a modification thereof, or a combination of a plurality of them. Item 5
Electronic device as described.