KR20210004805A - Communication device and portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

According to some embodiments, provided is a wireless communication device with improved communication quality comprising: at least one antenna configured so as to transmit and receive a signal; and a frequency selection surface disposed adjacent to the at least one antenna, and configured so as to diffract the signal generated from the at least one antenna. The frequency selection surface includes: a transparent substrate on which a plurality of unit cells are defined; and a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on each of the plurality of unit cells.

Description

Communication device and portable terminal

The technical idea of the present invention relates to a communication device and a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a communication device and a portable terminal that operates in a high frequency environment and includes a frequency selection surface (FSS).

In wireless network services, a new generation of services has introduced new features to customers and the industry. Specifically, mobile phone services and text messages were introduced in 1G (1 ^st Generation) and 2G (2 ^nd Generation) communication services, respectively, and an online access platform using a smartphone was established in 3G (3 ^rd Generation) communication services, and 4G (4 ^th Generation) communication services enable today's fast wireless networks. However, 4G communication service shows functional limitations in terms of ultra-low latency and ultra-connectivity.

5G is expected to handle 1000 times larger data traffic and have 10 times faster speed than 4G, and various next-generation technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Autonomous Driving, Internet of Things, etc. It is expected to be the basis of

A problem to be solved by the technical idea of the present disclosure is to provide a communication device with improved communication quality.

The problem to be solved by the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to the problems mentioned above, and other problems that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to solve the above-described problem, according to exemplary embodiments, a wireless communication device is provided. The device includes at least one antenna configured to transmit and receive signals; And a frequency selection surface disposed adjacent to the at least one antenna and configured to diffract the signal generated from the at least one antenna.

The frequency selection surface may include a transparent substrate on which a plurality of unit cells are defined; And a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on each of the plurality of unit cells.

The frequency selection surface overlaps the antenna in a first direction parallel to the top surface of the transparent substrate.

The frequency selection surface diffracts the signal so that the signal propagates over an external obstacle overlapping the antenna in the first direction.

The plurality of unit cells constitute a plurality of regions extending in one direction parallel to the upper surface of the transparent substrate.

The plurality of unit cells included in the same one of the plurality of regions have the same impedance.

Each of the plurality of unit cells resonates with the signal of the antenna to become a new signal source.

Each of the plurality of conductive patterns is formed of a mesh pattern.

The width of each of the plurality of conductive patterns is 1/20 or less of the wavelength of the signal.

The lengths of the plurality of unit cells in the second and third directions parallel to the upper surface of the transparent substrate and perpendicular to each other are 0.2 to 0.5 times the wavelength of the signal.

The transparent substrate constitutes a cover glass of a portable terminal.

The wireless communication device, characterized in that the frequency selection surface is transparent in the visible light band.

According to exemplary embodiments, a portable terminal is provided. The portable terminal includes at least one antenna for transmitting a first RF signal; A display for displaying the processing status of the portable terminal; A transparent substrate covering the display and the antenna; And a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on the transparent substrate.

The plurality of conductive patterns are configured to receive the first RF signal and generate a second RF signal.

The width of each of the plurality of conductive patterns is 1/20 or less of the wavelength of the first RF signal.

The plurality of conductive patterns diffract the first RF signal so that the first RF signal is emitted by avoiding an obstacle adjacent to the portable terminal.

Each of the plurality of conductive patterns resonates with the first RF signal.

The antenna is located at the center of the transparent substrate.

The antenna is located at the edge of the transparent substrate.

The antenna is provided in plural.

According to some other embodiments, a communication device is provided. The apparatus includes an antenna configured to generate an RF signal; And a frequency selection surface configured to diffract the signal generated from the antenna with respect to surrounding obstacles.

The frequency selection surface, a glass substrate; And a conductive pattern disposed in a matrix on the glass substrate.

The conductive pattern may include an adhesive layer for bonding to the glass substrate; And a conductive layer disposed on the adhesive layer.

According to the technical idea of the present invention, a frequency selection surface (FSS) included in a communication device and a portable terminal can prevent an RF signal of an antenna from being blocked by an obstacle by diffracting a radio frequency (RF) signal of an adjacent antenna. Accordingly, communication quality can be improved.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a wireless communication system including a user device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
2 is a perspective view illustrating a user device according to exemplary embodiments.
3 is a diagram illustrating a frequency selection surface (FSS) and a layout of an antenna.
4A is a partial plan view illustrating a unit cell of an FSS.
4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the cutting line A-A' of FIG. 4A.
5 is a partial plan view illustrating a unit cell according to some other embodiments.
6A to 9B are diagrams showing experimental examples for explaining the effect of the technical idea of the present invention.
10 is a block diagram illustrating a user device according to some other embodiments.
11A and 11B are perspective views illustrating user equipment according to exemplary embodiments.
12 and 13 are diagrams for describing a user device according to other exemplary embodiments.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the concept of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, embodiments of the concept of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the concept of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described below. Embodiments of the inventive concept are preferably interpreted as being provided in order to more fully explain the inventive concept to those with average knowledge in the art. Identical symbols mean the same elements all the time. Furthermore, various elements and areas in the drawings are schematically drawn. Accordingly, the inventive concept is not limited by the relative size or spacing drawn in the accompanying drawings.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. These terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention concept, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and conversely, a second component may be referred to as a first component.

The terms used in the present application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the concept of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present application, expressions such as "comprises" or "have" are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or a combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features or It is to be understood that it does not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of numbers, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical terms and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the inventive concept belongs. In addition, commonly used terms as defined in the dictionary should be construed as having a meaning consistent with what they mean in the context of the technology to which they are related, and in an excessively formal sense unless explicitly defined herein. It will be understood that it should not be interpreted.

When a certain embodiment can be implemented differently, a specific process order may be performed differently from the described order. For example, two processes described in succession may be performed substantially simultaneously, or may be performed in an order opposite to the described order.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system 5 including a user equipment 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 5 is a 5th generation wireless (5G) system, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE-Advanced system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, and a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system as non-limiting examples. ) System or the like, may be a wireless communication system using a cellular network, or a wireless local area network (WLAN) system or any other wireless communication system. Hereinafter, a wireless communication system will be described with reference mainly to a wireless communication system using a cellular network, but it will be understood that exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

Base Station (BS) (1) may generally refer to a fixed station that communicates with user equipment and/or other base stations, and data and control information by communicating with user equipment and/or other base stations Can be exchanged. For example, the base station 1 is Node B, evolved-Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), sector, site, base transceiver system (BTS), access pint (AP) , May also be referred to as a relay node, a remote radio head (RRH), a radio unit (RU), a small cell, or the like. In this specification, a base station or cell is a comprehensive meaning indicating some areas or functions covered by a base station controller (BSC) in CDMA, Node-B in WCDMA, an eNB in LTE, gNB or a sector (site) of 5G, etc. It can be interpreted as, and can cover all of a variety of coverage areas such as megacell, macrocell, microcell, picocell, femtocell and relay node, RRH, RU, and small cell communication range.

User Equipment (UE) 10 may be fixed or mobile, and may refer to a base station, for example, any device capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or control information by communicating with the base station 1. For example, the user device 10 is a terminal, terminal equipment, MS (Mobile Station), MT (Mobile Terminal), UT (User Terminal), SS (Subscribe Station), wireless device (wireless device). device), a handheld device, and the like. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described mainly with reference to the user device 10 as a wireless communication device, but it will be understood that exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.

The wireless communication network between the user equipment 10 and the base station 1 can support the communication of multiple users by sharing available network resources. For example, in a wireless communication network, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) Access), OFDM-FDMA, OFDM-TDMA, OFDM-CDMA, etc., information can be delivered in a variety of multiple access methods. As shown in FIG. 1, the user equipment 10 may communicate with the base station 1 through an uplink (UL) and a downlink (DL). In some embodiments, user devices may communicate with each other through a sidelink, such as a device-to-device (D2D).

User equipment 10 may support connections to more than one wireless communication system. For example, the user equipment 10 may access different first wireless communication systems and second wireless communication systems, and the first wireless communication system may use a higher frequency band than the second wireless communication system. For example, the first wireless communication system may be a wireless communication system (eg, 5G) using millimeter wave (mmWave), while the second wireless communication system is a wireless communication system using a lower frequency band than mmWave. It may be a communication system (eg, LTE), and the second wireless communication system may be referred to as a legacy wireless communication system.

The user equipment 10 may respectively access the first wireless communication system and the second wireless communication system through different base stations in some embodiments, and the first wireless communication through one base station 1 in some embodiments. The system and the second wireless communication system may be connected respectively. Further, in some embodiments, user equipment 10 may support connections to three or more different wireless communication systems. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the user equipment 10 may include an RF module 11, a frequency selection surface (FSS), a back-end module 15, and a data processor 16. In some embodiments, the backend module 15 and the data processor 16 may be included in one semiconductor package, or may be included in independent semiconductor packages, respectively.

As a non-limiting example, the RF module 11 may include at least one antenna 11_1. The antenna 11_1 may be any one of a patch antenna, a dipole antenna, a monopole antenna, a slot antenna, an Inverted F Antenna (IFA), and a Plan Inverted F Antenna (PIFA).

The RF module 11 may process a signal received through the antenna 11_1 and a signal to be transmitted through the antenna. The RF module 11 may generate an intermediate frequency signal by receiving an RF signal received through the antenna 11_1. The RF module 11 may output an RF signal generated based on the intermediate frequency signal provided from the rear module 15 through the antenna 11_1.

The RF module 11 may include an antenna 11_1 front end RF circuit, a buffer, and a switch. In some embodiments, the user equipment 10 includes an RF module 11 to access a first wireless communication system using a relatively high frequency band, and in addition to a second wireless communication system using a relatively low frequency band. It may also include an additional RF module for connecting to the communication system.

In the frequency band of about 6 GHz or less, since the straightness of the signal is relatively weak, communication is possible in a manner similar to that of the conventional 2.5 GHz frequency band RF communication. However, a signal in a high frequency band, such as mmW, has strong straightness while low diffraction. Accordingly, communication quality may be influenced by an obstacle BLK such as a user's body and/or an antenna direction.

The user device 10 has an antenna 11_1 so that transmission/reception of signals through the antenna 11_1 is blocked due to an obstacle BLK, or communication with the base station 1 is possible despite the direction of the user device 10. It may include a frequency selection surface (12, Frequency Selection Surface, hereinafter referred to as FSS) disposed in front of. The FSS 12 may diffract the signal so that the signal transmitted by the antenna 11_1 can propagate over the obstacle BLK. The FSS 12 may be a kind of band pass filter (BPF). The backend module 15 may process or generate a baseband signal. For example, the backend module 15 may generate an intermediate frequency signal by processing the baseband signal provided from the data processor 16. The backend module 15 may generate a baseband signal by processing an intermediate frequency signal. Some of the RF modules 11 may generate baseband signals, respectively, and provide them to the data processor 16, and in this case, down-conversion and up-conversion performed by the subsequent module 15 may be omitted.

The data processor 16 may extract information to be transmitted by the base station 1 from the baseband signal S_BB received from the backend module 15, or the baseband including information to be transmitted to the base station 1 It is also possible to generate a signal S_BB.

2 is a perspective view illustrating a user device 10 according to exemplary embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 2, the user device 10 may include a housing 21 that forms an exterior and protects internal elements, a display device (DSP) that outputs an image, and a transparent substrate (TS). The transparent substrate TS may transmit the display contents of the display device DSP so that the user can see it, and at the same time, the transparent substrate TS may be combined with the housing 21 to protect internal circuits such as the display device DSP. The transparent substrate TS may include an insulating material having high light transmittance, such as glass or polyimide. The user device 10 may further include a receiver 23 and a front camera 24.

The FSS 12 may include a part of the transparent substrate TS and conductive patterns CP (refer to FIG. 3 ).

Hereinafter, an exemplary structure of the FSS 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 4B.

3 is a diagram showing the layout of the FSS 12 and the antenna 11_1.

4A is a partial plan view showing an enlarged unit cell UC of the FSS 12 of FIG. 3.

4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the cutting line A-A' of FIG. 4A.

3 to 4B, the FSS 12 may be formed of a part of the transparent substrate TS and a plurality of conductive patterns CP disposed thereon.

Two directions parallel to the top surface of the transparent substrate TS and substantially perpendicular to each other are defined as an X direction and a Y direction, respectively. In addition, a direction substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the transparent substrate TS is defined as the Z-th direction. The definition of the above-described direction is the same in all drawings below unless otherwise noted.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the description is based on the case where the FSS 12 is formed on a substantially rectangular area, but this does not limit the technical idea of the present invention in any sense. The planar shape of the FSS 12 may have various shapes such as a circle, an elliptical polygon, or may include a curved surface.

A pair of edges of the FSS 12 may be parallel to the X direction, and the other pair of edges may be parallel to the Y direction. The FSS 12 may overlap the antenna 11_1 in the Z direction. The antenna 11_1 may overlap the central region of the FSS 12 in the Z direction.

The first and second boundary lines BL1 and BL2 are virtual lines defined on the transparent substrate TS. The first boundary lines BL1 are spaced apart at equal intervals along the Y direction and are virtual division lines substantially parallel to the X direction. The second boundary lines BL2 are spaced apart at equal intervals along the X direction and are virtual division lines substantially parallel to the Y direction. A unit cell UC including a conductive pattern CP may be defined on the transparent substrate TS by the first and second boundary lines BL1 and BL2.

The unit cells UC disposed in a matrix in the FSS 12 may be defined, and a conductive pattern CP may be disposed in each of the unit cells UC. According to some embodiments, in order to prevent damage to the conductive pattern CP due to external factors, the conductive pattern CP is a surface facing the inside of the user device 10 (refer to FIG. 2) among both sides of the transparent substrate TS. It may be formed on, but is not limited thereto.

The conductive patterns CP may include a conductive layer CL and an adhesive layer AL for bonding the conductive layer CL and the transparent substrate TS. The conductive layer CL may include a conductive material such as a metal, a semiconductor material, and a metal compound. The adhesive layer AL may include a metal such as Ti, but is not limited thereto. Each of the conductive layer CL and the adhesive layer AL may include a transparent electrode material.

The length of the unit cell UC in the X and Y directions may depend on the operating frequency of the antenna 11_1. The length of the unit cell UC in the X and Y directions may be about 0.2 to 0.5 times the wavelength of the RF signal generated by the antenna 11_1. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the distance between the first boundary lines BL1 and the distance between the second boundary lines BL2 may be different, and accordingly, the length in the X direction of the unit cell UC is not limited to the length in the Y direction. can be different.

According to some embodiments, one conductive pattern CP may be formed in each of the unit cells U. According to some embodiments, the conductive pattern CP may be formed on one side or both sides of the transparent substrate TS.

According to some embodiments, the conductive patterns CP may have a ring shape when viewed in the Z direction, that is, viewed from above, but are not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the transparent substrate TS exposed by the conductive pattern CP and surrounded by the transparent substrate TS may be substantially circular, but is not limited thereto. For example, when viewed from above, the conductive pattern may have various shapes such as a hollow oval, a hollow triangle, a hollow square, a hollow arbitrary polygon, a cross, a straight, and a star.

The center of the conductive pattern CP may coincide with the center of the unit cell UC. According to some embodiments, the transparent substrate TS surrounded and exposed by the conductive pattern CP may be substantially circular, but is not limited thereto.

According to some embodiments, widths of each of the conductive patterns CP in the first and second directions (X and Y directions) may be substantially the same. According to some embodiments, the width W _n of the conductive pattern CP may be about 1/20 of the wavelength of the RF signal generated by the antenna 11_1. According to some embodiments, the width W _n of the conductive pattern CP may be less than about 1/20 of the wavelength of the RF signal generated by the antenna 11_1.

내지 약 3000

일 수 있다. 일부 실시예들에 따르면, 도전 층(CL)의 Z 방향 높이는 약 100

내지 약 2000

일 수 있다. 접착 층(AL)의 두께(즉, Z 방향 높이)는 약 10

내지 약 100

일 수 있다. 일부 실시예들에 따르면, 도전 층(CL)의 Z 방향 높이는 약 20

내지 약 50

일 수 있다.According to some embodiments, the thickness of the conductive layer CL (that is, the height in the Z direction) is about 50

To about 3000

Can be According to some embodiments, the height of the conductive layer CL in the Z direction is about 100

To about 2000

Can be The thickness of the adhesive layer (AL) (that is, the height in the Z direction) is about 10

To about 100

Can be According to some embodiments, the height of the conductive layer CL in the Z direction is about 20

To about 50

Can be

The conductive patterns CP arranged in a matrix can be interpreted as an LC resonant circuit, and may serve as a resonator. The FSS 12 may be transparent to the visible light band. The FSS 12 may transmit electromagnetic waves in the visible band without substantial interaction with the electromagnetic waves in the visible band. According to some embodiments, the FSS 12 may have a transmittance of about 70% or more for an electromagnetic wave in a visible light band. According to some embodiments, the transmittance of the FSS 12 for electromagnetic waves in the visible light band may be about 80% or more.

According to some embodiments, the plurality of unit cells UC may constitute the first to eleventh regions Z1 to Z11. Each of the first to eleventh regions Z1 to Z11 may extend along the Y direction. According to some embodiments, the sizes of the conductive patterns CP included in the same region among the first to eleventh regions Z1 to Z11 may be substantially the same.

According to some embodiments, the conductive patterns CP disposed in the first and eleventh regions Z1 and Z11 of the conductive patterns CP may be the smallest. According to some embodiments, sizes of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the first and eleventh regions Z1 and Z11 may be substantially the same as each other.

According to some embodiments, the size of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the second and tenth regions Z2 and Z10 is the conductive patterns CP disposed in the first and eleventh regions Z1 and Z11 ( CP) may be larger than the size. According to some embodiments, sizes of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the second and tenth regions Z2 and Z10 may be substantially the same as each other.

According to some embodiments, the size of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the third and ninth regions Z3 and Z9 is the conductive patterns CP disposed in the second and tenth regions Z2 and Z10 ( CP) may be larger than the size. According to some embodiments, sizes of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the third and ninth regions Z3 and Z9 may be substantially the same as each other.

According to some embodiments, the size of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the fourth and eighth regions Z4 and Z8 is the conductive patterns CP disposed in the third and ninth regions Z3 and Z9 CP) may be larger than the size. According to some embodiments, the sizes of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the fourth and eighth regions Z4 and Z8 may be substantially the same as each other.

According to some embodiments, the size of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the fifth and seventh regions Z5 and Z7 is the conductive patterns CP disposed in the fourth and eighth regions Z4 and Z8 ( CP) may be larger than the size. According to some embodiments, the sizes of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the fifth and seventh regions Z5 and Z7 may be substantially the same as each other.

According to some embodiments, among the conductive patterns CP, the conductive patterns CP disposed in the sixth region Z6 may be the largest. According to some embodiments, the sizes of the conductive patterns CP disposed in the fourth and eighth regions Z4 and Z8 may be substantially the same as each other.

The inner radius of the conductive patterns CP included in the n-th (in this embodiment, n is a natural number of 1 to 11) is defined as Rn, and the width is defined as Wn.

At this time, the inner radius Rn may satisfy Equation 1 below.

[Equation 1]

According to some embodiments, the width Wn of the conductive patterns CP may be substantially the same as each other, but is not limited thereto.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 3, each of the plurality of conductive patterns CP included in the FSS 12 may resonate with a signal transmitted to the antenna 12_1. Accordingly, the plurality of conductive patterns CP may resonate with the signal of the antenna 12_1 to become a new wave source. Accordingly, each of the conductive patterns CP becomes a new wave source, and the resulting signal in which the signals by each of the conductive patterns CP are overlapped will be propagated to the base station 1 or adjacent repeaters by avoiding the obstacle BLK. I can. Accordingly, high-quality communication can be performed even when there is an obstacle BLK in the communication environment.

5 is a partial plan view illustrating a unit cell UC according to some other exemplary embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 5, the conductive patterns CP' may be formed in a mesh structure. The portion in which the mesh structure is formed in the unit cell U is defined as a mesh area MR, and the portion in which the mesh structure is not formed is defined as a transparent area TR.

According to some embodiments, the mesh region MR of FIG. 5 may have a ring shape when viewed from above, similar to the conductive patterns CP illustrated in FIG. 4A. The mesh structure of the conductive patterns CP' may be formed by a plurality of first and second conductive lines L1 and L2 extending in a direction oblique to each of the X and Y directions. The transparent substrate TS surrounded and exposed by the first and second conductive lines L1 and L2 may have a diamond shape.

According to some embodiments, by providing the conductive pattern CP' having a mesh structure, the proportion occupied by the conductive pattern CP' in the space in which the FSS 12 (see FIG. 2) is defined is reduced, and thus the conductive pattern CP ') may lower the visibility. Accordingly, even when a part of the transparent substrate TS covering the display device (DSP, see FIG. 2) of the user device 10 (see FIG. 2) constitutes the FSS 12 (see FIG. 2), the conductive pattern ( CP') is not easily recognized visually, so the quality of user experience can be improved.

6A to 9B are diagrams showing experimental examples for explaining the effect of the present invention.

More specifically, FIGS. 6A, 7A and 8A are diagrams for explaining the configuration of each experimental example, and FIGS. 6B, 7B, 8B, and 9A are graphs showing the gains of transmitted/incident waves according to the azimuth angle. 6c, 7c, 8c, and 9b show the S11 component of the scattering coefficient for each frequency, indicating insertion loss.

Referring to FIG. 6A, the first experimental example provided only an antenna and a cover glass. The antenna was able to generate an RF signal in the range of at least 26GHz to 30GHz. The cover glass is a bare cover glass without the FSS 12 described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, and may have a thickness t of about 0.5 mm, and Gorilla Glass of Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. Was used. The distance f between the antenna and the cover glass was about 6 mm.

In the first experimental example, the signal transmission gain according to the polar angle θ with respect to the outer surface of the cover glass was measured, which is shown in FIG. 6B. In addition, in the first experimental example, the insertion loss was measured while changing the frequency of the signal generated by the antenna, which is shown in FIG. 6C.

In FIG. 6B, the solid line shows the gain according to the measurement in the first experimental example, and the broken line shows the simulation result for the first experimental example. In the region where the polar angle θ is about 60° to about 90°, the antenna cable was arranged so that the measurement was not performed, and in the region where the polar angle θ is about 0° to about 60°, the signal was partially distorted, which will be described later. The same is true for the fourth experimental example. Referring to FIG. 6B, since no separate obstacle is disposed, it can be seen that the gain according to the pole angle is relatively uniform.

6C, the resonance frequency of the first experimental example was about 28.42 GHz, the bandwidth was about 28.00 GHhz to about 28.86 GHz, and the gain at the resonance frequency measured at a polar angle of 0° was 6.41 dB.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the second experimental example further includes an obstacle in addition to the antenna and the cover glass of the first experimental example. The obstacle was implemented as a conductive cylinder with a radius of about 5 mm by approximating the user's finger, and the distance (d) between the cover glass and the obstacle was 2.0 mm. At least a part of the obstacle is disposed at a position overlapping the antenna in the Z direction.

As in the first experimental example, the gain according to the polar angle θ of the cover glass was measured, which is shown in FIG. 7B. In addition, the insertion loss was measured while changing the frequency of the signal generated by the antenna, which is shown in FIG. 7C.

In FIG. 7B, the solid line shows the gain according to the measurement in the second experimental example, and the broken line shows the simulation result for the second experimental example. Referring to FIG. 7B, the second experimental example shows a gain characteristic in which the gain is not uniform according to the polar angle θ by placing it in a conductive cylinder that is an obstacle.

Referring to FIG. 7C, the resonance frequency of the second experimental example was about 28.45Hz, the bandwidth was about 28.05GHhz to about 28.86GHz, and the gain at the resonance frequency measured at a pole angle of 0° was 3.43dB. Accordingly, it was confirmed that a loss of about 2.98dB occurred due to an obstacle at a pole angle of 0°.

Referring to FIG. 8A, in the third experimental example, unlike the second experimental example, the FSS is formed on the cover glass. The FSS may have a structure similar to that illustrated in FIG. 3, and accordingly, a plurality of regions Z1 to Z11 parallel to the Y direction may be defined. In the third experimental example, the width of each of the conductive patterns constituting the FSS is about 100 μm. Here, the widths of the conductive patterns are defined in the same manner as shown in FIG. 4A.

The period p between the regions Z1 to Z11 may be about 5 mm. That is, based on the unit cells UC indicated in FIG. 3, the lengths of each of the unit cells UC in the X direction and the Y direction may be about 5 mm. The impedance of the conductive pattern included in each of the regions Z1 to Z11 is indicated by Z1 to Z11 from above. The FSS of the third experimental example can be characterized by Table 1 below.

Zone(#) Path length(mm) Incident angle(deg) Impedance
(ohm) Insertion loss(dB) Phase(deg) 1, 11 26.92 68 48.46 -j89.96 -2.2 -103 2, 10 22.36 63 95.65 + j17.59 -1.6 -166 3, 9 18.02 56 197.25 -j66.63 -1.4 -12 4, 8 14.14 45 88.55 + j98.71 -0.6 -113 5, 7 11.18 26 102.3 -j13.06 -1.2 -190 6 10.00 0 108.14 -j30.18 -0.8 -202

In Table 1, Zone(#) is an ordinal number indicating an area on the FSS 12. The path length (mm) represents the distance from the antenna to the respective regions, and the Incident angle is the angle between the vector connecting the antenna and the first to eleventh regions Z1 to Z11 and the Z direction. The insertion loss is the ratio of the transmitted wave/incident wave in decibels immediately after passing through each of the first to eleventh regions, and the phase angle is the phase change of the signal that occurs as the signal progresses on the path length. In FIG. 8B, the solid line shows the gain according to the measurement in the third experimental example, and the broken line shows the simulation result for the third experimental example. Referring to FIG. 8B, the third experimental example exhibits relatively even polar gain distribution characteristics compared to the second experimental example.

Referring to FIG. 8C, the resonance frequency of the second experimental example is about 28.36Hz, the bandwidth is about 27.87GHhz to about 28.89GHz, and the gain at the resonance frequency measured at a pole angle of 0° was 6.47dB. Accordingly, it was confirmed that the loss due to the obstacle was compensated by 3.04dB at the pole angle of 0°.

The configuration of the fourth experimental example is the same as that shown in FIG. 8A, and unlike the third experimental example, the width of the conductive pattern constituting the FSS is about 10 μm. In the fourth experimental example, the radiuses of the conductive patterns for each region were determined for the same impedance for each region as in the third experimental example.

In FIG. 9A, the solid line shows the gain according to the measurement in the fourth experimental example, and the broken line shows the simulation result for the fourth experimental example. Referring to FIG. 9A, the fourth experimental example exhibits relatively even polar gain distribution characteristics compared to the second experimental example.

Referring to FIG. 9B, the resonance frequency of the fourth experimental example is about 28.42Hz, the bandwidth is about 28.00GHhz to about 28.86GHz, and the gain at the resonance frequency measured at a pole angle of 0° was 6.32dB. Accordingly, it was confirmed that the loss due to the obstacle was compensated by 2.89dB at a pole angle of 0°.

From the first to fourth experimental examples, it was confirmed that communication quality deterioration occurs due to obstacles such as the user's body in a high-frequency environment, and it was confirmed that such communication quality deterioration can be alleviated by employing an FSS. According to some embodiments, by forming the FSS 12 (see FIG. 2) on at least a part of the transparent substrate (TS, see FIG. 2) of the user device 10 (see FIG. 2), Communication quality degradation can be prevented.

10 is a block diagram illustrating a user device 10a according to some other embodiments.

11A and 11B are perspective views illustrating a user device 10 according to exemplary embodiments.

For convenience of description, overlapping with those described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 will be omitted, and differences will be mainly described.

10 to 11B, the user device 10a is different from the user device 10 shown in FIG. 1, and first and second RFs each including first and second antennas 11a_1 and 11b_1, respectively. It may include modules 11a and 11b and first and second FSSs 12a and 12b.

The user device 10a of FIG. 10 is a foldable communication device, for example, and may include a hinge Hg that is a bending element. Accordingly, the user device 10a is formed on the first and second transparent substrates TS1 and TS2, which may form coplanar with each other or face opposite surfaces according to the folded state, and the first transparent substrate TS1. It may include a first FSS (12a) and a second FSS (12b) formed on the second transparent substrate (TS2).

According to exemplary embodiments, the user device 10a includes first and second FSSs 12a and 12b corresponding to the first and second antennas 11a_1 and 11b_1, respectively, opposite to each other, A signal may be transmitted/received using a more advantageous one of the first and second antennas 11a_1 and 11b_1, respectively, by detecting the surrounding environment (eg, the user's gripping state). Accordingly, communication quality using the user device 10a may be improved.

12 and 13 are diagrams for describing a user device according to other exemplary embodiments.

For convenience of illustration, in FIGS. 12 and 13, only the layouts of the transparent substrate TS, antennas 11_1 and FSSs 12c and 12d of the user devices 10c and 10d are illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 12, the user device 10c may include a plurality of antennas 11_1 arranged and arranged on the front surface of the transparent substrate TS. The user device 10c may include a plurality of FSSs 12c corresponding to each of the plurality of antennas 11_1. In FIG. 12, antennas 11_1 in 4 rows and 2 columns and FSSs 12c in 4 rows and 2 columns corresponding thereto are illustrated, as an example, and the antennas 11_1 and FSSs 12c are Can be arranged in an array.

Referring to FIG. 13, unlike FIG. 12, an FSS 12d having a large area is formed on the entire surface of the transparent substrate TS, so that a plurality of antennas may correspond to one FSS 12d.

12 and 13, since a plurality of antennas are provided in addition to the FSSs 12c and 12d, signals may be transmitted and received using the most advantageous one of the plurality of antennas 11_1. Accordingly, communication quality using the user devices 10c and 10d may be improved.

In the above, embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features You can understand that there is. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not limiting.

1: base station, 5: wireless communication system, 10, 10a, 10c, 10d: user equipment
11, 11a, 11b: RF module, 11_1, 11a_1, 11a_2: antenna
12, 12a, 12b: FSS, 15: backend module, 16: data processor
TS, TS1, TS2: transparent substrate CP: conductive pattern, CL: conductive layer, AL: adhesive layer
Z1 to Z11: area, BL1, BL2: first and second boundary lines,
21: housing, 23: receiver, 24: front camera

Claims (20)

At least one antenna configured to transmit and receive signals; And
A frequency selection surface disposed adjacent to the at least one antenna and configured to diffract the signal generated from the at least one antenna;
The frequency selection surface,
A transparent substrate on which a plurality of unit cells are defined; And
And a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on each of the plurality of unit cells. The method of claim 1,
And the frequency selection surface overlaps the antenna in a first direction perpendicular to an upper surface of the transparent substrate. The method of claim 2,
And the frequency selection surface diffracts the signal so that the signal propagates over an external obstacle overlapping with the antenna in the first direction. The method of claim 1,
The plurality of unit cells constitute a plurality of regions extending in a second direction parallel to an upper surface of the transparent substrate, and
The wireless communication device, wherein the plurality of unit cells included in the same one of the plurality of regions have the same impedance. The method of claim 1,
Each of the plurality of unit cells resonates with the signal of the antenna to become a new signal source. The method of claim 1,
Each of the plurality of conductive patterns is a wireless communication device comprising a mesh pattern. The method of claim 1,
A wireless communication device, wherein the width of each of the plurality of conductive patterns is 1/20 or less of the wavelength of the signal. The method of claim 1,
The wireless communication device, characterized in that the second and third lengths of the plurality of unit cells parallel to the top surface of the transparent substrate and perpendicular to each other are 0.2 to 0.5 times the wavelength of the signal. The method of claim 1,
The transparent substrate is a wireless communication device, characterized in that constituting the cover glass of the portable terminal. The method of claim 1,
The wireless communication device, characterized in that the frequency selection surface is transparent in the visible light band. At least one antenna for transmitting a first RF signal;
A display for displaying the processing status of the portable terminal;
A transparent substrate covering the display and the antenna; And
Including a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on the transparent substrate,
The plurality of conductive patterns are configured to receive the first RF signal and generate a second RF signal. The method of claim 11,
A wireless communication device, wherein a width of each of the plurality of conductive patterns is 1/20 or less of a wavelength of the first RF signal. The method of claim 11,
The plurality of conductive patterns diffract the first RF signal so that the first RF signal is emitted by avoiding an obstacle adjacent to the portable terminal. The method of claim 11,
Each of the plurality of conductive patterns resonates with the first RF signal. The method of claim 11,
The antenna is a portable terminal, characterized in that located in the center of the transparent substrate. The method of claim 11,
The antenna is a portable terminal, characterized in that located at the edge of the transparent substrate. The method of claim 11,
The portable terminal, characterized in that the antenna is provided in plurality. An antenna configured to generate an RF signal; And
And a frequency selection surface configured to diffract the signal generated from the antenna with respect to surrounding obstacles. The method of claim 18,
The frequency selection surface,
Glass substrate; And
Communication device comprising a conductive pattern disposed in a matrix on the glass substrate. The method of claim 19,
The conductive pattern,
An adhesive layer for adhering to the glass substrate; And
A communication device comprising a conductive layer disposed on the adhesive layer.

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