TWI740383B - Auto-switch smart antenna device - Google Patents

Abstract

An auto-switch smart antenna device comprises an antenna module, a wireless chip, a micro-controller and an application unit. The antenna module comprises a grounding portion, a feeding portion, a primary antenna, a first diode, a capacitor, a second diode, a secondary antenna and an inductor. The feeding portion connects the primary antenna, an anode of the first diode and an anode of the second diode, for feeding a RF signal and a DC conducting voltage. A cathode of the first diode connects the grounding portion. The capacitor connects between the primary antenna and the grounding portion. A cathode of the second diode connects the secondary antenna. The inductor connects between the secondary antenna and the grounding portion. The conducted first diode and the primary antenna constitutes a quarter wavelength shorting line with input impedance approaching infinity. The wireless chip connects the feeding portion for providing the RF signal. The micro-controller connects the feeding portion for proving the DC conducting voltage. The application unit connects the wireless chip and the micro-controller for controlling the micro-controller. Thus, switching of antenna can be achieved.

Description

Automatic switching smart antenna device

The invention relates to a smart antenna, and in particular to an automatic switching smart antenna device.

The radiation pattern of the antenna differs according to the basic working principle of the antenna. Various radiation patterns have different applications. For example, the omnidirectional radiation pattern is suitable for terminal devices so that the terminal devices can receive wireless signals in various directions. . For another example, a base station antenna, such as an antenna of a wireless access point, may need to be able to generate a radiation pattern in a specific direction to enable wireless communication with terminal devices located in various specific locations.

Generally speaking, although an array antenna can be used to control a specific radiation pattern, the control circuit of the array antenna (including switching, phase control, and feeding network, etc.) introduces more transmission loss problems. Furthermore, especially when the current electronic devices require light, thin and short antennas, the area of the circuit fed into the network may be larger than that of the antenna array, which makes it difficult to reduce the overall volume of the antenna array module, which makes the traditional use of a controllable radiation field. The manufacturing cost of type antenna products has increased significantly.

In order to solve the aforementioned prior technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic switching smart antenna device, which includes an antenna module, a wireless chip, a microcontroller, and an application unit. The antenna module includes a ground part, a feed part, a main antenna, a first Diode, capacitor, second diode, sub-antenna and inductor. The feeding part is connected to the main antenna, the anode of the first diode and the anode of the second diode, and is used for introducing radio frequency signals and direct current conduction voltage. The cathode of the first diode is connected to the ground. The capacitor is connected between the main antenna and the ground. The cathode of the second diode is connected to the sub-antenna. The inductor is connected between the sub-antenna and the ground. The conductive first diode and the main antenna form a quarter-wavelength short-circuit line whose input impedance is close to infinity. The wireless chip is connected to the feeding part of the antenna module to provide radio frequency signals. The microcontroller is connected to the feed-in part of the antenna module to provide a DC conduction voltage. The application unit connects the wireless chip and the microcontroller, and controls the microcontroller according to the wireless signal obtained by the wireless chip from the antenna module.

In summary, the embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic switching smart antenna device, which is suitable for wireless communication products with multiple antennas. It only needs to use a common feeding part to complete the AC feeding of radio frequency signals and the switching of control signals. DC feed can not only achieve the complementary switching effect of the antenna, but also has the advantages of simple switching circuit and easy control. In addition, the cost reduction effect can be achieved based on the simplification of the control circuit, which has high industrial application value.

In order to have a better understanding of the features and technical content of the present invention, please refer to the following detailed description and drawings about the present invention, but these descriptions and the accompanying drawings are only used to illustrate the present invention, not the right to the present invention. The scope is subject to any restrictions.

1: Antenna module

2: wireless chip

3: Microcontroller

4: Application unit

100: substrate

11: Grounding part

12: Infeed

13: Main dipole antenna

14: The first diode

15: Capacitance

16: second diode

17: Sub-dipole antenna

18: Inductance

101: upper surface

102: lower surface

131: First main arm

132: second main arm

171: First Jib

172: Second Jib

1311: The first main radiation section

1312: The first parallel

1321: The second main radiator

1322: second parallel part

1711: First Deputy Radiation Department

1712: Third Parallel Section

1721: Second Deputy Radiation Department

1722: Fourth Parallel Section

103: first through hole

104: second through hole

105: third through hole

111, 112, 113, 114: line

F: feed point

19: Middle reflector

X, Y, Z: axis

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of an automatic switching smart antenna device provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an antenna module provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a plan perspective view of an antenna module provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the upper surface of the antenna module provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective schematic diagram of the lower surface of the antenna module provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram of an automatic switching smart antenna device provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The automatic switching smart antenna device of this embodiment is, for example, a wireless network device, especially suitable for 5GHz band wireless local area network devices, such as notebooks Type computer, all-in-one computer, wireless access point (Access Point), smart TV, etc. The automatic switching smart antenna device includes an antenna module 1, a wireless chip 2, a microcontroller 3, and an application unit 4. Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 together. FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of an antenna module provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The antenna module 1 includes a ground portion 11, a feeding portion 12, a main antenna 13, a first diode 14, a capacitor 15, a second diode 16, a secondary antenna 17 and an inductor 18. The feeding part 12 is connected to the main antenna 13, the anode of the first diode 14 and the anode of the second diode 16, for introducing radio frequency signals and direct current conduction voltage. The cathode of the first diode 14 is connected to the ground 11. The capacitor 15 is connected between the main antenna 13 and the ground 11. The cathode of the second diode 16 is connected to the sub-antenna 17. The inductor 18 is connected between the sub-antenna 17 and the ground 11. The conductive first diode 14 and the main antenna 13 form a quarter-wavelength short-circuit line whose input impedance is close to infinity. The wireless chip 2 is connected to the feeding part 12 of the antenna module 1 to provide radio frequency signals. The microcontroller 3 is connected to the feeding part 12 of the antenna module 1 to provide a DC conduction voltage. The application unit 4 connects the wireless chip 2 and the microcontroller 3, and controls the microcontroller 3 according to the wireless signal obtained by the wireless chip 2 from the antenna module 1. The application unit 4 is preferably a functional module that automatically switches the smart antenna device, for example, A processing chip connected to the microcontroller 3, or integrated with the microcontroller 3 to form a chip, the application unit 4 uses an application program attached to the operating system of the automatic switching smart antenna device to perform control, such as the wireless chip 2 Throughput or physical layer data rate as the basis for control switching, it can also include the algorithm of compound judgment mechanism.

In terms of signal feeding, the feeding part 12 is not only used as a radio frequency signal fed into the antenna, but also fed into the DC conduction voltage used to conduct the first diode 14 and the second diode 16, because the feeding part 12 is also used for When the RF signal and the DC signal are fed, the capacitor 15 is used as a DC blocker, and the inductor 18 is used as a RF signal blocker. When the mode is zero, the microcontroller 3 does not provide a DC conduction voltage, and the first diode 14 and the second diode 16 are not turned on, so that only the main antenna 13 is fed by the radio frequency signal. In mode 1, the microcontroller 3 provides a DC conduction voltage, and the first diode 14 and the second diode 16 are both turned on at the same time. The input impedance value of the main antenna 13 needs to be adjusted to a quarter-wavelength short-circuit line by using the first diode 14 in the grounded state (grounded due to conduction), causing its input impedance to be close to infinity without affecting the secondary antenna 17 impedance matching. Therefore, the position where the anode of the first diode 14 is connected to the first main arm 131 is appropriately set to achieve the setting of the quarter-wavelength short-circuit line. Furthermore, it is a better design for the feed-in portion 12 and the ground portion 11 to form a two-wire transmission line.

The main antenna 13 and the auxiliary antenna 17 of the aforementioned antenna module 1 can provide complementary functions. In an embodiment, the main antenna 13 provides a radiation pattern of the first polarization, and the auxiliary antenna 17 provides a radiation pattern of the second polarization. The polarization directions of the first polarization and the second polarization are mutually positive. For example, the first polarization is vertical polarization, and the second polarization is horizontal polarization, but the present invention is not limited thereby. When the mode is zero, neither the first diode 14 nor the second diode 16 conducts, and only the main antenna 13 gets the RF signal fed into the main antenna 13 works normally to produce a vertically polarized radiation pattern. Furthermore, in mode 1, both the first diode 14 and the second diode 16 are turned on, only the secondary antenna 17 is fed by the radio frequency signal, and the secondary antenna 17 works normally to generate a horizontally polarized radiation pattern. In this way, the polarization characteristics of the antennas that are orthogonal to each other can be switched.

In another embodiment described below, the main antenna 13 and the auxiliary antenna 17 provide different radiation patterns to produce a complementary effect of radiation patterns. Please refer to Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5. Figure 3 is a plan perspective view of an antenna module provided by an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the upper surface of the antenna module provided by an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 5 is a A perspective schematic diagram of the lower surface of the antenna module provided by the embodiment of the invention. The antenna module includes a substrate 100, a grounding portion 11, a feeding portion 12, a main antenna 13, a first diode 14, a capacitor 15, a second diode 16, a secondary antenna 17 and an inductor 18. In this embodiment, the main antenna 13 and the auxiliary antenna 17 are both dipole antennas. The substrate 100 has an upper surface 101 and a lower surface 102 parallel to each other. The first diode 14, the capacitor 15, the second diode 16 and the inductor 18 are discrete components, and their footprints are shown in boxes in FIG. 4, and in FIG. 3 to show the overall outline of the antenna Be omitted. The through holes on the substrate 100 are represented by solid circles in FIGS. 3 and 4. The ground portion 11 is provided on the lower surface 102 of the substrate 100. The feeding portion 12 is provided on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 100 to provide a radio frequency signal and a DC conduction voltage. In FIG. 2, the feeding point F is indicated by a diagonal area. The main antenna 13 is located on the left side of the ground portion 11, which is the positive side of the X axis in the drawing. The main antenna 13 includes a first main arm 131 and a second main arm 132. The first main arm 131 is provided on the upper surface 101, the second main arm 132 is provided on the lower surface 102, the first main arm 131 is connected to the feeding portion 12, and the second main arm 131 is connected to the feeding portion 12. The main arm 132 is connected to the ground portion 11. The anode of the first diode 14 is connected to the first main arm 131, and the cathode of the first diode 14 is connected to the second main arm 132. The capacitor 15 is electrically connected (the electrical connection referred to here is different from the structural connection) between the first main arm 131 and the second main arm 132. Yang of the second diode 16 极 Connect to the feed-in part 12. The sub-antenna 17 is located on the right side of the ground portion 11, which is the negative side of the X axis in the drawing. The auxiliary antenna 17 includes a first auxiliary arm 171 and a second auxiliary arm 172. The first auxiliary arm 171 is arranged on the upper surface 101, the second auxiliary arm 172 is arranged on the lower surface 102, and the first auxiliary arm 171 is connected to the second diode 16 The cathode of the second sub-arm 172 is connected to the ground 11. The inductor 18 is electrically connected (the electrical connection referred to here is different from the structural connection) between the first auxiliary arm 171 and the second auxiliary arm 172. Both the main antenna 13 and the auxiliary antenna 17 work in the 5 GHz frequency band, such as the currently widely used WiFi frequency band of 5 GHz.

Please refer to FIGS. 3 to 5 again, and then describe the preferred structure examples of the main antenna 13 and the auxiliary antenna 17 realized by a dipole antenna. The first main arm 131 includes a first main radiating portion 1311 and a first parallel portion 1312. A parallel portion 1312 is connected between the feeding portion 12 and the first main radiating portion 1311. The second main arm 132 includes a second main radiating portion 1321 and a second parallel portion 1322, the second parallel portion 1322 is connected between the ground portion 11 and the second main radiating portion 1321, the first parallel portion 1312 and the second parallel portion 1322 Parallel to each other. The anode of the first diode 14 is connected to the first parallel portion 1312, so that the conductive first diode 14 and the first parallel portion 1312 form a quarter-wavelength short-circuit line whose input impedance is close to infinity, and the first two The cathode of the pole body 14 is connected to the second parallel portion 1322. The capacitor 15 is electrically connected between the first parallel portion 1312 and the second parallel portion 1322. The first auxiliary arm 171 includes a first auxiliary radiation portion 1711 and a third parallel portion 1712, and the third parallel portion 1712 is connected between the cathode of the second diode 16 and the first auxiliary radiation portion 1711. The second auxiliary arm 172 includes a second auxiliary radiating portion 1721 and a fourth parallel portion 1722. The fourth parallel portion 1722 is connected between the ground portion 11 and the second auxiliary radiating portion 1721, and the third parallel portion 1712 and the fourth parallel portion 1722 Parallel to each other. The inductor 18 is electrically connected between the third parallel portion 1712 and the fourth parallel portion 1722. Moreover, in this embodiment, the first parallel portion 1312 and the second parallel portion 1322 are not only parallel to each other, but from the perspective of the front view from above the substrate 100, the first parallel portion The 1312 and the second parallel portion 1322 can also be completely overlapped with each other or adjusted to partially overlap each other, and can be used as a means of adjusting impedance matching, but the present invention is not limited thereby. Furthermore, the first main radiating portion 1311 of the first main arm 131 and the second main radiating portion 1321 of the second main arm 132 in this embodiment extend in opposite directions, and the first auxiliary radiating portion 1711 of the first auxiliary arm 171 The second auxiliary radiating portion 1721 of the second auxiliary arm 172 and the second auxiliary radiating portion 1721 extend in opposite directions to each other. In an embodiment, the first main arm 131 and the second main arm 132 may also maintain a symmetrical angle, and the first auxiliary arm 171 and the second auxiliary arm 172 may also maintain a symmetrical angle, but the present invention is not limited accordingly. .

Furthermore, since the double-sided substrate 100 is used, the through-hole method is used for line connection. The first diode 14 is provided on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 100, and the cathode of the first diode 14 passes through the first through hole of the substrate 100. The hole 103 is connected to the second main arm 132. The capacitor 15 is provided on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 100. The capacitor 15 is connected to the second main arm 132 through the second through hole 104 of the substrate 100. In the figure, the capacitor 15 is connected to the through hole 104 by a line 111, and then the second through hole 104 A line 112 is used to connect the second main arm 132 on the lower surface 102, wherein the length of the line 111 and the line 112 and the capacitance value of the capacitor 15 can be used to adjust impedance matching, but it is not limited to this. The inductor 18 is provided on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 100. The inductor 18 is connected to the second sub-arm 172 through the third through hole 105 of the substrate 100. The hole 105 is connected to the second auxiliary arm 172 by a line 114 on the lower surface 102, wherein the length of the line 113 and the line 114 and the inductance value of the inductor 18 can be used to adjust impedance matching, but is not limited to this. In detail, the preferred embodiment is that since the first diode 14 is provided on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 100, the cathode of the first diode 14 is connected to the second parallel portion 1322 through the first through hole 103 of the substrate 100. . Similarly, the capacitor 15 is provided on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 100 to connect to the first parallel portion 1312, and the capacitor 15 passes through the second through hole 104 of the substrate 100 Connect the second parallel portion 1322. The inductor 18 is provided on the upper surface 101 of the substrate 100 to connect to the third parallel portion 1712, and the inductor 18 is connected to the fourth parallel portion 1722 through the third through hole 105 of the substrate 100. Therefore, it can be seen that the total wire length of the first parallel portion 1312 and the second parallel portion 1322 connected to the capacitor 15 is used to adjust the impedance matching of the main antenna 13, and the third parallel portion 1712 and the fourth parallel portion 1722 are connected to the sum wire of the inductor 18. The length is used to adjust the impedance matching of the sub-antenna 17. In addition, in order to precisely control the radiation pattern, the antenna module of this embodiment further includes an intermediate reflector 19, which is, for example, disposed on the lower surface 102 of the substrate 100, connected to the ground 11, and is located at the main antenna 13. And between the sub-antenna 17. The intermediate reflector is, for example, T-shaped, but the present invention is not limited thereby. Considering the demand state of the radiation field type, in other implementations, the above-mentioned intermediate reflector 19 may also be removed. For the radiation field pattern, when the mode is zero, the first diode 14 and the second diode 16 are not conductive, the main antenna 13 works normally, and the radiation field pattern shifts toward the positive direction of the X axis. Among them, when the mode is zero, only the main antenna 13 is fed by the radio frequency signal, and no radio frequency signal is fed to the auxiliary antenna 17. Furthermore, in mode 1, both the first diode 14 and the second diode 16 are turned on, only the secondary antenna 17 is fed by the radio frequency signal, the secondary antenna 17 works normally, and the radiation pattern faces the negative direction of the X axis. The direction offset. According to the switching state of mode zero and mode 1, the antenna module of this embodiment produces a significant radiation field switching effect. In addition, when multiple sets of antenna modules of this embodiment are applied, more kinds of radiation field switching effects can be produced.

In summary, the automatic switching smart antenna device provided by the embodiment of the present invention is suitable for wireless communication products with multiple antennas. It only needs to use a common feeding part to complete the AC feeding of radio frequency signals and switching control signals. DC feed can not only achieve antenna complementarity, such as polarization complementation or radiation field type complementation, but also has the advantages of simple switching lines and easy control. And, base Since the control circuit is simplified and the cost reduction effect can be achieved, it has high industrial application value. In particular, it is more competitive in the antenna product market for wireless communication devices for local wireless networks.

The above are only the embodiments of the present invention, and they are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present invention.

1: Antenna module

2: wireless chip

3: Microcontroller

4: Application unit

Claims (7)

An automatic switching smart antenna device, comprising: an antenna module, the antenna module including a grounding part, a feeding part, a main antenna, a first diode, a capacitor, a second diode, and a pair An antenna and an inductor; wherein the feeding part is connected to the main antenna, the anode of the first diode and the anode of the second diode for introducing a radio frequency signal and a DC conduction voltage; the first diode The cathode is connected to the ground part; the capacitor is connected between the main antenna and the ground part; the cathode of the second diode is connected to the auxiliary antenna; the inductance is connected between the auxiliary antenna and the ground part, wherein conduction The first diode and the main antenna form a quarter-wavelength short circuit with an input impedance close to infinity; a wireless chip connected to the feed portion of the antenna module to provide the radio frequency signal; a micro-controller A device connected to the feeding part of the antenna module to provide the DC conduction voltage; and an application unit connected to the wireless chip and the microcontroller, based on the wireless signal obtained by the wireless chip from the antenna module, In order to control the microcontroller; wherein, the main antenna and the auxiliary antenna are both dipole antennas, the feeding portion and the ground portion form a two-wire transmission line; the antenna module further includes a substrate, wherein the substrate has parallel to each other The ground portion is provided on the lower surface of the substrate; the main antenna is located on a left side of the ground portion, the main antenna includes a first main arm and a second main arm, the first The main arm is provided on the upper surface, the second main arm is provided on the lower surface, the first main arm is connected to the feeding portion, the second main arm is connected to the ground portion; the anode of the first diode is connected to the first Main arm, the cathode of the first diode is connected to the second main arm; the capacitor is connected between the first main arm and the second main arm; the auxiliary antenna The line is located on a right side of the ground portion, and the auxiliary antenna includes a first auxiliary arm and a second auxiliary arm. The first auxiliary arm is arranged on the upper surface, the second auxiliary arm is arranged on the lower surface, and the first auxiliary arm is arranged on the lower surface. The auxiliary arm is connected to the cathode of the second diode, the second auxiliary arm is connected to the ground portion; the inductor is connected between the first auxiliary arm and the second auxiliary arm. The automatic switching smart antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the first main arm includes a first main radiating portion and a first parallel portion, and the first parallel portion is connected to the feeding portion and the first main Between the radiating portions; wherein the second main arm includes a second main radiating portion and a second parallel portion, the second parallel portion is connected between the ground portion and the second main radiating portion, the first parallel portion And the second parallel portion are parallel to each other; wherein the anode of the first diode is connected to the first parallel portion, the cathode of the first diode is connected to the second parallel portion, and the capacitor is connected to the first parallel portion and Between the second parallel portions; wherein the first auxiliary arm includes a first auxiliary radiating portion and a third parallel portion, the third parallel portion is connected to the cathode of the second diode and the first auxiliary radiating portion Between; wherein the second auxiliary arm includes a second auxiliary radiating portion and a fourth parallel portion, the fourth parallel portion is connected between the ground portion and the second auxiliary radiating portion, the third parallel portion and the The fourth parallel portions are parallel to each other; wherein, the inductor is connected between the third parallel portion and the fourth parallel portion. The automatic switching smart antenna device according to claim 2, wherein the first diode is provided on the upper surface of the substrate, and the cathode of the first diode is connected to the substrate through a first through hole of the substrate. The second parallel portion; wherein the capacitor is provided on the upper surface of the substrate to connect to the first parallel portion, and the capacitor is connected to the second parallel portion through a second through hole of the substrate; wherein the inductor is provided in The upper surface of the substrate is connected to the third parallel portion, and the inductor is connected to the fourth parallel portion through a third through hole of the substrate. The automatic switching smart antenna device according to claim 3, wherein the total wire length of the first parallel portion and the second parallel portion connected to the capacitor is used to adjust the impedance matching of the main antenna, and the third parallel portion The total length of the wire connected to the fourth parallel portion to the inductor is used to adjust the impedance matching of the secondary antenna. The automatic switching smart antenna device according to claim 4, further comprising: an intermediate reflector arranged on the lower surface of the substrate, connected to the ground portion, and located between the main antenna and the auxiliary antenna. The automatic switching smart antenna device according to claim 5, wherein the middle reflector is T-shaped. According to the automatic switching smart antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the main antenna and the auxiliary antenna both work in the 5GHz frequency band.

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