US-12627039-B2 - Edge-enabled void isolator (EEVI) for antennas

Abstract

An edge enabled void isolator (EEVI) for antennas is provided. In particular, two or more antennas are separated from one another by respective EEVI to provide isolation between the antennas. This isolation allows the antennas to be placed in close proximity, keeping the footprint of the antenna system relatively small for ease of use in small wireless devices. While two monopole antennas are specifically contemplated, the disclosure may be extended to more than two antennas and these antennas may be monopole, dipole, F, or the like.

Inventors

• Jan-Willem Zweers

Assignees

• QORVO US, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20220218

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An antenna system comprising: a conductive plane having a geometric perimeter, the conductive plane delimiting an edge-enabled void isolator (EEVI), wherein the EEVI extends from the geometric perimeter of the conductive plane toward a geometric center of the conductive plane; a first antenna associated with the conductive plane and positioned to a first side of the EEVI along the geometric perimeter; a second antenna associated with the conductive plane and positioned to a second side of the EEVI along the geometric perimeter; a feedback tuner circuit; and tuning circuitry associated with the EEVI, wherein the tuning circuitry is coupled to the feedback tuner circuit and is configured to tune based on a signal from the feedback tuner circuit.
2. 2 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the tuning circuitry comprises a variable capacitor.
3. 3 . The antenna system of claim 2 , further comprising a feedback tuner circuit coupled to the variable capacitor and configured to set the variable capacitor.
4. 4 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the tuning circuitry comprises a variable inductor.
5. 5 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the tuning circuitry is controlled by software.
6. 6 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the EEVI comprises a generally circular area with a throat coupling the generally circular area to the geometric perimeter.
7. 7 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna comprises a monopole antenna.
8. 8 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna comprises a dipole.
9. 9 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the conductive plane comprises a copper plate mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) material.
10. 10 . The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising: a second EEVI positioned exteriorly of the second antenna on the second side of the EEVI; and a third antenna positioned exteriorly of the second EEVI on the second side of the EEVI.
11. 11 . The antenna system of claim 1 incorporated into a light bulb.
12. 12 . The antenna system of claim 1 incorporated into a shelf label.
13. 13 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the EEVI comprises a generally rectilinear shape.
14. 14 . The antenna system of claim 1 , further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the first antenna and the second antenna by respective ports.
15. 15 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the feedback tuner circuit is configured to use a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) from the second antenna to determine the signal for the tuning circuitry.
16. 16 . The antenna system of claim 15 , wherein the RSSI from the second antenna is generated based on a known signal from the first antenna.
17. 17 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the feedback tuner circuit is configured to provide greatest isolation at or above a transmission frequency.
18. 18 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the EEVI comprises the tuning circuitry that is coupled to the feedback tuner circuit.
19. 19 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the tuning circuitry is comprised within the EEVI.
20. 20 . The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the tuning circuitry comprises a variable capacitor and an inductor, and the feedback tuner circuit is configured to adjust the variable capacitor.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a 35 USC 371 national phase filing of International Application No. PCT/US2022/070723, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/154,433, filed Feb. 26, 2021, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The technology of the disclosure relates generally to a radio frequency (RF) antenna. BACKGROUND Wireless devices have become increasingly common in current society. The prevalence of these wireless devices is driven in part by the many functions that are now enabled on such devices. Increased processing capabilities in such devices means that wireless devices have evolved from being pure communication tools into sophisticated multimedia centers that can interact with a variety of connected devices in such wireless environments as the Internet-of-Things (IoT). As capabilities of the wireless devices increase, so does the number of active and/or passive components in the wireless devices. Contrary to increased component count and integration complexity, form factors for the wireless devices have become more and more compact. As a result, real estate inside the form factor becomes increasingly scarce. A wireless device may include a number of antennas to provide receive diversity and/or enable such advanced transmit mechanisms as multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) and beamforming. Notably, an antenna typically requires sufficient spatial separation from other active/passive components in the wireless device so as to radiate effectively an electromagnetic wave(s). As such, it may be desirable to provide as many antennas as needed in the wireless device, without having to increase the footprint of the wireless device. SUMMARY Aspects disclosed in the detailed description include an edge-enabled void isolator (EEVI) for antennas. In a particular exemplary aspect, antennas are separated by an EEVI to provide isolation between the antennas. This isolation allows the antennas to be placed in close proximity, keeping the footprint of the antenna system relatively small for ease of use in small wireless devices. While two monopole antennas are specifically contemplated, the disclosure may be extended to more than two antennas and/or dipole antennas, and these antennas may be monopole, dipole, F, or the like. In one aspect, an antenna system is disclosed. The antenna system comprises a conductive plane having a geometric perimeter. The conductive plane delimits an EEVI, wherein the EEVI extends from the geometric perimeter of the conductive plane toward a geometric center of the conductive plane. The antenna system also comprises a first antenna associated with the conductive plane and positioned to a first side of the EEVI along the geometric perimeter. The antenna system also comprises a second antenna associated with the conductive plane and positioned to a second side of the EEVI along the geometric perimeter. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present disclosure and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. FIG. 1 is a stylized representation of a plurality of wireless devices that may fall under the heading of “Internet of Things” (IoT) in operation and communicating with one another or other remote devices; FIG. 2A shows an antenna system including two antennas for diversity reception; FIG. 2B is a top plan view of a conventional dual-antenna system corresponding to the antenna system of FIG. 2A; FIG. 2C is a side elevational view with an illustrative radiation field from the antenna system of FIG. 2B; FIG. 3 is a stylized representation of a desired isolation characteristic that should exist between antennas to achieve desired diversity benefits; FIG. 4 illustrates a circuit diagram of a dual-antenna system with an edge-enabled void isolator (EEVI) positioned between two monopole antennas to provide the isolation illustrated in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 illustrates a circuit diagram of a multiple-antenna system with respective EEVIs positioned between antennas; FIG. 6A is a top plan view of a dual-antenna system with an EEVI according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure; FIG. 6B is a side elevational view with an illustrative radiation field from the dual-antenna system that uses an EEVI; FIG. 7A illustrates a first use case where an antenna system according to exemplary aspects of the present disclosure is included in a shelf label; FIG. 7B is a top plan view of a dual-antenna system that may be used in the shelf label of FIG. 7A; FIG. 7C illustrates a top perspectiv