Trace antennas and circuit board including trace antennas
Disclosed are multi-band trace antennas and circuit boards including a multi-band trace antenna for the transmission and/or reception of information in a wireless communication system. The circuit board is configurable to include a multi-band trace antenna. Additionally, the circuit board can comprise a feed point adjacent an edge of the circuit board, the feed point being connected to a pair of closely coupled traces of unequal length, a first of the traces extending away from the feed point along the edge of the circuit board, and a second of the traces extending away from the feed point inboard of the first antenna trace, the circuit board comprises a ground plane coplanar with the traces, an edge of the ground plane extending alongside and closely coupled with the second of the traces to cause an area of the ground place adjacent the edge to radiate at a selected lower operational frequency of the antenna, wherein an edge of a longer of the pair of closely coupled traces is indented to vary a width of the trace at a plurality of points along its length and to increase radiation of the shorter of the pair of closely coupled traces at a selected higher operational frequency of the antenna.
1. A circuit board including a multi-band trace antenna, the circuit board comprising:
a feed point adjacent an edge of the circuit board, the feed point being connected to a first antenna trace closely coupled to a second antenna trace, wherein the first antenna trace and the second antenna trace are of unequal length, wherein the first antenna trace extends away from the feed point along the edge of the circuit board, and wherein the second antenna trace extends away from the feed point inboard of the first antenna trace,
a ground plane coplanar with the first antenna trace and the second antenna trace, an edge of the ground plane extending alongside and closely coupled with the second antenna trace to cause an area of the ground place adjacent the edge of the ground plane to radiate at a selected lower operational frequency of the antenna, and
a pair of wings extending outwards along the edge of the circuit board, each wing of the pair of wings being separated to define a gap;
wherein an edge of the second antenna trace is indented to vary a width of the second antenna trace at a plurality of points along a length of the second antenna trace and to increase radiation of the first antenna trace at a selected higher operational frequency of the antenna,
wherein the second antenna trace further comprises a loop section extending in a direction away from the ground plane,
the loop section extending over a surface of one of the wings.
2. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the second antenna trace is indented by one or more of a square shaped section, a rectangular shaped section, a triangular shaped section, an irregular shaped section, an undulating indentation, and a combination of different shaped sections.
3. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the second antenna trace is indented at a first end of the second antenna trace, the first end being an end closest to the feed point, and indented at a second end of the first antenna trace, the second end displaced away from the feed point and at an opposite end from the first end.
4. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the second antenna trace is spaced away from the edge of the ground plane by a distance of about 0.6 mm.
5. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the first antenna trace is spaced away from the second antenna trace by a distance of about 0.7 mm.
6. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the multi-band trace antenna comprises a monopole antenna.
7. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the multi-band trace antenna is configured to operate in a frequency range of 600 MHz, to 2.7 GHz.
8. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein a dielectric of the circuit board and a trace of the feed point are chosen to match an impedance of the antenna with a transceiver circuit.
9. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the feed point comprises one of a Pi matching network or a T matching network.
10. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the circuit board comprises a printed circuit board.
11. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the loop section further overlaps at least a portion of the first antenna trace.
12. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the loop section extends in a direction away from the ground plane by about 8 mm.
13. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein an inboard side of the second antenna trace includes a plurality of rectangular indentations.
14. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein a proximal portion of the second antenna trace extends in a first direction away from the feed point inboard of the first antenna trace, and wherein a distal portion of the second antenna trace extends in a second direction opposite the first direction outboard of the first antenna trace.
15. The circuit board according to claim 14 , wherein the distal portion of the second antenna trace is part of the loop section of the second antenna trace.
16. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein a distal end of the first antenna trace extends between a proximal portion of the second antenna trace and a distal portion of the second antenna trace.
17. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the second antenna trace is located a greater distance from the feed point than a furthest portion of the first antenna trace from the feed point.
18. The circuit board according to claim 1 , wherein the loop section of the second trace extends away from the ground plane and loops back on itself to overlap at least a portion of the first antenna trace.
19. A circuit board including a multi-band Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA) the circuit board comprising:
a feed point adjacent an edge of the circuit board, the feed point being connected to a plurality of traces;
a first antenna trace of the plurality of traces extending away from the feed point along the edge of the circuit board;
a second antenna trace of the plurality of traces extending away from the feed point inboard of the first antenna trace, the first antenna trace and the second antenna trace being of unequal length and being closely coupled along a coextensive length, the longer of the first antenna trace and the second antenna trace further comprising a loop section extending in a direction away from a ground plane;
a third antenna trace of the plurality of traces extending away from the feed point in a direction opposite that of the first antenna trace and the second antenna trace, the circuit board comprising the ground plane coplanar with the plurality of traces, an edge of the ground plane extending alongside and closely coupled with the second antenna trace of the plurality of traces to cause an area of the ground place adjacent the edge to radiate at a selected lower operational frequency of the PIFA; and
a pair of wings extending outwards along the edge of the circuit board, each wing of the pair of wings being separated to define a gap,
wherein the loop section extends over a surface of one of the wings and the third trace extends over a surface of the other of the wings.
20. The circuit board according to claim 19 , wherein the second antenna trace of the plurality of traces is spaced away from the edge of the ground plane by a distance of about 0.6 mm.
21. The circuit board according to claim 19 , wherein the first antenna trace of the plurality of traces is spaced away from the second antenna trace by a distance of about 0.7 mm.
22. The circuit board according to claim 19 , wherein the multi-band trace antenna is configured to operate in a frequency range of 600 MHz to 2.7 GHz.
23. The circuit board according to claim 19 , wherein a dielectric of the circuit board and at least one trace of the feed point are chosen to match the impedance of the antenna with a transceiver circuit.