IP Library Granted Patent US 11,637,360
Granted Patent B2
US 11,637,360 · App. 16/933,906 · Granted Apr 25, 2023

Compact dual-band GNSS antenna

Inventor: Thomas Kaufmann (Zurich, CH)
Assignee: u-blox AG
H01Q1/241H01Q5/35H01Q13/106H01Q13/18
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,637,360
App. No.
16/933,906
Granted
Apr 25, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

An antenna includes a substrate layer having a first surface and an opposite second surface, the second surface having a metallization layer; a conductive layer disposed on the first surface of the substrate layer; a slot formed in the conductive layer, the slot including a first part and a second part that are symmetric to each other about a diagonal of the conductive layer; and at least one feed point on the conductive layer and spaced from the slot by a predetermined distance.

Claims (49)

1. An antenna, comprising:

a substrate layer having a first surface and an opposite second surface, the second surface having a metallization layer;

a conductive layer disposed on the first surface of the substrate layer;

a slot formed in the conductive layer, the slot comprising a first part and a second part that are symmetric to each other about a diagonal of the conductive layer; and

at least one feed point on the conductive layer and spaced from the slot by a predetermined distance,

wherein the at least one feed point is positioned off horizontal, vertical, and diagonal center lines of the conductive layer, and

wherein at least one portion of the conductive layer is selectively removed to tune at least one of two resonant frequencies provided by the antenna.

2. The antenna of claim 1 , where the first part and the second part of the slot have substantially rectangular shapes to form a first rectangle and a second rectangle.

3. The antenna of claim 2 , wherein:

the first and second rectangles are substantially perpendicular to each other and connected to each other at a corner, and

a portion of the conductive layer at the corner is cut to form a slot chamfer.

4. The antenna of claim 3 , wherein

two outer corners of the conductive layer are cut to form patch chamfers.

5. The antenna of claim 4 , wherein the patch chamfers and the slot chamfer are disposed in parallel direction.

6. The antenna of claim 5 , wherein an orientation of the slot is selected such that the antenna provides right-hand circular polarization.

7. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein

the substrate layer is made of a dielectric material having a dielectric constant in a range of 15-60.

8. The antenna of claim 7 , wherein

the dielectric constant of the substrate layer is substantially equal to 37.

9. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein the shape, the length, and the position of the slot, and the position of the at least one feed point are selected such that the antenna is operated in non-dominant modes.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

the at least one feed point comprises two feed points that provide two orthogonal modes at each frequency at which the antenna is operated.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

the first surface of the substrate layer has a square shape with a length in a range of 15-30 mm, and

a thickness of the substrate layer is in a range of 2-8 mm.

12. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein a shape, a length, and a position of the slot and a position of the at least one feed point are selected such that the antenna provides dual resonance having the two resonant frequencies defined by the selected shape, length, and position of the slot and the position of the at least one feed point.

13. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein the tuning is an end-of-line tuning.

14. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein the two resonant frequencies are tuned independently.

15. A device, comprising:

a housing;

a printed circuit board; and

an antenna attached to the printed circuit board and disposed inside the housing, wherein the antenna comprises:

a substrate layer having a first surface and an opposite second surface, the second surface having a metallization layer;

a conductive layer disposed on the first surface of the substrate layer;

a slot formed in the conductive layer, the slot comprising a first part and a second part that are symmetric to each other about a diagonal of the conductive layer; and

at least one feed point on the conductive layer and spaced from the slot by a predetermined distance,

wherein the at least one feed point is positioned off horizontal, vertical, and diagonal center lines of the conductive layer, and

wherein at least one portion of the conductive layer is selectively removed to tune at least one of two resonant frequencies provided by the antenna.

16. The device of claim 15 , further comprising:

an output connected to a coaxial cable that connects the device to another device.

17. The device of claim 15 , further comprising:

at least one of a bandpass filter, an amplifier, a diplexer, or a combiner configured to process a signal received by the antenna.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a patch antenna configured to provide dual resonant frequencies, including a slot formed in a conductive layer of the antenna; and

a receiver configured to process signals received from the antenna and provide positioning information,

wherein the at least one feed point is positioned off horizontal, vertical, and diagonal center lines of the conductive layer, and

wherein at least one portion of the conductive layer is selectively removed to tune at least one of the dual resonant frequencies.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein:

the patch antenna further comprises a slot chamfer formed at a corner of the slot and a pair of patch chamfers formed at two outer corners of the conductive layer.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 23, 2020
From: KAUFMANN, THOMAS
To: U-BLOX AG
Reel/Frame 053297/0994 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220021104A1 · Jan 20, 2022