Tuned grounding arm for near field radio coexistence
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsVincent Mei, Raemond Bergstrom-Wood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various arrangements for protecting a low-power sensor from electromagnetic interference are presented. A device may have an antenna that is used to transmit a radio signal and have an on-board low-power sensor. A tuned grounding arm may be capacitively coupled with a ground plane of the antenna. The tuned grounding arm can provide a lower energy return path to a feed point of the antenna than through circuitry of the low-power sensor, thus decreasing near-field interference on the low-power sensor.
Claims20
A system for protecting a sensor from electromagnetic interference, the system comprising:
- a housing;
- an antenna housed within the housing and attached to a first printed circuit board;
- antenna feed circuitry that causes the antenna to transmit a signal;
- an antenna ground plane that is approximately parallel to the antenna, connected with a ground that is connected with the antenna feed circuitry, attached to the first printed circuit board, and is located within the housing;
- a sensor that is located within the housing;
- and
- a grounding arm that is capacitively coupled with the antenna ground plane, the grounding arm providing a lower impedance path to a feed point of the antenna than through circuitry of the sensor, wherein the grounding arm decreases electromagnetic interference caused by the signal being transmitted by the antenna on sensor measurements made by the sensor.
A device for protecting a sensor from electromagnetic interference, the device comprising:
- a grounding arm that is capacitively coupled with an antenna ground plane of an antenna that radiates a wireless signal, the grounding arm providing a lower impedance path to a feed point of the antenna than through circuitry of a sensor, wherein:
- the sensor, the grounding arm, and the antenna are housed within a housing;
- and
- the grounding arm decreases electromagnetic interference caused by signals transmitted by the antenna on sensor measurements made by the sensor.
A method for protecting a sensor from electromagnetic interference, the method comprising:
- mounting an antenna, an antenna ground plane, and a sensor on one or more printed circuit boards to be incorporated as part of a smart sensor device;
- mounting a tuned grounding arm within the smart sensor device such that the tuned grounding arm provides a lower energy return path to a feed point of the antenna than through circuitry of the sensor;
- flexing the tuned grounding arm such that a portion of the tuned grounding arm is parallel to the antenna ground plane;
- and
- coupling the tuned grounding arm to the antenna ground plane such that the tuned grounding arm is capacitively coupled with the antenna ground plane, wherein the tuned grounding arm decreases electromagnetic interference caused by signals transmitted by the antenna on sensor measurements made by the sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.