Through glass RF coupler system

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates generally to radio frequency (RF) components. More particularly, the present invention relates to couplers that couple RF signals, including ultra high frequency signals, through a medium such as air, glass or other dielectric.

[0004] 2. Background of the Invention

[0005] Through-glass couplers, as explained in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,877 to Du et al., are employed to RF couple two antenna modules that are mounted, respectively, on the outside and inside surfaces of window glass, such as automobile glass, to transmit signals through the window glass between the opposing modules. The outside antenna module might include a vertically extending antenna element, while the inside antenna module typically contains a connector or transmission feedline, which leads to a device such as a telephone, pager, facsimile machine, radio receiver, or the like, inside the vehicle. In a radio receiver implementation, the inside antenna module receives RF energy through the glass from the outside antenna module.

[0006] Loss occurs in glass mount antennas due to the dielectric material interposed between the inside and outside modules, as well as impedance mismatching. Therefore, a window glass mount antenna typically has lower gain compared to a non-through-glass antenna. However, conventional (i.e., non-through-glass coupled) antennas are less desirable because there must be a physical connection that extends through the body of a vehicle, between inside and outside antenna modules.

[0007] Conventional through-glass couplers employ capacitive coupling to transmit RF signals through the glass. In capacitively coupled antennas, two metal plates are positioned opposite each other on opposing surfaces of the window glass. These metal plates cooperate and act as a capacitor to transmit RF energy through the intervening window glass. However, to achieve better responses, especially at relatively higher frequencies, microstrip antennas have been adopted in certain applications, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,877 to Du et al. There are many variations to microstrip antenna designs, as exemplified by, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,822 to Conroy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,545 to Favaloro et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,809 to Gilbert et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,263 to Pozar, but because of the wide array of applications for which microstrip antennas can be used, there is significant room for improvement in microstrip antenna design, particularly in specialized applications.

[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates a typical application for which a through-glass coupler is employed. In the case of, for example, a radio receiver implementation (although the same principles apply to a radio transceiver implementation) an antenna 10, receives a broadcast signal, which is applied to an outside module 200 of a through glass coupler 12. Outside module 200 is positioned against glass 14 and opposite inside module 100 on the opposite side of the glass 14. In some applications, a matching circuit 16 is preferably provided to match impedance values of the two complementary modules 100, 200. A radio frequency (RF) cable 18, e.g., coaxial cable, typically connects matching circuit 16 to a low noise amplifier (LNA) 20, which feeds receiver 22.

[0009] Of the known methods of transferring RF energy through glass, capacitive coupling, slot coupling, and aperture coupling represent the most common. However, an inherent drawback of all these coupling methods is that they increase the system noise due to relatively high RF coupling loss. To reduce coupling losses, the methods listed above need to be implemented on expensive circuit board ceramic material (i.e., Rogers 3003, 4003, 3010, etc.). The price of these materials, however, is significantly higher than that of, e.g., standard FR-4 printed circuit board. Thus, using low-loss type boards would make a consumer product very expensive.

[0010] Also, a typical slot coupler, as shown in FIG. 2, includes a circuit board 50, a microstrip feed line 52 and a slot 54 that exposes the underlying microstrip feed line 52. Such a device requires elaborate construction techniques, and may require the use of relatively expensive multi-layer boards. There is a need, therefore, for providing a less expensive coupler, yet one that provides the performance that matches or even exceeds known devices that are constructed using higher cost materials.

[0011] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a low cost yet capable through glass coupler.

[0012] It is another object of the present invention to provide a coupler that is simple to manufacture.

[0013] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a through glass coupler that has inside and outside modules having asymmetrical configurations.

[0014] It is also an object of the present invention to provide components of a pair of through glass couplers on a single board.

[0015] It is also an object of the present invention to provide a through glass coupler that can be constructed using well-known etching techniques and low-cost copper clad circuit board material.

[0016] It is still another object of the present invention to provide a through glass coupler having a low profile design.

[0017] It is also an object of the present invention to provide a through glass coupler that not only has a low profile design, but also does not require a cavity, i.e., a slot.

[0018] To achieve the foregoing and other objects, an embodiment of the present invention comprises a pair of single layer double sided copper clad boards that are etched to include apertures and exciter strips that have different configurations. In a particular application for the through glass coupler of the invention, each copper clad board is etched to include components of two couplers, whereby two antennas or frequency bands can be accommodated and coupled.

[0019] Further in accordance with embodiments of the invention, the through glass coupler comprises a single layer design, thereby substantially facilitating the manufacture thereof. Additionally, no cavities are required, thereby achieving further savings in manufacturing costs and space.

[0020] The present invention will be more fully explained in the following detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the associated drawings, in which

[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates a typical application for which a through glass coupler might be used;

[0022] FIG. 2 depicts a prior art microstrip-fed slot coupler; and

[0023] FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate front faces and a back face of a dual RF coupler pair embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

[0024] FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in which two separate RF signals can be passed through a dielectric, such as glass on a vehicle.

[0025] Generally, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, low loss is achieved by making the opposing couplers different. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3A-3B generally, and as will be explained in more detail below, one printed exciter strip on one circuit board or module is floating, while the printed exciter strip on the other circuit board or module is shorted to ground. The length of the printed exciter strips can be adjusted for tuning to the desired frequency and minimizing coupler loss.

[0026] Consistent with the application shown in FIG. 1, the through glass coupler in accordance with the present invention comprises an inside module 100 and an outside module 200. Inside module 100, which would typically be located inside a vehicle, comprises a circuit board having a left side edge 102, a right side edge 104, a top edge 106 and a bottom edge 108. In addition, the substantially rectangular inside module 100 comprises a front face 110 and a back face 112, the latter being shown in FIG. 3C. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, two couplers, a first coupler 150 and a second coupler 152 are provided on the same inside module 100. This permits two separate RF frequencies to be passed through the dielectric. The dashed line indicated by X denotes the separation between the first coupler 150 and the second coupler 152. Of course, the present invention can be configured to have only a single coupler per module. Also, although not shown in the drawings, modules 100 and 200 preferably include a cover that encapsulates at least an exposed portion of the circuit boards when they are mounted on glass.

[0027] Inside module 100 (as well as outside module 200) is preferable constructed of well known and inexpensive copper-clad circuit board material such as FR-4. The copper cladding 114 preferably etched using well known techniques to arrive at the exemplary configuration shown in FIGS. 3A-3B.

[0028] More specifically, the copper cladding 114 is preferably etched such that apertures 116aand 116bare provided in each of the first and second couplers 150, 152. Further, exciter strips 122aand 122bare provided within each of apertures 116aand 116b. The exciter strips 122a, 122beach includes a feed point through hole 124aand 124b. A ground element 118 preferably includes a ground connection area 120 that includes a plurality of relatively small through holes to ensure a secure solder joint. Also, ground element 118 preferably includes gaps 126aand 126badjacent top edge 106.

[0029] Back face 112 is the back face of inside module 100. A similar back face is provided for outside module 200, although, for simplicity, this back face is not shown. Back face 112 includes feed point through holes 124aand 124bas well as separate ground connection area pads. 128aand 128b, which correspond, in location, substantially with the ground connection areas 120aand 120bon the front face 110.

[0030] Outside module 200 comprises a circuit board having a left side edge 202, a right side edge 204, a top edge 206 and a bottom edge 208. Outside module 200 further comprises a front face 210 shown in FIG. 3B and a back face (not shown) that is similar to back face 112 shown in FIG. 3C. Like inside module 100, outside module 200 comprises a first coupler 250 and a second coupler 252.

[0031] Apertures 216aand 216bare etched from copper cladding 214, a ground element 218, which extends substantially around a periphery of the circuit board, as well as exciter strips 222aand 222bare provided. Ground connection areas 220aand 220b, including several pin holes that extend through the circuit board, are preferably provided, as are feed point through holes 224aand 224b.

[0032] The separation between the two couplers 250 and 252 is indicated by the dashed line Y. In use, the front faces 110 and 210 of the inside module 100 and outside module 200 face each other on opposing sides of a dielectric such as a piece of glass. The two modules 100, 200 preferably have the same overall outer dimensions such that they can be aligned directly opposite each other and in registration with one another. Indeed, when the two modules oppose each other complementary pairs of feed point through holes 124a, 124b, 224a, 224b, as well as ground connection areas 120a, 120b, 220b, 220apreferably align, or are in registration, with each other. Center conductors of coaxial conductors (not shown) can be soldered to the feed point through holes, and outer ground sheathing of the coaxial cable can be connected and/or soldered to the ground connection areas 120 and/or ground connection area pads 128.

[0033] The exciter strip configurations of the two boards is a significant aspect of the present invention. Specifically, as shown in the FIGS. 3A and 3B the corresponding inside and outside modules have different exciter strip configurations. Specifically, it can be readily seen that exciter strips 222a, 222bextend to an upper portion of ground element 218, and are indeed integrally formed therewith, as compared with “floating” exciter strips 122a, 122b. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art can readily appreciate that opposing inside and outside modules have different configurations. This aspect of the present invention is unlike well known capacitively coupled through glass couplers that employ simple metallic plates. Also, the present invention is different from prior art devices in that a simple dual side copper clad board can be employed to achieve a low loss through glass coupler without having to resort to expensive and intricate construction techniques to achieve a slot type micro strip antenna like that shown in FIG. 2.

[0034] The dimensions shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B are also instructive with respect to illustrating the relative sizes of the different elements included on each of the inside and outside modules. For example, dimension A, which measures the distance between an exciter strip and its closest portion of ground element 118, is preferably substantially the same for each coupler. Dimension B measures the distance between an edge of exciter strip 122a, 122band an upper portion of ground element 118, while dimensions C and D illustrate how the aperture widths of the first and second couplers 150, 152 can be different, thereby, accommodating different levels of loss.

[0035] Thus, the two modules described herein, when properly aligned on opposite sides of a dielectric, can pass RF signals of two separate antennas. The isolation between the two couplers is approximately 30 dB. In an actual application of the RF coupler of the invention, the coupler is used to couple through glass terrestrial based signals and space based signals. It is noted that while differently sized apertures have been described and shown, different applications may call for similarly sized apertures. The RF coupler described herein, however, was developed in connection with a satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) that comprises a space based broadcast signal and a terrestrial based broadcast signal. Because in this particular application the terrestrial based signal is stronger than the space based signal (which is broadcast at a different frequency), the aperture corresponding to the terrestrial coupler is made smaller than the aperture for the space based (or satellite) signal. While, the smaller aperture will cause additional loss in the terrestrial coupler system, the SDARS system can nevertheless tolerate this loss. Based on a coupler having an overall length of 2.9 inches, an overall width of 1.1 inches, a satellite signal coupler having an aperture width of 1.55 inches and a terrestrial signal coupler having an aperture width of 1.26 inches, the coupling loss is as follows: satellite signal coupling loss: 0.5-0.6 dB, terrestrial signal coupling loss: 1.0-1.1 dB (based on 4-mm thick automotive glass).

[0036] The foregoing disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many variations and modifications of the embodiments described herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the above disclosure. The scope of the invention is to be defined only by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.