1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to an electronic device, and more particularly, to an electronic device that includes an antenna device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices, including mobile terminals such as “smart phones” and wearable electronic devices to be worn by people, have been made lighter, slimmer, shorter, and smaller, and at the same time, have more functions to meet consumers' purchasing needs.
As the functional differences between electronic devices of respective manufacturers have recently been greatly reduced, the manufacturers have been making an effort to increase the rigidity of the electronic devices, which are being gradually slimmed in order to satisfy consumers' purchasing needs, and to strengthen the design features of the electronic devices. Reflecting this trend, elements (e.g., housings) of electronic devices have been made of metal in order to increase rigidity and achieve a high quality and appealing external appearance of the electronic devices.
Antenna radiation performance may be significantly degraded if a metal case is used in a situation where the thickness of an electronic device becomes smaller in terms of design and a mounting space for an antenna radiator is insufficient. For example, if metal components and internal and external mechanical parts exist around the antenna radiator, the performance of the antenna radiator may be significantly deteriorated by various phenomena caused by the metal, such as a scattering effect, an electromagnetic field trapping effect, mismatching, etc. It is not difficult to manufacture most electronic devices with an antenna radiator since a mounting space for the antenna radiator and a separation distance between the antenna radiator and metal components are sufficient and the exterior of the product is mainly made of a dielectric material, such as plastics. However, since currently used portable electronic devices are made smaller and slimmer in order to appeal to consumers and more frequently uses metal exterior parts, the separation distances between an antenna radiator and metal components and mechanical parts gradually decrease so that it is difficult to obtain sufficient performance using existing antenna technology.
In a case where various electronic devices utilize antennas for wireless Internet, mobile payment, a global roaming service, and the like must be mounted in a wearable electronic device, the device may become thicker, and it may be difficult to make the device compact.
Although attempts have been made to ensure a sufficient separation distance from metal parts in order to prevent the problem, mechanical parts may be excessively deformed, the cost may increase due to additional materials, or the thickness of an electronic device may increase.