Radio frequency front end heterogeneous device applied to satellite communication phased array

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of integrated circuits, and particularly relates to a radio frequency front-end assembly applied to a 5G millimeter wave and satellite communication phased array. The radio frequency front-end assembly is formed by packaging an SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) bonded with a phased array radio frequency front-end system chip, and comprises the phased array radio frequency front-end system chip, a ceramic substrate with a microstrip antenna and a metal shell with a waveguide short-circuit surface. The phased array radio frequency front-end assembly has the characteristics of miniaturization, high air tightness and high performance; according to the radio frequency front-end assembly, the metal shell and the ceramic substrate are connected through welding, and the airtightness requirement of the assembly is met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of integrated circuits, and particularly relates to a phased array transceiver system. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of 5G communication technology and the increasing demand for satellite communication, the K / Ka band has become an important band in future high-speed wireless communication systems due to its advantages such as large bandwidth, low latency, and lower loss compared to higher frequency bands. Especially in applications such as the millimeter-wave band of 5G networks and low-earth-orbit satellite communication, the use of the K / Ka band is expected to greatly improve the system capacity and communication rate. However, at this frequency band, due to the large attenuation and limited penetration ability during signal propagation, higher requirements are imposed on the performance of antennas and transceiver systems.

[0003] Phased array technology, as the core means to achieve beamforming and beam tracking, is widely used in millimeter-wave and satellite communication systems. A phased array antenna can precisely control the phase and amplitude of each unit in the array to achieve efficient directional adjustment of the beam, improving the flexibility and coverage of the communication system. Especially in a multi-user and multi-target environment, the phased array system can significantly improve communication efficiency and quality through beam multiplexing and dynamic adjustment.

[0004] In traditional microwave packaging structures, the feeding and output of radio frequency signals often adopt microstrip, coaxial or quasi-coaxial structures. The disadvantages of these structures are that either the structure is complex and the cost is high, or the transmission loss is large and the performance degrades seriously due to large parasitic parameters. Compared with the above transmission methods, the waveguide transmission method has lower signal loss. Especially in the microwave and millimeter-wave bands, the waveguide can effectively reduce the energy loss caused by cable loss and electromagnetic wave radiation.

[0005] This patent aims to propose a high-efficiency, low-power, and high-integration radio frequency front-end chip module for 5G millimeter-wave and satellite communication phased arrays, and improve communication performance and economic benefits by optimizing the system architecture and key technology design. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a radio frequency front-end chip component applied to 5G millimeter wave and satellite communication phased arrays. The radio frequency front-end component of the present invention is composed of an SIP package bonded with a radio frequency front-end system chip. The component includes: a radio frequency front-end system chip, a ceramic substrate with a microstrip antenna, and a metal shell with a waveguide short circuit surface. The radio frequency front-end component of the present invention has the characteristics of miniaturization, high airtightness, and high performance; in the radio frequency front-end component of the present invention, the metal shell and the ceramic substrate are connected by welding to meet the airtightness requirements of the component; the radio frequency front-end component of the present invention can realize the functions of transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals. When realizing the function of transmitting signals, the signal is output by the radio frequency front-end system chip and transmitted to the microstrip antenna through bonding wires. The signal is converted into the form of a waveguide by the microstrip waveguide conversion structure composed of the microstrip antenna and the short circuit surface and output; when realizing the function of receiving signals, the external waveguide signal is first converted into an electromagnetic signal by the microstrip waveguide conversion structure, and then the signal is transmitted to the radio frequency front-end system chip through the microstrip antenna for subsequent functions.

[0007] In the present invention, the radio frequency front-end system chip includes: a radio frequency switch, a phase shifter, a power amplifier, and a low noise amplifier. The transmitting and receiving functions of the radio frequency front-end system chip are respectively controlled by two radio frequency switches at the head and tail of the circuit; when the radio frequency switch opens the transmitting path, the radio frequency front-end system chip functions to phase-shift and amplify the transmitting signal. The initial signal is input to the phase shifter through the radio frequency switch at the head of the circuit. After the phase shifter adjusts the signal to the required phase, the signal is input to the power amplifier. The power amplifier amplifies the signal to the required power and then transmits it through the radio frequency switch at the tail of the circuit; when the radio frequency switch opens the receiving path, the radio frequency front-end system chip functions to phase-shift and amplify the receiving signal. The receiving signal enters the low noise amplifier through the radio frequency switch at the tail of the circuit. The low noise amplifier amplifies the received signal and then transmits it to the phase shifter. The phase shifter adjusts the amplified signal to the required phase and then outputs it through the radio frequency switch at the head of the circuit.

[0008] In the present invention, the phase shifter includes a quadrature signal generator, a common-source drive amplifier, and a variable gain amplifier switch array; the signal generates two orthogonal IQ signals through the quadrature signal generator; the common-source drive amplifier amplifies the IQ signals; the amplified IQ signals are weighted differently by two variable gain amplifier arrays controlled by 6-bit numbers. When each unit control bit is 1, a positive current is output, and when it is 0, a negative current is output. Through the weighting of different control bits, the in-phase signal and the anti-phase signal are combined to generate signals with 26 phase shift states within 0° to 360° at the same gain, realizing the phase shift of the signal.

[0009] In the present invention, the power amplifier includes two - stage differential common - source amplifiers. The size ratio of the two - stage common - source transistors is set to 1:2 to improve the power output ability of the transistors. Each stage of the common - source amplifier uses a neutralizing capacitor to improve the transistor gain and stability. The stagger - peak matching of the two - stage common - source amplifiers increases the working bandwidth of the power amplifier, and finally realizes the broadband, high - gain and high - power output of the signal.

[0010] In the present invention, the low - noise amplifier includes a first - stage differential transconductance - enhanced common - gate amplifier and two - stage differential common - source amplifiers. The differential transconductance - enhanced common - gate amplifier introduces a passive inverting gain amplifier between the gate and source of the traditional common - gate amplifier through a transformer coupling method to achieve a lower noise figure than the traditional common - gate amplifier. The two - stage differential common - source amplifiers use transistors with smaller sizes to achieve the purpose of high gain and low power consumption in the radio - frequency band. All three - stage amplifiers use stagger - peak matching to increase the working bandwidth of the low - noise amplifier, and finally realize the low - noise, broadband and high - gain amplification of the signal. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the radio - frequency front - end chip component.

[0012] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the radio - frequency front - end system chip.

[0013] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the phase - shifter circuit.

[0014] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the power - amplifier circuit.

[0015] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the low - noise - amplifier circuit. Detailed Embodiments

[0016] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. In each of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by similar reference numerals. For the sake of clarity, the various parts in the drawings are not drawn to scale. In addition, some well - known parts may not be shown in the figures.

[0017] In the following, many specific details of the present invention are described, such as the structure, materials, dimensions, processing techniques and technologies of the devices, in order to understand the present invention more clearly. However, as those skilled in the art can understand, the present invention can be implemented without these specific details.

[0018] Figure 1 Shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the radio - frequency front - end chip component.

[0019] As Figure 1As shown in the figure, the RF front-end chip component in the present invention is composed of an SIP package bonded with an RF front-end system chip. This component includes: an RF front-end system chip 101, a ceramic substrate 102 with a microstrip antenna, and a metal shell 103 with a waveguide short circuit surface. This component has the characteristics of miniaturization, high airtightness, and high performance; the metal shell 103 and the ceramic substrate 102 in this component are connected by welding to meet the airtightness requirements of the component; this component can realize the functions of transmitting and receiving RF signals. When realizing the function of transmitting signals, the signal is output by the RF front-end system chip 103, transmitted to the microstrip antenna through bonding wires, and the signal is converted into the form of a waveguide and output through the microstrip waveguide conversion structure composed of the microstrip antenna and the short circuit surface; when realizing the function of receiving signals, the external waveguide signal is first converted into an electromagnetic signal by the microstrip waveguide conversion structure, and then the signal is transmitted to the RF front-end system chip 103 through the microstrip antenna for subsequent functions.

[0020] Figure 2 Shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the RF front-end system chip.

[0021] As Figure 2 As shown in the figure, the RF front-end system chip 101 in the present invention includes RF switches 201 and 202, phase shifters 203 and 204, a power amplifier 205, and a low-noise amplifier 206. The RF front-end system chip in the present invention has two functions of receiving and transmitting signals, which are determined by switching through the RF switches 201 and 202. When the RF front-end system chip turns on the function of transmitting signals, the RF switches 201 and 202 open the transmission path, and the initial signal is input from the RF switch 201 to the transmission path. After the phase shifter 203 adjusts the input signal to the required phase, the signal is input to the power amplifier 205. The power amplifier 205 amplifies the signal and transmits it through the RF switch 202; when the RF front-end system chip turns on the function of receiving signals, the RF switches 201 and 202 open the reception path, and the external signal is input to the RF front-end system chip through the RF switch 202. The signal is first amplified by the low-noise amplifier 206 and input to the phase shifter 204. After the phase shifter 204 adjusts the signal to the corresponding phase, it is output through the RF switch 201.

[0022] Figure 3 Shows a schematic diagram of the phase shifter circuit of the present invention.

[0023] As Figure 3As shown, the phase shifters 203 and 204 include three parts: an orthogonal signal generator, a driver amplifier, and a variable gain amplifier switch array. The orthogonal signal generator consists of two turns of transformers with a high coupling coefficient. After the signal is input, two orthogonal IQ signals are generated by the orthogonal signal generator. The driver amplifier part consists of two differential common-source amplifiers, including transistor M1. The common-source amplifier adds a neutralizing capacitor to improve stability and high gain. The driver amplifier amplifies the IQ signals generated by the previous-stage orthogonal signal generator and then transmits them to the subsequent stage. There are two variable gain amplifier switch arrays in total. Each array consists of 6 groups of variable gain amplifier switches with different sizes, including transistors M1 - M7. Each group of variable gain amplifier switches is controlled individually by digital signals, including VCI0 - VCI5 and VCQ0 - VCQ5. When each unit control bit is 1, a forward current is output, and when it is 0, a reverse current is output. After the IQ signals amplified by the previous stage are input, different weightings are performed through variable gain amplifiers of different sizes. By combining the in-phase signal and the quadrature signal, signals with 2 phase shift states within 0° to 360° under the same gain can be generated, realizing the phase shift of the signal. After completing the phase shift function, the signal is output. 6 Two phase shift states of the signal are realized to complete the phase shift function and then the signal is output.

[0024] Figure 4 Fig. shows a schematic diagram of the power amplifier circuit of the present invention.

[0025] As Figure 4 shown, the power amplifier 205 includes two parts: a driver stage and a power stage. Each stage consists of a differential common-source amplifier, including transistors M1 and M2. The gate width ratio of transistors M1 and M2 is 1:2, which improves the power output ability of the transistors. Each stage of the common-source amplifier uses a neutralizing capacitor to improve the transistor gain and stability. The stagger matching performed by the two stages of the common-source amplifier increases the working bandwidth of the power amplifier. After the signal is input from the phase shifter to the power amplifier, it is amplified by the two differential common-source amplifiers of the driver stage and the power stage and then output.

[0026] Figure 5 Fig. shows a schematic diagram of the low-noise amplifier circuit of the present invention.

[0027] As Figure 5As shown, the low-noise amplifier 206 consists of a first-stage differential transconductance-enhanced common-gate amplifier and a two-stage differential common-source amplifier. The differential transconductance-enhanced common-gate amplifier is composed of transistor M1. Through transformer coupling, a passive inverting gain amplifier is introduced between the gate and source of the traditional common-gate amplifier to achieve a lower noise figure than the traditional common-gate amplifier. The two-stage differential common-source amplifier is composed of transistors M2 and M3, with a smaller size selected to achieve high gain and low power consumption in the RF frequency band. All three-stage amplifiers use staggered matching to increase the operating bandwidth of the low-noise amplifier, ultimately achieving low-noise, wide-bandwidth, and high-gain amplification of the signal.

[0028] In this article, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variation thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a series of elements (such as processes, methods, articles or devices) included not only include those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "including one..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements outside the included elements.

[0029] In the present invention, the embodiments do not describe all the details in detail, nor limit the invention to the specific embodiments described. According to the above description, many changes can be made. These embodiments are selected and specifically described in this specification to better explain the principles and practical applications of the present invention, so that those skilled in the art can make good use of the present invention and its modifications based on the present invention. The present invention is only limited by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.

Claims

1. A radio frequency front-end chip assembly for 5G millimeter wave and satellite communication phased array, characterized in that: The component is composed of a SIP package bonded with an RF front-end system chip, and includes: an RF front-end system chip, a ceramic substrate with a microstrip antenna, and a metal shell with a waveguide short-circuit. The component has the characteristics of miniaturization, high airtightness, and high performance; the metal shell and the ceramic substrate in the component are connected by welding to achieve the airtightness requirements of the component; the component can realize the functions of transmitting and receiving RF signals. When the signal transmission function is realized, the signal is output by the RF front-end system chip and transmitted to the microstrip antenna through the bonding wire. The signal is converted into a waveguide form and output through the microstrip waveguide conversion structure composed of the microstrip antenna and the short-circuit; when the signal reception function is realized, the external waveguide signal is first converted into an electromagnetic signal by the microstrip waveguide conversion structure, and then transmitted to the RF front-end system chip through the microstrip antenna for subsequent functions.

2. The RF front-end chip assembly for 5G millimeter wave and satellite communication phased array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The circuit structure of the RF front-end system chip includes: a RF switch, a phase shifter, a power amplifier and a low-noise amplifier; the circuit has two sets of transmission and reception paths, which are respectively controlled by two RF switches at the beginning and end of the circuit; when the RF switch opens the transmission path, the RF front-end system chip plays the role of phase shifting and amplifying the transmission signal, the initial signal is input to the phase shifter through the RF switch at the beginning of the circuit, the phase shifter adjusts the signal to the required phase, and then inputs the signal to the power amplifier, the power amplifier amplifies the signal to the required power and then transmits it through the RF switch at the end of the circuit; when the RF switch opens the reception path, the RF front-end system chip plays the role of phase shifting and amplifying the reception signal, the reception signal enters the low-noise amplifier through the RF switch at the end of the circuit, the low-noise amplifier amplifies the received signal and transmits it to the phase shifter, the phase shifter adjusts the amplified signal to the required phase and then outputs it through the RF switch at the beginning of the circuit.

3. The RF front-end chip assembly for 5G millimeter wave and satellite communication phased array according to claim 2, characterized in that: The phase shifter includes an orthogonal signal generator, a common source drive amplifier and a variable gain amplifier switch array; the signal generates two orthogonal IQ signals through the orthogonal signal generator; the common source drive amplifier amplifies the IQ signal; the amplified IQ signal is weighted differently by two 6-bit digitally controlled variable gain amplifier arrays of different sizes, and each unit outputs a forward current when the control bit is 1 and outputs a reverse current when it is 0. Through the weighting of different control bits, the in-phase signal and the anti-phase signal are combined to generate 2 within 0° to 360° under the same gain. 6 A phase-shifted signal is created to achieve phase shift of the signal.

4. The RF front-end chip assembly for 5G millimeter wave and satellite communication phased array according to claim 3, characterized in that: The power amplifier includes two stages of differential common-source amplifiers, the size ratio of the two stages of common-source tubes is set to 1:2, which improves the power output capacity of the transistor. Each stage of the common-source amplifier uses a neutralizing capacitor to improve the gain and stability of the transistor. The staggered peak matching performed by the two stages of the common-source amplifier increases the working bandwidth of the power amplifier, and ultimately achieves wide bandwidth, high gain and high power output of the signal.

5. The RF front-end chip assembly for 5G millimeter wave and satellite communication phased array according to claim 4, characterized in that: The low-noise amplifier includes a first-stage differential transconductance enhanced common-gate amplifier and a two-stage differential common-source amplifier. The differential transconductance enhanced common-gate amplifier introduces a passive inverting gain amplifier between the gate and source of a traditional common-gate amplifier through transformer coupling to achieve a lower noise coefficient than the traditional common-gate amplifier. The two-stage differential common-source amplifier uses smaller-sized transistors to achieve high gain and low power consumption in the radio frequency band. The three-stage amplifiers all use staggered peak matching to increase the working bandwidth of the low-noise amplifier, ultimately achieving low-noise, wide-bandwidth and high-gain amplification of the signal.

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