Radio frequency front-end module structure and electronic equipment

Abstract

The embodiment of the utility model provides a radio frequency front-end module structure and electronic equipment, and relates to the technical field of radio frequency microwave components. According to the radio frequency front-end module structure provided by the embodiment of the invention, the metalized structure is arranged on the side wall, and when the radio frequency front-end module structure is connected to the external base body, the metalized structure on the side wall can be connected with an external detection instrument, so that the external detection instrument detects a chip in the radio frequency front-end module structure; therefore, the damaged radio frequency front-end module can be positioned and replaced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of radio frequency microwave components, and in particular to radio frequency front-end module structures and electronic devices. Background Art

[0002] The advent of monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) and the advancement of packaging technology have enabled the rapid development of missile guidance, satellite communication and radar fields, thus putting forward higher requirements for miniaturization, high performance, high integration, high reliability, low cost and low power consumption of RF front-end modules.

[0003] The size of RF front-end modules is getting smaller and smaller, and multiple RF front-end modules need to be integrated into an array module within a limited size height. In addition, when the array module is working, due to size and line limitations, it is impossible to perform electrical performance testing on each port of the RF front-end module one by one. If one of the RF front-end modules is damaged, although it will not have a major impact on the entire active phased array assembly, it is difficult to locate and replace the damaged RF front-end module.

[0004] How to detect each port of a single RF front-end module when the array module is working is a technical problem to be solved by this application. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of the present application is to provide a radio frequency front-end module structure and an electronic device, so that each port of a single radio frequency front-end module can be detected when the array module is working.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions.

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a radio frequency front-end module structure, including a substrate, a plurality of pads, and a plurality of metallization structures;

[0008] The side wall of the substrate is connected to a plurality of the metallization structures, the upper surface of the substrate is used to place a chip, and the bottom surface of the substrate is connected to a plurality of the pads; the plurality of pads are connected to the chip;

[0009] The metallization structure is connected to the pad;

[0010] When the bottom surface of the substrate is connected to an external base, the metallization structure of the side wall of the substrate can be connected to an external testing instrument, so that the external testing instrument can test the chip.

[0011] Optionally, a semi-cylindrical hole is opened on the side wall of the substrate, and the metallization structure is located in the semi-cylindrical hole.

[0012] Optionally, the RF front-end module structure further includes a metal plane;

[0013] The bottom surface of the substrate is connected to the metal plane, and the metal plane serves as a reference ground plane;

[0014] At least one of the metallization structures connects the metal planes.

[0015] Optionally, the RF front-end module structure further includes a chip layout metal layer and a metal frame;

[0016] The upper surface of the substrate is connected to the chip layout metal layer and the metal frame, and the area surrounded by the metal frame is used to accommodate the chip;

[0017] The substrate has a plurality of connection pillars, and the chip is connected to the pad via the chip layout metal layer and the connection pillars.

[0018] Optionally, there are multiple chips, and the multiple chips are connected through the chip layout metal layer.

[0019] Optionally, the RF front-end module structure further includes gold wires, and the multiple chips are connected via the gold wires.

[0020] Optionally, the RF front-end module structure further includes a Kovar metal cover plate;

[0021] The Kovar metal cover is located at one end of the metal frame away from the substrate and is connected to the metal frame via gold-tin solder to seal the chip inside the RF front-end module structure.

[0022] Optionally, the substrate is a ceramic substrate, and the substrate, the pad, the metallization structure, the chip layout metal layer and the metal frame are all completed in one piece through a direct copper plating process.

[0023] Optionally, the chip in the RF front-end module structure includes an S-band RF front-end chip.

[0024] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, wherein the electronic device includes the radio frequency front-end module structure of the first aspect.

[0025] Compared with the prior art, this application has the following beneficial effects:

[0026] The RF front-end module structure provided in the embodiment of the present application has a metallized structure on the side wall. When the RF front-end module structure is connected to an external substrate, the metallized structure of the side wall can be connected to an external detection instrument, so that the external detection instrument can detect the chip inside the RF front-end module structure, thereby locating and replacing the damaged RF front-end module. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0028] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a radio frequency front-end module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a ceramic substrate directly plated with copper provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a metal frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an S-band high-power RF front-end circuit provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a radio frequency front-end module with a Kovar metal cover provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a transmission channel RF port of an S-band RF front-end module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a receiving channel RF port of an S-band RF front-end module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of an S11 curve of an S-band RF front-end module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of an S-band RF front-end module S12 curve provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of an isolation curve between RF ports of an S-band RF front-end module provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0038] Description of reference numerals:

[0039] 101 substrate

[0040] 102 pads

[0041] 103 Metallization structure

[0042] 104 Chip

[0043] 105 Connecting column

[0044] 106 Chip Layout Metal Layer

[0045] 107 Metal plane

[0046] 108 Metal frame

[0047] 109 Kovar Metal Cover DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present application described in the drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

[0049] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the present application for which protection is sought, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0050] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that “connection” should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium.

[0051] See also Figure 1 An embodiment of the present application provides a radio frequency front-end module structure, including a substrate 101, a plurality of pads 102 and a plurality of metallization structures 103.

[0052] The sidewalls of the substrate 101 are connected to a plurality of metallization structures 103 , the upper surface of the substrate 101 is used to place a chip 104 , and the bottom surface of the substrate 101 is connected to a plurality of pads 102 .

[0053] A plurality of pads 102 are connected to the chip 104. A metallization structure 103 is connected to the pads 102.

[0054] When the bottom surface of the substrate 101 is connected to an external base, the metallization structure 103 on the side wall of the substrate 101 is connected to an external detection instrument, so that the external detection instrument can detect the chip 104, thereby locating the damaged RF front-end module. After locating one or several damaged RF front-end modules, these one or several RF front-end modules can be replaced.

[0055] The detection method can be regular detection, so as to timely find the damaged RF front-end module in the array module. It can also be detected when the performance of the array module is degraded or there is a problem, and then the damaged RF front-end module is replaced to maintain the performance of the entire array module and extend the service life of the array module.

[0056] Figure 2 An implementation of a substrate is shown. The substrate 101 may be a ceramic substrate. A hole may be drilled in the substrate 101 and a connecting column 105 may be arranged in the hole to connect the upper and lower surfaces of the ceramic substrate.

[0057] A layout metal layer 106 may be provided on the upper surface of the ceramic substrate, and the chip layout metal layer 106 may be used to realize the circuit connection relationship of the chip. The thickness of the chip layout metal layer 106 may be several tens of micrometers.

[0058] The chip layout metal layer 106 can be manufactured by direct plating copper (DPC) process, which is mature and cost-controllable.

[0059] A pad 102 may be provided on the lower surface of the ceramic substrate, and further, a metal plane 107 may be provided at the same time, the metal plane 107 being used as a reference ground plane. The pad 102 and the metal plane 107 may be manufactured by a direct copper plating process.

[0060] A groove or a hole may be provided on the side wall of the substrate 101 , and the metallization structure 103 may be disposed in the groove or the hole on the side wall of the substrate 101 . Figure 2 The embodiment of opening a semi-cylindrical hole in the side wall of the substrate 101 is shown, and the metallization structure 103 can be arranged in the semi-cylindrical hole. The pad 102 and a part of the metallization structure 103 can be connected as a whole, and the metal plane 107 and a part of the metallization structure 103 can be connected as a whole. The chip 104 is connected to the pad 102 through the chip layout metal layer 106 and the connection column. At least one metallization structure 103 is connected to the metal plane 107, which can facilitate grounding processing when detected by an external detection instrument.

[0061] The connection pillar 105 can not only realize the function of leading out the electrical performance of the chip, but also have the functions of shielding and grounding.

[0062] like Figure 3 A metal frame 108 may be disposed above the substrate 101 , and the metal frame 108 encloses a space with a certain height, in which chips may be accommodated, and the number of chips may be multiple.

[0063] Figure 4 An S-band high-power RF front-end circuit is demonstrated, which includes transmitting and receiving channels.

[0064] The transmitting channel includes a PMOS chip, a leakage voltage driver chip, and a power amplifier chip PA. The output of the leakage voltage driver chip is controlled by an external enable signal, which in turn controls the PMOS chip to be turned on and off, thereby realizing the voltage control of the power amplifier chip PA. The PMOS chip is powered by the VDD_T port, and the leakage voltage driver chip is powered by the VDD_T and VEE ports. The EN port is used as an external

[0065] The signal input is enabled, Tin is used as the transmit input port, and Tout is used as the transmit output port.

[0066] The receiving channel includes Lange bridge, load, limiter and low noise amplifier chip LNA. The signal receiving function is realized through external voltage control. The Rin RF port is connected to the antenna end. By powering the low noise amplifier chip LNA, the entire receiving path works normally and is finally output through the Rout RF port.

[0067] A temperature detection function can also be set in the circuit, and the operation of the RF front-end module can be controlled according to the temperature setting threshold, which greatly protects the chip itself and improves its reliability.

[0068] like Figure 5 The RF front-end module structure may further include a kovar metal cover plate 109, which is located at one end of the metal frame away from the substrate 101 and is connected to the metal frame 108 through gold-tin solder. The kovar metal cover plate 109, the metal frame 108 and the substrate 101 form a accommodating space to seal the chip 104 inside the RF front-end module structure. The gold-tin solder welding method can form an airtight seal to protect the internal chip from being damaged by the environment.

[0069] The Kovar metal cover can be made of 4J42 alloy, which has the advantages of high thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, high weldability, heat resistance, etc. It can quickly export the heat of high-power RF front-end modules, reduce chip temperature accumulation, and improve chip working efficiency.

[0070] The multiple chips 104 are connected to each other through a chip layout metal layer 106 , and can also be connected to each other through gold wires.

[0071] Except for the Kovar metal cover 109 , the substrate 101 , the pad 102 , the metallization structure 103 , the chip layout metal layer 106 and the metal frame 108 can all be integrally completed by a direct copper plating process.

[0072] Due to the strict application requirements of high-power RF front-end modules, ceramic substrates used for packaging can be divided into LTCC (Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic), HTCC (High Temperature Co-fired Ceramic), DPC and DBC (Direct Copper Bond) according to the preparation technology, provided that the application requirements are met. Among them, LTCC mainly uses metals such as gold, silver, and copper as conductors, with low loss, but the manufacturing process is difficult, the cycle is long, and the cost is high; HTCC mainly uses metals such as tungsten, molybdenum, and manganese as conductors, with high reliability, corrosion resistance, and high temperature resistance, but the loss is large, the cost is high, and the material conductivity is poor, which will significantly reduce the efficiency of the bare chip when used in high-power RF modules; DBC has high reliability, low loss, and the circuit integration is not as good as HTCC and LTCC. The metal route is thick, usually 100 to 300 microns, and the copper flatness is poor compared to DPC, and the process is complicated; DPC has good flatness, the metal route is generally tens of microns, the route is more delicate, the loss is small, the cost is low, the processing cycle is shorter, and the heat dissipation performance is good.

[0073] For the circuit architecture of this application, the DPC process is used to design the RF front-end module cavity, which not only achieves miniaturization, but also reduces tube and shell losses, saves costs, and has better heat dissipation performance.

[0074] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned RF front-end module structure is used for an S-band RF front-end module. The size of the RF front-end module structure is 10 mm×10 mm. The area formed by the metal frame can be Figure 4 All chips in the package are laid out tightly and flatly within the area, with a certain safety distance. The bottom surface is QFN (Quad Flat No-leads Package), and the metallization structure and pads of the side walls are made of copper plating technology, which has good thermal conductivity and electrical properties and occupies a small space.

[0075] In addition, to ensure that the chip has good solderability, a certain thickness of nickel-palladium-gold can be electroplated on the copper layer.

[0076] The transmit channel RF port of the S-band RF front-end module is as follows: Figure 6 As shown, the receiving channel is Figure 7 The RF signal is transmitted from top to bottom, and the RF port return loss performance simulation in the S band is shown in Figure 8 As shown, the reflected energy is only 1%, and the RF port insertion loss simulation is as follows Fig. 9 As shown in Figure 1, the loss is only 0.06dB. The isolation simulation between the RF ports is shown in Figure 1. Fig.10As shown, RFin and RFout represent the RF input / output ports of the transmitting channel, RXin and RFout represent the RF input / output ports of the receiving channel, and the isolation between the ports is <-55dB, while the isolation between the transmitting and receiving channels of the RF front-end module is basically around -40dB. The isolation in this article is at least one order of magnitude higher. All side wall metallization structures can be used as detection points. External detection instruments are used to perform electrical performance detection on each port, and then the damaged RF front-end module can be located and replaced in the T / R module array. In addition, during the electrical welding process, if the amount of solder paste is too much, it will also be led out through the semi-cylindrical hole position of the side wall, reducing the electrical error rate and improving the reliability of the RF front-end module.

[0077] Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic device, and the electronic device includes the above-mentioned radio frequency front-end module structure.

[0078] In general, the present application proposes a radio frequency front-end module structure and an electronic device, which can achieve the following beneficial effects:

[0079] 1. The side wall metallization structure is adopted to realize the positioning and replacement of partially damaged RF front-end modules when the array module of the active phased array is working. At the same time, during electrical installation, excess solder paste overflows through the side wall metallization position, thereby improving the reliability of electrical installation.

[0080] 2. Compared with the BGA packaging form of high-power RF front-end modules, the RF front-end module of this application has better heat dissipation performance. Since the higher the temperature, the worse the chip performance, when the high-power RF front-end module is working, the RF front-end module of this application can quickly dissipate heat through the bottom and top surfaces of the Kovar metal cover, reduce chip heat accumulation, and improve chip working efficiency.

[0081] 3. The RF front-end module of the present application can be manufactured using the DPC process, which has lower costs, more mature processes, shorter cycles, and greater market advantages than HTCC and LTCC.

[0082] 4. The S-band RF front-end module of the present application is small in size, which can be 10mm×10mm×1.6mm, and weighs less than 2g, which is at least one order of magnitude smaller than the volume and weight of traditional RF components. The RF port loss is low, which can realize miniaturized application and reduce bare chip loss.

[0083] 5. The RF front-end module port of the present application has high isolation and can be used for high-gain RF links.

[0084] The above-described device and system embodiments are merely illustrative, and some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment. A person skilled in the art may understand and implement the present embodiment without creative effort.

[0085] The above are only preferred specific implementations of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by any technician familiar with the technical field within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A radio frequency front-end module structure, characterized in that: including a substrate, a plurality of pads, and a plurality of metallization structures; The side wall of the substrate is connected to a plurality of the metallization structures, the upper surface of the substrate is used to place a chip, and the bottom surface of the substrate is connected to a plurality of the pads; the plurality of pads are connected to the chip; The metallization structure is connected to the pad; When the bottom surface of the substrate is connected to an external base, the metallization structure of the side wall of the substrate can be connected to an external testing instrument, so that the external testing instrument can test the chip.

2. The RF front-end module structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: A semi-cylindrical hole is formed on the side wall of the substrate, and the metallization structure is located in the semi-cylindrical hole.

3. The RF front-end module structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The RF front-end module structure also includes a metal plane; The bottom surface of the substrate is connected to the metal plane, and the metal plane serves as a reference ground plane; At least one of the metallization structures connects the metal planes.

4. The RF front-end module structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The RF front-end module structure also includes a chip layout metal layer and a metal frame; The upper surface of the substrate is connected to the chip layout metal layer and the metal frame, and the area surrounded by the metal frame is used to accommodate the chip; The substrate has a plurality of connection pillars, and the chip is connected to the pad via the chip layout metal layer and the connection pillars.

5. The RF front-end module structure according to claim 4, characterized in that: There are multiple chips, and the multiple chips are connected through the chip layout metal layer.

6. The RF front-end module structure according to claim 5, characterized in that: The RF front-end module structure also includes gold wires, and the multiple chips are connected by the gold wires.

7. The RF front-end module structure according to claim 4, characterized in that: The RF front-end module structure also includes a Kovar metal cover plate; The Kovar metal cover is located at one end of the metal frame away from the substrate and is connected to the metal frame via gold-tin solder to seal the chip inside the RF front-end module structure.

8. The RF front-end module structure according to claim 4, characterized in that: The substrate is a ceramic substrate, and the substrate, the pad, the metallization structure, the chip layout metal layer and the metal frame are all completed in one piece through a direct copper plating process.

9. The RF front-end module structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The chip in the RF front-end module structure includes an S-band RF front-end chip.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that: The electronic device comprises the radio frequency front-end module structure as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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