Radio product with integrated antenna and method for manufacturing a radio product with integrated antenna - Patents.com

Abstract

An antenna integrated wireless product and a method for manufacturing the antenna integrated wireless product are provided. According to one embodiment, the antenna integrated wireless product comprises an antenna module and a radio module. The antenna module comprises a plurality of antenna elements and a power splitter. The radio module comprises a radio board and a plurality of radio components. The antenna module and the radio components are soldered to opposite sides of the radio board.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to the technical field of communication devices, and more particularly to an integrated antenna-radio (AIR) product and a method for manufacturing the integrated antenna-radio (AIR) product. [Background technology]

[0002] This section introduces aspects that may facilitate a better understanding of the present disclosure, and accordingly, the statements in this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions that are in the prior art or that are not in the prior art.

[0003] A Base Station (BS) is an important part of a mobile communication system and may include a Radio Unit (RU) and an Antenna Unit (AU). In traditional BS solutions, the Remote Radio Unit (RRU) and AU are separated as two independent units and hung on tall structures such as skyscrapers, high walls, towers, and lamp stands. Considering installation / fixed / occupancy, volume reduction and weight reduction are always important evolution directions in BS designs, including legacy BS, street macro, micro, small cell, and advanced antenna systems (AAS).

[0004] In recent years, with the development of fifth-generation (5G) communications, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology has become widely used, and the demand for small-sized, high-performance wireless is rapidly increasing. In addition, volume / size is always related to power and passive intermodulation (PIM) performance. Research on how to get better performance with limited size, or how to get sufficient performance with minimal size, is becoming more and more important.

[0005] Methods for reducing the size of products such as BSs may include: 1) reducing the size of each component to a minimum, and 2) designing highly integrated modules that integrate multiple components into a single module. For example, 5G radio and multi-band antennas can be integrated into a single housing to form an AIR product.

[0006] 1 shows a first existing AIR product in which an FU3 with a metal cavity filter is placed between the AU and the RU. The AU includes an antenna board 10, an antenna element 11, and an antenna radome 12. The RU includes a radio board 20, a radio cover 22, a radio heat sink 23, and radio components (not shown) placed on one or both sides of the radio board 20. The FU3 is connected to the antenna board 10 of the AU and the radio board 20 of the RU via an RF connector 4.

[0007] Figure 2 shows a second existing AIR product in which a ceramic waveguide (CWG) filter 3' is used instead of a metal cavity filter. As shown in Figure 2, the CWG filter 3' is soldered onto the radio board 20 of the RU, and the antenna board 10 of the AU is connected to the radio board 20 of the RU via an RF connector 4. The antenna board 10 may be integrated with the radio cover 22.

[0008] 3 shows a third existing AIR product in which a CWG filter 3′ is soldered to the backside of an antenna board 10 of an AU to form an antenna filter unit (AFU). The AFU is connected to a radio board 20 of an RU via an RF connector 4.

[0009] 4 shows a fourth existing AIR product in which the antenna element 11 and the radio component 21 are located on opposite sides of a single substrate 5 having at least one radio layer and at least one antenna layer. In such a one-substrate solution, the FU 3″ is located between the substrate 5 and the radio heat sink 23, eliminating the need for an RF connector.

[0010] The one-board solution shown in Figure 4 achieves a high level of integration to reduce the size / weight of the product. However, the AU and RU have different requirements for the printed circuit board (PCB), and it is difficult to manufacture a board 5 that meets the requirements of both the AU and the RU. Therefore, the current one-board solution is much more expensive than manufacturing the antenna board and the radio board separately. Summary of the Invention

[0011] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0012] One objective of this disclosure is to provide an AIR product that can achieve a high level of integration while reducing costs.

[0013] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an AIR product is provided, comprising an antenna module and a radio module. The antenna module comprises a plurality of antenna elements and a power splitter. The radio module comprises a radio board and a plurality of radio components. The antenna module and the radio components are soldered to opposite sides of the radio board.

[0014] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna module comprises an antenna substrate, the antenna element and the power splitter are soldered to a first side of the antenna substrate, and the second side of the antenna substrate is soldered to a radio substrate.

[0015] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the size of the antenna substrate is different from the size of the radio substrate.

[0016] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna elements soldered to the antenna substrate are grouped into bands.

[0017] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna module further comprises an impedance transformer and a calibration network soldered to the first surface of the antenna substrate.

[0018] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna module is soldered directly to the radio substrate, the term "soldered directly" being used herein to mean that no antenna substrate is provided.

[0019] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna module further comprises an impedance converter and a calibration network.

[0020] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the radio components comprise surface mounted filters and / or one or more baseband components selected from the group consisting of a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), and a random access memory (RAM).

[0021] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, further radio components are provided on one side of the radio board to which the antenna module is soldered.

[0022] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing an AIR product is provided, the AIR product comprising an antenna module and a radio module, the antenna module comprising an antenna board and a plurality of antenna elements, and the radio module comprising a radio board and a plurality of radio components, the method includes a) soldering the antenna element to a first surface of the antenna board, b) soldering the radio components to the first surface of the radio board, c) placing the antenna board together with the radio board such that a second surface of the antenna board opposite to the first surface faces a second surface of the radio board opposite to the first surface, and d) soldering the second surface of the antenna board to the second surface of the radio board.

[0023] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, step a) or step b) is simulated to be performed simultaneously with, before, or after step d).

[0024] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, steps a), b) and d) are performed in the same reflow oven.

[0025] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing an AIR product is provided, the AIR product comprising an antenna module and a radio module, the antenna module comprising a plurality of antenna elements, a power divider, an impedance converter, and a calibration network, and the radio module comprising a radio board and a plurality of radio components, the method includes a) soldering the radio components to a first side of the radio board, b) disposing the antenna elements, the power divider, the impedance converter, and the calibration network on a second side of the radio board opposite the first side, c) soldering the antenna elements and the power divider to the second side of the radio board, and d) soldering the impedance converter and the calibration network to the second side of the radio board.

[0026] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, step c) or step d) is simulated to be performed simultaneously with, before, or after step a).

[0027] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, steps a), c) and d) are performed in the same reflow oven.

[0028] These and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of an understanding thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0029] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a first existing AIR product. [Diagram 2]FIG. 1 shows a second existing AIR product. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 shows a third existing AIR product. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 shows a fourth existing AIR product. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a portion of the substrate of the AIR product shown in FIG. 4. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of an AIR product, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 illustrates a process for producing the AIR product shown in FIG. 6. [Figure 8] FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative process for producing the AIR product shown in FIG. [Figure 9] An example is shown where the radio PCB and antenna PCB have different dimensions. [Figure 10] An example is shown where the radio PCB and antenna PCB have different dimensions. [Figure 11] An example is shown where the radio PCB and antenna PCB have different dimensions. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these embodiments are not intended to imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure, but are merely discussed for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and therefore implement the present disclosure. References to features, advantages, or similar phrases throughout this specification do not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present disclosure should or are in a single embodiment of the present disclosure. Rather, phrases referring to features and advantages should be understood to mean that a particular feature, advantage, or characteristic described with respect to an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the present disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a specific embodiment. In other cases, additional features and advantages that may not be present in all embodiments of the present disclosure may be recognized in some embodiments.

[0031] In general, all terms used herein should be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or suggested by the context of use. All references to elements, apparatus, components, means, steps, etc., should be openly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless expressly stated otherwise. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, where appropriate. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the embodiments of the present specification will also become apparent from the following description.

[0032] FIG. 5 shows a part of the substrate 5 in the AIR product shown in FIG. 4. The substrate 5 is provided by a PCB vendor. As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate 5 is a multi-layer PCB having a plurality of antenna layers 51 on the upper side and a plurality of wireless layers 52 on the lower side. The substrate 5 is provided with a number of vias for electrically connecting different layers, such as a first via 53 for connecting two antenna layers 51, a second via 54 for connecting two wireless layers 52, and a third via 55 for connecting one of the antenna layers 51 and one of the wireless layers 52.

[0033] Both the first via 53 and the second via 54 may be blind vias, and the third via 55 may be a through via or a blind via. To form blind vias in the substrate 5, many additional process steps are required, such as lamination of additional cores with prepreg, drilling, via plugging, and etching. In addition, the antenna layer 51 and the radio layer 52 are made of different materials with different losses and electrical parameters. Therefore, it is difficult to form the antenna layer 51 and the radio layer 52 in a single substrate, which places high demands on PCB vendors. Therefore, the current one-substrate solution is much more expensive than forming the antenna PCB and the radio PCB separately.

[0034] In addition, current one-board solutions use multi-layer PCBs to support the antenna and radio layers, which means that the antenna and radio layers have the same dimensions. However, in practical designs, the radio components supported by a given radio PCB may operate in different frequency bands, and the size and spacing of the antenna elements, and therefore the size of the antenna PCB, will change as the operating frequency band changes. Current one-board solutions cannot be applied to different radio and antenna use cases.

[0035] In view of the above, the present disclosure proposes a new AIR product that can achieve a high integration level while reducing costs and is applicable to different radio and antenna use cases.

[0036] FIG. 6 shows a portion of an AIR product according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The AIR product according to this embodiment includes an antenna module and a radio module. The antenna module includes an antenna board 61 and a plurality of antenna elements 63 soldered to the antenna board 61. The antenna module may further include a power divider, an impedance converter, and a calibration network, which are not shown in FIG. 6 and may be soldered to the antenna board 61. The radio module includes a radio board 62 and a plurality of radio components soldered to the radio board 62. The radio components include a plurality of baseband components 64, which may be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM). The radio components further include a plurality of surface-mount filters 65, which may be a metal cavity filter such as a CWG filter or a sheet metal filter.

[0037] The antenna element 63 is soldered to the first side (top side in FIG. 6 ) of the antenna board 61. Although not shown, those skilled in the art will understand that a power divider, an impedance converter, and a calibration network may also be soldered to the first side of the antenna board 61. The baseband components 64 and the surface mount filter 65 are soldered to the first side (bottom side in FIG. 6 ) of the radio board 62. Although not shown, those skilled in the art will understand that some radio components may be soldered to the second side (top side in FIG. 6 ) of the radio board 62. The second side (bottom side in FIG. 6 ) of the antenna board 61 is soldered to the second side of the radio board 62 as shown in FIG. 6 .

[0038] Figure 7 shows the process for manufacturing the AIR product shown in Figure 6. First, an antenna board 61 and a radio board 62 are manufactured by a PCB vendor. As shown in Figure 7, a power amplifier module (PAM) is also provided, which includes multiple RF amplifying elements integrated into a small PCB.

[0039] The antenna board 61, the radio board 62, and the PAM are supplied to a surface mount assembly (SMA) line. In step S1, the antenna board 61 and the radio board 62 are placed together by a robot arm such that the second surface of the antenna board 61 faces the second surface of the radio board 62. In step S2, the antenna element 63 is placed on the first surface of the antenna board 61 by the robot arm. Next, in step S3, with the antenna board 61 and the radio board 62 fixed in position by a fixture, the antenna element 63 is soldered to the first surface of the antenna board 61 in a rerow furnace, and at the same time, the second surface of the antenna board 61 is soldered to the second surface of the radio board 62.

[0040] In step S4, the PAM is placed by the robot arm on the first side of the radio board 62. In step S5, the radio components including the baseband components 64 and the surface mount filters 65 are placed by the robot arm on the first side of the radio board 62. Then, in step S6, the PAM and the radio components are soldered to the first side of the radio board 62 in a rerow oven.

[0041] FIG. 8 shows another process for manufacturing the AIR product shown in FIG. 6. Similar steps are represented by the same reference numbers with an apostrophe ('). This process differs from the above process shown in FIG. 7 only in that the antenna element 63 is soldered to the antenna substrate 61 before the antenna substrate 61 and the radio substrate 62 are soldered together. In other words, step S2' is performed before step S1', and step S7 is inserted between steps S2' and S1'. In step S7, the antenna element 63 is soldered to the first side of the antenna substrate 61 in a re-row oven. Thus, in step S3', only the soldering between the second side of the antenna substrate 61 and the second side of the radio substrate 62 is performed.

[0042] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that steps S4-S6, S4'-S6' may also be performed before steps S1, S1' and S3, S3'. There is no restriction on the order of the soldering steps. That is, soldering of antenna element 63 to antenna board 61, soldering of PAM or radio components to radio board 62, and soldering of antenna board 61 to radio board 62 may be performed in any order. They may also be performed simultaneously in the same reflow over. Also, steps S5, S5' may be performed before steps S4, S4' or simultaneously with steps S4, S4'.

[0043] Advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure are described below.

[0044] According to the above embodiment, the antenna board and the radio board are manufactured separately by the PCB vendor and then soldered together by the SMA line. Compared with supplying a hybrid PCB with the antenna layer and the radio layer, it is much easier for the PCB vendor to manufacture the antenna PCB and the radio PCB, so the cost is greatly reduced.

[0045] Additionally, the antenna board and radio board are soldered together, providing a novel one-board solution similar to that shown in Figure 4, which can be flexibly applied to different radio and antenna use cases.

[0046] For example, the radio PCB can be manufactured to have substantially the same dimensions as the antenna PCB for an antenna array operating at 3.5 GHz. For an antenna array operating at 2.6 GHz, another antenna PCB larger than the radio PCB is required (see FIG. 9). For an antenna array operating at 4.9 GHz, yet another antenna PCB smaller than the radio PCB is required (see FIG. 10), and in this case, some radio components can also be soldered to the side of the radio PCB where the antenna PCB is soldered. The AIR product according to the above embodiment can be flexibly applied to such cases.

[0047] Furthermore, the AIR product according to the above embodiment is very useful in multi-band designs (see FIG. 11) where the antenna PCB supporting multiple antenna arrays for different bands is much larger than the radio PCB supporting multiple bands.

[0048] In the above embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna module includes an antenna substrate 61, and the antenna element 63, the power divider, the impedance converter, and the calibration network are all soldered to the antenna substrate 61. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments. For example, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna module may not include an antenna substrate, and the antenna module including the antenna element and the power divider, and optionally the impedance converter and the calibration network, is soldered directly to the radio substrate. The term "direct soldering" in this specification does not exclude the presence of a possible intermediate supporter, but rather means that the antenna substrate is not required. The above-mentioned advantages can also be achieved by soldering the antenna module without the antenna substrate to the radio substrate.

[0049] References in this disclosure to "an embodiment," "another embodiment," or the like indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment need include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with one embodiment, it is believed to be within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to embody such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly stated.

[0050] It should be understood that although terms such as "first," "second," and the like may be used herein to refer to various elements, these elements should not be limited to these terms. These terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may refer to a second element, and similarly, a second element may refer to a first element, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0051] The terminology used herein merely describes particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof. As used herein, the terms "connect," "connects," "connecting," and / or "connected" cover a direct and / or indirect connection between two elements.

[0052] The present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein, whether explicit or in any generalized form. Various modifications and adaptations to the preceding exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the preceding detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An antenna-integrated wireless product comprising an antenna module and a wireless module, the antenna module comprising a plurality of antenna elements and a power splitter, the wireless module comprising a wireless board and a plurality of wireless components, the antenna module and the wireless components being soldered to opposite sides of the wireless board.

2. 2. The antenna-integrated wireless product of claim 1, wherein the antenna module comprises an antenna substrate, the antenna element and the power splitter being soldered to a first surface of the antenna substrate, and a second surface of the antenna substrate being soldered to the wireless substrate.

3. The antenna-integrated wireless product according to claim 2 , wherein a size of the antenna substrate is different from a size of the wireless substrate.

4. 4. The antenna-integrated wireless product according to claim 2, wherein the antenna elements soldered to the antenna substrate are grouped into a plurality of bands.

5. 5. The antenna integrated wireless product of claim 2, wherein the antenna module further comprises an impedance transformer and a calibration network soldered to the first surface of the antenna substrate.

6. The antenna-integrated wireless product according to claim 1 , wherein the antenna module is directly soldered to the wireless substrate.

7. The antenna integrated wireless product of claim 6 , wherein the antenna module further comprises an impedance converter and a calibration network.

8. 8. The antenna integrated radio product of claim 1, wherein the radio components comprise surface mounted filters and / or one or more baseband components selected from the group consisting of a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), and a random access memory (RAM).

9. 9. The antenna-integrated wireless product of claim 1, wherein further wireless components are provided on one side of the wireless board to which the antenna module is soldered.

10. A method for manufacturing an antenna-integrated wireless product, the antenna-integrated wireless product comprising an antenna module and a wireless module, the antenna module comprising an antenna substrate and a plurality of antenna elements, and the wireless module comprising a wireless substrate and a plurality of wireless components, the method comprising: a) soldering the antenna element to a first surface of the antenna substrate; b) soldering the radio component to a first side of the radio substrate; c) placing the antenna substrate together with the radio substrate such that a second surface of the antenna substrate opposite the first surface faces a second surface of the radio substrate opposite the first surface; d) soldering the second surface of the antenna substrate to the second surface of the radio substrate; The method includes:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein step a) or step b) is simulated performed simultaneously with, before, or after step d).

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein steps a), b) and d) are carried out in the same reflow oven.

13. A method for manufacturing an antenna-integrated wireless product, the antenna-integrated wireless product comprising an antenna module and a radio module, the antenna module comprising a plurality of antenna elements, a power divider, an impedance converter, and a calibration network, and the radio module comprising a radio substrate and a plurality of radio components, the method comprising: a) soldering the radio component to a first side of the radio substrate; b) disposing the antenna element, the power divider, the impedance transformer, and the calibration network on a second side of the radio board opposite the first side; c) soldering the antenna element and the power divider to the second side of the radio board; d) soldering the impedance transformer and the calibration network to the second side of the radio board; The method includes:

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein step c) or step d) is performed simulated simultaneously with, before, or after step a).

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein steps a), c) and d) are carried out in the same reflow oven.

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