Antenna-integrated wireless product, and method for manufacturing an antenna-integrated wireless product.

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 generally relates to the technical field of communication devices, and more particularly, to antenna-integrated radio (AIR) products and methods for manufacturing antenna-integrated radio (AIR) products.

Background Art

[0002] This section introduces aspects that can deepen a better understanding of the present disclosure. Therefore, the description in this section should be read from this perspective and should not be understood as admitting what is in the prior art or what is 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 conventional BS solutions, a remote radio unit (RRU) and an AU are separated as two independent units and are suspended on high buildings such as high-rise buildings, high walls, towers, and lamp posts. Considering installation / fixing / occupation, in BS designs including legacy BS, street macro, micro, small cell, and advanced antenna system (AAS), size reduction and weight reduction are always important directions of evolution.

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

[0005] Methods for reducing the size of products such as BS may include 1) minimizing the size of each component, and 2) designing a highly integrated module that combines multiple components into a single module. For example, 5G wireless and multiband antennas can be integrated into a single housing to form an AIR product.

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

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

[0009] Figure 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 FU3'' is placed between the substrate 5 and the radio heatsink 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 requirements for printed circuit boards (PCBs) differ between AU and RU, and it is difficult to manufacture a board 5 that satisfies the requirements of both AU and RU. Therefore, the current one-board solution is far more expensive than manufacturing the antenna board and wireless board separately. [Overview of the Initiative]

[0011] This summary of the invention is provided to introduce in a simplified form a selection of concepts that will be further described in the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below. This summary of the invention is not intended to identify any major or essential features of the subject matter of the claimed invention, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the subject matter of the claimed invention.

[0012] One of the purposes of this disclosure is to provide AIR products that can achieve a high level of integration while reducing costs.

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

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

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

[0016] In one embodiment of this disclosure, antenna elements soldered to an antenna substrate are grouped into multiple frequency bands.

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

[0018] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the antenna module is directly soldered to the wireless substrate. The term “directly soldered” as used herein means 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 wireless component comprises a surface-mount filter 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 random access memory (RAM).

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

[0022] A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for manufacturing an AIR product, the AIR 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 includes a) soldering antenna elements to a first surface of the antenna substrate; b) soldering wireless components to the first surface of the wireless substrate; c) arranging the antenna substrate together with the wireless substrate such that a second surface of the antenna substrate opposite to the first surface faces a second surface of the wireless substrate opposite to the first surface; and d) soldering the second surface of the antenna substrate to the second surface of the wireless substrate.

[0023] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, step a) or step b) is performed virtually 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 furnace.

[0025] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing an AIR product is provided, where the AIR product includes an antenna module and a wireless module. The antenna module includes a plurality of antenna elements, a power divider, an impedance transformer, and a calibration network, and the wireless module includes a wireless substrate and a plurality of wireless components. The method includes: a) soldering the wireless components to a first surface of the wireless substrate; b) disposing the antenna elements, the power divider, the impedance transformer, and the calibration network on a second surface opposite to the first surface of the wireless substrate; c) soldering the antenna elements and the power divider to the second surface of the wireless substrate; and d) soldering the impedance transformer and the calibration network to the second surface of the wireless substrate.

[0026] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, step c) or step d) is performed virtually 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 furnace.

[0028] These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings to assist in understanding.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0029] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing a first existing AIR product. [Figure 2]This is a diagram showing the second existing AIR product. [Figure 3] This is a diagram showing the third existing AIR product. [Figure 4] This is a diagram showing the fourth existing AIR product. [Figure 5] This figure shows a portion of the circuit board of the AIR product shown in Figure 4. [Figure 6] This figure shows a part of an AIR product according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] This diagram shows the process for manufacturing the AIR product shown in Figure 6. [Figure 8] This figure shows another process for manufacturing the AIR product shown in Figure 6. [Figure 9] This example shows that the dimensions of the wireless PCB and the antenna PCB are different. [Figure 10] This example shows that the dimensions of the wireless PCB and the antenna PCB are different. [Figure 11] This example shows that the dimensions of the wireless PCB and the antenna PCB are different. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0030] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed solely for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and, therefore implement, the present disclosure, and not to imply any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. References to features, advantages, or similar phrases throughout this specification do not imply that all features and advantages that may be realized with the present disclosure should be present in a single embodiment of the present disclosure or in any embodiment thereof. Rather, it should be understood that any phrase referring to features and advantages means that a particular feature, advantage, or characteristic described in relation to one embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the features, advantages, and characteristics described in the present disclosure may be combined in any preferred manner in one or more embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more particular features or advantages of a specific embodiment. In other instances, 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 common meanings in the relevant art, unless explicitly stated otherwise, and / or suggested by the context in which they are used. All references to elements, apparatus, components, means, steps, etc., should be openly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the elements, apparatus, components, means, steps, etc., unless otherwise expressly indicated. Any feature of any embodiment 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 purposes, features, and advantages of the embodiments disclosed herein will also become apparent from the following description.

[0032] Figure 5 shows a portion of the substrate 5 in the AIR product shown in Figure 4. The substrate 5 is supplied by the PCB vendor. As shown in Figure 5, the substrate 5 is a multilayer PCB with multiple antenna layers 51 on top and multiple radio layers 52 on the bottom. The substrate 5 is provided with numerous 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 radio layers 52, and a third via 55 for connecting one of the antenna layers 51 and one of the radio 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-beam via or a blind via. Forming blind vias on substrate 5 requires many additional process steps, such as lamination of additional cores with prepreg, drilling, via plugging, and etching. Furthermore, the antenna layer 51 and the radio layer 52 are made of different materials with different loss and electrical parameters. Therefore, forming the antenna layer 51 and the radio layer 52 on a single substrate is difficult and places a high demand on PCB vendors. Consequently, current one-substrate solutions are far more expensive than forming the antenna PCB and radio PCB separately.

[0034] Furthermore, current single-board solutions utilize multilayer PCBs to support the antenna and wireless layers, meaning the antenna and wireless layers have the same dimensions. However, in actual designs, the wireless components supported by a given wireless 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 depending on the operating frequency band. Current single-board solutions are not applicable to different wireless and antenna use cases.

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

[0036] Figure 6 shows a portion of an AIR product according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The AIR product according to this embodiment includes an antenna module and a wireless module. The antenna module includes an antenna substrate 61 and a plurality of antenna elements 63 soldered to the antenna substrate 61. The antenna module may further include a power divider, an impedance converter, and a calibration network, which are not shown in Figure 6 and may be soldered to the antenna substrate 61. The wireless module includes a wireless substrate 62 and a plurality of wireless components soldered to the wireless substrate 62. The wireless 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), and random access memory (RAM). The wireless components may further include a plurality of surface-mount filters 65, which may be metal cavity filters such as CWG filters or sheet metal filters.

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

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

[0039] The antenna substrate 61, the radio substrate 62, and the PAM are supplied to the surface mount assembly (SMA) line. In step S1, the antenna substrate 61 and the radio substrate 62 are positioned together by a robotic arm so that the second surface of the antenna substrate 61 faces the second surface of the radio substrate 62. In step S2, the antenna element 63 is positioned on the first surface of the antenna substrate 61 by a robotic arm. Next, in step S3, with the antenna substrate 61 and the radio substrate 62 fixed in place by fasteners, the antenna element 63 is soldered to the first surface of the antenna substrate 61 in a re-laid furnace, and at the same time, the second surface of the antenna substrate 61 is soldered to the second surface of the radio substrate 62.

[0040] In step S4, the PAM is placed on the first surface of the radio board 62 by a robotic arm. In step S5, the radio components, including the baseband component 64 and the surface mount filter 65, are placed on the first surface of the radio board 62 by a robotic arm. Then, in step S6, the PAM and radio components are soldered to the first surface of the radio board 62 in a reload furnace.

[0041] Figure 8 shows another process for manufacturing the AIR product shown in Figure 6. Similar steps are indicated by the same reference numeral followed by an apostrophe ('). This process differs from the process shown in Figure 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 surface of the antenna substrate 61 in a rirow furnace. Therefore, in step S3', only the soldering of the second surface of the antenna substrate 61 and the second surface of the radio substrate 62 takes place.

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

[0043] The advantages of the embodiments of this disclosure are described below.

[0044] According to the above embodiment, the antenna board and the wireless board are manufactured separately by the PCB vendor and then soldered together on an SMA line. This significantly reduces costs because it is much easier for the PCB vendor to manufacture the antenna PCB and wireless PCB compared to supplying a hybrid PCB with antenna and wireless layers.

[0045] Furthermore, since the antenna board and the wireless board are soldered together, a new single-board solution similar to that shown in Figure 4 is provided, which can be flexibly applied to different wireless and antenna use cases.

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

[0047] Furthermore, the AIR product according to the above embodiment is extremely useful in multiband designs (see Figure 11) where the antenna PCB supporting multiple antenna arrays of different frequency bands is far larger than that of a wireless PCB supporting multiple frequency bands.

[0048] In the embodiments described above, the antenna module comprises an antenna substrate 61, and the antenna elements 63, power divider, impedance converter, and calibration network are all soldered to the antenna substrate 61. However, the disclosure is not limited to these embodiments. For example, in another embodiment of the disclosure, the antenna module may not include an antenna substrate, and the antenna module, comprising the antenna elements and power divider, and optionally impedance converter and calibration network, is soldered directly to the radio board. The term “direct soldering” as used herein does not preclude the existence of possible intermediate supporters, but rather means that an antenna substrate is not required. Soldering an antenna module without an antenna substrate to the radio board can also achieve the advantages described above.

[0049] References in this disclosure to "an embodiment," "another embodiment," etc., indicate that the described embodiments may include unique features, structures, or characteristics, but not all embodiments are required to include such features, structures, or characteristics. Furthermore, such phrasing does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, when unique features, structures, or characteristics are described in conjunction with an embodiment, whether explicitly stated or not, it is assumed that such features, structures, or characteristics are within the scope of the knowledge of those skilled in the art to embody them in conjunction with other embodiments.

[0050] In this specification, terms such as “first” and “second” may be used to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited to these terms. These terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of this disclosure, the first element may be the second element, and similarly, the second element may be the first element. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any combination of one or more of the items listed.

[0051] The technical terms used herein are merely descriptive of specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the disclosure. Where used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural form unless the context explicitly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, terms such as “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” and / or “including,” where used herein, indicate the presence of the described 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. Terms such as “connect,” “connects,” “connecting,” and / or “connected,” as used herein, extend to direct and / or indirect connections between two elements.

[0052] This disclosure includes any novel features or combinations of features disclosed herein, whether express or generalized. Various modifications and adaptations to the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art when reading the modes for carrying out the prior invention in relation to the accompanying drawings. However, any modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

Claims

1. An antenna-integrated wireless product comprising an antenna module and a wireless module, wherein the antenna module comprises a plurality of antenna elements and a power divider, and the wireless module comprises a wireless circuit board and a plurality of wireless components, and the antenna module and the wireless components are soldered to opposite sides of the wireless circuit board. The antenna module comprises an antenna board, the antenna element and the power divider are soldered to a first surface of the antenna board, and the second surface of the antenna board is soldered to the wireless board. An antenna-integrated wireless product, wherein the antenna module further comprises an impedance converter and a calibration network soldered to the first surface of the antenna substrate.

2. The antenna-integrated wireless product according to claim 1, wherein the size of the antenna substrate is different from the size of the wireless substrate.

3. The antenna-integrated wireless product according to claim 1, wherein the antenna elements soldered to the antenna substrate are grouped into multiple frequency bands.

4. The antenna-integrated wireless product according to claim 1, wherein the antenna module is directly soldered to the wireless circuit board.

5. The antenna-integrated wireless product according to claim 4, wherein the antenna module further comprises an impedance converter and a calibration network.

6. The antenna-integrated wireless product according to claim 1, wherein the wireless component comprises one or more baseband components selected from the group consisting of a surface-mount filter and / or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), and random access memory (RAM).

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

8. A method for manufacturing an antenna-integrated wireless product, wherein the antenna-integrated wireless product comprises an antenna module and a wireless module, the antenna module comprises a plurality of antenna elements, a power divider, an impedance converter, and a calibration network, and the wireless module comprises a wireless board and a plurality of wireless components, a) Soldering the wireless components to the first surface of the wireless circuit board, b) The step of arranging the antenna element, the power divider, the impedance converter, and the calibration network on a second surface of the wireless board opposite to the first surface, c) Soldering the antenna element and the power divider to the second surface of the wireless board, d) Soldering the impedance converter and the calibration network to the second surface of the wireless board; A method that includes this.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein step c) or step d) is performed simultaneously with step a), before step a), or after step a).

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein steps a), c), and d) are carried out in the same reflow oven.

Images