Millimeter-Wave RFIC Package with Integrated Antenna
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional packaging structures for millimeter-wave and Terahertz applications face challenges with low integration levels, high loss, and manufacturing tolerances for frequencies above 94 GHz, making them unsuitable for high-frequency operations.
Innovation Solution
A package structure comprising a planar core with an antenna structure on one side and an interface structure on the other, using laminated layers with patterned conductive layers on insulating layers, and an antenna feed line structure routed through both, connected to a semiconductor RFIC chip, employing SLC manufacturing processes for high-frequency tolerances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If organic or ceramic-based multilayer antenna structures are used, then integration level is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates for frequencies above 94 GHz due to low PCB and LTCC tolerances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the antenna structure and RFIC chip into a single integrated package, eliminating the need for separate PCB or LTCC antenna boards. This merging achieves high integration while maintaining manufacturing precision through direct semiconductor fabrication processes that can achieve sub-micron tolerances, far exceeding the capabilities of organic or ceramic multilayer technologies at millimeter-wave frequencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameters from organic PCB or ceramic LTCC to semiconductor-based materials with fundamentally different electrical and mechanical properties. This parameter change enables both high integration and precise manufacturing at 94 GHz and above, as semiconductor processes can maintain tight tolerances that are critical for millimeter-wave performance.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional discrete component assembly is used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but loss increases at millimeter-wave frequencies due to package materials being too lossy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the RFIC chip and antenna into a single integrated structure, eliminating multiple discrete components and their interconnections. This integration removes the lossy package materials (PCB, LTCC) from the signal path and eliminates via transitions and connector interfaces that cause signal loss at millimeter-wave frequencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the antenna function directly from the package substrate and integrates it onto the RFIC chip itself. This extraction eliminates the need for lossy package materials and discrete antenna components, achieving low-loss operation at 94 GHz and above while maintaining ease of manufacture through standard semiconductor fabrication processes.
3Ease of manufacture
If package-level microstrip or stripline structures are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but device complexity increases due to bulky waveguides and low integration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the RFIC chip, transmission lines, and antenna into a single integrated package structure. This merging achieves high integration by eliminating bulky waveguides and discrete microstrip/stripline components, while maintaining ease of manufacture through standard semiconductor fabrication processes that can create miniaturized transmission line structures directly on the chip.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from planar microstrip/stripline structures to three-dimensional integrated structures that utilize vertical stacking and through-silicon vias. This dimensional change enables compact integration while maintaining manufacturability through established semiconductor processes, achieving both high integration and ease of manufacture simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A package structure includes a planar core structure, an antenna structure disposed on one side of the planar core structure, and an interface structure disposed on an opposite side of the planar core structure. The antenna structure and interface structure are each formed of a plurality of laminated layers, each laminated layer having a patterned conductive layer formed on an insulating layer. The antenna structure includes a planar antenna formed on one or more patterned conductive layers of the laminated layers. The interface structure includes a power plane, a ground plane, signal lines, and contact pads formed on one or more patterned conductive layers of the laminated layers of the interface structure. The package structure further includes an antenna feed line structure formed in, and routed through, the interface structure and the planar core structure, and connected to the planar antenna.