JP6662446B2 - Non-reciprocal circuit device and communication device using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-reciprocal circuit device and a communication device using the same, and more particularly, to a distributed constant non-reciprocal circuit device and a communication device using the same.

  Non-reciprocal circuit elements such as isolators and circulators are used by being incorporated in mobile communication devices such as mobile phones, communication devices used in base stations, and the like. Non-reciprocal circuit devices include types such as distributed constant type and lumped constant type. Among them, distributed constant type non-reciprocal circuit devices are suitable for applications requiring high output such as base stations.

  The structure of a distributed constant type non-reciprocal circuit device is described in, for example, Patent Document 1. The non-reciprocal circuit device described in Patent Literature 1 has a configuration in which a central conductor having three ports extending radially at an angle of 120 ° from each other and a permanent magnet that applies a magnetic field to the central conductor are housed in a case. .

  However, the non-reciprocal circuit element of the type in which the center conductor and the permanent magnet are housed in the case has a problem that it is difficult to reduce the size and the manufacturing cost. In particular, when it is assumed to be used in a high frequency band exceeding 20 GHz, it is necessary to make the size extremely small as compared with a non-reciprocal circuit device of several hundred MHz band. It is difficult to manufacture a non-reciprocal circuit device of the type.

  For this reason, in order to manufacture a smaller non-reciprocal circuit device at a low cost, a multilayer non-reciprocal circuit device manufactured using a collective substrate instead of accommodating a center conductor or a permanent magnet in a case is advantageous. It is.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a laminated non-reciprocal circuit device.

  The non-reciprocal circuit device 100 shown in FIG. 14 includes a magnetic rotor 120 sandwiched between two permanent magnets 111 and 112, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape. The magnetic rotator 120 includes two ferrite cores 121 and 122 and a center conductor 123 sandwiched therebetween. Three ports 131 to 133 derived from the center conductor 123 are connected to external terminals 141 to 143, respectively. I have. The nonreciprocal circuit device 100 shown in FIG. 14 has a configuration in which the XY plane is the mounting surface, and the permanent magnet 111, the magnetic rotator 120, and the permanent magnet 112 are sequentially stacked in the Z direction orthogonal to the XY plane.

  The non-reciprocal circuit device 100 having such a configuration can be manufactured in a large number of pieces by stacking in the state of a collective substrate and then singulating by dicing to reduce the manufacturing cost. At the same time, the overall size can be reduced.

JP 2012-29123 A

  However, in the non-reciprocal circuit device 100 shown in FIG. 14, since the external terminals 141 to 143 cross the permanent magnet 111 in the Z direction, the external terminals 141 to 143 are strongly affected by the magnetic characteristics from the permanent magnet 111. As a result, the inductance components of the external terminals 141 to 143 are adversely affected, so that there is a problem that electrical characteristics, particularly insertion loss, are deteriorated. Such a problem is not serious when the target frequency band is low, but when the target frequency band is, for example, 20 GHz or more, the electrical characteristics are significantly deteriorated.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the electrical characteristics of a non-reciprocal circuit device that can be manufactured at a small size and at low cost. Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication device including such a non-reciprocal circuit device.

  A non-reciprocal circuit device according to the present invention is a non-reciprocal circuit device having a mounting surface parallel to a stacking direction, and first and second side surfaces perpendicular to the mounting surface and parallel to the stacking direction. A first permanent magnet, a magnetic rotor laminated in the laminating direction with respect to the first permanent magnet, and having a central conductor and at least first and second ports derived from the central conductor; A first external terminal provided on the first side surface and connected to the first port; and a second external terminal provided on the second side surface and connected to the second port. It is characterized by having.

  Further, a communication device according to the present invention includes the above non-reciprocal circuit device.

  According to the present invention, since the mounting surface is parallel to the laminating direction, the external terminals can be arranged without crossing the permanent magnet. This makes it possible to prevent the electrical characteristics from being deteriorated due to the overlap between the external terminal and the permanent magnet.

  It is preferable that the non-reciprocal circuit device according to the present invention further includes a magnetic substrate, and the magnetic rotor is sandwiched in the laminating direction by the first permanent magnet and the magnetic substrate. In this case, it is more preferable that the magnetic substrate is a second permanent magnet. According to this, it becomes possible to apply a strong magnetic field to the center conductor vertically.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the magnetic rotator includes first and second ferrite cores that sandwich the center conductor in the laminating direction. According to this, it is possible to obtain better electric characteristics.

  Preferably, the non-reciprocal circuit device according to the present invention further includes a third external terminal provided on the mounting surface, and the center conductor further includes a third port connected to the third external terminal. According to this, it can be used as an isolator or a circulator having a three-port configuration. In this case, it is preferable that a part of the first and second external terminals is provided on the mounting surface. According to this, it is possible to increase the mounting strength and the connection reliability.

  In the present invention, the angle formed by the extending direction of the first port with respect to the center point of the center conductor and the extending direction of the third port with respect to the center point of the center conductor is an acute angle. The angle formed by the extending direction of the second port with respect to the center point of the center conductor and the extending direction of the third port with respect to the center point of the center conductor is an acute angle. Is preferred. According to this, since the length of the external terminal can be shortened, it is possible to obtain good high-frequency characteristics.

  The non-reciprocal circuit device according to the present invention may further include a conductor plate sandwiched in the laminating direction by the first permanent magnet and the gyromagnetic component, and a fourth external terminal connected to the conductor plate. preferable. According to this, it is possible to apply a reference potential such as ground to the conductor plate.

  It is preferable that the non-reciprocal circuit device according to the present invention further includes a connection conductor that covers an upper surface located on a side opposite to the mounting surface and connects the conductor plate and the fourth external terminal. In this case, it is preferable that the conductor plate is connected to the connection conductor by being exposed on the upper surface without being exposed from any of the mounting surface, the first side surface, and the second side surface. According to this, it is possible to prevent a short circuit between the conductor plate and the external terminal.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a non-reciprocal circuit device which is small and can be manufactured at low cost and has excellent high frequency characteristics. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a communication device including such a non-reciprocal circuit device.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 viewed from the mounting surface side. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a state where external terminals and connection conductors included in the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 are removed, as viewed from the upper surface side. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a state where external terminals and connection conductors included in the non-reciprocal circuit element 10 are removed as viewed from the mounting surface side. FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view for explaining a main part of the non-reciprocal circuit device 10. FIG. 6 is a YZ sectional view for explaining the shape of the center conductor 50. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the positions of ports 51 to 53 provided in central conductor 50. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the shape of the center conductor 50 according to the first modification. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the shape of the center conductor 50 according to the second modification. FIG. 10 is a process chart for explaining a method of manufacturing the non-reciprocal circuit device 10. FIG. 11 is a process chart for describing a method of manufacturing the non-reciprocal circuit device 10. FIG. 12 is a plan view for explaining the positional relationship between the conductor pattern 40B and the conductor plate 50A. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication device 80 using the non-reciprocal circuit device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a laminated non-reciprocal circuit device.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 and 2 are schematic perspective views showing the configuration of a non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view from the top side, and FIG. 2 is a view from the mounting side. It is a schematic perspective view. 3 and 4 are schematic perspective views showing a state in which external terminals and connection conductors included in the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 have been removed. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view seen from the top side, and FIG. It is the schematic perspective view seen from the surface side. FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view for explaining a main part of the non-reciprocal circuit device 10.

  The nonreciprocal circuit device 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 is a distributed constant type nonreciprocal circuit device, and is incorporated in a mobile communication device such as a mobile phone, a communication device used in a base station, and the like. Or used as a circulator. Although not particularly limited, the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment is preferably used for a communication device used in a base station.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the nonreciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment is a surface-mounted electronic component having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and includes a mounting surface 11 and an upper surface 12 constituting an XY plane, and an XZ surface. And the third and fourth side surfaces 15 and 16 forming the YZ plane. Although not particularly limited, when the target frequency band is about 25 GHz, the length in the X direction is about 2 mm, the width in the Y direction is about 1.25 mm, and the height in the Z direction is about 1.25 mm. It is.

  The non-reciprocal circuit device 10 includes four external terminals 21 to 24 and a connection conductor 25. As shown in FIG. 2, the first external terminal 21 is formed on the side surface 13 and the mounting surface 11, the second external terminal 22 is formed on the side surface 14 and the mounting surface 11, and the third external terminal 23 is formed on the mounting surface 11. 11 is formed. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the formation positions of the external terminals 21 to 23 are indicated by broken lines. These three external terminals 21 to 23 are connected to corresponding signal wirings when the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment is used as a circulator. On the other hand, when the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment is used as an isolator, for example, the external terminals 21 and 22 are connected to corresponding signal wires, and the external terminal 23 is grounded via a terminating resistor. Similarly, it can be used as an isolator even if it is grounded to the end point resistor via one end of the external terminal 21 or 22. The fourth external terminal 24 is formed on the entire side surfaces 15 and 16 and is formed on a part of the mounting surface 11. A reference potential such as ground is applied to the fourth external terminal 24. The connection conductor 25 is formed on the entire upper surface 12 and serves to supply a reference potential given to the fourth external terminal 24 to a conductor plate described later.

  Further, the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 includes permanent magnets 31 and 32, and has a configuration in which the magnetic rotator 40 is sandwiched between the permanent magnets 31 and 32 in the stacking direction X. In the present invention, one of the permanent magnets 31 and 32 may be omitted or replaced with an iron plate or the like as a magnetic substrate having a small coercive force, but a strong magnetic field is applied vertically to the gyromagnetic component 40. For this purpose, it is preferable to sandwich the magnetic rotor 40 between the two permanent magnets 31 and 32. In the present embodiment, all of the external terminals 21 to 23 are formed on the surface of the magnetic rotor 40, and the external terminals 21 to 23 do not have a portion that covers the permanent magnet 31 or 32. Such a layout is possible because the mounting surface 11 is parallel to the X direction, which is the stacking direction.

  The gyromagnetic component 40 includes two ferrite cores 41 and 42 and a center conductor 50 sandwiched therebetween in the X direction. As a material for the ferrite cores 41 and 42, it is preferable to use a soft magnetic material such as yttrium / iron / garnet (YIG). The center conductor 50 is substantially disc-shaped and has three ports 51 to 53 radially derived from the center point. The center conductor 50 and the ferrite cores 41 and 42 are bonded to each other via an adhesive layer 71.

  Here, the tip of the first port 51 derived from the center conductor 50 is exposed on the first side surface 13, and is thereby connected to the first external terminal 21. Further, the tip of the second port 52 led out from the center conductor 50 is exposed on the second side surface 14, and is thereby connected to the second external terminal 22. Further, the tip of the third port 53 led out from the center conductor 50 is exposed on the mounting surface 11, and is thereby connected to the third external terminal 23.

  The nonreciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment includes a conductor plate 61 sandwiched in the X direction by the permanent magnet 31 and the magnetic rotator 40, and a conductor plate 62 sandwiched in the X direction by the permanent magnet 32 and the magnetic rotator 40. In addition. Thus, the center conductor 50 is sandwiched between the two conductor plates 61 and 62 and is isolated from the permanent magnets 31 and 32. The conductor plates 61 and 62 have a width in the Y direction smaller than the width of the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 in the Y direction, and a height in the Z direction lower than the height of the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 in the Z direction. The conductor plates 61 and 62 are exposed on the upper surface 12 without being exposed on any of the side surfaces 13 and 14 and the mounting surface 11. As described above, since the entire upper surface 12 is covered with the connection conductor 25, the conductor plates 61 and 62 are connected to the fourth external terminal 24 via the connection conductor 25. The permanent magnets 31 and 32 and the magnetic rotor 40 are adhered to each other via an adhesive layer 72.

  FIG. 6 is a YZ sectional view for explaining the shape of the center conductor 50.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the YZ section of the center conductor 50 is substantially circular. Then, the first port 51 led out from the center conductor 50 extends in the lower left direction in FIG. 6 and is connected to the first external terminal 21. In addition, a second port 52 derived from the center conductor 50 extends in the lower right direction in FIG. 6 and is connected to the second external terminal 22. Further, a third port 53 derived from the center conductor 50 extends in a direction directly below (in the minus Z direction) in FIG. 6 and is connected to the third external terminal 23. However, it is not essential that the YZ cross section of the center conductor 50 is circular, and the center conductor 50 may have a concave portion, a convex portion, a hole, a branch, a slit, or the like for adjusting characteristics.

  FIG. 6 also shows the positions of the conductor plates 61 and 62, and it can be seen that the ends of the conductor plates 61 and 62 are not exposed on the mounting surface 11 and the side surfaces 13 and 14. On the other hand, the ends of the conductor plates 61 and 62 are exposed on the upper surface 12 and are thereby connected to the connection conductor 25.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the positions of ports 51 to 53 provided in central conductor 50.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the present embodiment, when the extending directions of the ports 51 to 53 with respect to the center point C of the center conductor 50 are indicated by straight lines L1 to L3, respectively, the angle formed by the straight lines L1 and L2 θ1 is about 120 °, and the angle θ2 formed by the straight lines L1 and L2 and the straight line L3 is about 60 °. That is, each of the angles θ2 is an acute angle, which is significantly different from the port derivation angles (120 ° each other) in a general non-reciprocal circuit device.

  The reason why the third port 53 functions as the non-reciprocal circuit element even with such a configuration is that the third port 53 has substantially the same characteristics as the virtual port 54. The virtual port 54 extends directly upward (positive Z direction) from the center point C, and the angle θ3 formed by the straight line L4 corresponding to the virtual port 54 and the straight lines L1 and L2 is about 120 °. That is, the center conductor 50 having the first and second ports 51 and 52 and the virtual port 54 has the same configuration as the center conductor used in a general three-terminal non-reciprocal circuit device, and is widely known. Function as an isolator or circulator as described.

  Since the standing wave appearing at the virtual port 54 also appears at the third port 53 located on the 180 ° opposite side of the virtual port 54, by using the third port 53 instead of the virtual port 54, The same function as the center conductor used in a general three-terminal type nonreciprocal circuit device can be realized. The angle θ1 formed by the straight line L1 and the straight line L2 does not need to be completely 120 °, and is designed to be more than 120 ° in order to reduce the insertion loss between the first port 51 and the second port 52. It does not matter.

  However, the layout of the ports 51 to 53 derived from the center conductor 50 in the present invention is not limited to the above layout. Therefore, the third port 53 may be arranged at the same position as the virtual port 54, as in the first modification shown in FIG. Alternatively, as in the second modification shown in FIG. 9, the layout of the first modification may be rotated by 180 °. However, in this case, since the lengths of the first and second external terminals 21 and 22 in the Z direction are long, when the frequency band to be used is high, particularly when used in a frequency band of 20 GHz or more, Electrical characteristics are deteriorated by the inductance components of the first and second external terminals 21 and 22.

  On the other hand, according to the layout according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the connection between the third port 53 and the land pattern on the printed circuit board does not become difficult, and the first and second external ports are not connected. The length of the terminals 21 and 22 in the Z direction can be reduced. For this reason, the layout of the center conductor 50 according to the present embodiment makes it easy to adopt a surface-mounted terminal arrangement, and is particularly advantageous when the frequency band to be used is high, particularly when used in a frequency band of 20 GHz or more. It is.

  The non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment has the external terminals 21 to 23 which do not overlap with the permanent magnets 31 or 32. The inductance does not increase. For this reason, even if the frequency band used is very high, good electrical characteristics can be obtained.

  Table 1 is a table showing the electrical characteristics of the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment and the conventional non-reciprocal circuit device 100 shown in FIG. 14, both having a length in the X direction of 2 mm and a width in the Y direction. Is 1.25 mm and the height in the Z direction is 1.25 mm.

  As shown in Table 1, the nonreciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment has lower insertion loss and isolation characteristics in the frequency bands of 26.5 GHz and 29.5 GHz than the conventional nonreciprocal circuit device 100. Is high.

  Next, the method for manufacturing the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 10, a permanent magnet 30A and a ferrite core 40A, which are collective substrates, are prepared, and a conductor pattern is formed on the surfaces of the permanent magnet 30A and the ferrite core 40A. Specifically, the conductor pattern 30B is formed on almost the entire surface of the permanent magnet 30A, and the rectangular conductor pattern 40B is regularly formed on the surface of the ferrite core 40A. As a method for forming the conductor patterns 30B and 40B, for example, a screen printing method can be used. The conductor pattern 40B is a portion that eventually becomes the conductor plate 61 or 62.

  Next, the permanent magnet 30A and the ferrite core 40A are laminated via the adhesive layer 72, and they are integrated by performing a vacuum heat press to produce a laminate 73 shown in FIG. After manufacturing two such laminates 73, as shown in FIG. 11, the conductor plate 50A is sandwiched between the two laminates 73 via the adhesive layer 71, and they are integrated by performing a vacuum heat press. . The conductor plate 50A is constituted by a plurality of center conductors 50.

  FIG. 12 is a plan view for explaining the positional relationship between the conductor pattern 40B and the conductor plate 50A. As shown in FIG. 12, the positional relationship between one conductor pattern 40B and two center conductors 50 is adjusted so as to overlap. Since the center conductors 50 adjacent in the Y direction are connected by the ports 51 or 52 and the center conductors 50 adjacent in the Z direction are connected by the port 53, the individual center conductors 50 are not separated.

  Then, after dicing the collective substrate along the dicing line D shown in FIG. 12, if the external terminals 21 to 24 and the connection conductors 25 are formed on the individual pieces, the non-reciprocal circuit device 10 according to the present embodiment is completed.

  By using such a manufacturing method, a large number of non-reciprocal circuit devices 10 can be manufactured at the same time, so that manufacturing costs can be reduced. Further, as shown in FIG. 12, since the conductor pattern 40B overlapping the two center conductors 50 is used and the conductor pattern 40B is cut in the Y direction, the conductor plates 61 and 62 can be exposed on the upper surface 12. It becomes possible.

  When the completed non-reciprocal circuit device 10 is mounted on a printed circuit board, the device is rotated by 90 ° so that the X direction, which is the lamination direction, is horizontal. This eliminates the need for the external terminals 21 to 23 to cross the permanent magnets 31 or 32 as described above, so that the high-frequency characteristics do not deteriorate as in the conventional nonreciprocal circuit device 100.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication device 80 using the non-reciprocal circuit device according to the present embodiment.

  A communication device 80 shown in FIG. 13 is provided in, for example, a base station in a mobile communication system, and includes a reception circuit unit 80R and a transmission circuit unit 80T, which are connected to a transmission / reception antenna ANT. . The reception circuit unit 80R includes a reception amplification circuit 81 and a reception circuit 82 that processes a received signal. The transmission circuit unit 80T includes a transmission circuit 83 that generates an audio signal, a video signal, and the like, and a power amplification circuit 84.

  In the communication device 80 having such a configuration, the nonreciprocal circuit elements 91 and 92 according to the present embodiment are used in a path from the antenna ANT to the receiving circuit unit 80R and a path from the transmitting circuit unit 80T to the antenna ANT. . The non-reciprocal circuit device 91 functions as a circulator, and the non-reciprocal circuit device 92 functions as an isolator having a terminating resistor R0.

  As described above, the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. It goes without saying that they are included in the range.

10, 91, 92 Non-reciprocal circuit element 11 Mounting surface 12 Upper surface 13-16 Side surface 21-24 External terminal 25 Connection conductor 30A, 31, 32 Permanent magnet 30B, 40B Conductor pattern 40 Magnetic rotator 40A, 41, 42 Ferrite core 50 Center conductor 50A Conductor plate 51 to 53 Port 54 Virtual port 60, 61 Conductor plate 71, 72 Adhesive layer 73 Stack 80 Communication device 80R Receiving circuit unit 80T Transmitting circuit unit 81 Receiving amplifier circuit 82 Receiving circuit 83 Transmitting circuit 84 Power amplification Circuit ANT Antenna C Center point D Dicing line L1-L4 Straight line R0 Terminating resistor

Claims (10)

It has a first to a third port, and operates as a circulator by connecting the first to the third port to a corresponding signal wiring, respectively, and connects any two of the first to the third port respectively. A non-reciprocal circuit device that operates as an isolator by connecting to the corresponding signal wiring and connecting the remaining one of the first to third ports to a terminating resistor, and a mounting surface parallel to the stacking direction; Having first and second side surfaces perpendicular to the mounting surface and parallel to the stacking direction;
A first permanent magnet;
The first permanent magnet is laminated in the laminating direction with respect to the first permanent magnet, a center conductor , first and second ferrite cores sandwiching the central conductor in the laminating direction, and the first to third ferrite cores derived from the central conductor. a magnetic rotor and a third port,
A first external terminal provided on the first side surface and connected to the first port;
A second external terminal provided on the second side surface and connected to the second port;
A third external terminal connected to the third port. Further comprising a magnetic substrate,
2. The non-reciprocal circuit device according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic rotator is sandwiched between the first permanent magnet and the magnetic substrate in the stacking direction. 3.   The non-reciprocal circuit device according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic substrate is a second permanent magnet. The nonreciprocal circuit device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said third external terminals are provided on the mounting surface. The non-reciprocal circuit device according to claim 4 , wherein a part of the first and second external terminals is provided on the mounting surface. The angle formed by the extending direction of the first port with respect to the center point of the center conductor and the extending direction of the third port with respect to the center point of the center conductor is an acute angle,
An angle formed by an extending direction of the second port with respect to a center point of the center conductor and an extending direction of the third port with respect to the center point of the center conductor is an acute angle. the nonreciprocal circuit device according to claim 4 or 5,. A conductor plate sandwiched in the laminating direction by the first permanent magnet and the magnetic rotor;
The nonreciprocal circuit device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a fourth external terminal connected to said conductor plate. The non-reciprocal circuit device according to claim 7 , further comprising: a connection conductor that covers an upper surface located on a side opposite to the mounting surface and connects the conductor plate and the fourth external terminal. The conductor plate is connected to the connection conductor by being exposed on the upper surface without being exposed from any of the mounting surface, the first side surface, and the second side surface. 9. The non-reciprocal circuit device according to 8 . Communication device having a nonreciprocal circuit device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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