JPWO2021061251A5

JPWO2021061251A5 -

Info

Publication number: JPWO2021061251A5
Application number: JP2021578188A
Authority: JP
Publication date: 2023-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 2040-06-29

Claims

a first subassembly (110, 110') comprising a plurality of antenna elements (120) ;
a second subassembly (150, 150') adhered to said first subassembly, a plurality of beamforming network components (160, 170, 180) encapsulated in a molding material (152); and further comprising one or more interconnect layers (155) on said molding material for electrically connecting said plurality of components of said beamforming network to said plurality of antenna elements; and An antenna device (100, 100') comprising
The plurality of components includes an input/output port (170), a combiner/divider network (180), and a plurality of integrated circuit (IC) chips (160) each electrically connected to at least one of the antenna elements. ), including
The input/output ports route transmit radio frequency (RF) signals in a transmit direction to the combiner/splitter network and/or route combined received RF signals from the combiner/splitter network in a receive direction. route and
The combiner/splitter network splits the RF transmit signal into a plurality of split transmit RF signals and/or a plurality of modified RF receive signals each received from one of the IC chips. , configured to couple to the combined RF receive signal,
Each of the IC chips modifies a respective one of the split RF transmission signals to provide a modified RF transmission signal and to the at least one antenna element connected to the IC chip. outputting a modified RF transmit signal and/or modifying an RF receive signal provided from said at least one antenna element connected to said IC chip to produce one of said modified RF receive signals; to said combiner/divider network .

Antenna arrangement (100, 100') according to claim 1, wherein the surfaces of the plurality of components of the beam forming network are coplanar with the surface of the molding material.

The plurality of antenna elements are on a first surface of the first subassembly, the first subassembly directly connected to the plurality of antenna elements, and the first subassembly of the first subassembly. 2. An antenna device (100) according to claim 1, further comprising an array of vias extending over two surfaces, said second subassembly being adhered to said second surface of said first subassembly. , 100′) .

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of components comprises a plurality of amplifiers (60, 80) connected to said plurality of antenna elements via a plurality of vias (Vs) in said one or more interconnect layers. An antenna device (100, 100') as described.

5. Antenna arrangement according to claim 4 , wherein one amplifier (60, 80) of said plurality of amplifiers is connected to a corresponding antenna element of said plurality of antenna elements and underlies said antenna element . 100, 100') .

The second subassembly has one or more vias (190) connected to the one or more interconnect layers and extending through the molding compound to a surface of the second subassembly. Antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 1, further comprising.

at least one of said components with a transmission line (170) connected to said one or more interconnect layers and extending through said molding compound to a surface of said second subassembly; An antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 1, comprising:

The first subassembly has a top surface and a bottom surface, the plurality of antenna elements are disposed on the top surface, and the first subassembly further comprises a ground plane (119) disposed on the bottom surface. , an antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 1.

2. The antenna apparatus (100) of claim 1, wherein each of said antenna elements is a patch antenna element having a body and is fed from a point directly below said body by a probe feed orthogonal to a major surface of said body. 100') .

The first and second subassemblies are bonded together by at least a plurality of ground-signal-ground (GSG) solder connections (147s, 147g) , each connecting one of the antenna elements to the one. Antenna arrangement (100, 100') according to claim 1, electrically connecting to signal and ground contacts on one or more interconnect layers.

Each of the IC chips includes (i) a transmit amplifier and/or a transmit phase shifter, or (ii) a transmit amplifier and/or a transmit phase shifter to modify the split RF transmit signal and/or the RF receive signal provided to the IC chip. Antenna arrangement (100, 100') according to claim 1 , comprising at least one of: a receive amplifier and/or a receive phase shifter.

the input/output port is a coaxial transmission line extending from a first major surface of the second subassembly to an opposing second major surface of the second subassembly;
The combiner/divider network is composed of coplanar waveguides (184a, 184b, 184c) supported by a dielectric (185) disposed between the input/output ports and the plurality of IC chips. Antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 1 , comprising:

13. Antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 12 , wherein the dielectric has a loss factor lower than that of the molding material.

said dielectric (185) is quartz and said molding material is a liquid crystal polymer;
13. Antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 12 , wherein the first subassembly comprises a quartz substrate supporting said plurality of antenna elements.

the component comprises a plurality of integrated circuit (IC) chips (160, 160') arranged in rows and columns of a two-dimensional array, each IC chip being spaced apart in rows and columns; 2. Each is directly under and electrically connected to at least two probe feeds, said probe feeds connecting at least two corresponding antenna elements to said respective IC chip. Antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 1.

The component includes a plurality of integrated circuit (IC) chips (160') and the second subassembly includes a plurality of heat spreader tabs (1102) each attached to a major surface of one of the IC chips. Antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 1, wherein the antenna device (100, 100')

A first major surface of each of the heat spreader tabs is attached to a respective one of the IC chips, and an opposing second major surface of the heat spreader tabs are exposed to the outside of the molding compound. 17. An antenna device (100, 100') according to claim 16 .

2. Antenna arrangement (100, 100') according to claim 1, wherein the beam forming network and the antenna elements are adapted to transmit and receive signals at millimeter wave frequencies.

Antenna apparatus (100, 100') according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of antenna elements comprises at least 16 antenna elements.

A method (600) of forming an antenna device, comprising:
forming a first subassembly including a plurality of antenna elements (S610) ;
encapsulating a plurality of beamforming components of a beamforming network within a molding material to form an embedded component structure (S610, 700, 1000) ;
forming a second subassembly by forming one or more interconnect layers over the embedded component structure (S770) ;
adhering and electrically connecting the first subassembly to the second subassembly such that the plurality of beamforming components are electrically connected to the plurality of antenna elements (S620) ;
Encapsulating the plurality of beam forming components comprises:
providing a support with an adhesive foil attached thereto (S710, S1010);
placing the plurality of beam forming components on a surface of the adhesive foil (S720);
applying (S730, S1030) the molding material in an uncured state around the beam forming component while it is disposed on the adhesive foil surface;
curing the molding material to form an intermediate structure (S730, S1040);
removing the support and the adhesive foil from the intermediate structure to form the embedded component structure (S740, S1050);
contains
The plurality of beamforming components includes a plurality of integrated circuit (IC) chips (160), a combiner/divider network formed in at least one transmission line section (180), and coaxial feedthrough transmission lines ( 170 ) each disposed on said surface of said adhesive foil .

The bonding and electrical connection of the first subassembly to the second subassembly is accomplished by respective signal pads (Ps) and ground pads (Ps) on each of the first and second subassemblies . 21. The method (600) of claim 20 , comprising heating and cooling a plurality of ground-signal-ground (GSG) solder connections (147s, 147g) between Pg) .

Formation of the one or more interconnect layers enables at least some of the beam forming components to be connected to the antenna when the first subassembly and the second subassembly are bonded and electrically connected together. 21. The method of claim 20 , comprising forming a plurality of vias (Vs) completely through said one or more interconnect layers for direct electrical connection to respective ones of the elements ( 600) .

The claim further comprising forming a plurality of vias through the molding compound after curing the molding compound and subsequently connecting to at least one of the IC chips through the one or more interconnect layers (S760, S1070). The method (600) of 20 .

Attaching heat spreader tabs (1102) to respective major surfaces of at least some of said beam forming components prior to encapsulating said beam forming components (S1020).
21. The method (600) of claim 20 , further comprising: