Antenna-in-package design for wirebond interconnection to highly integrated 60-GHz radios

• Main Authors: Wai, L. L., Sun, Mei, Liu, Duixian, Zhang, Yue Ping, Chua, Kai Meng
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/91527; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/6267
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper first presents a quasi-cavity-backed, guard-ring-directed, substrate-material-modulated slot antenna. The antenna, intended for use in highly integrated 60-GHz radios, is deliberately designed to exhibit capacitive input impedance to suit low-cost wire-bonding packaging and assembly technique. The antenna implemented in a thin cavity-down ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) package in low-temperature cofired ceramic(LTCC) technology has achieved an acceptable impedance bandwidth from 59 to 65 GHz with an estimated efficiency of 94%. At millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequency 60 GHz, one of key challenges is how to realize low-loss interconnection between a radio chip and an antenna using wire-bonding technique. This paper then addresses this issue in the framework of antenna-in-package (AiP) design at 60 GHz and proposes a new solution to the challenge. Detailed wirebond design method and results are given. A major concern with AiP is the risk of the antenna coupling to the radio chip. This paper also evaluates this unwanted coupling and shows that the coupling from the in-package antenna to the on-chip inductor is lower than 30 dB for the worst case. These results clearly demonstrate the feasibility and promise of the elegant AiP technology for emerging high-speed short-range 60-GHz wireless communications.