Radio circuits and components thereof including temperature responsive liquid MEMS

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10078017-B2
Application number	US-201514810676-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2015
Priority date	Sep 10, 2012
Publication date	Sep 18, 2018
Grant date	Sep 18, 2018

Abstract

A radio circuit includes an adjustable RF front-end module on an IC die, a liquid MEMS component on a board, and a processing module on the IC die. The adjustable RF front-end module adjusts processing of an inbound or an outbound RF signal based on a compensation control signal. The liquid MEMS component changes an operational characteristic as temperature of the radio circuit varies. The processing module generates the compensation signal based on the changing of the operational characteristic of the liquid MEMS component. The liquid MEMS component includes a channel within the board, a liquid droplet contained within the channel, and one or more conductive elements proximal to the channel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) temperature sensor comprising:
a channel formed within a board, the board configured to support an integrated circuit;
a liquid droplet contained within the channel;
one or more conductive elements proximal to the channel, wherein, when temperature of the board varies, the liquid droplet changes with respect to the one or more conductive elements to produce at least one corresponding output signal that indicates an operating temperature of the board; and
processing circuitry configured to:
receive the at least one corresponding output signal; and
process the at least one corresponding output signal to generate a compensation signal for use by the integrated circuit.

2. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry comprises a portion of the integrated circuit.

3. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit comprises:
one or more power amplifiers;
one or more receive-transmit isolation modules;
one or more antenna tuning units; or
a frequency band switch.

4. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit comprises:
a power amplifier configured to receive an input signal and to amplify the input signal; and
circuitry configured to adjust gain of the power amplifier based upon the at least one corresponding output signal.

5. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 4 , wherein the power amplifier comprises:
a transistor;
an input capacitor coupled to a gate of transistor and configured to receive an input signal;
an output capacitor coupled to the source or drain of the transistor and configured to be coupled to a load; and
at least one lumped circuit element coupled to the transistor and configured to be controlled based upon the at least one corresponding output signal.

6. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 4 , wherein the MEMS temperature sensor comprises one or more of:
a liquid MEMS switch; or
a liquid MEMS capacitor.

7. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 1 , wherein the board includes one of a printed circuit board (PCB), an integrated circuit (IC) package substrate, and a redistribution layer (RDL) of a PCB or of an IC package substrate.

8. A liquid micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) temperature sensor comprising:
a printed circuit board (PCB);
at least one integrated circuit mounted on the PCB, the at least one integrated circuit comprising processing circuitry;
a channel formed within the PCB;
a liquid droplet contained within the channel; and
one or more conductive elements proximal to the channel, wherein, when temperature of the PCB varies, the liquid droplet changes with respect to the one or more conductive elements to produce at least one corresponding output signal that indicates an operating temperature of the PCB, where the processing circuitry is configured to receive and process the at least one corresponding output signal to generate a compensation signal for use by the integrated circuit.

9. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 8 , wherein the at least one integrated circuit further comprises:
one or more power amplifiers;
one or more receive-transmit isolation modules;
one or more antenna tuning units; or
a frequency band switch.

10. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 8 , wherein the at least one integrated circuit further comprises:
a power amplifier configured to receive an input signal and to amplify the input signal; and
circuitry configured to adjust gain of the power amplifier based upon the at least one corresponding output signal.

11. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 10 , wherein the power amplifier comprises:
a transistor;
an input capacitor coupled to a gate of transistor and configured to receive an input signal;
an output capacitor coupled to the source or drain of the transistor and configured to be coupled to a load; and
at least one lumped circuit element coupled to the transistor and configured to be controlled based upon the at least one corresponding output signal.

12. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 8 , wherein the MEMS temperature sensor comprises one or more of:
a liquid MEMS switch; or
a liquid MEMS capacitor.

13. A liquid micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) temperature sensor comprising:
an integrated circuit package substrate;
at least one integrated circuit mounted on the integrated circuit package substrate, the at least one integrated circuit comprising processing circuitry;
a channel formed within the integrated circuit package substrate;
a liquid droplet contained within the channel; and
one or more conductive elements proximal to the channel, wherein, when temperature of the integrated circuit package substrate varies, the liquid droplet changes with respect to the one or more conductive elements to produce at least one corresponding output signal that indicates an operating temperature of the integrated circuit package substrate, where the processing circuitry is configured to receive and process the at least one corresponding output signal to generate a compensation signal for use by the integrated circuit.

14. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 13 , wherein the at least one integrated circuit comprises:
one or more power amplifiers;
one or more receive-transmit isolation modules;
one or more antenna tuning units; or
a frequency band switch.

15. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 13 , wherein the at least one integrated circuit comprises:
a power amplifier configured to receive an input signal and to amplify the input signal; and
circuitry configured to adjust gain of the power amplifier based upon the at least one corresponding output signal.

16. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 15 , wherein the power amplifier comprises:
a transistor;
an input capacitor coupled to a gate of transistor and configured to receive an input signal;
an output capacitor coupled to the source or drain of the transistor and configured to be coupled to a load; and
at least one lumped circuit element coupled to the transistor and configured to be controlled based upon the at least one corresponding output signal.

17. The MEMS temperature sensor of claim 13 , wherein the MEMS temperature sensor comprises one or more of:
a liquid MEMS switch; or
a liquid MEMS capacitor.

Assignees

• Broadcom Corp
• Avago Technologies General Ip

Inventors

• Rofougaran Ahmadreza

Classifications

• H01G5/0132

  Liquid dielectrics · CPC title

• H04B1/40

  Circuits · CPC title

• H01H2029/008

  using micromechanics, e.g. micromechanical liquid contact switches or [LIMMS] · CPC title

• G01K7/343 Primary

  the dielectric constant of which is temperature dependant · CPC title

• H01G5/16 Primary

  using variation of distance between electrodes · CPC title