Antenna modules and communication devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11380979-B2
Application number	US-201815939806-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 29, 2018
Priority date	Mar 29, 2018
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

Disclosed herein are integrated circuit (IC) packages, antenna boards, antenna modules, and communication devices (e.g., for millimeter wave communications). For example, in some embodiments, an antenna module may include: a logic die; a radio frequency front-end (RFFE) die in electrical communication with the logic die; and an antenna patch, wherein the RFFE die is closer to the antenna patch than the logic die is to the antenna patch.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An antenna module, comprising:
a first die, comprising logic circuitry;
a second die, comprising radio frequency front-end (RFFE) circuitry, the second die in electrical communication with the first die; and
an antenna patch, wherein the second die is closer to the antenna patch than the first die is to the antenna patch.

2. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the logic circuitry includes complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry.

3. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the second die includes a III-V material.

4. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the RFFE circuitry includes one or more of a low noise amplifier and a power amplifier.

5. The antenna module of claim 1 , further comprising:
a third die, including RF control circuitry, the third die in electrical communication with the second die.

6. The antenna module of claim 5 , wherein the third die is closer to the second die than the first die is to the second die.

7. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the first die and the second die are included in a stacked package.

8. The antenna module of claim 7 , wherein the antenna patch is coupled to an antenna patch support, and the stacked package is coupled to the antenna patch support.

9. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the first die is included in an integrated circuit (IC) package, the second die is included in an antenna board, and the IC package is coupled to a face of the antenna board.

10. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the first die has an output power between 0 dbm and 5 dbm, and the second die has an output power between 20 dbm and 35 dbm.

11. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein a footprint of the second die is rotationally offset from a footprint the antenna patch.

12. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein an electrical pathway in the antenna module between the first die and the second die includes a copper pillar.

13. The antenna module of claim 1 , further comprising:
a ring of copper pillars around the second die.

14. The antenna module of claim 1 , further comprising a bridge structure, wherein the antenna patch is coupled to the bridge structure and wherein the bridge structure provides an air gap between the antenna patch and the second die.

15. The antenna module of claim 14 , wherein the bridge structure is curved.

16. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein each of the first die and the second die is parallel to the antenna patch, and the second die is between the antenna patch and the first die.

17. The antenna module of claim 1 , further comprising an antenna patch support having a cavity, wherein the antenna patch is coupled to the antenna patch support so that the cavity provides a gap between the antenna patch and the second die.

18. The antenna module of claim 1 , further comprising a package substrate and an antenna board, wherein:
the first die is coupled to a first face of the package substrate by first-level interconnects,
the antenna board is coupled to a second face of the package substrate by second-level interconnects,
the second face of the package substrate is opposite the first face of the package substrate,
the second die is either included in or coupled to the antenna board, and
the antenna patch is either included in or coupled to the antenna board.

19. The antenna module of claim 18 , wherein the package substrate includes an electrical pathway between at least one of the first-level interconnects and at least one of the second-level interconnects.

20. The antenna module of claim 1 , further comprising a first package substrate, a second package substrate, and an antenna board, wherein:
each of the first package substrate and the second package substrate has a first face and a second face, the second face opposite the first face,
the first die is coupled to the first face of the first package substrate by a first set of first-level interconnects,
the second die is coupled to the first face of the second package substrate by a second set of first-level interconnects,
the second face of the first package substrate is coupled to the first face of the second package substrate,
the second face of the second package substrate is coupled to the antenna board by second-level interconnects, and
the antenna patch is either included in or coupled to the antenna board.

21. The antenna module of claim 20 , further comprising a mold material between the first package substrate and the second package substrate, wherein the second face of the first package substrate is coupled to the first face of the second package substrate by electrical pathways extending through the mold material, and wherein at least one of the electrical pathways includes a copper pillar.

22. The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the antenna patch is not parallel to the first die or the second die.

23. A communication device, comprising:
a first die, comprising logic circuitry;
a second die, comprising radio frequency front-end (RFFE) circuitry, the second die in electrical communication with the first die;
an antenna patch, wherein the second die is closer to the antenna patch than the first die is to the antenna patch; and
a display.

24. The communication device of claim 23 , wherein the communication device is a handheld communication device.

25. The communication device of claim 23 , wherein the antenna patch is part of a millimeter wave antenna array.

Assignees

• Intel Ip Corp
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Dalmia Sidharth
• Jensen Jonathan
• Inac Ozgur
• Thai Trang
• Lambert William James
• Jann Benjamin

Classifications

• H10W42/273

  the arrangements being between laterally adjacent chips, e.g. walls between chips · CPC title

• H10W42/276

  the arrangements being on an external surface of the package, e.g. on the outer surface of an encapsulation · CPC title

• H10W44/248

  for antennas · CPC title

• H10W44/20

  at high-frequency [HF] or radio frequency [RF] · CPC title

• H10W74/00

  Encapsulations, e.g. protective coatings · CPC title