Dielectric waveguide with non-planar interface surface and mating deformable material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9350063-B2
Application number	US-201313854943-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2013
Priority date	Feb 27, 2013
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

A dielectric wave guide (DWG) has a dielectric core member having that has a first dielectric constant value. A cladding surrounding the dielectric core member has a second dielectric constant value that is lower than the first dielectric constant. A mating end of the DWG is configured in a non-planer shape for mating with a second DWG having a matching non-planar shaped mating end.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dielectric wave guide (DWG) comprising:
a dielectric core member, wherein the core member has a first dielectric constant value; and
a cladding surrounding the dielectric core member, wherein the cladding has a second dielectric constant value that is lower than the first dielectric constant;
wherein a mating surface on an end of the DWG core member is configured in a non-planer shape for mating with a second DWG having a matching non-planar shaped mating surface on an end of its core member; and
a deformable material disposed on the surface of the mating end of the DWG, such that when mated to the second DWG, the deformable material fills a gap region between the mating ends of the DWG and the second DWG.

2. The DWG of claim 1 , wherein the non-planar shape is a V shape.

3. The DWG of claim 1 , wherein the non-planar shape is a pyramid shape.

4. The DWG of claim 1 , wherein the non-planar shape is a conical shape.

5. The DWG of claim 1 , wherein the non-planar shape is a vaulted shape.

6. The DWG of claim 1 , wherein the deformable material has a dielectric constant value that is selected from a range between approximately the dielectric constant value of the cladding and the dielectric constant value of the core.

7. The DWG of claim 1 , wherein the deformable material has a core region with a dielectric constant value approximately equal to the dielectric constant value of the core member, and the deformable material has a cladding region with a dielectric constant value approximately equal to the dielectric constant value of the cladding.

8. The DWG of claim 1 , further comprising a coupling mechanism attached to the mating end, wherein the coupling mechanism is configured to retain a complimentary coupling mechanism on the mating end of the second DWG.

9. The DWG of claim 8 , wherein the coupling mechanism is an RJ45 compatible connector.

10. A system comprising:
a substrate;
an electronic device mounted on the substrate, the integrated circuit having radio frequency (RF) circuitry for processing a radio frequency signal;
a launching structure coupled to the RF circuitry; and
a dielectric wave guide (DWG) mounted on the substrate and interfaced to the launching structure, the DWG comprising:
a dielectric core member, wherein the core member has a first dielectric constant value;
a cladding surrounding the dielectric core member, wherein the cladding has a second dielectric constant value that is lower than the first dielectric constant;
wherein a mating surface on an end of the DWG core member is configured in a non-planer shape for mating with a second DWG having a matching non-planar shaped mating surface on an end of its core member; and
a deformable material disposed on the surface of the mating end of the DWG, such that when mated to the second DWG, the deformable material fills a gap region between the mating ends of the DWG and the second DWG.

11. The DWG of claim 10 , wherein the non-planar shape is a V shape.

12. The DWG of claim 10 , wherein the non-planar shape is a pyramid shape.

13. The DWG of claim 10 , wherein the non-planar shape is a conical shape.

14. The DWG of claim 10 , wherein the non-planar shape is a vaulted shape.

15. A method for connecting two dielectric waveguides (DWG), the method comprising
mating a first connecter mounted on an end of a first DWG with a second connector mounted on an end of a second DWG,
wherein a mating surface on an end of a core member of the first DWG is configured in a non-planer shape, and a mating surface on an end of a core member of the second DWG is configured in a matching non-planar shape; and
applying pressure while mating the first connector to the second connector so that a deformable material disposed on the surface of the mating end of the DWG is deformed to fill a gap region between the mating ends of the first DWG and the second DWG.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the non-planer shape is selected from a group consisting of a V shape, a pyramid shape, a conical shape, and a vaulted shape.

Assignees

• Texas Instruments Inc

Inventors

• Herbsommer Juan Alejandro
• Schuppener Gerd
• Payne Robert Floyd

Classifications

• H10W44/248

  for antennas · CPC title

• H10W90/724

  between a chip and a stacked insulating package substrate, interposer or RDL · CPC title

• H05K2201/09618

  Via fence, i.e. one-dimensional array of vias · CPC title

• H05K2201/10098

  Components for radio transmission, e.g. radio frequency identification [RFID] tag, printed or non-printed antennas · CPC title

• Y10T29/49826

  Assembling or joining · CPC title