US-12627033-B2 - Antenna module implemented in multi-layered package

US12627033B2US 12627033 B2US12627033 B2US 12627033B2US-12627033-B2

Abstract

An antenna module includes: a printed circuit board (PCB) having a plurality of layers; an array antenna portion having a plurality of antenna elements disposed on the PCB; and a plurality of signal connection lines configured to electrically connect a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) chip to the array antenna portion. A second patch antenna of two patch antennas of the array antenna portion is disposed to be spaced apart from a first patch antenna and is disposed on one of the plurality of layers inside the PCB. The first patch antennas disposed on an outermost surface of the PCB are disposed in a first horizontal axis direction on the outermost surface. The second patch antennas are disposed in the first horizontal axis direction on an inner layer of the PCB.

Inventors

Yusuhk SUH
Dongik Lee
Seungmin WOO

Assignees

LG ELECTRONICS INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240624
Priority Date: 20230825

Claims (14)

1 . An antenna module implemented in a multi-layered package, the antenna module comprising: a printed circuit board (PCB) having a plurality of layers; an array antenna portion including a plurality of antenna elements disposed on the PCB, wherein each of the plurality of antenna elements has two patch antenna structures, first patch antennas of the two patch antenna structures being located on a first surface of the PCB which is an outermost surface of the PCB, second patch antennas of the two patch antenna structures are disposed to be spaced apart from the first patch antennas and are disposed on one of the plurality of layers inside the PCB, and a portion of the first patch antenna and a portion of the second patch antenna are stacked to overlap each other; a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) chip bonded to a second surface of the PCB which is another outermost surface of the PCB; and a plurality of signal connection lines configured to electrically connect the RFIC chip to the array antenna portion, wherein the signal connection lines comprise a first part disposed horizontally on a first layer, a second part connected to the first part and disposed vertically as an inner layer of the PCB, a third part connected to the second part and disposed on any one layer inside the PCB, and a fourth part disposed vertically to be connected to the third part and the second patch antennas, the first patch antennas disposed on the outermost surface of the PCB are disposed in a direction of a first horizontal axis on the outermost surface, the second patch antennas are disposed in the direction of the first horizontal axis on an inner layer of the PCB, a first group of third parts electrically connected to the second patch antennas, among the plurality of signal connection lines, may be disposed in a first region with respect to the first horizontal axis, a second group of third parts electrically connected to the second patch antennas, among the plurality of signal connection lines, in a second region with respect to the first horizontal axis.
2 . The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein signals applied from the RFIC chip to the patch antennas through the signal connection lines comprise: first signals applied to a first group of patch antennas among the second patch antennas; and second signals applied to a second group of patch antennas among the second patch antennas, the first signals have the same phase as each other, the second signals have the same phase as each other, and the first signals and the second signals have a phase difference of 180 degrees.
3 . The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein a first length as a radius of the first patch antennas is longer than a second length as a radius of the second patch antennas, centers of the second patch antennas and centers of the first patch antennas are disposed in the same direction of the first horizontal axis, and the second patch antennas and the first patch antennas overlap each other in certain regions.
4 . The antenna module of claim 3 , wherein connection regions of the second patch antennas connected to the fourth parts of the signal connection lines are formed on the same direction of the first horizontal axis, the connection region is disposed in a region spaced apart from the center of the second patch antenna, and the connection region is disposed in a region opposite to the certain region based on the center of the second patch antenna.
5 . The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of signal connection lines are connected to the second patch antennas inside the PCB, respectively, a length of each of the plurality of signal connection lines is a connected length between the RFIC chip and the second patch antenna, and the plurality of signal connection lines have the same length.
6 . The antenna module of claim 5 , wherein among the plurality of signal connection lines, signal connection lines of the first part disposed horizontally on the first layer have the same length, signal connection lines of the second part connected to the first part and disposed vertically on the inner layer of the PCB have the same length, signal connection lines of the third part connected to the second part and disposed horizontally on any one layer inside the PCB have the same length, and signal connection lines of the fourth part disposed vertically to be connected to the third part and the second patch antennas have the same length.
7 . The antenna module of claim 6 , wherein among the plurality of signal connection lines, the signal connection lines of the first part disposed horizontally on the first layer comprise a first group and a second group, the first group of the first part electrically connected to the second patch antennas, among the plurality of signal connection lines, is disposed in a first region with respect to the first horizontal axis, and the second group of the first part electrically connected to the second patch antennas, among the plurality of signal connection lines, are disposed in a second region with respect to the first horizontal axis.
8 . The antenna module of claim 6 , wherein among the plurality of signal connection lines, the signal connection lines of the second part disposed horizontally on the inner layer of the PCB comprise a first group and a second group, the first group of the second part electrically connected to the second patch antennas, among the plurality of signal connection lines, are disposed in a first region with respect to the first horizontal axis, and the second group of the second part electrically connected to the second patch antennas, among the plurality of signal connection lines, are disposed in a second region with respect to the first horizontal axis.
9 . The antenna module of claim 6 , wherein the signal connection lines of the fourth part, which are disposed vertically to be connected to the third part and the second patch antennas, among the plurality of signal connection lines, are disposed on the same direction of the horizontal axis.
10 . The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the signal connection lines of the third part among the plurality of signal connection lines have a coplanar waveguide structure in which grounds are disposed on both sides.
11 . The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the inner layer, on which the signal connection lines of the third part among the plurality of signal connection lines are disposed, is provided with an upper ground layer in a direction toward an antenna and a lower ground layer in a direction toward the RFIC.
12 . The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the outermost surface of the PCB as the first surface is formed of a metal layer connected to a ground, and an inner region of the metal layer is formed as a non-metal region where the first patch antenna is disposed.
13 . The antenna module of claim 12 , wherein a first vertical region which is the same as the non-metal region is defined from an outermost surface of the PCB to an upper ground layer in a direction toward an antenna, above an inner layer of the PCB, on which the signal connection lines of the third part inside the PCB are disposed, and an antenna element and a dielectric material are disposed in the first vertical region, and an outer peripheral surface of the first vertical region forms ground walls.
14 . The antenna module of claim 1 , wherein the PCB is provided with at least two holes formed to penetrate from an outermost surface of one side of the PCB to an outermost surface of another side of the PCB.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119, this application claims the benefit of earlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Application No(s). 10-2023-0112088, filed on Aug. 25, 2023, the contents of which are all incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a multi-layered circuit type antenna package for millimeter wave band communication. BACKGROUND ART A millimeter wave (mmWave) band communication method, which is being developed to transmit GBps-level high-speed, large-capacity AV data, can transmit large-capacity data several times faster than existing short/mid-range communication methods such as WiFi, WLAN, WPAN, etc. This millimeter wave band communication method, unlike the existing short/mid-range communication methods, is very difficult to be implemented in a manner of connecting an antenna and an RFIC, which are separately provided, with a cable. In the millimeter wave band, a signal attenuation phenomenon is dozens of times higher than those in existing commercial frequency bands. In addition, a signal cable dedicated to the millimeter wave band is a major obstacle to the commercialization of 60 GHz communication modules, due to unit prices reaching up to tens of dollars. Therefore, in the millimeter wave band, a technology for designing antenna and package are required to dispose an antenna and an RFIC within the shortest distance, to suppress signal loss and attenuation. As the related art technology for implementing a millimeter wave band antenna/package, a technology of embedding an antenna and a stripline or microstrip type signal transmission line in a multi-layer circuit and electrically connecting the same to an RFIC is widely used. This method implements a transverse electro magnetic (TEM) mode required for a wideband signal line, thereby widening a bandwidth required in the millimeter wave band. The multi-layer circuit type using the stripline or microstrip is an ideal way for realizing antenna performance. However, in the case of a stripline, a signal line is disposed on a middle layer and ground layers are disposed above and below the signal line, so at least three layers are required. Additionally, in the case of a microstrip, at least two layers are required, including a layer where a signal line is disposed and a ground layer disposed above or below the signal line. Therefore, when designing a multi-layer circuit by combination of antenna, RF interface, inner cavity, power line, etc., the number of layers stacked reaches approximately 7 to 10 layers. In the case of a low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) process that implements this, it needs high production costs, which is an obstacle to the commercialization of the millimeter wave communication technology. SUMMARY An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a structure that minimizes the number of stacked layers as a multi-layered circuit type antenna package for millimeter wave band communication. Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a structure that minimizes a signal phase difference for each patch in a patch array antenna structure for millimeter wave band communication. An antenna module implemented in a multi-layered package according to the present disclosure includes: a printed circuit board (PCB) having a plurality of layers; an array antenna portion having a plurality of antenna elements disposed on the PCB, and a plurality of signal connection lines configured to electrically connect an RFIC chip to the array antenna portion. Second patch antennas of two patch antenna structures of the array antenna portion may be disposed to be spaced apart from first patch antennas and may be disposed on one of the plurality of layers inside the PCB. The first patch antennas disposed on the outermost surface of the PCB may be disposed in a direction of a first horizontal axis on the outermost surface. The second patch antennas may be disposed in the direction of the first horizontal axis on an inner layer of the PCB. In an embodiment disclosed herein, the antenna module may further include a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) chip bonded to a second surface of the PCB. The first patch antennas of the two patch antenna structures may be disposed on a first surface of the PCB, and the first surface may be an outermost surface of the PCB. A portion of the first patch antenna and a portion of the second patch antenna may be stacked to overlap each other. The second surface may be another outermost surface of the PCB. According to an embodiment, the signal connection lines may include a first part disposed horizontally on a first layer, a second part connected to the first part and disposed vertically as an inner layer of the PCB, a third part connected to the second part and disposed on any one layer inside the PCB, and a fourth part disposed vertically to be connected to the third part and the second patch antenn