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Front. Inform. Technol. Electron. Eng.  2016, Vol. 17 Issue (1): 67-73    DOI: 10.1631/FITEE.1500167
Original article     
Antenna-in-package system integrated with meander line antenna based on LTCC technology
Gang DONG(),Wei XIONG,Zhao-yao WU,Yin-tang YANG
School of Microelectronics, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China
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Abstract  

We present an antenna-in-package system integrated with a meander line antenna based on low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. The proposed system employs a meander line patch antenna, a packaging layer, and a laminated multi-chip module (MCM) for integration of integrated circuit (IC) bare chips. A microstrip feed line is used to reduce the interaction between patch and package. To decrease electromagnetic coupling, a via hole structure is designed and analyzed. The meander line antenna achieved a bandwidth of 220 MHz with the center frequency at 2.4 GHz, a maximum gain of 2.2 dB, and a radiation efficiency about 90% over its operational frequency. The whole system, with a small size of 20.2 mm × 6.1 mm × 2.6 mm, can be easily realized by a standard LTCC process. This antenna-in-package system integrated with a meander line antenna was fabricated and the experimental results agreed with simulations well.

Key words： Antenna-in-package (AiP)      Meander line antenna      Multi-chip module (MCM)      Low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC)     
Received: 20 May 2015      Published: 05 January 2016
CLC:  TN82  
Fund:  National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 61574106, 61334003);National Defense Pre-research Foundation of China(No. 9140A2306 0115DZ01062);Key Science and Technology Special Project of Shaanxi Province, China(No. 2015KTCQ01-5)
Corresponding Authors: Gang DONG     E-mail: gdong@mail.xidian.edu.cn
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Gang DONG
Wei XIONG
Zhao-yao WU
Yin-tang YANG
Cite this article:

Gang DONG,Wei XIONG,Zhao-yao WU,Yin-tang YANG. Antenna-in-package system integrated with meander line antenna based on LTCC technology. Front. Inform. Technol. Electron. Eng., 2016, 17(1): 67-73.

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http://www.zjujournals.com/xueshu/fitee/10.1631/FITEE.1500167     OR     http://www.zjujournals.com/xueshu/fitee/Y2016/V17/I1/67


Antenna-in-package system integrated with meander line antenna based on LTCC technology

We present an antenna-in-package system integrated with a meander line antenna based on low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. The proposed system employs a meander line patch antenna, a packaging layer, and a laminated multi-chip module (MCM) for integration of integrated circuit (IC) bare chips. A microstrip feed line is used to reduce the interaction between patch and package. To decrease electromagnetic coupling, a via hole structure is designed and analyzed. The meander line antenna achieved a bandwidth of 220 MHz with the center frequency at 2.4 GHz, a maximum gain of 2.2 dB, and a radiation efficiency about 90% over its operational frequency. The whole system, with a small size of 20.2 mm × 6.1 mm × 2.6 mm, can be easily realized by a standard LTCC process. This antenna-in-package system integrated with a meander line antenna was fabricated and the experimental results agreed with simulations well.

Fig. 1 Design parameters of the meander line antenna
Parameter Value
Relative dielectric constant 5.9
Loss factor 0.2%
Thickness of each sheet 93 μm
Surface roughness < 0.25 μm
Thermal conductivity 2.0 W/(m·K)
Table 1 Parameters of Ferro A6M
Fig. 2 Direction of current in the meander line antenna
Fig. 3 Simulated return loss characteristics of the proposed antenna
Fig. 4 Simulated E- and H-plane radiation patterns at 2.4 GHz
Fig. 5 Simulated 3D radiation pattern at 2.4 GHz. Reference to color refer to the online version of this figure
Fig. 6 Return loss characteristic of different internal ground configurations
Fig. 7 Return loss characteristic of the various number of via holes
Fig. 8 Illustration of the laminated LTCC MCM
Fig. 9 Design parameters of the packaging layer
Fig. 10 Electric field intensity of the packaging layer. References to color refer to the online version of this figure
Fig. 11 Expanded view of the proposed system
Layer Thickness (mm)
Antenna 1.20
Internal ground 0.01
Packaging 1.40
Table 2 Thickness of each layer
Fig. 12 Fabricated AiP system (a) and testing environment (b)
Fig. 13 Measured and simulated return loss characteristics
Fig. 14 Measured E-plane radiation pattern (a) and H-plane radiation pattern (b)
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