Aimeric Bisognin

3D printed plastic 60 GHz lens: Enabling innovative millimeter wave antenna solution and system

During the past years, various research teams developed 60 GHz chipset solutions, using both advanced CMOS [1] and BiCMOS [2] technologies. But for the 60 GHz market to flourish not only low cost RFICs are required, low cost antennas and packages are also key elements. Recently, low cost High Density Interconnect (HDI) organic technology has been evaluated [3, 4] to develop 60 GHz module using antenna-in-package approach. Measured gain is in the order of 4 dBi but there is still a need to achieve higher gain in order to increase the transmit/receive range of the system. The use of a lens is an appealing solution since it enables to customize the system performances while using existing chipset solution. In this paper, we investigate the performances achievable by a plastic (ABS-M30) lens manufactured using low cost and rapid manufacturing 3D printing technology. Material properties at 60 GHz are reviewed, a preliminary 60 GHz lens design is detailed and the full system is validated using a WiGig wireless link (demonstrating a 10 dB improvement in the link budget in comparison with the system without lens).

Beam Switching Conformal Antenna Array for mm-Wave Communications

In this letter, the design and measurement results of a millimeter-wave beam switching antenna are presented. Several antenna prototypes have been fabricated and measured in planar and conformal installations. The developed prototype consists of three antenna arrays of 16 patch elements in each array and it is operating at 61 GHz with linear polarization. A single-pole three-throw semiconductor switch is attached to the manufactured prototype using copper pillar attachment. The main beam direction of the convex antenna can be changed by switching between the antenna arrays in the prototype. Half sphere 3-D radiation pattern measurements have been performed. For the convex prototype, bent on the cylinder with radius 25 mm, beam switching with -32° / + 34° degrees is achieved.

An LTCC Microstrip Grid Array Antenna for 94-GHz Applications

A designed microstrip grid array antenna at 94 GHz in a low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology was fabricated and measured. The designed and measured results are in good agreement. They show a 10-dB impedance bandwidth of 5.12 GHz from 90 GHz to 95.12 GHz (or 5.45% at 94 GHz), a maximal peak realized of 17.1 dBi with a 3-dB gain bandwidth of 5.5 GHz from 92.0 GHz to 97.5 GHz (or 5.85% at 94 GHz). These good performances make the microstrip grid array antenna a suitable candidate for 94-GHz applications.

Inkjet Coplanar Square Monopole on Flexible Substrate for 60-GHz Applications

In this letter, the design, fabrication, and measurement of a 60-GHz printed antenna with inkjet technology over a flexible substrate is presented. The antenna is a coplanar square monopole with omnidirectional radiation characteristics. We especially measured a 68% total efficiency and a maximum realized gain of 1.8 dBi. This study demonstrates the inkjet technology being a competitive solution for efficient radiating elements at millimeter-wave frequencies.

Ball Grid Array-Module With Integrated Shaped Lens for WiGig Applications in Eyewear Devices

A ball grid array-module (BGA-module) incorporating a low-cost shaped dielectric lens is proposed for wireless communications in the 60-GHz WiGig band between a smart eyewear, where it is integrated and facing a laptop or TV. The module, which is codesigned with a 60-GHz transceiver, consists of two separate identical antennas for transmitting (Tx) and receiving (Rx). The in-plane separation of these elements is 6.9 mm both being offset from the lens focus. This poses a challenge to the lens design to ensure coincident beam pointing directions for Rx and Tx. The shaped lens is further required to narrow the angular coverage in the elevation plane and broaden it in the horizontal plane. A 3-D-printed eyewear frame with an integrated lens and a recess for proper BGA-module integration is fabricated in ABS-plastic material. Measurements show a reflection coefficient below -12 dB in the 57-66 GHz band. A maximum gain of 11 dBi is obtained at 60 GHz, with 24° and 96° beamwidth at 5-dBi gain, respectively, in the vertical and horizontal planes. The radiation exposure is evaluated for a homogeneous SAM head phantom and a heterogeneous visible human head. The simulated power density values for both models are found to be lower than the existing standards.

A 120 GHz 3D-printed plastic elliptical lens antenna with an IPD patch antenna source

In this paper, we investigate the performance of a 3D-printed plastic lens operating in the 120 GHz frequency band. An Integrated Passive Device module with built-in linearly polarized patch antenna is used as the source of the lens. The profile of the lens is based on elliptical shape. It is first optimized with Geometrical Optics (GO) and Physical Optics (PO) methods. Then, full-wave simulations are conducted to fine tune the overall antenna-structure. Using a lens height of 10 mm, the overall antenna has a simulated realized gain higher than 15 dBi from 120 GHz to 130 GHz. The lens and the patch antenna have just been manufactured and measurements will be presented in the final paper.

A Ceramic Antenna for Tri-Band Radio Devices

This communication reports a ceramic antenna for tri-band radio devices operating in the 2.4, 5.2 and 60 GHz bands in low temperature cofired ceramic technology. It integrates a microstrip grid array antenna for the 60-GHz band, a meander-line monopole for the 5.2-GHz band, and a helix monopole for the 2.4-GHz band in a substrate of size 15×15×0.48 mm3. Both simulated and measured results are presented and discussed.

A 94GHz 4TX-4RX phased-array for FMCW radar with integrated LO and flip-chip antenna package

A prototype phased-array IC with four transmitters, four receivers, and integrated LO generation was designed and fabricated in a 130nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. Including LO phase shifter power consumption, the transmit array consumes 71mW per element with a per-element output power of +6.4dBm at 94GHz. The receiver array consumes 56mW per element, and achieves an RX element noise figure of 12.5dB at 94GHz. Integrated LO generation includes a 47GHz VCO, 2× frequency multiplier, 94GHz LO buffers, and a 32× CML divider chain. The transceiver has been integrated into a flip chip antenna module with four transmit and four receive antennas, and achieves TX and RX beam steering over a scan angle range of ±20°. Including LO and bias overhead power, the array has improved per-element power consumption compared with state-of-the-art 94GHz arrays, consuming only 106mW per TX channel and 91mW per RX channel, while achieving comparable performance and levels of integration.

60 GHz patch antenna using IPD technology

In this paper, we present a high efficiency antenna for 60 GHz low-cost packaged modules. This antenna is fabricated using IPD™ technology which is flip-chipped on a PCB Taclamplus substrate. A microstrip line etched on this Taclamplus substrate from Taconic is directly coupled to the upper patch antenna fabricated in the IPD™ technology from ST Microelectronics. A -10dB bandwidth of 10 GHz is obtained centered on 60 GHz frequency.

Conformal Antenna Array for Millimeter-Wave Communications: Performance Evaluation

In this paper, we study the influence of the radius of a cylindrical supporting structure on radiation properties of a conformal millimeter-wave antenna array. Bent antenna array structures on cylindrical surfaces may have important applications in future mobile devices. Small radii may be needed if the antenna is printed on the edges of mobile devices and in items which human beings are wearing, such as wrist watches, bracelets, and rings. The antenna under study consists of four linear series-fed arrays of four patch elements and is operating at 58.8 GHz with linear polarization. The antenna array is fabricated on polytetrafluoroethylene substrate with thickness of 127 µm due to its good plasticity properties, and low losses. Results for both planar and conformal antenna arrays show rather good agreement between simulation and measurements. The results show that conformal antenna structures allow achieving large angular coverage and may allow beam-steering implementations if switches are used to select between different arrays around a cylindrical supporting structure.