On February 17, at the 68th International Solid State Circuits Conference, the 38th China Electric Power Research Institute released a high-performance 77GHz millimeter wave chip and module, which was the first international realization of two three-transmit and four-receive millimeter-wave chips and 10 The single-package integration of the millimeter wave antenna provides a detection distance of 38.5 meters, setting a new record for the longest detection distance of a millimeter wave package antenna in the world.
The packaged antenna module released this time contains two 38 self-developed 77GHz millimeter-wave radar chips, which are oriented to the core millimeter-wave sensor requirements in the field of intelligent driving, using low-cost CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology), monolithic integration 3 transmitting channels, 4 receiving channels and radar waveform generation, etc. The main performance indicators have reached the international advanced level, and it has special advantages in fast broadband radar signal generation. The chip supports multi-chip cascade and builds a larger-scale radar array.
According to experts, this millimeter-wave radar chip realizes the function of a multi-channel millimeter-wave radar transceiver front-end in a 24mm×24mm space, creatively proposes a dynamically adjustable fast broadband chirp signal generation method, and uses multiple feeds in the package. Incoming antenna technology greatly increases the effective radiation distance of the packaged antenna, and provides a small size and low-cost solution for short-distance intelligent sensing. It is expected to drive another breakthrough in the field of intelligent sensing technology.
The packaging antenna technology takes into account antenna performance, cost and volume, and represents a major achievement in millimeter wave antenna technology in recent years. Fan-out wafer-level packaging is a mainstream approach to package antennas. Large international companies have developed chip products with integrated package antennas based on this technology. The team from the 38th Institute of Electronics Technology of China is based on fan-out wafers. Class-level packaging technology, creatively using multi-feed antenna technology, effectively improved the low efficiency of the package antenna and other issues, so as to achieve the detection distance and create a new world record.
We all know that the antenna, as an important part of the wireless system, has two forms: integration and separation. Separate antennas have long been known to us. Integrated antennas mainly include on-chip antennas (AoC) and packaged antennas (AiP). On-chip antenna technology mainly uses semiconductor materials and processes to integrate antennas and other circuits on the same chip. Because of performance and cost considerations, on-chip antenna technology is more applicable in the terahertz frequency band. The packaging antenna technology mainly uses packaging materials and processes to integrate the antenna in a package that carries a chip.
As the packaged antenna (AiP) technology has a good performance in taking into account antenna performance, cost and volume, it not only represents a major achievement in the field of millimeter wave antenna technology in recent years, but is also favored by the majority of chip and package manufacturers. . Today, such as 60GHz wireless communications, 122GHz, 145GHz and 160GHz sensors, 94GHz phased array antennas and gesture radar chips, etc., all use the antenna in package (AiP) technology. It is conceivable that the packaging antenna technology will also play a very good role in the antenna solution of the 5G millimeter wave mobile communication system.
As a mainstream implementation of packaged antenna technology, packaging is based on fan-out wafer-level packaging. At present, those large international companies are developing and integrating chip products for packaging antennas under the guidance of this technology. The fan-out wafer-level packaging technology adopted by CETC 38 also uses multi-feed antenna technology, which can further improve the problem of low efficiency of packaged antennas.