Hybrid On-Chip/In-Package Integrated Antennas for Millimeter-Wave Short-Range Communications

A hybrid on-chip/in-package integrated antenna is designed and demonstrated for the first time in a QFN (quad flat no lead)-packaged 60-GHz ultra-wide-band (UWB) low-power transceiver. The on-chip radiating element is a folded dipole antenna realized on the transceiver high-resistivity silicon chip (CMOS-SOI technology). It is coupled electromagnetically to a patch antenna embedded under the package lid. The design was performed with a full 3D EM model of the packaged transceiver. The experimental radiation patterns and gain values are in agreement with the simulations, they show an antenna gain up to 4.6-8 dBi at 60 GHz and a 3-dB beamwidth 43° × 72°, suitable for short-range low-power Gbps communications.