Silicon Based System on Package Phased Array Design for 5G

Millimeter wave radio links offer the large uninterrupted bandwidth needed to support high capacity wireless communications for the next generation 5G backhaul networks. Such networks will be able to operate at high modulation orders in a wide bandwidth, thus allowing for higher data throughput than the currently available cellular networks. High performance low cost packages are required for the massive adoption of these systems. This talk will review the architecture of several mm-wave system on package phased array designs for different bands based on fully integrated chip in SiGe technology and a low cost packages. An optimized scheme was selected for the radio implementation, achieving high power efficiency and supporting high modulation orders up to 256-QAM. Good antenna performance and adequate thermal dissipation were obtained with the multilayer package. Design considerations for selecting the antenna as well as the wide-band chip-to-substrate and chip-to-antenna transitions will be presented.