Beamforming integrated circuit having rf signal ports using a ground-signal transition for high isolation in a phased antenna array system and related methods

Abstract

A phased antenna array system is provided that includes a beamforming integrated circuit and beamforming elements in communication with the integrated circuit disposed on a substrate. The beamforming integrated circuit includes multiple radio frequency (RF) signal ports. One or more of the RF signal ports includes an RF signal pad disposed between an edge of the integrated circuit and an internal RF ground pad. The RF signal pad and the internal RF ground pad of the RF signal port are oriented perpendicular with respect to the edge of the integrated circuit. Specifically, the RF signal pad has a first side disposed on or adjacent to the edge of the integrated circuit and an opposing second side that is adjacent to the internal RF ground pad. A method of controlling the phased antenna array system is also provided.

1 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A beamforming integrated circuit comprising:
 a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signal ports,   wherein one or more of the plurality of RF signal ports comprises an RF signal pad disposed between an edge of the integrated circuit and an internal RF ground pad,   wherein the RF signal pad and the internal RF ground pad of the one or more of the RF signal ports are oriented perpendicular with respect to the edge of the integrated circuit, and wherein the RF signal pad and the RF ground pad are configured to form a ground-signal (GS) transition that generates a symmetrical electromagnetic field between the RF signal pad and the RF ground pad that carries RF current to thereby electromagnetically isolate each of the RF ports from surrounding RF ports when the RF signal pad is electrically connected to an RF signal interface of a substrate and the internal RF ground pad is electrically connected to an RF ground interface of the substrate, and   wherein adjacent RF signal ports are separated by at least one ground pad and adjacent internal RF ground pads are separated by at least one ground pad.   
     
     
         25 . The beamforming integrated circuit of  claim 24 , wherein the RF signal pad has a first side disposed on or adjacent to the edge of the integrated circuit and an opposing second side that is adjacent to the internal RF ground pad. 
     
     
         26 . The beamforming integrated circuit of  claim 24 , wherein the plurality of RF signal ports comprises at least one RF common port for connecting to RF circuitry disposed on the substrate and at least one RF antenna port for connecting to at least one of the beamforming elements disposed on the substrate. 
     
     
         27 . The beamforming integrated circuit of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one RF common port and the at least one RF antenna port are separated by at least four pad locations on the integrated circuit. 
     
     
         28 . The beamforming integrated circuit of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one RF antenna port comprises a plurality of RF antenna ports separated by at least one pad location on the integrated circuit. 
     
     
         29 . The beamforming integrated circuit of  claim 26 , wherein each RF antenna port comprises an RF signal pad disposed between an edge of the integrated circuit and an internal RF ground pad, and wherein the RF antenna ports are disposed on first and second opposing edges of the integrated circuit and each RF common port is disposed on an edge other than the first and second opposing edges. 
     
     
         30 . A beamforming integrated circuit for controlling receipt and transmission of signals by a plurality of elements in a phased array, the beamforming integrated circuit comprising:
 beamforming circuitry; and   a plurality of contact pads on an interface surface of the beamforming integrated circuit, the plurality of contact pads positioned with respect to a rectangular grid having 130 pad locations arranged as 10 rows designatable as rows A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, and K and 13 columns designatable as columns 1-13, the plurality of contact pads comprising:   a first element RF signal pad at pad location J 1  and a corresponding ground-RF pad at pad location J 2 ;   a second element RF signal pad at pad location G 1  and a corresponding ground-RF pad at pad location G 2 ;   a third element RF signal pad at pad location D 1  and a corresponding ground-RF pad at pad location D 2 ;   a fourth element RF signal pad at pad location B 1  and a corresponding ground-RF pad at pad location B 2 ;   a fifth element RF signal pad at pad location B 13  and a corresponding ground-RF pad at pad location B 12 ;   a sixth element RF signal pad at pad location D 13  and a corresponding ground-RF pad at pad location D 12 ;   a seventh element RF signal pad at pad location G 13  and a corresponding ground-RF pad at pad location G 12 ;   an eighth element RF signal pad at pad location J 13  and a corresponding ground-RF pad at pad location J 12 ; and   ground pads between adjacent element RF signal pads at pad locations C 1 , E 1 , F 1 , H 1 , C 13 , E 13 , F 13 , and H 13 ,   the element RF signal pads being electrically coupled to the beamforming circuitry.   
     
     
         31 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 30 , wherein each element RF signal pad and corresponding ground-RF pad forms a ground-signal (GS) transition that generates a symmetrical electromagnetic field between the element RF signal pad and the ground-RF pad that carries RF current to thereby electromagnetically isolate each of the element RF signal pads from surrounding RF signal pads. 
     
     
         32 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 30 , wherein:
 the first element RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a first beamforming circuit;   the second element RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a second beamforming circuit;   the third element RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a third beamforming circuit;   the fourth element RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a fourth beamforming circuit;   the fifth element RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a fifth beamforming circuit;   the sixth element RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a sixth beamforming circuit;   the seventh element RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a seventh beamforming circuit;   the eighth element RF signal pad is electrically coupled to an eighth beamforming circuit,   wherein each beamforming circuit comprises at least one of (a) a transmit circuit configured to provide transmit signals to a corresponding element or (b) a receive circuit configured to process signals received from the corresponding element.   
     
     
         33 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 32 , wherein:
 the first and second element RF signal pads are separate element interfaces for respectively coupling the first and second beamforming circuits to separate interface ports of a first element;   the third and fourth element RF signal pads are separate element interfaces for respectively coupling the third and fourth beamforming circuits to separate interface ports of a second element;   the fifth and sixth element RF signal pads are separate element interfaces for respectively coupling the fifth and sixth beamforming circuits to separate interface ports of a third element; and   the seventh and eighth element RF signal pads are separate element interfaces for respectively coupling the seventh and eighth beamforming circuits to separate interface ports of a fourth element.   
     
     
         34 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 33 , wherein:
 the first and second beamforming circuits are configured to use different polarizations;   the third and fourth beamforming circuits are configured to use different polarizations;   the fifth and sixth beamforming circuits are configured to use different polarizations; and   the seventh and eighth beamforming circuits are configured to use different polarizations.   
     
     
         35 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 34 , wherein the different polarizations are orthogonal to one another. 
     
     
         36 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 34 , wherein:
 the first and second beamforming circuits are configured to transmit signals and receive signals using the different polarizations;   the third and fourth beamforming circuits are configured to transmit signals and receive signals using the different polarizations;   the fifth and sixth beamforming circuits are configured to transmit signals and receive signals using the different polarizations; and   
       the seventh and eighth beamforming circuits are configured to transmit signals and receive signals using the different polarizations. 
     
     
         37 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 30 , wherein the integrated circuit is configured to operate using 5G protocols. 
     
     
         38 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 30 , wherein the integrated circuit is configured to operate at one or more satellite frequencies. 
     
     
         39 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 30 , the plurality of contact pads further comprising:
 a first common RF signal pad at pad location A 7  with ground pads at pad locations A 6  and A 8 ; and   a second common RF signal pad at pad location K 7  with ground pads at pad locations K 6  and K 8 ,   the common RF signal pads being electrically coupled to the beamforming circuitry.   
     
     
         40 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 39 , wherein:
 the first common RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a first common RF circuit;   the second common RF signal pad is electrically coupled to a second common RF circuit; and   the first and second common RF circuits are configured to use different polarizations.   
     
     
         41 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 30 , wherein pad locations A 1 , A 13 , K 1 , and K 13  at the corners of the grid are unused. 
     
     
         42 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 30 , wherein pad locations A 3 -A 5 , A 9 -A 11 , K 3 -K 5 , and K 9 -K 11  are used for at least one of:
 digital input signals; 
 digital output signals; or 
 supply signals. 
 
     
     
         43 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 30 , wherein the interface surface is part of a wafer-level chip scale package (WLCSP) and wherein the signal pads include solder balls. 
     
     
         44 . A beamforming integrated circuit according to  claim 43 , wherein adjacent solder balls are around 400 um apart. 
     
     
         45 . A method of controlling a phased antenna array system that comprises a beamforming integrated circuit disposed on a substrate and including a plurality of radio frequency (RF) signal ports and a plurality of beamforming elements disposed on the substrate and in communication with the beamforming integrated circuit, the method comprising:
 transmitting a signal received on a first signal port among the RF signal ports through an RF channel defined in the beamforming integrated circuit to a second signal port among the RF signal ports,   wherein at least one of the first signal port and the second signal port comprises an RF signal pad disposed between an edge of the integrated circuit and an internal RF ground pad, wherein the RF signal pad and the internal RF ground pad of the RF signal port are oriented perpendicular with respect to the edge of the integrated circuit, and wherein the RF signal pad is electrically connected to an RF signal interface of the substrate and the internal RF ground pad is electrically connected to an RF ground interface of the substrate to form a ground-signal (GS) transition between the beamforming integrated circuit and the substrate that generates an electromagnetic field between the RF signal and the RF ground that carries RF current to thereby electromagnetically isolate the RF port from surrounding RF ports.   
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the RF signal pad has a first side disposed on or adjacent to the edge of the integrated circuit and an opposing second side that is adjacent to the internal RF ground pad. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein the plurality of RF signal ports comprises at least one RF common port for connecting to RF circuitry disposed on the substrate and at least one RF antenna port for connecting to at least one of the beamforming elements disposed on the substrate. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , wherein the at least one RF common port and the at least one RF antenna port are separated by at least four pad locations on the integrated circuit. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 47 , wherein the at least one RF antenna port comprising a plurality of RF antenna ports separated by at least one pad location on the integrated circuit.