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The present invention relates to a millimeter wave RF antenna array apparatus. The apparatus comprises a single-chip MMIC (320) comprising active circuit elements (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28) of the antenna array apparatus. The active circuit elements (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28) comprise at least antenna feed circuitry (150) configured to feed antenna elements (10) of the antenna array. The apparatus comprises an interposer fabricated of low-loss RF material, such as glass, low temperature co-fired ceramic, LTCC, or printed circuit board, PCB. The interposer comprises transmission lines (221a, 221b, 221c) of a RF distribution network (120) and a plurality of antenna elements (10) of the antenna array. The transmission lines (221a, 221b, 221c) of the interposer are coupled to the MMIC (320) for providing RF connections for distributing RF signals to and from the antenna feed circuitry (150). Area of the interposer that comprises the transmission lines (221a, 221b, 221c) of the RF distribution network (120) and the plurality of antenna elements (10) is collocated with the area of the MMIC (320) that comprises said antenna feed circuitry (150).Patent family as of 30.3.2022FI129416 B 20220215 FI20200006304 20201215 FI20206304 A 20220215 FI20200006304 20201215Link to currentpatent family on right

Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was financially supported by the Academy of Finland under grant MilliRAD, number 314541. The authors would like to thank I. Huhtinen for the RF measurements. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 European Microwave Association. This paper describes a study of impact of different passivation methods on performance of gradient refractive index (GRIN) lenses. Three different passivation layers on top of lenses are studied: PolySi, PolySi and PECVD silicon oxide (PolySi+SiO2), and PECVD silicon oxide (SiO2). Antenna gains and radiation patterns of fabricated lenses are measured. The study shows that passivation methods have strong impact on silicon GRIN lenses performance. A model with a low-resistivity layer on top of high-resistivity Si can explain observed effects.

Data for figures in publication arXiv:1806.09397.

According to an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided antenna array comprising: a plurality of parallel antenna elements arranged on a printed circuit board laminate comprising a flexible substrate layer on a rigid substrate layer comprising portions specific to one or more antenna elements, said flexible substrate layer comprising a feed network, wherein the rigid substrate layer is configured movable between a first arrangement of the portions of the rigid substrate layer, where the antenna array has a planar form, and a second arrangement of the portions of the rigid substrate layer, where the antenna array is curved around one or more axes.Patent family as of 22.12.2021EP3711114 A1 20200923 EP20180793700 20181008 FI128822 B 20201231 FI20170006018 20171115 FI20176018 A 20190516 FI20170006018 20171115 US2020335847 AA 20201022 US20180764002 20181008 WO19097109 A1 20190523 WO2018FI50718 20181008Link to current patent family on right

An increasing need for wider bandwidths and higher data rates makes the use of millimetre-wave frequencies (30–300 GHz) attractive for the wireless communications applications. At millimetre-wave frequencies, directive antennas with a moderate or high antenna gain are usually needed to compensate for a high free-space path loss. Directive antennas have a narrow radiation beam and therefore beam steering is required to cover a wide angular range. Other requirements for the millimetre-wave antennas are, for example, a small form factor and integrability with the radio frequency (RF) front ends. The objective of this thesis is to develop practical millimetre-wave antenna solutions for 60–110 GHz frequencies using low-cost manufacturing technologies, such as low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) and printed circuit board (PCB). Investigations are done to improve the antenna performance, such as to increase the antenna gain and the operational bandwidth, and to suppress the mutual coupling between antennas. In addition to fixed-beam antennas radiating broadside or end-fire radiation beams, three beam-steering antenna demonstrators are also developed. The performance of 60 GHz patch antennas and arrays on LTCC is improved by processing air cavities inside substrate to increase antenna gain and operational bandwidth. A 60 GHz uniplanar-compact electromagnetic band-gap (UC-EBG) structure is implemented on LTCC to increase the antenna gain and reduce the mutual coupling between antennas. A dual-resonant patch antenna and a 16-element array are designed for wideband performance at W-band (75–110 GHz). To reduce the feed network losses, a 60 GHz chain antenna array with a substrate-integrated (SIW) feed network is designed on LTCC. A surface-wave assisted 60 GHz dipole and an array are designed on LTCC for end-fire radiation. A high-gain beam-switching dipole is presented for 77 GHz. A 90 GHz phased-array transmitter on LTCC is developed for providing beam steering over ±25 deg. A beam-switching dual-spherical lens antenna system is presented for the E-band (71–76 GHz). The lens has a beam-switching array with 16 Vivaldi antennas on a multilayer PCB as a feed. Beam steering between ±40 deg. is demonstrated in one dimension.

A probe apparatus of a millimeter or submillimeter radio frequency band comprises transition layers (104, 106) having 5 outermost layers (110, 116) on opposite surfaces of the probe apparatus. An internal transition cavity (114) extends through the transition layers (106, 108) for guiding electromagnetic radiation within the probe apparatus (100). A probe layer (108) disposed between the transition layers (104, 106), the probe 10 layer (108) having a lateral transmission line (118) for interacting with the electromagnetic radiation guided by the internal transmission cavity (114).

English summary

The new services available through smart devices require very high cellular network capacity. The capacity requirement is expected to increase exponentially with the forthcoming 5G networks. The only available spectrum for truly wideband communication (>1 GHz) is at millimeter wavelengths. The high free space loss can be overcome by using the directive and beam-steerable antennas. This paper describes a design and the measurement results for a lens antenna system for E-band having 2-D beam-steering capability. Continuous beam-switching range of about ±4°*±17° is demonstrated with the lens having the maximum measured directivity of 36.7 dB. Link budget calculation for backhaul application using the presented lens antenna system is presented and compared with the measurement results of the implemented demo system.