Multilayer Antenna Package for IEEE 802.11ad Employing Ultralow-Cost FR4

This paper demonstrates the possibility and feasibility of an ultralow-cost antenna-in-package (AiP) solution for the upcoming generation of wireless local area networks (WLANs) denoted as IEEE802.11ad. The iterative design procedure focuses on maximally alleviating the inherent disadvantages of high-volume FR4 process at 60 GHz such as its relatively high material loss and fabrication restrictions. Within the planar antenna package, the antenna element, vertical transition, antenna feedline, and low- and high-speed interfaces are allocated in a vertical schematic. A circular stacked patch antenna renders the antenna package to exhibit 10-dB return loss bandwidth from 57-66 GHz. An embedded coplanar waveguide (CPW) topology is adopted for the antenna feedline and features less than 0.24 dB/mm in unit loss, which is extracted from measured parametric studies. The fabricated single antenna package is 9 mm × 6 mm × 0.404 mm in dimension. A multiple-element antenna package is fabricated, and its feasibility for future phase array applications is studied. Far-field radiation measurement using an inhouse radio-frequency (RF) probe station validates the single-antenna package to exhibit more than 4.1-dBi gain and 76% radiation efficiency.