Mini-Circuits has been awarded a patent for a novel integrated LTCC packaging technology that provides a low-cost solution for mmWave surface-mount components operating to above 60 GHz. U.S. patent 10,861,803 B1 was issued December 8, naming Mini-Circuits LTCC product line manager Aaron Vaisman as the inventor.
The limitations of surface-mount packaging have posed a technical barrier to commercializing mmWave applications with acceptable RF performance, size and cost. This new packaging technology, which supports both wire bonding and flip-chip assembly, gives chipmakers and system designers an option to build mmWave components and systems at production volumes without compromising electrical performance or cost, according to Mini-Circuits.
“This innovation employs Mini-Circuits’ vast knowledge of LTCC technology, accumulated over more than 20 years of design experience, to create an entirely new packaging topology,” said Vaisman. “We’ve been refining the processes and proprietary material compositions over the last three years to achieve the results we’re seeing now.”
The LTCC packaging technology will benefit Mini-Circuits’ ongoing expansion of its own MMIC product line higher into mmWave frequencies. New switches, fixed and digital step attenuators, mixers, samplers and baluns, with operating frequencies to 67 GHz, are being developed and planned for release this year.