Transmit/receive daughter card with integral circulator
First Claim
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1. A transmit receive (T/R) daughter card assembly comprising:
- a printed circuit board (PCB) having first and second opposing surfaces and having a plurality unit cells with each unit cell having one or more electrical contacts on the first surface of said PCB and each unit cell having one or more electrical contacts on the second opposing surface of said PCB;
a plurality of radio frequency (RF) circulators disposed on a first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, each of said circulators disposed within the boundaries of a respective one of said plurality of unit cells, and each of said circulators electrically coupled to at least some of the one or more electrical contacts within the respective unit cell;
a thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, said circulator thermally and electrically conductive layer in thermal and electrical contact with said plurality of circulators;
one or more RF integrated circuits disposed on a second, opposite one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, each of said RF integrated circuits disposed within the boundaries of a respective one of said plurality of unit cells and each of said RF integrated circuits electrically coupled to at least some of the one or more electrical contacts on the second surface of said PCB within the unit cell in which the one or more RF integrated circuit is disposed;
one or more thermal vias disposed through said PCB to provide thermal paths from the said thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB to the second opposing surface of said PCB; and
one or more heat spreaders disposed on the second one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB which is opposite the surface on which the circulators are mounted, said one or more heat spreaders thermally coupled to said thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB through at least one of the one or more thermal vias.
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Abstract
A mixed-signal, multilayer printed wiring board fabricated in a single lamination step is described. The PWB includes one or more radio frequency (RF) interconnects between different circuit layers on different circuit boards which make up the PWB. The PWB includes a number of unit cells with radiating elements and an RF cage disposed around each unit cell to isolate the unit cell. A plurality of flip-chip circuits are disposed on an external surface of the PWB and a heat sink can be disposed over the flip chip components.
128 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A transmit receive (T/R) daughter card assembly comprising:
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a printed circuit board (PCB) having first and second opposing surfaces and having a plurality unit cells with each unit cell having one or more electrical contacts on the first surface of said PCB and each unit cell having one or more electrical contacts on the second opposing surface of said PCB; a plurality of radio frequency (RF) circulators disposed on a first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, each of said circulators disposed within the boundaries of a respective one of said plurality of unit cells, and each of said circulators electrically coupled to at least some of the one or more electrical contacts within the respective unit cell; a thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, said circulator thermally and electrically conductive layer in thermal and electrical contact with said plurality of circulators; one or more RF integrated circuits disposed on a second, opposite one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, each of said RF integrated circuits disposed within the boundaries of a respective one of said plurality of unit cells and each of said RF integrated circuits electrically coupled to at least some of the one or more electrical contacts on the second surface of said PCB within the unit cell in which the one or more RF integrated circuit is disposed; one or more thermal vias disposed through said PCB to provide thermal paths from the said thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB to the second opposing surface of said PCB; and one or more heat spreaders disposed on the second one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB which is opposite the surface on which the circulators are mounted, said one or more heat spreaders thermally coupled to said thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB through at least one of the one or more thermal vias. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A modular, scalable radio frequency (RF) circuit card array (CCA) assembly comprising:
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(A) an eggcrate/feed beamformer assembly first and second opposing surfaces with a first surface corresponding to a radiator surface and the second surface corresponding to a feed beamformer surface, said eggcrate/feed beamformer assembly comprising; (1) an outer patch printed wring board (PWB), having a first radiating surface and a second opposing surface and comprising a plurality of antenna elements configured to radiate RF energy from the radiating surface of said outer patch PWB; (2) an outer PWB eggcrate having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said outer patch PWB and having a second opposing surface, wherein walls of said outer PWB eggcrate define a plurality of unit cells within at least some of the outer patch PWB antenna elements are disposed; (3) an inner patch PWB having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said outer PWB eggcrate and having a second opposing surface and comprising a plurality of antenna elements configured to radiate RF energy from the radiating surface of said outer patch PWB with at least some of the inner patch PWB antenna elements disposed within ones of the plurality of unit cells; (4) an inner PWB eggcrate having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said inner patch PWB and having a second opposing surface wherein walls of said inner PWB eggcrate are substantially aligned with wall of said outer PWB eggcrate to further define unit cell regions; and (5) a feed beamformer PWB circuit having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said inner PWB eggcrate and having a second opposing surface; and (B) a T/R assembly having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said feed beamformer PWB circuit and having a second opposing surface, said daughter card assembly comprising; (1) an eggcrate interposer having a first surface corresponding to the first surface of said T/R daughter card assembly and a second opposing surface; and (2) one or more T/R daughter card assemblies, each of the one or more daughter card assemblies having first and second opposing surfaces with the first surface corresponding to a circulator surface and the second surface corresponding to a MMIC surface and wherein the circulator surface of said one or more daughter card assemblies is disposed over the second surface of said eggcrate interposer and each of said daughter card assemblies having one or more unit cells with the total number of unit cells from said one or more daughter card assemblies corresponding to the number of unit cells defined by the walls of said outer PWB eggcrate, and wherein each of said one or more daughter card assemblies comprising; (a) a multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB) having first and second opposing surface and having a plurality unit cells with each unit cell having one or more electrical contacts on the first surface of said PCB and having one or more electrical contacts on the second opposing surface of said PCB; (b) a plurality of circulators disposed on a first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, said of circulators disposed within the boundaries of a respective one of said plurality unit cells, and each of said of circulators electrically coupled to at least some of the one or more electrical contacts within the respective unit cell; (c) a thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, said circulator thermally and electrically conductive layer in thermal and electrical contact with said circulator; (d) one or more monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) disposed on a second, opposite one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB, said MMICs electrically coupled to at least some of the one or more electrical contacts on the second surface of said PCB; (e) one or more thermal vias disposed through the PCB to provide thermal paths from the thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB to the second opposing surface of the PCB; (f) one or more heat spreaders disposed on a second one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB which is opposite the surface on which the circulators are mounted, said one or more heat spreaders thermally coupled to said thermally and electrically conductive layer disposed on the first one of the first and second surfaces of said PCB. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A modular, scalable radio frequency (RF) circuit card array (CCA) assembly comprising:
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an eggcrate/feed beamformer assembly first and second opposing surfaces with a first surface corresponding to a radiator surface and the second surface corresponding to a feed beamformer surface, said eggcrate/feed beamformer assembly comprising; an outer patch printed wring board (PWB), having a first radiating surface and a second opposing surface and comprising a plurality of antenna elements configured to radiate RF energy from the radiating surface of said outer patch PWB; an outer PWB eggcrate having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said outer patch PWB and having a second opposing surface; an inner patch PWB having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said outer PWB eggcrate and having a second opposing surface and comprising a plurality of antenna elements configured to radiate RF energy from the radiating surface of said outer patch PWB; an inner PWB eggcrate having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said inner patch PWB and having a second opposing surface; and a feed beamformer PWB circuit having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said inner PWB eggcrate and having a second opposing surface; and a T/R assembly having a first surface disposed over the second surface of said feed beamformer PWB circuit and having a second opposing surface, said daughter card assembly comprising; an eggcrate interposer having a first surface corresponding to the first surface of said T/R assembly and a second opposing surface; and one or more daughter card assemblies, each of the one or more T/R daughter cards having a first surface with surface mounted circulators disposed thereon and a second, opposing surface with a plurality of RF integrated circuits disposed therein wherein the circulator surface of said one or more T/R daughter cards is disposed over the second surface of said eggcrate interposer and wherein each of said surface mount circulators are disposed within the boundary of a respective one of said plurality of unit cells of the modular, scalable RF CCA assembly and the plurality of RF integrated circuits are disposed within the boundary of a respective one of said plurality of unit cells of the modular, scalable RF CCA assembly on a surface of the T/R daughter card which is opposite the surface on which the plurality of circulators is disposed. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification