Patent EP0474393A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0474393A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Single substrate microwave radar transceiver including flip-chip integrated circuits
Assignee: Delco Electronics LLC
•
Filing: 1991-08-20
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2011-08-20
Abstract
Abstract A microwave radar transceiver assembly (30) includes a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) chip 58 having coplanar waveguide transmission lines (100,102,104) formed on the same surface (58a) as the electronic elements thereof. Coplanar waveguide transmission lines (68,70,72) are also formed on a surface (62a) of a substrate (62). Planar transmitting and receiving antenna elements (88,90) are formed on the opposite surface (62b) of the substrate (62), and interconnected with the transmission lines (68,70,72) by vertical interconnects (92,94) which extend through the substrate (62). The transceiver chip (58), in addition to signal processing and power conditioning chips (56,60), are mounted on the substrate (62) in a flip-chip arrangement, with the respective surfaces (58a,62a) on which the transmission lines (100,102,104;68,70,72) are formed facing each other. Electrically conductive bumps (106,108,110) are formed on portions of the transmission lines (100,102,104) of the chips (56,58,60) which are to be interconnected with the transmission lines (68,70,72) of the substrate (62), and solder (114) is formed on the portions of the transmission lines (68,70,72) of the substrate (62) which are to be interconnected with the transmission lines (100,102,104) of the chips (56,58,60). The chips (56,58,60) are aligned on the substrate (62), and the assembly is heated to fuse the solder and interconnect the bumps (106,108,110) on the chips (56,58,60) with the transmission lines (68,70,72) on the substrate (62) in an integral operation. The bumps (106,108,110) provide spacing between the mating surfaces (58a,62a) of the substrate (62) and chips (56,58,60), and isolation between electronic elements on the chips (56,58,60).
Inventors
- 👤 Cheng P. Wen
- 👤 Gregory S. Mendolia
- 👤 Mirio Siracusa
- 👤 Joseph J. Maieron
- 👤 William D. Higdon
- 👤 John J. Wooldridge
- 👤 Jon Gulick
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 10:24
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01P; H01P11/00; G; G01; G01S; G01S7/00; G01S7/02; G01S7/03; G01S7/032; H01P1/00; H01P1/04; H01P1/047; H01P5/00; H01P5/02; H01Q; H01Q21/00; H01Q21/06; H01Q21/061; H01Q21/065; G01S13/00; G01S13/88; G01S13/93; G01S13/931; G01S2013/9327; G01S2013/93272; G01S2013/93275
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
88 words
A microwave radar assembly, comprising: an electrically insulative substrate having a surface; coplanar microwave transmission line means formed on said surface of the substrate; a microwave radar integrated circuit chip having a surface; and coplanar microwave transmission line means formed on said surface of the radar chip; the radar chip being mounted on the substrate with said surface of the radar chip facing said surface of the substrate, and the transmission line means of the radar chip being electrically interconnected with the transmission line means of the substrate.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
101 words
An assembly as in claim 1, in which the radar chip is a radar transceiver chip, the assembly further comprising: a signal processing integrated circuit chip for processing an output signal from the transceiver chip, the signal processing chip having a surface; and coplanar microwave transmission line means formed on said surface of the signal processing chip; the signal processing chip being mounted on the substrate with said surface of the signal processing chip facing said surface of the substrate, and the transmission line means of the signal processing chip being electrically interconnected with the transmission line means of the substrate.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
100 words
An assembly as in claim 1, in which the radar chip is a radar transceiver chip, the assembly further comprising: a power conditioning integrated circuit chip for supplying regulated electrical power to the transceiver chip, the power conditioning chip having a surface; coplanar microwave transmission line means formed on said surface of the power conditioning chip; the power conditioning chip being mounted on the substrate with said surface of the power conditioning chip facing said surface of the substrate, and the transmission line means of the power conditioning chip being electrically interconnected with the transmission line means of the substrate.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
62 words
An assembly as in claim 1, in which: the radar chip is a transceiver chip; the substrate has a second surface which is opposite to said surface thereof; the assembly further comprises: a planar radar antenna means formed on the second surface of the substrate; and interconnect means extending through the substrate and electrically interconnecting the transceiver chip with the antenna means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
An assembly as in claim 4, in which the interconnect means comprises at least one via.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
46 words
An assembly as in claim 4, in which: the antenna means comprises a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna; the interconnect means comprises a first via interconnecting the transceiver chip with the transmitting antenna, and a second via interconnecting the transceiver chip with the receiving antenna.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
An assembly as in claim 1, in which the transmission line means of the radar chip is electrically interconnected with the transmission line means of the substrate by soldering.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
91 words
An assembly as in claim 1, in which: the transmission line means of the radar chip comprises a plurality of transmission lines, each including a signal conductor and a ground conductor; the transmission line means of the substrate comprises ground conductor means; the assembly further comprises a plurality of spacer means which electrically interconnect the ground conductors of the transmission lines of the radar chip with the ground conductor means of the substrate and maintain said surfaces of the radar chip and substrate spaced from each other by a predetermined distance.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
An assembly as in claim 8, in which the spacer means are formed on the ground conductors of the radar chip, and electrically interconnected with the ground conductors of the substrate by soldering.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
13 words
An assembly as in claim 8, in which the spacer means comprise bumps.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
35 words
An assembly as in claim 8, in which said predetermined distance is at least approximately six times the spacing between the signal conductors and respective ground conductors of the transmission lines of the radar chip.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
82 words
An assembly as in claim 1, in which: the transmission line means of the radar chip comprises a plurality of transmission lines, each including a signal conductor and a ground conductor; the assembly further comprises spacer means which maintain said surfaces of the radar chip and substrate spaced from each other by a predetermined distance; said predetermined distance being at least approximately six times the spacing between the signal conductors and respective ground conductors of the transmission lines of the radar chip.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
147 words
A method of fabricating a microwave radar assembly, comprising the steps of: (a) providing an electrically insulative substrate having coplanar microwave transmission line means formed on a surface thereof; (b) providing a microwave radar integrated circuit chip having coplanar transmission line means formed on a surface thereof; (c) forming solder on portions of the transmission line means of the substrate which are to be interconnected with respective portions of the transmission line means of the radar chip; (d) mating said surface of the radar chip with said surface of the substrate such that said respective portions of the transmission line means of the radar chip and substrate to be interconnected are aligned with each other; and (e) temporarily heating the solder to a temperature which causes it to fuse and electrically interconnect said respective portions of the transmission line means of the radar chip and substrate together.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method as in claim 13, in which step (b) comprises providing the radar chip such that said portions of the transmission line means thereof which are to be interconnected with said respective portions of the transmission line means of the substrate include electrically conductive bumps.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
72 words
A method as in claim 14, in which step (b) comprises forming the transmission line means of the radar chip as including a plurality of transmission lines, each including a signal conductor and a ground conductor having a predetermined spacing therebetween, and forming the bumps to a height such that said mated surfaces upon completion of step (e) are spaced from each other by at least approximately six times said predetermined spacing.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method as in claim 13, in which step (e) further includes integrally heating the substrate, radar chip, and solder to said temperature.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.