System on Package (SoP) Millimeter Wave Filters for 5G Applications

  • Jameel Showail

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

Bandpass filters are an essential component of wireless communication systems that only transmits frequencies corresponding to the communication band and rejects all other frequencies. As the deployment of 5G draws nearer, first deployments are expected in 2020 [1], the need for viable filters at the new frequency bands becomes more imminent. Size and performance are two critical considerations for a filter that will be used in emerging mobile communication applications. The high frequency of 5G communication, 28 GHz as opposed to sub 6 GHz for nearly all previous communication protocols, means that previously utilized lumped component based solutions cannot be implemented since they are ill-suited for mm-wave applications. The focus of this work is the miniaturization of a high-performance filter. The Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) is a high performance and promising structure and Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) is a high-performance material that both can operate at higher frequencies than the technologies used for previous telecommunication generations. To miniaturize the structure, a compact folded four-cavity SIW filter is designed, implemented and tested. The feeding structure is integrated into the filter to exploit the System on Package (SoP) attributes of LTCC and further reduce the total area of the filter individually and holistically when looking at the final integrated system. Two unique three dimensional (3D) integrated SoP LTCC two-stage SIW single cavity filters and one unique four-cavity filter all with embedded planar resonators are designed, fabricated and tested. The embedded resonators create a two-stage effect in a single cavity filter. The better single cavity design provides a 15% fractional bandwidth at a center frequency of 28.12 GHz, and with an insertion loss of -0.53 dB. The fabricated four-cavity filter has a 3-dB bandwidth of .98GHz centered at 27.465 GHz, and with an insertion loss of -2.66 dB. The designs presented highlight some of the previously leveraged advantages of SoP designs while also including additions of embedded planar resonators to feed the SIW cavity. The integration of both elements realizes a compact and high-performance filter that is well suited for future mm-wave applications including 5G.
Date of AwardMay 2018
Original languageEnglish (US)
Awarding Institution
  • Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering
SupervisorAtif Shamim (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Cavity filter
  • millimeter wave
  • 5G
  • System on Package (SoP)
  • SIW
  • LTCC

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