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Design of Embedded Circuits For High-Speed Wireless Applications
Graduate Researcher: Dan Kollmann
Although Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) is a relatively young substrate technology, it is already showing promise for use in wireless applications
covering the 1-40 GHz frequency range.
LTCC consists of multiple thin layers, which are stacked vertically and then co-fired to become a hermetically sealed substrate (or package). Prior to stacking, circuits are printed on the individual layers. Through the use of vias punched and metal filled through one or more layers, a circuit designer has the ability to create 3-dimensional (3-D) circuits, which inherently use less space than their 2-D counterparts. LTCC has already proven to be a cost efficient and space saving method for high-performance low frequency (<2 GHz) designs.
In order to take advantage of the benefits of embedded and 3-D high frequency (1-40 GHz) circuits, a designer should have access to models describing the behavior of all components used within a system. This research seeks to develop vertical transition models for coplanar waveguide (CPW) configurations in embedded substrates. Wideband operation is sought and lumped element models are being developed for 40 GHz bandwidth operation.
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