Antenna in Package (AiP) for 5G and 6G 2024-2034: Technologies, Trends, Markets

Millimeter-wave (mmWave), previously confined to military, satellite, and automotive radar applications, has now entered the mobile communications frequency spectrum, offering high data throughput of up to 20 Gbps with an ultralow latency of just 1 ms. This shift necessitates innovative technological advancements across devices, including RF and optical components, low-loss materials, and advanced semiconductor packaging technologies. Among these innovations, packaging stands out as a critical area requiring significant development and is the key focus of IDTechEx's report "Antenna in Package (AiP) for 5G and 6G 2024-2034: Technologies, Trends, Markets".

 

IDTechEx's report, "Antenna in Package (AiP) for 5G and 6G 2024-2034," offers an in-depth exploration of AiP technologies designed to meet the requirements of 5G mmWave and upcoming 6G networks. It provides comprehensive analysis of diverse substrate materials including organic, LTCC, and glass, as well as packaging methods like flip-chip and fan-out. The report thoroughly examines these aspects from material properties, manufacturing feasibility, and supply chain viewpoints.

 

Additionally, it delves into antenna integration for applications beyond 100 GHz, offering insightful case studies and addressing prevalent challenges in the field. Leveraging IDTechEx's expertise, the report provides valuable insights into the dynamic landscape of antenna packaging technologies, forecasting the industry's future trajectory with advanced semiconductor packaging solutions at its core.

 

Antenna-in-package (AiP) represents an advanced antenna packaging technology utilized in high-frequency telecommunications. Leveraging the short wavelengths of mmWave applications, AiP enables the creation of significantly smaller antennas that can be seamlessly integrated directly into semiconductor packages, unlike traditional discrete antennas assembled as individual components on PCB. This integration of the antenna with the transceiver on a single chip offers a host of advantages, including enhanced antenna performance and greatly reduced package footprints. Advancing into the sub-THz range, potentially within the spectrum of 6G, research is underway on new antenna packaging technologies aimed at integrating antennas directly onto RF components. However, this area is still in the research phase due to various manufacturing and scalability challenges.

 

 

 

In the development of AiP technology for high-frequency communication devices, cost-effectiveness emerges as the utmost crucial consideration. With a target price of US$2 per 1x1 AiP module, affordability becomes pivotal for widespread adoption, although this presents a chicken-and-egg challenge where adoption must precede cost reduction through economies of scale. Utilizing cost-effective packaging materials and processes is essential. Additionally, miniaturization plays a critical role, especially for integration into consumer devices like smartphones, where component size is paramount. Ensuring that package size can be shrunk while maintaining performance and cost-effectiveness necessitates leveraging new packaging technologies.

 

Moreover, achieving high performance is vital for AiP platforms. This entails the fabrication and integration of high-gain, broadband mmWave antenna arrays, along with ensuring intra-system electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). Additionally, optimizing equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) and ensuring signal integrity (SI) and power integrity (PI) are crucial aspects. Integrating high-quality factor (Q factor) passives to co-design active mmWave front-end transceiver components further enhances performance. Furthermore, reliability is essential, necessitating a direct thermal passage from the chip to the exterior to dissipate heat from power amplifiers. Scalability adds another layer of versatility, enabling the design of basic modules that can be upscaled to meet various applications with different power requirements. Addressing all these requirements is essential when designing an AiP module for high-frequency communication devices. Questions such as the choice of antenna element, substrate technology, substrate materials, limitations of each substrate technology, integration of passive devices, and supply chain maturity are all explored in IDTechEx's report.

 

a. Explore the status of 5G mmWave development, technology innovation roadmap, key applications, and market outlook.

b. Understand the landscape of 6G, including potential spectrum, enabling THz communication technologies, key research and industry activities, roadmap, technical targets, and applications.

 

a. Compare beamforming technologies of 5G sub-6 vs mmWave.

b. Examine phased array technologies, including antenna, semiconductor, and packaging integration components, technical requirements, trends, and design considerations.

 

a. Discuss antenna substrate technology, benchmarking, material requirements, and packaging for phased arrays.

b. Explore various antenna packaging technologies for 5G mmWave, including antenna on PCB and antenna in package (AiP), categorized by packaging technologies: Flip-chip vs fan-out. Also, discuss substrate material choices, such as LTCC, low-loss organic-based, and glass, covering production challenges, material choices and benchmark, solutions/case studies from key players, and substrate design considerations for each packaging technology.

 

a. Address challenges in 6G transceiver development, focusing on power requirements, antenna gain, and phased array demands.

b. Discuss various potential packaging technologies for beyond 100 GHz applications, covering thermal management options and low-loss material choices for antenna substrates. Include case studies showcasing D-band (110-170 GHz) phased array technology.

 

 

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