System in a package solution for RF receiver with SAW filter integration

An RF receiver module including a SAW filter in a package has been developed for providing a system in a package (SIP) solution. The most significant feature for the receiver module is that the RF SAW (surface acoustic wave) filter is integrated within the package. A typical silicon substate with thick oxide on top (∼25 μm) made it possible to implement the different technologies such as GaAs MMIC and SAW filter on a single substate. MCM-D technology using a silicon substrate in this paper shows the proper solution for a SIP. RF performance and basic circuit components such as inductors, capacitors, resistors and transmission lines are developed. To verify the application of a silicon substrate to a system, an RF receiver module having dual band/tri-mode functions (CDMA, AMPS, and PCS) is implemented on a silicon substrate. A low noise amplifier, RF SAW filter and mixer are integrated on a specialized silicon substrate and show 2.4∼3 dB NF and 27∼28 dB gain for PCS (1840∼1870 MHz) and CDMA (869∼894 MHz), respectively.