High speed digital interconnect and method

摘要

In some developing interconnect technologies, such as chip-to-chip optical interconnect or metal waveguide interconnects, misalignment can be a serious issue. Here, however, a interconnect that uses an on-chip directional antenna (which operates in the sub-millimeter range) to form a radio frequency (RF) interconnect through a dielectric waveguide is provided. This system allows for misalignment while providing the increased communication bandwidth.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
a first packaged integrated circuit (IC) that includes:
a substrate;a first housing having a first receptacle formed therein; anda first IC that is secured within the first housing and that includes a first directional antenna that is located in proximity to the first receptacle, a second packaged IC that includes:
a second housing having a second receptacle formed therein; anda second IC that is secured within the second housing and that includes a second directional antenna that is located in proximity to the second receptacle; a directional dielectric waveguide that is secured to the first housing in the first receptacle and the second housing in the second receptacle, wherein the directional dielectric waveguide is adapted to provide a sub-millimeter wave radio frequency (RF) link between the first and second directional antennas, and a beam steering circuit that is coupled to the first directional antenna, wherein the beam steering circuit changes an electric propagation characteristic of the first directional antenna itself, and wherein the beam steering circuit is contained on or in the first packaged IC; wherein the sub-millimeter wave RF link is produced by a high frequency oscillator built on the substrate, wherein the oscillator is constructed by a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process technology.