Radio frequency interconnect circuits and techniques

摘要

A multilayer circuit board assembly includes one or more radio frequency (RF) interconnects between different circuit layers on different circuit boards which make up the circuit board assembly. The RF interconnects can include one or more RF matching pads which provide a mechanism for matching impedance characteristics of RF stubs to provide the RF interconnects having desired insertion loss and impedance characteristics over a desired RF operating frequency band. The RF matching pads allow the manufacture of circuit boards having RF interconnects without the need to perform any back drill and back fill operation to remove stub portions of the RF interconnects in the multilayer circuit board assembly.

主权项

1. A method of manufacturing a multilayer printed circuit board assembly provided from a plurality of printed circuit boards, the method comprising the unordered steps of:
bonding together a plurality of printed circuit boards to form a bonded printed circuit board assembly having first and second opposing outer surfaces with at least a first one of the plurality of printed circuit boards having a first circuit on a layer thereof and at least a second different one of the plurality of printed circuit boards having a second circuit on a layer thereof; drilling a plurality of holes which extend through the first and second opposing outer surfaces of the bonded printed circuit board assembly with one of the holes intersecting both the first and second circuits in the bonded printed circuit board assembly; plating each of the plurality of holes to form a plurality of conductive via holes and wherein the conductive via hole which intersects both the first and second circuits corresponds to an RF interconnect between the first and second circuits and wherein the RF interconnect has at least one stub portion; and forming an RF matching pad on at least one layer of at least one of said plurality of printed circuit boards such that the RF matching pad is electrically coupled to the RF interconnect so as to adjust an impedance characteristic of the RF interconnect; and wherein forming an RF matching pad comprises forming a disk-shaped RF matching pad by providing a conductor having a disk shape on the at least one layer of at least one of said plurality of printed circuit boards, such that the disk-shaped conductor is electrically coupled to the RF interconnect and wherein the size of the disk-shaped conductor is selected to adjust an impedance characteristic of the RF interconnect.