Bondwire model and compensation network for 60 GHz chip-to-PCB interconnects

This letter presents a bondwire model in the form of a lumped-element network, which is based on the geometry of the bondwire and landing pads. For the interconnection between a chip and the feedline on a printed circuit board (PCB) substrate, the associated parasitics are calculated, which are responsible for the performance degradation caused by the bondwire at millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies. A matching network is realized with planar-lumped elements on the PCB and integrated for impedance mismatch compensation at a center frequency of 60 GHz. Simulations show an operating bandwidth of 50–70 GHz. The proposed solution is first verified by the measurements of PCB-to-PCB bondwire interconnects. Then, as an application example, an antenna-switch chip is placed at the PCB feedline. Remarkable improvements in terms of input matching and insertion loss are observed compared with an unmatched bondwire interconnect.