Propagation Mechanisms of Radio Waves Over Intra-Chip Channels With Integrated Antennas: Frequency-Domain Measurements and Time-Domain Analysis

The propagation mechanisms of radio waves over intra-chip channels were studied with integrated antennas for wireless chip area networks. Test vehicles were designed and fabricated on silicon wafers of both low and high resistivities, respectively, using Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) processes. On-wafer measurements for propagation of radio waves over intra-chip channels were conducted in the frequency domain from 10 to 110 GHz with a network analyzer. Time-domain analysis was performed to characterize intra-chip radio channels and more importantly to understand the propagation mechanisms.