TSV-based antenna for on-chip wireless communication

On-chip wireless interconnects provide signal broadcasting and link shortcuts for improved latency and throughput, useful considering the increase of the number of processing elements on a chip. In this work, a through-silicon via antenna (TSV_A) for on-chip wireless communication is proposed. TSV_A significantly improves the wireless interconnect performance over current solutions of on-chip antennas, which occupy a large area of the chip and are not capable of far-reaching transmission. Printed circuit board (PCB) prototypes are designed and fabricated to validate the proposed TSV_A. The PCB prototype of the TSV_A has an insertion loss of 5-10 dB at a distance of similar or equal to 20 mm, measured in PCB and validated with high fidelity 3D finite element method simulation results. TSV_A has improved path loss, smaller size, and lower manufacturing costs due to the well-established TSV fabrication process for 3D-ICs. Projections for an on-chip 3D-IC operation indicate up to 40 dB improved signal strength compared to other on-chip antennas, with an insertion loss of similar or equal to 3-5 dB up to a 30 mm distance.