60-GHz Multi-Layer Parasitic Microstrip Array Antenna with
Stacked Rings using Multi-Layer LTCC Substrate
Tomohiro SEKI, Kenjiro NISHIKAWA, and Kazuyasu OKADA
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Japan
1-1 Hikari-no-oka, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 239-0847, Japan
E-mail: t.seki@ieee.org
Abstract – This paper proposes a novel high-gain
millimeter-wave microstrip array antenna formed on a
multi-layer low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC)
substrate. The proposed antenna employs a multi-layer
parasitic microstrip array antenna with stacked rings. This
paper describes the design and characteristics of the
proposed antenna. The antenna performance is also
calculated by electro-magnetic simulation. The thickness of
the proposed antenna is 0.5 mm and the proposed antenna
achieves the antenna gain of 12.9 dBi in calculation in a 60-
GHz band. The proposed millimeter-wave antenna
promises compact antenna-integrated RF modules that
provide a low-cost millimeter-wave system-on-package.
Index Terms - active integrated antenna, multi-layer
LTCC substrate, quasi-millimeter and millimeter-wave
frequency band, multi-layer parasitic microstrip array
antenna, system-on-package
I. INTRODUCTION
System studies and hardware investigations on high-
speed wireless communications are being conducted at
quasi-millimeter and millimeter-wave frequencies [1]-[3].
These applications require compact, high performance,
and low-cost wireless equipment. A highly integrated RF
module, the so-called system-on-package (SOP) module,
which employs a multi-layer structure, is effective in
achieving the above requirements [4]-[7]. It is necessary
to adopt active integrated antenna technology to achieve a
module with antennas that are low-power consuming and
that have low-noise characteristics [8],[9]. An on-chip
antenna [4], a multi-chip module including antenna chips
[5], and the use of a lens antenna on a RF package [7]
were proposed. However, these approaches have several
issues such as size limitations, connection loss, and
mounting tolerances that result in an integrated antenna
with low gain and low efficiency characteristics.
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To overcome these problems, we proposed a multi-
layer parasitic microstrip antenna (MSA) array structure
and a multi-ring antenna that employs a multi-layer
ceramic substrate [10]-[12]. However, the multi-layer
parasitic MSA array has difficulty in achieving an
adequately high gain when the antenna is constructed on
the LTCC substrate. Moreover, the multi-ring antenna
requires multiple layers that have several degrees of
thickness, resulting in an increase in the production cost.
The multi-layer configuration also degrades the reliability
due to fabrication tolerances.
In this paper, we propose a new antenna structure to
achieve high gain and a thin structure. The antenna
employs a multi-layer parasitic microstrip array antenna
with stacked rings formed on a 0.5-mm-thick multi-layer
LTCC substrate. Simulation results show a gain higher
than 12.9 dBi in a 60-GHz band.
II. CONCEPT OF TARGET SYSTEM-ON-PACKAGE
FOR MILLIMETER-WAVE APPLICATIONS
The concept of the SOP module integrated with an
antenna is shown in Fig. 1. A multi-layer structure and
the proposed antenna are mounted on the SOP module
that incorporates a highly integrated transceiver MMIC.
The multi-layer structure for the MMIC chips and the
antenna is vertically stacked. This module includes a
high-gain antenna constructed on the package substrate, a
transmission MMIC, and a bandpass filter (BPF) circuit
for frequency limitation. The module integrates the
multi-layer LTCC substrate to achieve low cost and to
enable the mounting of an MMIC and other parts. The
antenna and the BPF circuit are mounted onto this
substrate which in turn is mounted onto the motherboard
by bump mounting. Exterior connections provide only a
baseband signal and the bias.
679 RWS 2008
 y
High gain antenna
w1
Multi-layer Bump Parasitic array
ceramic Metal ring
Parasitic
Via hole element

Mother Mother x
board board
Highly-integrated Feeding Bump
MMIC chip element BPF

Metal ring
Fig. 1 System-on-package configuration
Feeding element
(a) Top view
III. ANTENNA DESIGN

The proposed antenna structure is shown in Fig. 2. The 0.10mm

figure at the top shows the top view and the bottom figure
0.10mm
shows the cross-sectional view. This antenna employs a
parasitic microstrip array antenna with stacked rings. 0.10mm
However, for the sake of simplicity, the proposed antenna 0.10mm
is described in terms of a one parasitic element layer case.
t1
Here, we use the moment method as the calculation 0.10mm
method and assume that the ground plane is infinite. For
convenience, the width (horizontal direction) is expressed Parasitic Feeding Metal
such that the width of the parasitic layer is w1, and t1 is element element ring
the substrate thickness of the parasitic element as shown
in Fig. 2. The material constants of the LTCC substrate (b) Cross-sectional view
are εr = 7.7 and tanδ = 0.002 at 10 GHz. The size of the Fig. 2 Antenna structure
feeding element is 0.78 mm x 0.78 mm, and the feeding
point is 0.25 mm away from the center of the patch. The
15
size of the parasitic elements mounted on the parasitic
layer is 0.69 mm x 0.69 mm. Width w1 is 0.77 mm and t1
is 0.05 mm. The four parasitic elements mounted on the
parasitic layer are arranged such that they are equidistant
from the center of the feeding MSA. Moreover, the metal 10

rings can be arranged at wavelength intervals at

approximately 1/20 the dielectric substrate thickness in
the 60-GHz band. As a result, it is possible to use the
metal ring as a metal wall. The width of the metal rings 5
of each layer is 1.0 mm. The metal rings are arranged in
five layers with the ring radius offset starting from the
bottom of 0.2 mm. The absolute gain of this antenna
when the radius of the metal ring at the bottom is changed 0
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
is shown in Fig. 3. The figure shows that the ring radius
Radius of bottom metal ring [mm]
at the bottom is adjusted to 3.0 mm to achieve the
maximum absolute gain. Fig. 3 Absolute gain versus bottom ring radius

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 Next, the absolute gain of this antenna when the
substrate thickness is changed is shown in Fig. 4. This
figure shows that the peak characteristics are achieved
when the substrate thickness is 0.5 mm.
The radiation characteristics of the antenna are
described hereafter. The calculated results of the antenna
radiation characteristics when the ring radius at the
bottom is 3.0 mm and the substrate thickness is 0.5 mm
are shown in Fig. 5. In this figure, the 3 dB beam width
of the H-plane and the E-plane are 45 degrees and 22
degrees, respectively. Furthermore, the antenna achieves
the absolute gain of 12.9 dBi at 60 GHz. This paper
presented a 60-GHz band antenna design employing
multi-layer parasitic array antenna with stacked rings
using a multi-layer LTCC substrate that is well suited to
achieving a thin and a low cost SOP.
15
IV. CONCLUSION
We proposed a novel multi-layer parasitic microstrip
array antenna with stacked rings employing a multi-layer
LTCC substrate for a millimeter-wave SOP. The design
and calculated results of the proposed antenna were
described. The results clearly show that the proposed
antenna achieves the antenna gain of 12.9 dBi in a 60-
GHz band. This paper presented a 60-GHz band antenna
design employing a two-layer LTCC substrate that is well
suited to achieving a low cost module.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors thank Dr. Shuji Kubota of NTT Network
Innovation Laboratories for their constant encouragement.

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