Increasing data rates, spectrum efficiency and energy efficiency have been driving major advances in the design and hardware integration of RF communication networks. In order to meet the data rate and efficiency metrics, 5G networks have emerged as a follow-on to 4G, and projected to have 100X higher wireless date rates and 100X lower latency than those with current 4G networks. Major challenges arise in the packaging of radio-frequency front-end modules because of the stringent low signal-loss requirements in the millimeter-wave frequency bands, and precision-impedance designs with smaller footprints and thickness. Heterogeneous integration in 3D ultra-thin packages with higher component densities and performance than with the existing 2D packages is needed to realize such 5G systems. This paper reviews the key building blocks of 5G systems and the underlying advances in packaging technologies to realize them.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.