Patent Publication Number: US-11664596-B2

Title: Antenna modules and communication devices

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/014,081, filed on Sep. 8, 2020, and entitled ANTENNA MODULES AND COMMUNICATION DEVICES,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/000,795, filed on Jun. 5, 2018, and entitled “ANTENNA MODULES AND COMMUNICATION DEVICES,” all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Wireless communication devices, such as handheld computing devices and wireless access points, include antennas. The frequencies over which communication may occur may depend on the shape and arrangement of an antenna or antenna array, among other factors. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example, not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG.  1    is a side, cross-sectional view of an antenna module, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  2 - 4    are side, cross-sectional views of example antenna boards, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    is a top view of an example antenna patch, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  6 - 11    are side, cross-sectional views of example antenna boards, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  12  and  13    are side, cross-sectional views of example antenna patches, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  14    is a side, cross-sectional view of an integrated circuit (IC) package that may be included in an antenna module, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  15 A- 15 C  are views of example antenna modules, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  16 A- 16 B and  17 - 18    are side, cross-sectional views of example antenna modules, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  19  and  20    are bottom views of example antenna patch arrangements in an antenna board, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  21    is a side, cross-sectional view of an example antenna patch arrangement in an antenna board, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  22    is a side, cross-sectional view of a portion of a communication device including an antenna module, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  23  and  24    are side, cross-sectional views of an example assembly including an antenna module and a circuit board, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  25 A and  25 B  are various views of an example communication device including antenna modules, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  26 A and  26 B  are various views of an example communication device including antenna modules, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  27    is a top view of an example antenna board, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  28    is a side, cross-sectional view of the antenna board of  FIG.  27    coupled to an antenna board fixture, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  29    is a top view of an example antenna board, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  30    is a side, cross-sectional view of the antenna board of  FIG.  29    coupled to an antenna board fixture, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  31 A and  31 B  are a top view and a side, cross-sectional view, respectively, of an antenna board coupled to an antenna board fixture, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  32    is a side, cross-sectional view of an antenna board coupled to an antenna board fixture, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  33 - 36    are exploded, perspective views of example antenna modules, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIGS.  37 A and  37 B  are top and bottom perspective views, respectively, of an example antenna module, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  38    is a perspective view of a handheld communication device including an antenna module, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  39    is a perspective view of a laptop communication device including multiple antenna modules, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  40    is a top view of a wafer and dies that may be included in an antenna module, in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein. 
         FIG.  41    is a side, cross-sectional view of an IC device that may be included in an antenna module, in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein. 
         FIG.  42    is a side, cross-sectional view of an IC device assembly that may include an antenna module, in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein. 
         FIG.  43    is a block diagram of an example communication device that may include an antenna module, in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Conventional antenna arrays for millimeter wave applications have utilized circuit boards with more than 14 (e.g., more than 18) layers of dielectric/metal stack-up to achieve a desired performance. Such boards are typically expensive and low yield, as well as unbalanced in their metal density and dielectric thickness. Further, such boards may be difficult to test, and may not be readily capable of incorporating the shielding required to achieve regulatory compliance. 
     Disclosed herein are antenna boards, integrated circuit (IC) packages, antenna modules, and communication devices that may enable millimeter wave communications in a compact form factor. In some of the embodiments disclosed herein, an antenna module may include an antenna board and one or more IC packages that may be separately fabricated and assembled, enabling increased degrees of design freedom and improved yield. Various ones of the antenna modules disclosed herein may exhibit little to no warpage during operation or installation, ease of assembly, low cost, fast time to market, good mechanical handling, and/or good thermal performance. Various ones of the antenna modules disclosed herein may allow different antennas and/or IC packages to be swapped into an existing module. 
     In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized, and structural or logical changes may be made, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense. 
     Various operations may be described as multiple discrete actions or operations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in the order of presentation. Operations described may be performed in a different order from the described embodiment. Various additional operations may be performed, and/or described operations may be omitted in additional embodiments. 
     For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A and/or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C). The drawings are not necessarily to scale. Although many of the drawings illustrate rectilinear structures with flat walls and right-angle corners, this is simply for ease of illustration, and actual devices made using these techniques will exhibit rounded corners, surface roughness, and other features. 
     The description uses the phrases “in an embodiment” or “in embodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of the present disclosure, are synonymous. As used herein, a “package” and an “IC package” are synonymous. When used to describe a range of dimensions, the phrase “between X and Y” represents a range that includes X and Y. For convenience, the phrase “ FIG.  15   ” may be used to refer to the collection of drawings of  FIGS.  15 A- 15 C , the phrase “ FIG.  16   ” may be used to refer to the collection of drawings of  FIGS.  16 A- 16 B , etc. 
     Any of the features discussed with reference to any of accompanying drawings herein may be combined with any other features to form an antenna board  102 , an antenna module  100 , or a communication device  151 , as appropriate. A number of elements of the drawings are shared with others of the drawings; for ease of discussion, a description of these elements is not repeated, and these elements may take the form of any of the embodiments disclosed herein. 
       FIG.  1    is a side, cross-sectional view of an antenna module  100 , in accordance with various embodiments. The antenna module  100  may include an IC package  108  coupled to an antenna board  102 . The antenna module  100  may provide an RF head, and may be coupled to a circuit board via a cable or other connection, as discussed further below. Although a single IC package  108  is illustrated in  FIG.  1   , an antenna module  100  may include more than one IC package  108  (e.g., as discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  34 - 37   ). As discussed in further detail below, the antenna board  102  may include conductive pathways (e.g., provided by conductive vias and lines through one or more dielectric materials) and radio frequency (RF) transmission structures (e.g., antenna feed structures, such as striplines, microstriplines, or coplanar waveguides) that may enable one or more antenna units  104  (not shown) to transmit and receive electromagnetic waves under the control of circuitry in the IC package  108 . In some embodiments, the IC package  108  may be coupled to the antenna board  102  by second-level interconnects (not shown, but discussed below with reference to  FIG.  14   ). In some embodiments, at least a portion of the antenna board  102  may be fabricated using printed circuit board (PCB) technology, and may include between two and eight PCB layers. Examples of IC packages  108  and antenna boards  102  are discussed in detail below. In some embodiments, an antenna module  100  may include a different IC package  108  for controlling each different antenna unit  104 ; in other embodiments, an antenna module  100  may include one IC package  108  having circuitry to control multiple antenna units  104 . In some embodiments, the total z-height of an antenna module  100  may be less than 3 millimeters (e.g., between 2 millimeters and 3 millimeters). In some embodiments, an antenna module  100  may include multiple IC packages  108  coupled to a single antenna board  102 ; in some other embodiments, an antenna module  100  may include multiple antenna boards  102  coupled to a single IC package  108 . 
       FIGS.  2 - 4    are side, cross-sectional views of example antenna boards  102 , in accordance with various embodiments.  FIG.  2    is a generalized representation of an example antenna board  102  including one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an antenna patch support  110 . In some embodiments, the antenna units  104  may be electrically coupled to the antenna patch support  110  by electrically conductive material pathways through the antenna patch support  110  that makes conductive contact with electrically conductive material of the antenna units  104 , while in other embodiments, the antenna units  104  may be mechanically coupled to the antenna patch support  110  but may not be in contact with an electrically conductive material pathway through the antenna patch support  110 . In some embodiments, at least a portion of the antenna patch support  110  may be fabricated using PCB technology, and may include between two and eight PCB layers. Although a particular number of antenna units  104  is depicted in  FIG.  2    (and others of the accompanying drawings), this is simply illustrative, and an antenna board  102  may include fewer or more antenna units  104 . For example, an antenna board  102  may include four antenna units  104  (e.g., arranged in a linear array, as discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  29 - 31  and  39   ), eight antenna units  104  (e.g., arranged in one linear array, or two linear arrays as discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  35 ,  37 , and  38   ), sixteen antenna units  104  (e.g., arranged in a 4×4 array, as discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  34  and  36   ), or thirty-two antenna units  104  (e.g., arranged in two 4×4 arrays, as discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  34  and  36   ). In some embodiments, the antenna units  104  may be surface mount components. 
     In some embodiments, an antenna module  100  may include one or more arrays of antenna units  104  to support multiple communication bands (e.g., dual band operation or tri-band operation). For example, some of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may support tri-band operation at 28 gigahertz, 39 gigahertz, and 60 gigahertz. Various ones of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may support tri-band operation at 24.5 gigahertz to 29 gigahertz, 37 gigahertz to 43 gigahertz, and 57 gigahertz to 71 gigahertz. Various ones of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may support 5G communications and 60 gigahertz communications. Various ones of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may support 28 gigahertz and 39 gigahertz communications. Various of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may support millimeter wave communications. Various of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may support high band frequencies and low band frequencies. 
     In some embodiments, an antenna board  102  may include an antenna unit  104  coupled to an antenna patch support  110  by an adhesive.  FIG.  3    illustrates an antenna board  102  in which the antenna patch support  110  includes a circuit board  112  (e.g., including between two and eight PCB layers), a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  118  at one face of the circuit board  112 , and an adhesive  106  at the opposite face of the circuit board  112 . As used herein, a “conductive contact” may refer to a portion of conductive material (e.g., metal) serving as an interface between different components; conductive contacts may be recessed in, flush with, or extending away from a surface of a component, and may take any suitable form (e.g., a conductive pad or socket). The circuit board  112  may include traces, vias, and other structures, as known in the art, formed of an electrically conductive material (e.g., a metal, such as copper). The conductive structures in the circuit board  112  may be electrically insulated from each other by a dielectric material. Any suitable dielectric material may be used (e.g., a laminate material). In some embodiments, the dielectric material may be an organic dielectric material, a fire retardant grade 4 material (FR-4), bismaleimide triazine (BT) resin, polyimide materials, glass reinforced epoxy matrix materials, or low-k and ultra low-k dielectric (e.g., carbon-doped dielectrics, fluorine-doped dielectrics, porous dielectrics, and organic polymeric dielectrics). 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  3   , the antenna units  104  may be adhered to the adhesive  106 . The adhesive  106  may be electrically non-conductive, and thus the antenna units  104  may not be electrically coupled to the circuit board  112  by an electrically conductive material pathway. In some embodiments, the adhesive  106  may be an epoxy. The thickness of the adhesive  106  may control the distance between the antenna units  104  and the proximate face of the circuit board  112 . When the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  3    (and others of the accompanying drawings) is used in an antenna module  100 , an IC package  108  may be coupled to some of the conductive contacts  118 . In some embodiments, a thickness of the circuit board  112  of  FIG.  3    may be less than 1 millimeter (e.g., between 0.35 millimeters and 0.5 millimeters). In some embodiments, a thickness of an antenna unit  104  may be less than 1 millimeter (e.g., between 0.4 millimeters and 0.7 millimeters). 
     In some embodiments, an antenna board  102  may include an antenna unit  104  coupled to an antenna patch support  110  by solder.  FIG.  4    illustrates an antenna board  102  in which the antenna patch support  110  includes a circuit board  112  (e.g., including between two and eight PCB layers), a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  118  at one face of the circuit board  112 , and a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  116  at the opposite face of the circuit board  112 . The antenna units  104  may be secured to the circuit board  112  by solder  122  (or other second-level interconnects) between conductive contacts  120  of the antenna units  104  and the conductive contacts  116 . In some embodiments, the conductive contacts  116 /solder  122 /conductive contacts  120  may provide an electrically conductive material pathway through which signals may be transmitted to or from the antenna units  104 . In other embodiments, the conductive contacts  116 /solder  122 /conductive contacts  120  may be used only for mechanical coupling between the antenna units  104  and the antenna patch support  110 . The height of the solder  122  (or other interconnects) may control the distance between the antenna units  104  and the proximate face of the circuit board  112 .  FIG.  5    is a top view of an example antenna unit  104  that may be used in an antenna board  102  like the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  4   , in accordance with various embodiments. The antenna unit  104  of  FIG.  5    may have a number of conductive contacts  120  distributed regularly on one face, close to the edges; other antenna units  104  with conductive contacts  120  may have other arrangements of the conductive contacts  120 . 
     In some embodiments, an antenna board may include an antenna unit  104  coupled to a bridge structure.  FIG.  6    illustrates an antenna board  102  in which the antenna patch support  110  includes a circuit board  112  (e.g., including between two and eight PCB layers), a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  118  at one face of the circuit board  112 , and a bridge structure  124  secured to the opposite face of the circuit board  112 . The bridge structure  124  may have one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an interior face of the bridge structure  124 , and one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an exterior face of the bridge structure  124 . In the embodiment of  FIG.  6   , the antenna units  104  are coupled to the bridge structures  124  by an adhesive  106 . In the embodiment of  FIG.  6   , the bridge structure  124  may be coupled to the circuit board  112  by an adhesive  106 . The thickness of the adhesive  106  and the dimensions of the bridge structure  124  (i.e., the distance between the interior face and the proximate face of the circuit board  112 , and the thickness of the bridge structure  124  between the interior face and the exterior face) may control the distance between the antenna units  104  and the proximate face of the circuit board  112  (including the distance between the “interior” antenna units  104  and the “exterior” antenna units  104 ). The bridge structure  124  may be formed of any suitable material; for example, the bridge structure  124  may be formed of a non-conductive plastic. In some embodiments, the bridge structure  124  of  FIG.  6    may be manufactured using three-dimensional printing techniques. In some embodiments, the bridge structure  124  of  FIG.  6    may be manufactured as a PCB with a recess defining the interior face (e.g., using recessed board manufacturing technology). In the embodiment of  FIG.  6   , the bridge structure  124  may introduce an air cavity  149  between the antenna units  104  and the circuit board  112 , enhancing the bandwidth of the antenna module  100 . 
       FIG.  7    illustrates an antenna board  102  similar to the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  6   , but in which the bridge structure  124  is curved (e.g., has the shape of an arch). Such a bridge structure  124  may be formed from a flexible plastic or other material, for example. In the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  7   , the antenna patch support  110  includes a circuit board  112  (e.g., including between two and eight PCB layers), a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  118  at one face of the circuit board  112 , and a bridge structure  124  secured to the opposite face of the circuit board  112 . The bridge structure  124  may have one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an interior face of the bridge structure  124 , and one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an exterior face of the bridge structure  124 . In the embodiment of  FIG.  7   , the antenna units  104  are coupled to the bridge structures  124  by an adhesive  106 . In the embodiment of  FIG.  6   , the bridge structure  124  may be coupled to the circuit board  112  by an adhesive  106 . The thickness of the adhesive  106  and the dimensions of the bridge structure  124  (i.e., the distance between the interior face and the proximate face of the circuit board  112 , and the thickness of the bridge structure  124  between the interior face and the exterior face) may control the distance between the antenna units  104  and the proximate face of the circuit board  112  (including the distance between the “interior” antenna units  104  and the “exterior” antenna units  104 ). The bridge structure  124  of  FIG.  7    may be formed of any suitable material; for example, the bridge structure  124  may be formed of a non-conductive plastic. In the embodiment of  FIG.  7   , the bridge structure  124  may introduce an air cavity  149  between the antenna units  104  and the circuit board  112 , enhancing the bandwidth of the antenna module  100 . 
       FIG.  8    illustrates an antenna board  102  similar to the antenna board  102  of  FIGS.  6  and  7   , but in which the bridge structure  124  is itself a planar circuit board or other structure with conductive contacts  126 ; the bridge structure  124  may be coupled to the circuit board  112  by solder  122  (or other interconnects) between the conductive contacts  126  and the conductive contacts  116  on the circuit board  112 . In the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  8   , the antenna patch support  110  includes a circuit board  112  (e.g., including between two and eight PCB layers), a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  118  at one face of the circuit board  112 , and a bridge structure  124  secured to the opposite face of the circuit board  112 . The bridge structure  124  may have one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an interior face of the bridge structure  124 , and one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an exterior face of the bridge structure  124 . In the embodiment of  FIG.  8   , the antenna units  104  are coupled to the bridge structures  124  by an adhesive  106 . The thickness of the adhesive  106 , the height of the solder  122 , and the dimensions of the bridge structure  124  (i.e., the thickness of the bridge structure  124  between the interior face and the exterior face) may control the distance between the antenna units  104  and the proximate face of the circuit board  112  (including the distance between the “interior” antenna units  104  and the “exterior” antenna units  104 ). The bridge structure  124  of  FIG.  8    may be formed of any suitable material; for example, the bridge structure  124  may be formed of a non-conductive plastic or a PCB. In the embodiment of  FIG.  8   , the bridge structure  124  may introduce an air cavity  149  between the antenna units  104  and the circuit board  112 , enhancing the bandwidth of the antenna module  100 . 
       FIG.  9    illustrates an antenna board  102  similar to the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  8   , but in which the bridge structure  124  is itself a planar circuit board or other structure, and the bridge structure  124  and the antenna units  104  coupled thereto are all coupled to the circuit board  112  by an adhesive  106 . In the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  9   , the antenna patch support  110  includes a circuit board  112  (e.g., including between two and eight PCB layers), a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  118  at one face of the circuit board  112 , and a bridge structure  124  secured to the opposite face of the circuit board  112 . The bridge structure  124  may have one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an interior face of the bridge structure  124 , and one or more antenna units  104  coupled to an exterior face of the bridge structure  124 . In the embodiment of  FIG.  9   , the antenna units  104  are coupled to the bridge structures  124  by an adhesive  106 . The thickness of the adhesive  106  and the dimensions of the bridge structure  124  (i.e., the thickness of the bridge structure  124  between the interior face and the exterior face) may control the distance between the antenna units  104  and the proximate face of the circuit board  112  (including the distance between the “interior” antenna units  104  and the “exterior” antenna units  104 ). The bridge structure  124  of  FIG.  9    may be formed of any suitable material; for example, the bridge structure  124  may be formed of a non-conductive plastic or a PCB. In some embodiments, the circuit board  112  may be a 1-2-1 cored board, and the bridge structure  124  may be a 0-2-0 cored board. In some embodiments, the circuit board  112  may use a dielectric material different from a dielectric material of the bridge structure  124  (e.g., the bridge structure  124  may include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or a PTFE-based formula), and the circuit board  112  may include another dielectric material). 
     In some embodiments, an antenna board  102  may include recesses “above” the antenna units  104  to provide air cavities  149  between the antenna units  104  and other portions of the antenna board  102 .  FIG.  10    illustrates an antenna board  102  similar to the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  3   , but in which the circuit board  112  includes recesses  130  positioned “above” each of the antenna units  104 . These recesses  130  may provide air cavities  149  between the antenna units  104  and the rest of the antenna board  102 , which may improve performance. In the embodiment of  FIG.  10   , the antenna patch support  110  includes a circuit board  112  (e.g., including between two and eight PCB layers), a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  118  at one face of the circuit board  112 , and an adhesive  106  at the opposite face of the circuit board  112 . The antenna units  104  may be adhered to the adhesive  106 . The adhesive  106  may be electrically non-conductive, and thus the antenna units  104  may not be electrically coupled to the circuit board  112  by an electrically conductive material pathway. In some embodiments, the adhesive  106  may be an epoxy. The thickness of the adhesive  106  may control the distance between the antenna units  104  and the proximate face of the circuit board  112 . In some embodiments, the recesses  130  may have a depth between 200 microns and 400 microns. 
     In some embodiments, an antenna board  102  may include recesses that are not “above” the antenna units  104 , but that are located between the attachment locations of different ones of the antenna units  104  to the circuit board  112 . For example,  FIG.  11    illustrates an antenna board  102  similar to the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  10   , but in which the circuit board  112  includes additional recesses  132  positioned “between” each of the antenna units  104 . These recesses  132  may help isolate different ones of the antenna units  104  from each other, thereby improving performance. In the embodiment of  FIG.  11   , the antenna patch support  110  includes a circuit board  112  (e.g., including between two and eight PCB layers), a solder resist  114  and conductive contacts  118  at one face of the circuit board  112 , and an adhesive  106  at the opposite face of the circuit board  112 . The antenna units  104  may be adhered to the adhesive  106 . The adhesive  106  may be electrically non-conductive, and thus the antenna units  104  may not be electrically coupled to the circuit board  112  by an electrically conductive material pathway. In some embodiments, the adhesive  106  may be an epoxy. The thickness of the adhesive  106  may control the distance between the antenna units  104  and the proximate face of the circuit board  112 . In some embodiments, the recesses  132  may have a depth between 200 microns and 400 microns. In some embodiments, the recesses  132  may be through-holes (i.e., the recesses  132  may extend all the way through the circuit board  112 ). 
     Any suitable antenna structures may provide the antenna units  104  of an antenna module  100 . In some embodiments, an antenna unit  104  may include one, two, three, or more antenna layers. For example,  FIGS.  12  and  13    are side, cross-sectional views of example antenna units  104 , in accordance with various embodiments. In  FIG.  12   , the antenna unit  104  includes one antenna patch  172 , while in  FIG.  13   , the antenna unit  104  includes two antenna patches  172  spaced apart by an intervening structure  174 . 
     The IC package  108  included in an antenna module  100  may have any suitable structure. For example,  FIG.  14    illustrates an example IC package  108  that may be included in an antenna module  100 . The IC package  108  may include a package substrate  134  to which one or more components  136  may be coupled by first-level interconnects  150 . In particular, conductive contacts  146  at one face of the package substrate  134  may be coupled to conductive contacts  148  at faces of the components  136  by first-level interconnects  150 . The first-level interconnects  150  illustrated in  FIG.  14    are solder bumps, but any suitable first-level interconnects  150  may be used. A solder resist  114  may be disposed around the conductive contacts  146 . The package substrate  134  may include a dielectric material, and may have conductive pathways (e.g., including conductive vias and lines) extending through the dielectric material between the faces, or between different locations on each face. In some embodiments, the package substrate  134  may have a thickness less than 1 millimeter (e.g., between 0.1 millimeters and 0.5 millimeters). Conductive contacts  144  may be disposed at the other face of the package substrate  134 , and second-level interconnects  142  may couple these conductive contacts  144  to the antenna board  102  (not shown) in an antenna module  100 . The second-level interconnects  142  illustrated in  FIG.  14    are solder balls (e.g., for a ball grid array arrangement), but any suitable second-level interconnects  142  may be used (e.g., pins in a pin grid array arrangement or lands in a land grid array arrangement). A solder resist  114  may be disposed around the conductive contacts  144 . In some embodiments, a mold material  140  may be disposed around the components  136  (e.g., between the components  136  and the package substrate  134  as an underfill material). In some embodiments, a thickness of the mold material may be less than 1 millimeter. Example materials that may be used for the mold material  140  include epoxy mold materials, as suitable. In some embodiments, a conformal shield  152  may be disposed around the components  136  and the package substrate  134  to provide electromagnetic shielding for the IC package  108 . 
     The components  136  may include any suitable IC components. In some embodiments, one or more of the components  136  may include a die. For example, one or more of the components  136  may be a RF communication die. In some embodiments, one or more of the components  136  may include a resistor, capacitor (e.g., decoupling capacitors), inductor, DC-DC converter circuitry, or other circuit elements. In some embodiments, the IC package  108  may be a system-in-package (SiP). In some embodiments, the IC package  108  may be a flip chip (FC) chip scale package (CSP). In some embodiments, one or more of the components  136  may include a memory device programmed with instructions to execute beam forming, scanning, and/or codebook functions. 
     In some embodiments, the antenna patch support  110  of an antenna board  102  may have one or more flexible portions. For example, the antenna patch support  110  may include a flexible PCB (also referred to as a “flexible circuit”). The antenna patch support  110  may be flexible in its entirety, or in other embodiments, may have one or more rigid portions and one or more flexible portions; this latter embodiment may be referred to as a “rigid-flex board.” As used herein, an antenna patch support  110  that is referred to as having a “flexible portion” may be flexible in its entirety. In some embodiments in which the antenna patch support  110  includes a flexible portion, one or more antenna units  104  may be disposed on the flexible portion, some antenna units  104  may be disposed on the flexible portion and some antenna units  104  may be disposed on a rigid portion (if present), or no antenna units may be disposed on the flexible portion. In some embodiments, the flexible portion(s) of an antenna board  102  may be used to electrically connect the antenna board  102  to another component (e.g., the circuit board  101  discussed below with reference to  FIG.  22   ). 
     A flexible portion of an antenna patch support  110  may be fabricated using any suitable techniques and using any suitable materials. For example, a flexible portion of an antenna patch support  110  may include a flexible insulator (e.g., polyimide, polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, polyether ether ketone, etc.) with printed or laminated conductive material (e.g., copper, aluminum, silver, etc.). A flexible portion of an antenna patch support  110  may have one or more layers of circuitry. In some embodiments, a flexible portion of an antenna patch support  110  may be coupled to one or more local stiffeners to provide mechanical support as needed. In some embodiments, a flexible portion of an antenna patch support  110  may be thinner than other, less flexible portions of an antenna patch support  110 ; for example, when the antenna patch support  110  is a rigid-flex board, the flexible portion(s) may be thicker than the rigid portion(s). 
     Any of the antenna boards  102  disclosed herein may include antenna patch supports  110  with flexible portions. For example, any of the antenna patch supports  110  or antenna boards  102  discussed above with reference to  FIGS.  1 - 11   , or discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  18 - 29   , may have one or more flexible portions, or may be part of an antenna patch support  110  that has one or more flexible portions.  FIGS.  15 - 17    illustrate various examples of antenna modules  100  including flexible portions; any of the antenna modules  100  of  FIGS.  15 - 17    may include any of the other structures disclosed herein (e.g., the antenna patch supports  110  of the antenna modules of  FIGS.  15 - 17    may include or take the form of any of the antenna patch supports  110  discussed above with reference to  FIGS.  3 - 11   ). 
       FIGS.  15 A and  15 B  illustrate an antenna module  100  including an antenna patch support  110  having a flexible portion  115  between two other portions  113 ; the other portions  113  may be flexible or rigid. The flexible portion  115  may allow the antenna module  100  to be bent or twisted into a desired configuration without significant damage to the antenna patch support  110 ;  FIG.  15 A  illustrates a “flat” configuration” while  FIG.  15 B  illustrates a configuration in which one of the portions  113  is arranged at an angle θ relative to the other portion  113 . Thus, the flexible portion  115  may act as a hinge to allow the antenna module  100  to bend so that different sections of the antenna module  100  are non-coplanar with each other. In the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  15   , an IC package  108  is disposed at one face of the antenna patch support  110  and multiple antenna units  104  are disposed at the opposite face of the antenna patch support  110  (e.g., in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein). In the embodiment of  FIG.  15   , the IC package is coupled to one of the portions  113 , and the antenna units  104  are coupled to the other of the portions  113 . An antenna module  100  like that illustrated in  FIG.  15    may be positioned in any desired configuration within a communication device; for example, an antenna module  100  like that illustrated in  FIG.  15    may be used in a communication device  151  in the manner discussed below with reference to  FIG.  25    or in the manner discussed below with reference to  FIG.  26   . More generally, the antenna module  100  may be mounted in an electronic component (e.g., in the communication device  151 ) in a non-coplanar configuration (e.g., using any of the fixtures discussed herein with reference to  FIGS.  27 - 32  and  37 - 38   ), allowing the antenna units  104  on different sections of the antenna board  102  to radiate and receive at different angles or allowing the antenna units  104  to radiate and receive at an angle that is different from the nominal “planar” arrangement. In some embodiments, the thickness of the flexible portion  115  may be less than the thickness of the other portions  113 . In some embodiments, the other portions  113  may be rigid (and thus the antenna patch support  110  may be a rigid-flex board). In some embodiments, the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  15    may include additional flexible portions  115  or other portions  113  (not shown). In some embodiments, the IC package  108  and the antenna units  104  may be disposed on a same face of the antenna patch support  110  of  FIG.  15   . 
     In some embodiments, the flexible portion  115  may be used to carry control and/or RF signals to various other electronic components in a communication device  151 , eliminating or mitigating the need for additional connectors and cables. For example, such control lines may control how the antenna units  114  and the IC package  108  (e.g., an active RF IC chip) interact. RF signals carried through the flexible portion  115  may carry a transmit signal from a circuit board (e.g., the circuit board  101  discussed below, which may be a motherboard), and these RF signals may be radiated through the antenna units (e.g., after post-processing by the antenna module  100 ). 
     In some embodiments, an antenna module  100  may include multiple flexible portions  115  between a pair of other portions  113 . For example,  FIG.  15 C  is a perspective view of an antenna module  100  in which a portion  113 - 1  (e.g., a rigid portion) is coupled to another portion  113 - 2  (e.g., a rigid portion) by two flexible portions  115 . The portion  113 - 2  may have an “L-shape”, and may extend around the portion  113 - 1  as shown, with individual ones of the flexible portion  115  coupling to a different “leg” of the portion  113 - 2 . In some embodiments of the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  15 C , a large antenna unit  104 - 1  may be disposed on (e.g., printed on) the portion  113 - 2 , and one or more smaller antenna units  104 - 2  may be disposed (e.g., printed) within the bounds of the large antenna unit  104 - 1 . The large antenna unit  104 - 1  may communicate at lower frequencies than the smaller antenna units  104 - 2 , and thus the operation of the large antenna unit  104 - 1  may not interfere with the operation of the smaller antenna units  104 - 2  (and vice versa). For example, the antenna unit  104 - 1  may be a WiFi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna, while the antenna units  104 - 2  may be millimeter wave antennas. In some embodiments, the large antenna unit  104 - 1  may be a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA). 
       FIG.  16 A  illustrates an antenna module  100  including an antenna patch support  110  having two flexible portions  115  with an other portion  113  between the flexible portions  115 ; the other portion  113  may be flexible or rigid. Although the flexible portions  115  of the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  16    are shown as substantially coplanar with each other, this is simply one configuration; as discussed above with reference to  FIG.  15   , the flexible portions  115  may be bent or twisted into a desired configuration. In the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  16   , an IC package  108  is disposed at one face of the antenna patch support  110  and multiple antenna units  104  are disposed at the opposite face of the antenna patch support  110  (e.g., in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein). In the embodiment of  FIG.  16   , the IC package is coupled to the portion  113 , and one or more antenna units  104  are coupled to each of the flexible portions  115 . An antenna module  100  like that illustrated in  FIG.  16    may be positioned in any desired configuration within a communication device; for example, an antenna module  100  like that illustrated in  FIG.  15    may be used in a communication device  151  in the manner discussed below with reference to  FIG.  25    or in the manner discussed below with reference to  FIG.  26   . More generally, the antenna module  100  may be mounted in an electronic component (e.g., in the communication device  151 ) in non-coplanar configuration (e.g., using any of the fixtures discussed herein with reference to  FIGS.  27 - 32  and  37 - 38   ), allowing the antenna units  104  on different sections of the antenna board  102  to radiate and receive at different angles or allowing the antenna units  104  to radiate and receive at an angle that is different from the nominal “planar” arrangement. In some embodiments, the thicknesses of the flexible portions  115  may be less than the thickness of the other portion  113 . In some embodiments, the other portion  113  may be rigid (and thus the antenna patch support  110  may be a rigid-flex board). In some embodiments, the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  16    may include additional flexible portions  115  or other portions  113  (not shown). In some embodiments, the IC package  108  and the antenna units  104  may be disposed on a same face of the antenna patch support  110  of  FIG.  16   . 
     As discussed above with reference to  FIG.  15   , the flexible portion  115  of an antenna patch support  110  may allow the antenna module  100  to be arranged in any of a number of orientations. For example,  FIG.  16 B  illustrates an antenna module  100  having a flexible portion  115  that is “folded over” the portion  113 , allowing for radiation by the associated antenna units  104  in the direction above the IC package  108  (and may, for example, use a ground of the IC package  108  as a reference); antenna units  104  located on the other flexible portion  115  (and/or on the bottom surface of the portion  113 , not shown) may radiate in the direction below the IC package  108 . Thus, an antenna module  100  like the one illustrated in  FIG.  16 B  may achieve radiation in all or many directions. An arrangement in which one or more antenna units  104  is positioned “above” the IC package  108  may also allow the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein to take advantage of space available “above” the IC package  108  in a communication device  151 , rather than being limited to the space available “below” the IC package  108 . 
       FIG.  17    illustrates an antenna module  100  similar to the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  16   , but in which antenna units  104  are disposed on one of the flexible portions  115  and a connector  105  is disposed on the other of the flexible portions  115 . The connector  105  may be used for transmitting signals into and out of the antenna module  100 . In some embodiments, the connector  105  may be a coaxial cable connector or any other connector (e.g., the flat cable connectors discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  37  and  38   ). The connector  105  may be suitable for transmitting RF signals, for example, and in the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  17   , may be used instead of or in addition to a cable. Although a single connector  105  is illustrated in  FIG.  17   , the antenna module  100  may include one or more connectors  105 . Further, although the connector  105  is illustrated in  FIG.  17    on the same face of the antenna patch support  110  as the antenna units  104 , the connector  105  may be on the opposite face of the antenna patch support  110 . More generally, the elements of the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  17    may take the form of any of the embodiments discussed above with reference to  FIG.  16   . 
     An array of antenna units  104  in an antenna module  100  may be used in any of a number of ways. For example, an array of antenna units  104  may be used as a broadside array or as an end-fire array. In some embodiments in which an array of antenna units  104  is used as an end-fire array, the side faces of the conformal shield  152  on the IC package  108  may provide a reflector or ground plane for the end-fire array. For example,  FIG.  18    illustrates an example antenna module  100  in which an array of antenna units  104  are used as an end-fire array with transmission directed in the direction indicated by the bold arrow; in this embodiment, the portions of the conformal shield  152  on the side faces of the IC package  108  may act as reflectors or ground planes for the operation of the array of antenna units  104  as an end-fire array. Although a particular antenna module  100  is shown in  FIG.  18   , any suitable ones of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may be operated as an end-fire array as described with reference to  FIG.  18   . 
     In an antenna module  100  that includes multiple antenna units  104 , these multiple antenna units  104  may be arranged in any suitable manner. For example,  FIGS.  19  and  20    are bottom views of example arrangements of antenna units  104  in an antenna board  102 , in accordance with various embodiments. In the embodiment of  FIG.  19   , the antenna units  104  are arranged in a linear array in the x-direction, and the x-axes of each of the antenna units  104  (indicated in  FIG.  19    by small arrows proximate to each antenna unit  104 ) are aligned with the axis of the linear array. In other embodiments, the antenna units  104  may be arranged so that one or more of their axes are not aligned with the direction of the array. For example,  FIG.  20    illustrates an embodiment in which the antenna units  104  are distributed in a linear array in the x-direction, but the antenna units  104  have been rotated in the x-y plane (relative to the embodiment of  FIG.  19   ) so that the x-axis of each of the antenna units  104  is not aligned with the axis of the linear array. In another example,  FIG.  21    illustrates an embodiment in which the antenna units  104  are distributed in a linear array in the x-direction, but the antenna patches have been rotated in the x-z plane (relative to the embodiment of  FIG.  19   ) so that the x-axis of each of the antenna units  104  is not aligned with the axis of the linear array. In the embodiment of  FIG.  21   , the antenna patch support  110  may include an antenna board fixture  164  that may maintain the antenna units  104  at the desired angle. In some embodiments, the “rotations” of  FIGS.  20  and  21    may be combined so that an antenna unit  104  is rotated in both the x-y and the x-z plane when the antenna unit  104  is part of a linear array distributed in the x-direction. In some embodiments, some but not all of the antenna units  104  in a linear array may be “rotated” relative to the axis of the array. Rotating an antenna unit  104  relative to the direction of the array may reduce patch-to-patch coupling (by reducing the constructive addition of resonant currents between antenna units  104 ), improving the impedance bandwidth and the beam steering range. The arrangements of  FIGS.  19 - 21    (and combinations of such arrangements) is referred to herein as the antenna units  104  being “rotationally offset” from the linear array. 
     Although  FIGS.  19 - 21    illustrate multiple antenna units  104  mounted on a common antenna patch support  110  in a single antenna board  102 , the rotationally offset arrangements of  FIGS.  19 - 21    may also be utilized when multiple antenna units  104  are divided among different antenna boards  102 . For example, in an embodiment in which multiple different antenna boards  102  are mounted to a common IC package  108 , the antenna units  104  in each of the different antenna boards  102  may together provide a linear array, and may be rotationally offset from that linear array. 
     The antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may be included in any suitable communication device (e.g., a computing device with wireless communication capability, a wearable device with wireless communication circuitry, etc.).  FIG.  22    is a side, cross-sectional view of a portion of a communication device  151  including an antenna module  100 , in accordance with various embodiments. In particular, the communication device  151  illustrated in  FIG.  22    may be a handheld communication device, such as a smart phone or tablet. The communication device  151  may include a glass or plastic back cover  176  proximate to a metallic or plastic chassis  178 . In some embodiments, the chassis  178  may be laminated onto an inner face of the back cover  176 , or attached to the back cover  176  with an adhesive. In some embodiments, the portion of the chassis  178  adjacent to the back cover  176  may have a thickness between 0.1 millimeters and 0.4 millimeters; in some such embodiments, this portion of the chassis  178  may be formed of metal. In some embodiments, the back cover  176  may have a thickness between 0.3 millimeters and 1.5 millimeters; in some such embodiments, the back cover  176  may be formed of glass. The chassis  178  may include one or more windows  181  that align with antenna units  104  (not shown) of the antenna module  100  to improve performance. An air cavity  180 - 1  may space at least some of the antenna module  100  from the back cover  176 . In some embodiments, the height of the air cavity  180 - 1  may be between 0.5 millimeters and 3 millimeters. In some embodiments, the antenna module  100  may be mounted to a face of a circuit board  101  (e.g., a motherboard), and other components  129  (e.g., other IC packages) may be mounted to the opposite face of the circuit board  101 . In some embodiments, the circuit board  101  may have a thickness between 0.2 millimeters and 1 millimeter (e.g., between 0.3 millimeters and 0.5 millimeters). Another air cavity  180 - 2  may be located between the circuit board  101  and a display  182  (e.g., a touch screen display). In other embodiments, an antenna module  100  may not be mounted to a circuit board  101 ; instead, the antenna module  100  may be secured directly to the chassis  178  (e.g., as discussed below). In some embodiments, the spacing between the antenna units  104  (not shown) of the antenna module  100  and the back cover  176  may be selected and controlled within tens of microns to achieve desired performance. The air cavity  180 - 2  may separate the antenna module  100  from the display  182  on the front side of the communication device  151 ; in some embodiments, the display  182  may have a metal layer proximate to the air cavity  180 - 2  to draw heat away from the display  182 . A metal or plastic housing  184  may provide the “sides” of the communication device  151 . 
     An antenna module  100  may be coupled to a circuit board  101  in a communication device  151  in any suitable manner. For example, the antenna module  100  may include a connector  105  to which a cable (e.g., a coaxial cable or a flat printed circuit cable) may be mated; the other end of the cable may mate with a connector  105  on the circuit board  101  (not shown). In some embodiments, connectors  105  on the antenna module  100  and the circuit board  101  may mate directly with each other without the use of an intervening cable. For example,  FIGS.  23  and  24    illustrate two different arrangements in which a connector  105 - 1  of an antenna module  100  mates directly with a connector  105 - 2  on a circuit board  101  to electrically couple the antenna module  100  and the circuit board  101 . The connector  105 - 1  of the antenna module  100  may be mounted on the antenna board  102  or on the IC package  108 , as desired. In the embodiment of  FIG.  23   , the circuit board  101  and the antenna module  100  are oriented so that the circuit board  101  is substantially “over” the antenna module  100 ; in the embodiment of  FIG.  24   , the circuit board  101  and the antenna module  100  are oriented so that the circuit board  101  and the antenna module  100  are “offset” from one another. The connectors  105  may take any suitable form; for example, the connectors  105  may be coaxial connectors suitable for transmitting RF signals between the antenna module  100  and the circuit board  101 . Additionally, although a single connector  105  is illustrated for each of the antenna module  100  and the circuit board  101 , the antenna module  100  and the circuit board  101  may be coupled together by multiple connectors  105 . Such embodiments may eliminate the need for a cable between the antenna module  100  and the circuit board  101 , reducing the complexity and volume of the components in the communication device  151 . 
     As noted above, antenna modules  100  that include flexible portions  115  may be oriented in a communication device  151  in any suitable manner. In particular, an antenna module  100  having a flexible portion  115  may be used to orient an array of antenna units  104  in a communication device so that the antenna units  104  are disposed at a desired angle relative to the display  182 , the back cover  176 , and/or the housing  184 . In some embodiments, an antenna module  100  in which an array of antenna units  104  is “tilted” relative to the display  182 , the back cover  176 , and/or the housing  184  may achieve a combination of edge-fire and broadside radiation coverage from the same array. In some embodiments, the angle at which the antenna units  104  are disposed in a communication device  151  may be selected to tune the array radiation direction to achieve a desired spatial coverage that depends on the integration environment (e.g., a handheld communication device  151  with a glass back cover  176 ) and desired applications. 
     For example,  FIG.  25    illustrates a communication device  151  including a first antenna module  100 - 1  that is substantially “planar” and a second antenna module  100 - 2  having a flexible portion  115  that acts as a hinge, allowing different portions of the antenna module  100 - 2  to be non-coplanar with each other.  FIG.  25 A  is an “exploded” view, showing the antenna modules  100  outside of the communication device  151 , while  FIG.  25 B  shows the antenna modules  100  positioned in the communication device  151 . 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  25   , the antenna module  100 - 1  includes an IC package  108  on one face of an antenna board  102 , with an array of antenna units  104  on the opposite face. The antenna module  100 - 1  may be positioned in the communication device  151  so that the array of antenna units  104  are arranged parallel and proximate to a window  181  in the back cover  176 ; this window  181  may allow improved transmission of RF signals between the antenna module  100 - 1  and the external environment relative to embodiments in which no window  181  is present. In some embodiments, the antenna module  100 - 1  may generate radiation beams for both 5G communication channels and 60 gigahertz communication channels. In some embodiments, an audio speaker (not shown) may be proximate to the antenna module  100 - 1 , and may emit audio signals through the window  181 . The window  181  may have any suitable dimensions; for example, in some embodiments, the window  181  may have an area between 50 square millimeters and 200 square millimeters (e.g., between 75 square millimeters and 125 square millimeters). In some embodiments, no window  181  may be present. A window  179  may also be present in a chassis  178  proximate to the back cover  176  (not shown in  FIG.  25   ). In some embodiments, no window  179  may be present. 
     The antenna module  100 - 2  of  FIG.  25    includes an IC package  108  on a same face of an antenna board  102  as an array of antenna units  104 ; the antenna module  100 - 2  may have a form substantially similar to that discussed above with reference to  FIG.  15   , but with the IC package  108  and the antenna units  104  on a same face of the antenna patch support  110 . A flexible portion  115  of the antenna module  100 - 2  may act as a hinge, allowing the antenna module  100 - 2  to be positioned in the communication device  151  so that the portion of the antenna patch support  110  (not labeled in  FIG.  25   ) to which the IC package  108  is coupled may be parallel to the back cover  176 , and the portion of the antenna patch support  110  to which the antenna units  104  are coupled may be perpendicular to the back cover  176  (and parallel to the side faces of the communication device  151  provided by the housing  184 ). In some embodiments, the antenna module  100 - 2  may generate radiation beams for both 5G communication channels and 60 gigahertz communication channels. In some embodiments, a window  187  may be present in the housing  184 ; the array of antenna units  104  may be arranged parallel and proximate to the window  187 . This window  187  may allow improved transmission of RF signals between the antenna module  100 - 2  and the external environment relative to embodiments in which no window  187  is present. The window  187  may have any suitable dimensions; for example, in some embodiments, the window  187  may have an area between 50 square millimeters and 200 square millimeters (e.g., between 75 square millimeters and 125 square millimeters, or rectangular with dimensions approximately equal to 5 millimeters by 18 millimeters). In some embodiments, no window  187  may be present. 
       FIG.  26    illustrates another example communication device  151  including a first antenna module  100 - 1  and a second antenna module  100 - 2 . The first and second antenna modules  100  of  FIG.  26    each have a flexible portion  115  that acts as a hinge, allowing different portions of the antenna modules  100  to be non-coplanar with each other.  FIG.  26 A  is an “exploded” view, showing the antenna modules  100  outside of the communication device  151 , while  FIG.  26 B  shows the antenna modules  100  positioned in the communication device  151 . 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  26   , the antenna modules  100  include an IC package  108  on a same face of an antenna board  102  as an array of antenna units  104 ; the antenna modules  100  may have a form substantially similar to that discussed above with reference to  FIG.  15   , but with the IC package  108  and the antenna units  104  on a same face of the antenna patch support  110 . Flexible portions  115  of the antenna modules  100  may act as a hinge, allowing the antenna modules  100  to be positioned in the communication device  151  so that the portion of the antenna patch support  110  (not labeled in  FIG.  26   ) to which the IC package  108  is coupled may be parallel to the back cover  176 , and the portion of the antenna patch support  110  to which the antenna units  104  are coupled may be positioned at an angle that is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the back cover  176  (and neither parallel nor perpendicular to the side faces of the communication device  151  provided by the housing  184 ). For example, the antenna units  104  may be oriented at a 45 degree angle to the back cover  176 /housing  184 . In some embodiments, windows  187 - 1  and  187 - 2  may be present in the housing  184 ; the array of antenna units  104  of the antenna modules  100 - 1  and  100 - 2 , respectively, may be arranged proximate to the windows  187 - 1  and  187 - 2 . These windows  187  may allow improved transmission of RF signals between the antenna modules  100 , as noted above. In some embodiments, one or fewer windows  187  may be present. 
     The antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may be secured in a communication device in any desired manner. For example, as noted above, in some embodiments, the antenna module  100  may be secured to the chassis  178 . A number of the embodiments discussed below refer to fixtures that secure an antenna module  100  (or an antenna board  102 , for ease of illustration) to the chassis  178  of a communication device, but any of the fixtures discussed below may be used to secure an antenna module  100  to any suitable portion of a communication device. For example, in some embodiments, the portion of an antenna board  102  that may be secured may be a flexible portion  115  of an antenna patch support  110 , or an other portion  113 , as discussed above. 
     In some embodiments, an antenna board  102  may include cutouts that may be used to secure the antenna board  102  to a chassis  178 . For example,  FIG.  27    is a top view of an example antenna board  102  including two cutouts  154  at either longitudinal end of the antenna board  102 . The antenna board  102  of  FIG.  27    may be part of an antenna module  100 , but only the antenna board  102  is depicted in  FIG.  27    for ease of illustration.  FIG.  28    is a side, cross-sectional view of the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  27    coupled to an antenna board fixture  164 , in accordance with various embodiments. In particular, the antenna board fixture  164  of  FIG.  28    may include two assemblies at either longitudinal end of the antenna board  102 . Each assembly may include a boss  160  (on or part of the chassis  178 ), a spacer  162  on the top surface of the boss  160 , and a screw  158  that extends through a hole in the spacer  162  and screws into threads in the boss  160 . The antenna board  102  may be clamped between the spacer  162  and the top of the boss  160  by the tightened screw  158 ; the boss  160  may be at least partially set in the proximate cutout  154 . In some embodiments, the outer dimensions of the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  27    may be approximately 5 millimeters by approximately 38 millimeters. 
     In some embodiments, the screws  158  disclosed herein may be used to dissipate heat generated by the antenna module  100  during operation. In particular, in some embodiments, the screws  158  may be formed of metal, and the boss  160  and the chassis  178  may also be metallic (or may otherwise have a high thermal conductivity); during operation, heat generated by the antenna module  100  may travel away from the antenna module  100  through the screws  158  and into the chassis  178 , mitigating or preventing an over-temperature condition. In some embodiments, a thermal interface material (TIM), such as a thermal grease, may be present between the antenna board  102  and the screws  158 /boss  160  to improve thermal conductivity. 
     In some embodiments, the screws  158  disclosed herein may be used as additional antennas for the antenna module  100 . In some such embodiments, the boss  160  (and other materials with which the screws  158  come into contact) may be formed of plastic, ceramic, or another non-conducting material. The shape and location of the screws  158  may be selected so that the screws  158  act as antenna units  104  for the antenna board  102 . 
     An antenna board  102  may include other arrangements of cutouts. For example,  FIG.  29    is a top view of an example antenna board  102  including a cutout  154  at one longitudinal end and a hole  168  proximate to the other longitudinal end. The antenna board  102  of  FIG.  29    may be part of an antenna module  100 , but only the antenna board  102  is depicted in  FIG.  29    for ease of illustration.  FIG.  30    is a side, cross-sectional view of the antenna board  102  of  FIG.  29    coupled to an antenna board fixture  164 , in accordance with various embodiments. In particular, the antenna board fixture  164  of  FIG.  30    may include two assemblies at either longitudinal end of the antenna board  102 . The assembly proximate to the cutout  154  may include the boss  160 /spacer  162 /screw  158  arrangement discussed above with reference to  FIG.  28   . The assembly proximate to the hole  168  may include a pin  170  extending from the chassis  178 . The antenna board  102  may be clamped between the spacer  162  and the top of the boss  160  by the tightened screw  158  at one longitudinal end (the boss  160  may be at least partially set in the proximate cutout  154 ), and the other longitudinal end may be prevented from moving in the x-y plane by the pin  170  in the hole  168 . 
     In some embodiments, an antenna module  100  may be secured to a communication device at one or more locations along the length of the antenna board  102 , in addition to or instead of at the longitudinal ends of the antenna board  102 . For example,  FIGS.  31 A and  31 B  are a top view and a side, cross-sectional view, respectively, of an antenna board  102  coupled to an antenna board fixture  164 , in accordance with various embodiments. The antenna board  102  of  FIG.  31    may be part of an antenna module  100 , but only the antenna board  102  is depicted in  FIG.  31    for ease of illustration. In the antenna board fixture  164  of  FIG.  31   , a boss  160  (one or part of the chassis  178 ), a spacer  162  on the top surface of the boss  160 , and a screw  158  that extends through a hole in the spacer  162  and screws into threads in the boss  160 . The exterior of the boss  160  of  FIG.  31    may have a square cross-section, and the spacer  162  may have a square recess on its lower surface so as to partially wrap around the boss  160  while being prevented from rotating around the boss  160 . The antenna board  102  may be clamped between the spacer  162  and the top of the boss  160  by the tightened screw  158 . In some embodiments, the antenna board  102  may not have a cutout  154  along its longitudinal length (as shown); while in other embodiments, the antenna board  102  may have one or more cutouts  154  along its long edges. 
     In some embodiments, an antenna module  100  may be secured to a surface in a communication device so that the antenna module  100  (e.g., an array of antenna units  104  in the antenna module) is not parallel to the surface. Generally, the antenna units  104  may be positioned at any desired angle relative to the chassis  178  or other elements of a communication device.  FIG.  32    illustrates an antenna board fixture  164  in which the antenna board  102  may be held at an angle relative to the underlying surface of the chassis  178 . The antenna board  102  of  FIG.  32    may be part of an antenna module  100 , but only the antenna board  102  is depicted in  FIG.  32    for ease of illustration. The antenna board fixture  164  may be similar to the antenna board fixtures of  FIGS.  28 ,  30 , and  31   , but may include a boss  160  having an angled portion on which the antenna board  102  may rest. When the screw  158  is tightened, the antenna board  102  may be held at a desired angle relative to the chassis  178 . 
     The antenna boards  102 , IC packages  108 , and other elements disclosed herein may be arranged in any suitable manner in an antenna module  100 . For example, an antenna module  100  may include one or more connectors  105  for transmitting signals into and out of the antenna module  100 .  FIGS.  33 - 36    are exploded, perspective views of example antenna modules  100 , in accordance with various embodiments. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  33   , an antenna board  102  includes four antenna units  104 . These antenna units  104  may be arranged in the antenna board  102  in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., with recesses  130 / 132 , rotated relative to the axis of the array, on a bridge structure  124 , etc.). One or more connectors  105  may be disposed on the antenna board  102 ; these connectors  105  may be coaxial cable connectors, as shown, or any other connectors (e.g., the flat cable connectors discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  37  and  38   ). The connectors  105  may be suitable for transmitting RF signals, for example. The IC package  108  may include a package substrate  134 , one or more components  136  coupled to the package substrate  134 , and a conformal shield  152  over the components  136  and the package substrate  134 . In some embodiments, the four antenna units  104  may provide a 1×4 array for 28/39 gigahertz communication, and a 1×8 array of 60 gigahertz dipoles. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  34   , an antenna board  102  includes two sets of sixteen antenna units  104 , each set arranged in a 4×4 array. These antenna units  104  may be arranged in the antenna board  102  in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., with recesses  130 / 132 , rotated relative to the axis of the array, on a bridge structure  124 , etc.). The antenna module  100  of  FIG.  34    includes two IC packages  108 ; one IC package  108  associated with (and disposed over) one set of antenna units  104 , and the other IC package  108  associated with (and disposed over) the other set of antenna units  104 . In some embodiments, one set of antenna units  104  may support 28 gigahertz communications, and the other set of antenna units  104  may support 39 gigahertz communications. The IC package  108  may include a package substrate  134 , one or more components  136  coupled to the package substrate  134 , and a conformal shield  152  over the components  136  and the package substrate  134 . One or more connectors  105  may be disposed on the package substrate  134 ; these connectors  105  may be coaxial cable connectors, as shown, or any other connectors (e.g., the flat cable connectors discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  37  and  38   ). The conformal shields  152  may not extend over the connectors  105 . In some embodiments, the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  34    may be suitable for use in routers and customer premises equipment (CPE). In some embodiments, the outer dimensions of the antenna board  102  may be approximately 22 millimeters by approximately 40 millimeters. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  35   , an antenna board  102  includes two sets of four antenna units  104 , each set arranged in a 1×4 array. In some embodiments, one set of antenna units  104  may support 28 gigahertz communications, and the other set of antenna units  104  may support 39 gigahertz communications. These antenna units  104  may be arranged in the antenna board  102  in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., with recesses  130 / 132 , rotated relative to the axis of the array, on a bridge structure  124 , etc.). One or more connectors  105  may be disposed on the antenna board  102 ; these connectors  105  may be coaxial cable connectors, as shown, or any other connectors (e.g., the flat cable connectors discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  37  and  38   ). The antenna module  100  of  FIG.  35    includes two IC packages  108 ; one IC package  108  associated with (and disposed over) one set of antenna units  104 , and the other IC package  108  associated with (and disposed over) the other set of antenna units  104 . The IC package  108  may include a package substrate  134 , one or more components  136  coupled to the package substrate  134 , and a conformal shield  152  over the components  136  and the package substrate  134 . In some embodiments, the outer dimensions of the antenna board  102  may be approximately 5 millimeters by approximately 32 millimeters. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG.  36   , an antenna board  102  includes two sets of sixteen antenna units  104 , each set arranged in a 4×4 array. These antenna units  104  may be arranged in the antenna board  102  in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., with recesses  130 / 132 , rotated relative to the axis of the array, on a bridge structure  124 , etc.). The antenna module  100  of  FIG.  36    includes four IC packages  108 ; two IC packages  108  associated with (and disposed over) one set of antenna units  104 , and the other two IC packages  108  associated with (and disposed over) the other set of antenna units  104 . The IC package  108  may include a package substrate  134 , one or more components  136  coupled to the package substrate  134 , and a conformal shield (not shown) over the components  136  and the package substrate  134 . One or more connectors  105  may be disposed on the antenna board  102 ; these connectors  105  may be coaxial cable connectors, as shown, or any other connectors (e.g., the flat cable connectors discussed below with reference to  FIGS.  37  and  38   ). 
       FIGS.  37 A and  37 B  are top and bottom perspective views, respectively, of another example antenna module  100 , in accordance with various embodiments. In the embodiment of  FIG.  37   , an antenna board  102  includes two sets of four antenna units  104 , each set arranged in a 1×4 array. These antenna units  104  may be arranged in the antenna board  102  in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., with recesses  130 / 132 , rotated relative to the axis of the array, on a bridge structure  124 , etc.). One or more connectors  105  may be disposed on the antenna board  102 ; these connectors  105  may be flat cable connectors (e.g., flexible printed circuit (FPC) cable connectors) to which a flat cable  196  may be coupled. The antenna module  100  of  FIG.  37    includes two IC packages  108 ; one IC package  108  associated with (and disposed over) one set of antenna units  104 , and the other IC package  108  associated with (and disposed over) the other set of antenna units  104 . The antenna module  100  of  FIG.  37    may also include cutouts  154  at either longitudinal end;  FIG.  37 A  illustrates the antenna module  100  secured by the antenna board fixtures  164  of  FIG.  28    (at either longitudinal end) and by the antenna board fixture  164  of  FIG.  31    (in the middle). In some embodiments, the antenna units  104  of the antenna module  100  of  FIG.  37    may use the proximate edges of the antenna board  102  for vertical and horizontal polarized edge-fire antennas; in such an embodiment, the conformal shield  152  of the IC packages  108  may act as a reference. More generally, the antenna units  104  disclosed herein may be used for broadside or edge-fire applications, as appropriate. 
     Any suitable communication device may include one or more of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein. For example,  FIG.  38    is a perspective view of a handheld communication device  198  including an antenna module  100 , in accordance with various embodiments. In particular,  FIG.  38    depicts the antenna module  100  (and associated antenna board fixtures  164 ) of  FIG.  37    coupled to a chassis  178  of the handheld communication device  198  (which may be the communication device  151  of  FIG.  22   ). In some embodiments, the handheld communication device  198  may be a smart phone. 
       FIG.  39    is a perspective view of a laptop communication device  190  including multiple antenna modules  100 , in accordance with various embodiments. In particular,  FIG.  38    depicts an antenna module  100  having four antenna units  104  at either side of the keyboard of a laptop communication device  190 . The antenna units  104  may occupy an area on the outside housing of the laptop communication device  190  that is approximately equal to or less than the area required for two adjacent Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors (i.e., approximately 5 millimeters (height) by 22 millimeters (width) by 2.2 millimeters (depth)). The antenna module  100  of  FIG.  39    may be tuned for operation in the housing (e.g., ABS plastic) of the device  190 . In some embodiments, the antenna modules  100  in the device  190  may be tilted at a desired angle relative to the housing of the device  190 . 
     An antenna module  100  included in a communication device (e.g., fixed wireless access devices) may include an antenna array having any desired number of antenna units  104  (e.g., 4×8 antenna units  104 ). 
     Although various ones of the accompanying drawings have illustrated the antenna board  102  as having a larger footprint than the IC package  108 , the antenna board  102  and the IC package  108  (which may be, e.g., an SiP) may have any suitable relative dimensions. For example, in some embodiments, the footprint of the IC package  108  in an antenna module  100  may be larger than the footprint of the antenna board  102 . Such embodiments may occur, for example, when the IC package  108  includes multiple dies as the components  136 . 
     The antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may include, or be included in, any suitable electronic component.  FIGS.  40 - 43    illustrate various examples of apparatuses that may include, or be included in, any of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein. 
       FIG.  40    is a top view of a wafer  1500  and dies  1502  that may be included in any of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein. For example, a die  1502  may be included in an IC package  108  (e.g., as a component  136 ) or in an antenna unit  104 . The wafer  1500  may be composed of semiconductor material and may include one or more dies  1502  having IC structures formed on a surface of the wafer  1500 . Each of the dies  1502  may be a repeating unit of a semiconductor product that includes any suitable IC. After the fabrication of the semiconductor product is complete, the wafer  1500  may undergo a singulation process in which the dies  1502  are separated from one another to provide discrete “chips” of the semiconductor product. The die  1502  may include one or more transistors (e.g., some of the transistors  1640  of  FIG.  41   , discussed below) and/or supporting circuitry to route electrical signals to the transistors, as well as any other IC components. In some embodiments, the wafer  1500  or the die  1502  may include a memory device (e.g., a random access memory (RAM) device, such as a static RAM (SRAM) device, a magnetic RAM (MRAM) device, a resistive RAM (RRAM) device, a conductive-bridging RAM (CBRAM) device, etc.), a logic device (e.g., an AND, OR, NAND, or NOR gate), or any other suitable circuit element. Multiple ones of these devices may be combined on a single die  1502 . For example, a memory array formed by multiple memory devices may be formed on a same die  1502  as a processing device (e.g., the processing device  1802  of  FIG.  43   ) or other logic that is configured to store information in the memory devices or execute instructions stored in the memory array. 
       FIG.  41    is a side, cross-sectional view of an IC device  1600  that may be included in any of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein. For example, an IC device  1600  may be included in an IC package  108  (e.g., as a component  136 ). The IC device  1600  may be formed on a substrate  1602  (e.g., the wafer  1500  of  FIG.  40   ) and may be included in a die (e.g., the die  1502  of  FIG.  40   ). The substrate  1602  may be a semiconductor substrate composed of semiconductor material systems including, for example, n-type or p-type materials systems (or a combination of both). The substrate  1602  may include, for example, a crystalline substrate formed using a bulk silicon or a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substructure. In some embodiments, the substrate  1602  may be formed using alternative materials, which may or may not be combined with silicon, that include but are not limited to germanium, indium antimonide, lead telluride, indium arsenide, indium phosphide, gallium arsenide, or gallium antimonide. Further materials classified as group II-VI, III-V, or IV may also be used to form the substrate  1602 . Although a few examples of materials from which the substrate  1602  may be formed are described here, any material that may serve as a foundation for an IC device  1600  may be used. The substrate  1602  may be part of a singulated die (e.g., the dies  1502  of  FIG.  40   ) or a wafer (e.g., the wafer  1500  of  FIG.  40   ). 
     The IC device  1600  may include one or more device layers  1604  disposed on the substrate  1602 . The device layer  1604  may include features of one or more transistors  1640  (e.g., metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)) formed on the substrate  1602 . The device layer  1604  may include, for example, one or more source and/or drain (S/D) regions  1620 , a gate  1622  to control current flow in the transistors  1640  between the S/D regions  1620 , and one or more S/D contacts  1624  to route electrical signals to/from the S/D regions  1620 . The transistors  1640  may include additional features not depicted for the sake of clarity, such as device isolation regions, gate contacts, and the like. The transistors  1640  are not limited to the type and configuration depicted in  FIG.  41    and may include a wide variety of other types and configurations such as, for example, planar transistors, non-planar transistors, or a combination of both. Planar transistors may include bipolar junction transistors (BJT), heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT), or high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT). Non-planar transistors may include FinFET transistors, such as double-gate transistors or tri-gate transistors, and wrap-around or all-around gate transistors, such as nanoribbon and nanowire transistors. 
     Each transistor  1640  may include a gate  1622  formed of at least two layers, a gate dielectric and a gate electrode. The gate dielectric may include one layer or a stack of layers. The one or more layers may include silicon oxide, silicon dioxide, silicon carbide, and/or a high-k dielectric material. The high-k dielectric material may include elements such as hafnium, silicon, oxygen, titanium, tantalum, lanthanum, aluminum, zirconium, barium, strontium, yttrium, lead, scandium, niobium, and zinc. Examples of high-k materials that may be used in the gate dielectric include, but are not limited to, hafnium oxide, hafnium silicon oxide, lanthanum oxide, lanthanum aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicon oxide, tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, barium strontium titanium oxide, barium titanium oxide, strontium titanium oxide, yttrium oxide, aluminum oxide, lead scandium tantalum oxide, and lead zinc niobate. In some embodiments, an annealing process may be carried out on the gate dielectric to improve its quality when a high-k material is used. 
     The gate electrode may be formed on the gate dielectric and may include at least one p-type work function metal or n-type work function metal, depending on whether the transistor  1640  is to be a p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) or an n-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor. In some implementations, the gate electrode may consist of a stack of two or more metal layers, where one or more metal layers are work function metal layers and at least one metal layer is a fill metal layer. Further metal layers may be included for other purposes, such as a barrier layer. For a PMOS transistor, metals that may be used for the gate electrode include, but are not limited to, ruthenium, palladium, platinum, cobalt, nickel, conductive metal oxides (e.g., ruthenium oxide), and any of the metals discussed below with reference to an NMOS transistor (e.g., for work function tuning). For an NMOS transistor, metals that may be used for the gate electrode include, but are not limited to, hafnium, zirconium, titanium, tantalum, aluminum, alloys of these metals, carbides of these metals (e.g., hafnium carbide, zirconium carbide, titanium carbide, tantalum carbide, and aluminum carbide), and any of the metals discussed above with reference to a PMOS transistor (e.g., for work function tuning). 
     In some embodiments, when viewed as a cross-section of the transistor  1640  along the source-channel-drain direction, the gate electrode may consist of a U-shaped structure that includes a bottom portion substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate and two sidewall portions that are substantially perpendicular to the top surface of the substrate. In other embodiments, at least one of the metal layers that form the gate electrode may simply be a planar layer that is substantially parallel to the top surface of the substrate and does not include sidewall portions substantially perpendicular to the top surface of the substrate. In other embodiments, the gate electrode may consist of a combination of U-shaped structures and planar, non-U-shaped structures. For example, the gate electrode may consist of one or more U-shaped metal layers formed atop one or more planar, non-U-shaped layers. 
     In some embodiments, a pair of sidewall spacers may be formed on opposing sides of the gate stack to bracket the gate stack. The sidewall spacers may be formed from materials such as silicon nitride, silicon oxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride doped with carbon, and silicon oxynitride. Processes for forming sidewall spacers are well known in the art and generally include deposition and etching process steps. In some embodiments, a plurality of spacer pairs may be used; for instance, two pairs, three pairs, or four pairs of sidewall spacers may be formed on opposing sides of the gate stack. 
     The S/D regions  1620  may be formed within the substrate  1602  adjacent to the gate  1622  of each transistor  1640 . The S/D regions  1620  may be formed using an implantation/diffusion process or an etching/deposition process, for example. In the former process, dopants such as boron, aluminum, antimony, phosphorous, or arsenic may be ion-implanted into the substrate  1602  to form the S/D regions  1620 . An annealing process that activates the dopants and causes them to diffuse farther into the substrate  1602  may follow the ion-implantation process. In the latter process, the substrate  1602  may first be etched to form recesses at the locations of the S/D regions  1620 . An epitaxial deposition process may then be carried out to fill the recesses with material that is used to fabricate the S/D regions  1620 . In some implementations, the S/D regions  1620  may be fabricated using a silicon alloy such as silicon germanium or silicon carbide. In some embodiments, the epitaxially deposited silicon alloy may be doped in situ with dopants such as boron, arsenic, or phosphorous. In some embodiments, the S/D regions  1620  may be formed using one or more alternate semiconductor materials such as germanium or a group III-V material or alloy. In further embodiments, one or more layers of metal and/or metal alloys may be used to form the S/D regions  1620 . 
     Electrical signals, such as power and/or input/output (I/O) signals, may be routed to and/or from the devices (e.g., the transistors  1640 ) of the device layer  1604  through one or more interconnect layers disposed on the device layer  1604  (illustrated in  FIG.  41    as interconnect layers  1606 - 1610 ). For example, electrically conductive features of the device layer  1604  (e.g., the gate  1622  and the S/D contacts  1624 ) may be electrically coupled with the interconnect structures  1628  of the interconnect layers  1606 - 1610 . The one or more interconnect layers  1606 - 1610  may form a metallization stack (also referred to as an “ILD stack”)  1619  of the IC device  1600 . 
     The interconnect structures  1628  may be arranged within the interconnect layers  1606 - 1610  to route electrical signals according to a wide variety of designs (in particular, the arrangement is not limited to the particular configuration of interconnect structures  1628  depicted in  FIG.  41   ). Although a particular number of interconnect layers  1606 - 1610  is depicted in  FIG.  41   , embodiments of the present disclosure include IC devices having more or fewer interconnect layers than depicted. 
     In some embodiments, the interconnect structures  1628  may include lines  1628   a  and/or vias  1628   b  filled with an electrically conductive material such as a metal. The lines  1628   a  may be arranged to route electrical signals in a direction of a plane that is substantially parallel with a surface of the substrate  1602  upon which the device layer  1604  is formed. For example, the lines  1628   a  may route electrical signals in a direction in and out of the page from the perspective of  FIG.  41   . The vias  1628   b  may be arranged to route electrical signals in a direction of a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the substrate  1602  upon which the device layer  1604  is formed. In some embodiments, the vias  1628   b  may electrically couple lines  1628   a  of different interconnect layers  1606 - 1610  together. 
     The interconnect layers  1606 - 1610  may include a dielectric material  1626  disposed between the interconnect structures  1628 , as shown in  FIG.  41   . In some embodiments, the dielectric material  1626  disposed between the interconnect structures  1628  in different ones of the interconnect layers  1606 - 1610  may have different compositions; in other embodiments, the composition of the dielectric material  1626  between different interconnect layers  1606 - 1610  may be the same. 
     A first interconnect layer  1606  may be formed above the device layer  1604 . In some embodiments, the first interconnect layer  1606  may include lines  1628   a  and/or vias  1628   b , as shown. The lines  1628   a  of the first interconnect layer  1606  may be coupled with contacts (e.g., the S/D contacts  1624 ) of the device layer  1604 . 
     A second interconnect layer  1608  may be formed above the first interconnect layer  1606 . In some embodiments, the second interconnect layer  1608  may include vias  1628   b  to couple the lines  1628   a  of the second interconnect layer  1608  with the lines  1628   a  of the first interconnect layer  1606 . Although the lines  1628   a  and the vias  1628   b  are structurally delineated with a line within each interconnect layer (e.g., within the second interconnect layer  1608 ) for the sake of clarity, the lines  1628   a  and the vias  1628   b  may be structurally and/or materially contiguous (e.g., simultaneously filled during a dual-damascene process) in some embodiments. 
     A third interconnect layer  1610  (and additional interconnect layers, as desired) may be formed in succession on the second interconnect layer  1608  according to similar techniques and configurations described in connection with the second interconnect layer  1608  or the first interconnect layer  1606 . In some embodiments, the interconnect layers that are “higher up” in the metallization stack  1619  in the IC device  1600  (i.e., farther away from the device layer  1604 ) may be thicker. 
     The IC device  1600  may include a solder resist material  1634  (e.g., polyimide or similar material) and one or more conductive contacts  1636  formed on the interconnect layers  1606 - 1610 . In  FIG.  41   , the conductive contacts  1636  are illustrated as taking the form of bond pads. The conductive contacts  1636  may be electrically coupled with the interconnect structures  1628  and configured to route the electrical signals of the transistor(s)  1640  to other external devices. For example, solder bonds may be formed on the one or more conductive contacts  1636  to mechanically and/or electrically couple a chip including the IC device  1600  with another component (e.g., a circuit board). The IC device  1600  may include additional or alternate structures to route the electrical signals from the interconnect layers  1606 - 1610 ; for example, the conductive contacts  1636  may include other analogous features (e.g., posts) that route the electrical signals to external components. 
       FIG.  42    is a side, cross-sectional view of an IC device assembly  1700  that may include one or more of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein. In particular, any suitable ones of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein may take the place of any of the components of the IC device assembly  1700  (e.g., an antenna module  100  may take the place of any of the IC packages of the IC device assembly  1700 ). 
     The IC device assembly  1700  includes a number of components disposed on a circuit board  1702  (which may be, e.g., a motherboard). The IC device assembly  1700  includes components disposed on a first face  1740  of the circuit board  1702  and an opposing second face  1742  of the circuit board  1702 ; generally, components may be disposed on one or both faces  1740  and  1742 . 
     In some embodiments, the circuit board  1702  may be a PCB including multiple metal layers separated from one another by layers of dielectric material and interconnected by electrically conductive vias. Any one or more of the metal layers may be formed in a desired circuit pattern to route electrical signals (optionally in conjunction with other metal layers) between the components coupled to the circuit board  1702 . In other embodiments, the circuit board  1702  may be a non-PCB substrate. 
     The IC device assembly  1700  illustrated in  FIG.  42    includes a package-on-interposer structure  1736  coupled to the first face  1740  of the circuit board  1702  by coupling components  1716 . The coupling components  1716  may electrically and mechanically couple the package-on-interposer structure  1736  to the circuit board  1702 , and may include solder balls (as shown in  FIG.  42   ), male and female portions of a socket, an adhesive, an underfill material, and/or any other suitable electrical and/or mechanical coupling structure. 
     The package-on-interposer structure  1736  may include an IC package  1720  coupled to an interposer  1704  by coupling components  1718 . The coupling components  1718  may take any suitable form for the application, such as the forms discussed above with reference to the coupling components  1716 . Although a single IC package  1720  is shown in  FIG.  42   , multiple IC packages may be coupled to the interposer  1704 ; indeed, additional interposers may be coupled to the interposer  1704 . The interposer  1704  may provide an intervening substrate used to bridge the circuit board  1702  and the IC package  1720 . The IC package  1720  may be or include, for example, a die (the die  1502  of  FIG.  40   ), an IC device (e.g., the IC device  1600  of  FIG.  41   ), or any other suitable component. Generally, the interposer  1704  may spread a connection to a wider pitch or reroute a connection to a different connection. For example, the interposer  1704  may couple the IC package  1720  (e.g., a die) to a set of ball grid array (BGA) conductive contacts of the coupling components  1716  for coupling to the circuit board  1702 . In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG.  42   , the IC package  1720  and the circuit board  1702  are attached to opposing sides of the interposer  1704 ; in other embodiments, the IC package  1720  and the circuit board  1702  may be attached to a same side of the interposer  1704 . In some embodiments, three or more components may be interconnected by way of the interposer  1704 . 
     In some embodiments, the interposer  1704  may be formed as a PCB, including multiple metal layers separated from one another by layers of dielectric material and interconnected by electrically conductive vias. In some embodiments, the interposer  1704  may be formed of an epoxy resin, a fiberglass-reinforced epoxy resin, an epoxy resin with inorganic fillers, a ceramic material, or a polymer material such as polyimide. In some embodiments, the interposer  1704  may be formed of alternate rigid or flexible materials that may include the same materials described above for use in a semiconductor substrate, such as silicon, germanium, and other group III-V and group IV materials. The interposer  1704  may include metal interconnects  1708  and vias  1710 , including but not limited to through-silicon vias (TSVs)  1706 . The interposer  1704  may further include embedded devices  1714 , including both passive and active devices. Such devices may include, but are not limited to, capacitors, decoupling capacitors, resistors, inductors, fuses, diodes, transformers, sensors, electrostatic discharge (ESD) devices, and memory devices. More complex devices such as RF devices, power amplifiers, power management devices, antennas, arrays, sensors, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices may also be formed on the interposer  1704 . The package-on-interposer structure  1736  may take the form of any of the package-on-interposer structures known in the art. 
     The IC device assembly  1700  may include an IC package  1724  coupled to the first face  1740  of the circuit board  1702  by coupling components  1722 . The coupling components  1722  may take the form of any of the embodiments discussed above with reference to the coupling components  1716 , and the IC package  1724  may take the form of any of the embodiments discussed above with reference to the IC package  1720 . 
     The IC device assembly  1700  illustrated in  FIG.  42    includes a package-on-package structure  1734  coupled to the second face  1742  of the circuit board  1702  by coupling components  1728 . The package-on-package structure  1734  may include an IC package  1726  and an IC package  1732  coupled together by coupling components  1730  such that the IC package  1726  is disposed between the circuit board  1702  and the IC package  1732 . The coupling components  1728  and  1730  may take the form of any of the embodiments of the coupling components  1716  discussed above, and the IC packages  1726  and  1732  may take the form of any of the embodiments of the IC package  1720  discussed above. The package-on-package structure  1734  may be configured in accordance with any of the package-on-package structures known in the art. 
       FIG.  43    is a block diagram of an example communication device  1800  that may include one or more antenna modules  100 , in accordance with any of the embodiments disclosed herein. The communication device  151  ( FIG.  22   ), the handheld communication device  198  ( FIG.  38   ), and the laptop communication device  190  ( FIG.  39   ) may be examples of the communication device  1800 . Any suitable ones of the components of the communication device  1800  may include one or more of the IC packages, IC devices  1600 , or dies  1502  disclosed herein. A number of components are illustrated in  FIG.  43    as included in the communication device  1800 , but any one or more of these components may be omitted or duplicated, as suitable for the application. In some embodiments, some or all of the components included in the communication device  1800  may be attached to one or more motherboards. In some embodiments, some or all of these components are fabricated onto a single system-on-a-chip (SoC) die. 
     Additionally, in various embodiments, the communication device  1800  may not include one or more of the components illustrated in  FIG.  43   , but the communication device  1800  may include interface circuitry for coupling to the one or more components. For example, the communication device  1800  may not include a display device  1806 , but may include display device interface circuitry (e.g., a connector and driver circuitry) to which a display device  1806  may be coupled. In another set of examples, the communication device  1800  may not include an audio input device  1824  or an audio output device  1808 , but may include audio input or output device interface circuitry (e.g., connectors and supporting circuitry) to which an audio input device  1824  or audio output device  1808  may be coupled. 
     The communication device  1800  may include a processing device  1802  (e.g., one or more processing devices). As used herein, the term “processing device” or “processor” may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored in registers and/or memory. The processing device  1802  may include one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), cryptoprocessors (specialized processors that execute cryptographic algorithms within hardware), server processors, or any other suitable processing devices. The communication device  1800  may include a memory  1804 , which may itself include one or more memory devices such as volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), nonvolatile memory (e.g., read-only memory (ROM)), flash memory, solid state memory, and/or a hard drive. In some embodiments, the memory  1804  may include memory that shares a die with the processing device  1802 . This memory may be used as cache memory and may include embedded dynamic random access memory (eDRAM) or spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM). 
     In some embodiments, the communication device  1800  may include a communication module  1812  (e.g., one or more communication modules). For example, the communication module  1812  may be configured for managing wireless communications for the transfer of data to and from the communication device  1800 . The term “wireless” and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a nonsolid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. The communication module  1812  may be, or may include, any of the antenna modules  100  disclosed herein. 
     The communication module  1812  may implement any of a number of wireless standards or protocols, including but not limited to Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standards including Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family), IEEE 802.16 standards (e.g., IEEE 802.16-2005 Amendment), LTE project along with any amendments, updates, and/or revisions (e.g., advanced LTE project, ultra mobile broadband (UMB) project (also referred to as “3GPP2”), etc.). IEEE 802.16 compatible Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) networks are generally referred to as WiMAX networks, an acronym that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, which is a certification mark for products that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 802.16 standards. The communication module  1812  may operate in accordance with a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Evolved HSPA (E-HSPA), or LTE network. The communication module  1812  may operate in accordance with Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), or Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). The communication module  1812  may operate in accordance with Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), and derivatives thereof, as well as any other wireless protocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond. The communication module  1812  may operate in accordance with other wireless protocols in other embodiments. The communication device  1800  may include an antenna  1822  to facilitate wireless communications and/or to receive other wireless communications (such as AM or FM radio transmissions). 
     In some embodiments, the communication module  1812  may manage wired communications, such as electrical, optical, or any other suitable communication protocols (e.g., the Ethernet). As noted above, the communication module  1812  may include multiple communication modules. For instance, a first communication module  1812  may be dedicated to shorter-range wireless communications such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and a second communication module  1812  may be dedicated to longer-range wireless communications such as global positioning system (GPS), EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, EV-DO, or others. In some embodiments, a first communication module  1812  may be dedicated to wireless communications, and a second communication module  1812  may be dedicated to wired communications. In some embodiments, the communication module  1812  may include an antenna module  100  that supports millimeter wave communication. 
     The communication device  1800  may include battery/power circuitry  1814 . The battery/power circuitry  1814  may include one or more energy storage devices (e.g., batteries or capacitors) and/or circuitry for coupling components of the communication device  1800  to an energy source separate from the communication device  1800  (e.g., AC line power). 
     The communication device  1800  may include a display device  1806  (or corresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). The display device  1806  may include any visual indicators, such as a heads-up display, a computer monitor, a projector, a touchscreen display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode display, or a flat panel display. 
     The communication device  1800  may include an audio output device  1808  (or corresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). The audio output device  1808  may include any device that generates an audible indicator, such as speakers, headsets, or earbuds. 
     The communication device  1800  may include an audio input device  1824  (or corresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). The audio input device  1824  may include any device that generates a signal representative of a sound, such as microphones, microphone arrays, or digital instruments (e.g., instruments having a musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) output). 
     The communication device  1800  may include a GPS device  1818  (or corresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). The GPS device  1818  may be in communication with a satellite-based system and may receive a location of the communication device  1800 , as known in the art. 
     The communication device  1800  may include an other output device  1810  (or corresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). Examples of the other output device  1810  may include an audio codec, a video codec, a printer, a wired or wireless transmitter for providing information to other devices, or an additional storage device. 
     The communication device  1800  may include an other input device  1820  (or corresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). Examples of the other input device  1820  may include an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass, an image capture device, a keyboard, a cursor control device such as a mouse, a stylus, a touchpad, a bar code reader, a Quick Response (QR) code reader, any sensor, or a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader. 
     The communication device  1800  may have any desired form factor, such as a handheld or mobile communication device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a mobile internet device, a music player, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook computer, an ultrabook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an ultra mobile personal computer, etc.), a desktop communication device, a server or other networked computing component, a printer, a scanner, a monitor, a set-top box, an entertainment control unit, a vehicle control unit, a digital camera, a digital video recorder, or a wearable communication device. In some embodiments, the communication device  1800  may be any other electronic device that processes data. 
     The following paragraphs provide examples of various ones of the embodiments disclosed herein. 
     Example 1 is an electronic assembly, including: an antenna module, including an antenna patch support including a flexible portion, an integrated circuit (IC) package coupled to the antenna patch support, and an antenna patch coupled to the antenna patch support. 
     Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1, and further specifies that the antenna patch is a millimeter wave antenna patch. 
     Example 3 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-2, and further specifies that the IC package and the antenna patch are coupled to opposite faces of the antenna patch support. 
     Example 4 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-3, and further specifies that the IC package is coupled to a first portion of the antenna patch support, the antenna patch is coupled to a second portion of the antenna patch support, and the flexible portion is between the first portion and the second portion. 
     Example 5 includes the subject matter of Example 4, and further specifies that a plane of the first portion is not parallel to a plane of the second portion. 
     Example 6 includes the subject matter of Example 5, and further specifies that a plane of the first portion is not perpendicular to a plane of the second portion. 
     Example 7 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-3, and further specifies that the antenna patch is coupled to the flexible portion. 
     Example 8 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-7, and further specifies that the flexible portion is a first flexible portion, the antenna patch support further includes a second flexible portion and a rigid portion, and the rigid portion is between the first flexible portion and the second flexible portion. 
     Example 9 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-8, and further specifies that the flexible portion includes a flexible printed circuit board. 
     Example 10 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-9, and further includes: a connector on the flexible portion. 
     Example 11 includes the subject matter of Example 10, and further specifies that the connector is a first connector, and the electronic assembly further includes: a circuit board having a second connector to mate with the first connector. 
     Example 12 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-11, and further specifies that the IC package and the antenna patch are coupled to a same face of the antenna patch support. 
     Example 13 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-12, and further specifies that a thickness of the flexible portion is less than a thickness of another portion of the antenna patch support. 
     Example 14 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-13, and further specifies that the electronic assembly is a communication device, the communication device includes a housing, the housing includes a window, and the antenna patch is proximate to the window. 
     Example 15 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-14, and further includes: a display; wherein a plane of the antenna patch is neither perpendicular nor parallel to a plane of the display. 
     Example 16 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-15, and further specifies that: the antenna module is a first antenna module; the electronic assembly further includes a second antenna module; and the second antenna module includes an antenna patch support, an IC package coupled to the antenna patch support of the second antenna module, and an antenna patch coupled to the antenna patch support of the second antenna module. 
     Example 17 includes the subject matter of Example 16, and further specifies that the first antenna module includes a first array of antenna patches, the second antenna module includes a second array of antenna patches, and an axis of the first array is perpendicular to an axis of the second array. 
     Example 18 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-17, and further specifies that the antenna patch is one of a plurality of antenna patches of the antenna module. 
     Example 19 includes the subject matter of Example 18, and further specifies that the IC package has a conformal shield. 
     Example 20 includes the subject matter of Example 19, and further specifies that the conformal shield provides a reflector or ground plane for the plurality of antenna patches to act as an edge-fire array. 
     Example 21 is an electronic assembly, including: an antenna module including an integrated circuit (IC) package, an antenna board, and a first connector, wherein the IC package is coupled to the antenna board, the antenna board includes an array of antenna patches, and the first connector is secured to a rigid portion of the IC package or the antenna board; and a circuit board having a second connector, wherein the second connector is secured to a rigid portion of the circuit board and the first connector is to mate with the second connector. 
     Example 22 includes the subject matter of Example 21, and further specifies that the first connector is to mate with the second connector without an intervening cable. 
     Example 23 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 21-22, and further specifies that the antenna module is coupled to the circuit board via the first connector mated with the second connector, and the antenna board is between the array of antenna patches and the circuit board. 
     Example 24 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 21-23, and further includes: a display; wherein at least a portion of the circuit board is between at least a portion of the antenna module and the display. 
     Example 25 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 21-24, and further specifies that the electronic assembly is a handheld communication device. 
     Example 26 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 21-25, and further specifies that the first connector and the second connector are radio frequency connectors. 
     Example 27 is a communication device, including: a display; a back cover; and an antenna array between the back cover and the display, wherein a plane of the antenna array is not parallel to display or the back cover. 
     Example 28 includes the subject matter of Example 27, and further specifies that the antenna array is a first antenna array, and the communication device further includes: a second antenna array between the back cover and the display, wherein a plane of the second antenna array is not parallel to a plane of the first antenna array. 
     Example 29 includes the subject matter of Example 28, and further specifies that the plane of the second antenna array is perpendicular to the plane of the first antenna array. 
     Example 30 includes the subject matter of Example 28, and further specifies that the plane of the second antenna array is not perpendicular to the plane of the first antenna array. 
     Example 31 includes the subject matter of Example 28, and further specifies that the plane of the second antenna array is parallel to the display. 
     Example 32 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-31, and further includes: a housing providing side faces of the communication device. 
     Example 33 includes the subject matter of Example 32, and further specifies that the plane of the antenna array is parallel to a proximate side face of the communication device. 
     Example 34 includes the subject matter of Example 32, and further specifies that the plane of the antenna array is not parallel to a proximate side face of the communication device. 
     Example 35 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 32-34, and further specifies that the housing includes a window in at least one side face of the communication device. 
     Example 36 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-35, and further specifies that the antenna array is coupled to an antenna patch support that includes a flexible portion. 
     Example 37 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-36, and further specifies that the antenna array is a millimeter wave antenna array. 
     Example 38 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-37, and further specifies that the communication device is a handheld communication device. 
     Example 39 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 27-38, and further specifies that the communication device is a tablet computer. 
     Example 40 is a method of manufacturing a communication device, including: positioning an antenna module in a housing of the communication device, wherein the antenna module includes at least one flexible portion; and bending the at least one flexible portion. 
     Example 41 includes the subject matter of Example 40, and further includes: securing the antenna module in the communication device to maintain the bend in the at least one flexible portion. 
     Example 42 includes the subject matter of Example 41, and further specifies that the antenna module includes at least one antenna unit on the flexible portion. 
     Example 43 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 41-42, and further specifies that bending the at least one flexible portion includes folding the at least one flexible portion over an integrated circuit (IC) package of the antenna module. 
     Example 44 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 41-42, and further includes: coupling the antenna module to a circuit board of the communication device.