AC Coupled Interconnect for Low-Power Spaceborne Electronics

An AC coupled interconnect (ACCI) has been developed that could be used to create multiple solutions to contactless chip-to-chip communications. Assembly and testing of a 0.18 um bulk CMOS chip containing multiple circuit experiments were performed. Figure 1 shows the chip floorplan, chip layout for the wire bonded experiments, and a microscope photograph of the die. The experiments tested in this phase of measurements were located around the periphery of the die in the band designated in the die photo of Figure 1.