Design GaAs MMICs for best price and performance values

Though the manufacturing advantages of monolithic integration and the emergence of GaAs foundaries have resulted in low-cost GaAs MMIC technology, further cost reduction can be achieved by using a foundary's standard line of circuit cells. By using a PC-based workstation with CAD software, it is possible, however, to fabricate a custom MMIC design for $10,000 or less. As an example, this low-cost approach was applied to the design and fabrication of a Ku-band oscillator. Criteria useful for selecting a good foundary are outlined, and attention is focused on MMIC computer-aided-engineering tools. A design process on an Apollo-based MMIC workstation is described and compared with that on a PC-based workstation, and protocols for exchanging data between PCs and mainframes are outlined.