MONOLITHIC MICROWAVE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS BASED ON GaAs MESFET TECHNOLOGY

Advanced military microwave systems are demanding increased integration, reliability, radiation hardness, compact size and lower cost when produced in large volume, whereas the microwave commercial market, including wireless communications, mandates low cost circuits. Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technology provides an economically viable approach to meeting these needs. In this paper the design considerations for several types of MMICs and their performance status are presented. Multi-function integrated circuits that advance the MMIC technology are described, including integrated microwave/digital functions and a highly integrated transceiver at C-band.