GaAs IC 10-YEAR FORECAST (1989)
TABLE II
‘ 86 ‘ 87 ‘ 88
3500
3000
REVENUE ($M)
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
‘ 89 ‘ 90 ‘ 91
‘ 92 ‘ 93 ‘ 94 ‘ 95 ‘ 96 ‘ 97
YEAR
Military
Commercial
Experimental Prototype
and Special Purpose
treRF simulators would help
transform Cadence from a
CAD company into a leading EDA company. SpectreRF and its nodal formulation would provide a distinct
advantage in addressing the
RFICs developed in the
mid-1990s.
By the late 1980s, the
RF and microwave circuit
design market was being
4x0.725
4x1.275
4x1.825
NETWORKS
INTERNATIONAL
CORPORATION
SPACE QUALIFIED PRODUCTS
9 x 2
0.20 • 10+ years of space heritage
(Commercial & Military
applications)
Screening Inspection
Visual Pre-cap (MIL-STD-883, Method 2017)
Temperature Cycling (MIL-STD-202, Method 107 Test B)
Sinusoidal Vibration (MIL-STD-202F, Method 204D)
Random Vibration (MIL-STD-202F, Method 214)
PIND Test (MIL-STD-883, Method 2020, Test B)
Aging (MIL-C-3098)
Fine Leak Test (MIL-STD-202, Method 112, Test C)
Phase Noise Under Vibration
Radiographic Inspection
2x0.240
2x0.210
• L.C. Filters
Crystal Filters -
Discrete & Monolithic
TCXO's
• Product reliability - Up to 30
years operating life
Reliability Analysis
Calculation carried out per MIL-HDBK-217F
Ref 7XA • Complete in-house
environmental testing
(S-Level screening)
2x1.000
Component Selection
Crystals: ESA/SCCG level C#
Discrete semiconductors: JANTXV per MIL-PRF-19500
Microcircuits: MIL-STD-883 class B
Passive Parts: ER type with failure level "S" or better
Connectors: ESA/SCC level C3
served by four major competitors—
Compact, EEsof, Eagleware, and HP.
The MIMIC program started in December of 1987 was well into phase 1
(the second of a four-phase program)
and was providing the driving force in
the development of GaAs integrated
circuits and supporting CAE software.
The DoD and NATO were gravely
concerned that the Warsaw Pact had
superior resources and was gaining a
technological advantage. The recently signed INF treaty forced military
planners to devise a way to stop (
without using nuclear weapons) a potential large-scale Warsaw Pact assault.
Despite improvements in US-Soviet
relations and Congress’ close scrutiny of defense spending, high-tech
weapon systems based on advanced
components were needed (see Table
1). This threat provided the MIMIC
program funds, which would take microwave design to the next level of
complexity at a critical stage.
While the commercial support for
advanced GaAs ICs was very limited,
the DoD did project that a growing
commercial demand would emerge in
the 1990s, as shown in Table 2. To address this need, software would once
again needed to evolve. This time,
the digitally-modulated RF devices
such as MMICs, RFICS and multichip modules (MCM) in the emerging wireless communications market
would drive the need for greater simulation capacity, more automation, new
design environments, EM and system
simulation along with the integration
of these tools.
2x2.100
2x1.550
913.685.3400
www.nickc.com
e-mail:
sales@nickc.com
15237 Broadmoor
Overland Park, KS 66223
CONCLUSION
What were the watershed moments
in design software? The development
of microstrip/stripline transmission
line theory, and MIC and MMIC
technologies, the GaAs FET and
simulation models, the adoption of S-parameters and the network analyzer,
two-port linear analysis, parameterization and optimization, development of
distributed transmission line models,
time-shared mainframe computers,
the microprocessor and PC, the development of planar and 3D electromagnetic simulation, the development
of harmonic balance, krylov-subspace,
transient assisted harmonic balance,
circuit envelope, netlist to artwork
conversion software, the schematic
