Case Studies
The next generation of cellular applications requires complex devices that can amplify signals in
the upper-gigahertz range while handling high-power density and high voltages. With 5G cellular
networks becoming the focus of the RF (radio frequency) market, demand for GaN and GaAs power
amplifiers is on the rise, as is the competition.
To achieve success in the growing wireless industry, a company must deliver cutting-edge devices
at competitive speeds. Doing so requires powerful design and simulation tools that can accurately
measure the high frequencies that 5G demands.
An RF design startup in Northern Ireland delivering custom monolithic microwave integrated circuit
(MMIC) solutions recently found itself up against a substantial hurdle while working with GaN and GaAs
technology. The company, iconicRF, grappled with how to quickly deliver the reliable GaN and GaAs
device modeling and prototypes its customers demanded for a range of cellular, wireless, and aerospace
applications. Using Keysight PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) software, iconicRF found a way
to reduce its risk of delivering high performance customer prototypes with a first pass success rate.
PathWave ADS also decreased design and simulation time — all within a year of starting business.
The Challenge: Faster Solutions from
Design to Prototype
The technology behind high-performance MMIC and module design is increasingly complex. Board
sizes are shrinking, data rates are increasing, and the number of technologies on a single device is
growing. That complexity is a key reason companies outsource complex designs to specialized RF
design teams like iconicRF. But outsourcing places enormous pressure on the teams to create designs
that are reliable, cost-effective, and efficient while still meeting customer demand to be first to market.
The challenges iconicRF faced in its 5G design efforts centered firmly on measurement accuracy and
the need to perform high-frequency simulation. Measuring accurately at high frequencies required for
next-generation cellular applications, up to 30 GHz, is difficult. Finding a software tool that can design
and simulate 5G devices is rare. Additionally, designing next-generation devices requires electronic
design automation software with high-frequency simulation capabilities that span design to prototype.
The Solution: A Trusted Design Tool to
Ensure Accuracy and Speed
To ensure reliable and accurate results, iconicRF turned to Keysight. Keysight PathWave ADS is the
industry’s leading RF, microwave, signal integrity, and power integrity design platform (Figure 1).
PathWave ADS integrates EM simulation, circuit design, and layout in a single tool that spans design to
packaging. The designers saved significant import and export time throughout the design prototyping
and test workflow. The algorithms in PathWave ADS are accurate and reliable, well beyond 28 GHz.
Using the software and its high-frequency and co-simulation capabilities, iconicRF was able to quickly
design, simulate, and optimize its customers’ GaN and GaAs-based MMIC devices.
To aid test results visualization, the iconicRF team utilized the integrated features of PathWave ADS to
evaluate measured load pull results (Figure 2). The team could quickly assess measured performance
of the base cell and ensure the optimum matching topology for their RF and mmWave PA designs, all
within the PathWave ADS simulator environment.
With PathWave ADS, iconicRF performed co-design and co-verification of its multi-technology
components to bring the design from design specifications to fully working prototype within a short
period of time.
A key feature of this rapid development was the new EM Simulator in PathWave ADS, RFPro. At
millimeter wave frequencies packaging parasitics are increasingly important in the product design.
RFPro not only allows the 3D visualization of the MMIC (Figure 3), but also helps designers perform
EM circuit co-simulation on their designs. Using these capabilities, iconicRF was able to quickly
fine-tune its circuit schematics, perform EM simulations at the package level (Figure 4), and verify its
layouts to ensure the successful operation of its MMIC devices in the customer environment.
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