Resulting RF design kit leverages advanced circuit and electromagnetic simulation for the development of 60GHz front-end ICs
United Monolithic Semiconductor (UMS) and Ansoft have announced the implementation of a GaAs IC design methodology for millimetre-wave frequencies utilizing on-chip electromagnetic extraction and a new Ansoft Designer/Nexxim RF design kit for the PH15 Phemt process.
"MMIC design at millimetre-wave frequency requires a combination of powerful circuit and accurate electromagnetic simulation of the whole circuit.
"Ansoft with Nexxim, Ansoft Designer and HFSS provides the level of performance and accuracy expected by UMS Foundry customers, especially the ones who perform Q, V or W band designs on our very low-noise PH15 Phemt process," said Eric Leclerc, UMS foundry manager.
The millimetre-wave qualified kit implements rigorous device modelling and validation by the foundry and is combined with advanced frequency-domain simulation for highly nonlinear and highly integrated circuits as well as integrated electromagnetic simulation for on-chip extraction.
The Ansoft Designer/Nexxim design kit supports electrical design and physical circuit layout, enabling reliable MMIC design at millimetre-wave frequencies.
The kit provides all parameterised electrical models and layout cells for hot and cold FETs, diodes, MIM capacitors, spiral inductors, thin-film resistors and distributed interconnects, such as transmission lines.
The library will be available to Ansoft customers directly from UMS and is easily configured for use within the Ansoft Designer design management front-end, planar EM simulator and Nexxim circuit simulator.
The kit is available on Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP, Red Hat Enterprise Linux v3 as well as Solaris 8 and 9 systems.
UMS and Ansoft collaborated with a major Japanese electronics manufacturer and successfully developed a 60GHz front-end MMIC for short-range wireless communication.
The ICs take advantage of the high mobility 0.15-micron Phemt process from UMS to achieve excellent performance and stability at these millimetre-wave frequencies.
"Using Ansoft's next-generation simulation products, Nexxim and Ansoft Designer, we are now able to design 60GHz transmitter/receiver circuits," said Ken-ichi Ohta, manager of engineering development.
"Our requirement for multi-tone harmonic-balance analysis of highly nonlinear circuits made it impossible for us to use previous generation simulation tools."
