New millimeter-wave MMIC chip sets and modules for commercial radio application

This paper describes recent developments in MMIC chipsets and modules to address the millimeter-wave point-to-point and point-to-multipoint radios. These MMICs and modules are designed for popular commercial digital radio frequency band from 18 GHz through 43 GHz. Commercial markets demand low cost and high performance. The best way to meet the present and future requirements is to use MMICs exclusively and use automated mass production method. TRW is actively addressing these issues by designing and fabricating high performance HEMT and HBT MMICs and by devising new packaging and assembly methods to enhance the performance and reduce the cost at the same time. TRW is now providing a complete set of MMIC chips to realize high performance receiver modules and high power transmitter modules.