The history and future of GaAs devices in commercial wireless products

After years of development and utilization for low volume, high performance military and space based systems, GaAs MESFET first made a major impact in the commercial wireless markets in the early 1990s. Over the next decade, evolution of commercial wireless products led to critical roles for III-V based p-HEMT and HBT as well. Technology trends and specifications of proposed future wireless systems will similarly affect the role of GaAs devices in the coming decade. The performance characteristics of GaAs devices that led to their utilization in current and past systems as well as potential future roles for these devices are discussed.