Abstract

This paper is a plea for more Imaginative design of MMIC circuits. A survey of architectural development of MMIC circuit design will be given starting from initial extrapolations from Hybrid designs but using lumped rather than distributed components. After this the use of distributed-feed networks gave new possibilities for wide-band applications. Finally a logical extension is proposed for new architectures which could reach out to the KW chip, or the 16-bit Phase shifter. This is a super-modular approach for low cost, close packing density, improved reliability and faster testing. Examples for Amplifiers and Phase-shifters will illustrate the novel aspects of this approach. This evolution has been made possible because of the improvements in production precision and reproducability, and also to the accurate design tools that are available today in this technology. There are now many possibilities for imaginative design of MMIC circuits with new design principles which were hitherto unrealistic. It is hoped that these reflexions will provoke new thoughts on basic MMIC design principles.