Practical MMIC Design
Filled with real-world design techniques and rules of thumb, this practical resource offers professionals a unique look into the day-to-day practices of MMIC production and the economics associated with it.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Practical MMIC Design
Chapter 3: Foundry Use and Economics
Because of the strong link between component technology and foundry suppliers, this chapter describes the type of procedures the designers may go through when designing an MMIC with an external foundry. It also covers some of the economic issues associated with manufacturing an MMIC design through a foundry and the trade-offs when considering the design of multifunction MMICs.
3.1 Using a Foundry
Using an MMIC foundry to design and fabricate a chip to a given specification is an interactive exercise between the foundry and the customer designing the chip, as illustrated in Figure 3.1. It starts with discussions and agreements between the two parties, goes through the design process and wafer fabrication, and ends when the chips are fully tested and delivered to the customer.
Figure 3.1: Flowchart illustrating the process of designing and fabricating an MMIC using a foundry.
3.1.1 Agreements and Discussions
Interaction with a foundry usually starts with discussions on an informal basis between the customer and foundry engineers regarding the foundry capability and available options. This will be on a very general level, discussing aspects such as the process technology available, key performance benchmarks of the active devices on the process, and examples of the type of circuits that have already been produced by the foundry. This is also the time when the customer should ensure that the foundry can supply the electronic design data in a form that can be used with the customer's CAD simulation tools.
When the customer and the foundry decide there...
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