At IMS 2019 in Boston, National Instruments (NI) and 3D Glass Solutions (3DGS) will demonstrate a pre-release of the innovative 3DGS glass-based mmWave RF device process design kit (PDK) for use with NI AWR software. Both the companies will be holding the demos in their respective booths (NI - Booth #930 and 3DGS - Booth #781).
The growing demand for specialized mmWave components for 5G and aerospace applications is putting pressure on designers to bring small, high-performance, low-energy consumption products to market quickly. Leveraging 3DGS glass-based mmWave technology, RF engineers will be able to design and deliver high-performance components for inclusion with monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) and discrete power devices that offer a smaller footprint, reduced energy consumption and improved RF performance.
According to Jeb Flemming, 3DGS Chief Technology Officer, the PDK enables customers to co-design a variety of compact, high-performance millimeter-wave passive devices such as bandpass filters, matching networks, splitters and combiners, as well as other necessary RF front-end building blocks. The partnership will enable customers to rapidly design products that meet their unique product specifications in a design environment that incorporates 3DGS high-yield, low-cost design rules to maximize the performance of MMIC devices.
The NI AWR software-specific 3DGS mmWave PDK consists of electrical models and parameterized layout cells (PCells) that are pre-configured for the NI AWR Design Environment extraction flow. This flow comprises the Analyst 3D finite-element method (FEM) electromagnetic (EM) simulator within the Microwave Office circuit simulator, providing true “EM accuracy” for mmWave designs ready for fabrication at 3DGS.
The advent of 5G, internet of things (IoT) and next-generation wireless communications is requiring RF and microwave engineers to deliver high-performance communications components to market more quickly than ever before, believes Sherry Hess, Vice President of marketing for AWR Group, NI. According to him, NI AWR software experts collaborated with 3DGS to develop this new PDK for use with NI AWR Design Environment software in order to streamline design cycles for customers using glass-based technology, while providing the accurate simulation needed to ensure high performance and first-pass success.
The new 3DGS mmWave PDK for NI AWR software is planned for release early in Q3 and will be available directly from 3DGS. The latest release of NI AWR Design Environment software, inclusive of the Analyst 3D EM simulator and active licenses, is required. A 5G 28-GHz bandpass filter reference design, which will be demonstrated at IMS 2019, will accompany the official release of the PDK.
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