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Objectives
Arralis have designed and built Ka Band Core Chip MMICs for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications applications. Each chip has been packaged in QFN (Quad Flatpack No Leads). A demonstrator transceiver board was developed for ease of demonstration.
Arralis have developed the technology to TRL4 whereby we have fabricated & packaged QFN MMICs and validation testing has been carried out in a laboratory environment.
The types of problems solved by this product include the basis of a LEO ground to satellite communications network. This network would allow unimpeded low-cost data access across the globe.
This project lead to the design and build of 5 x core chip (or multifunction) MMICs for operation in the satellite uplink and downlink frequency bands (~29GHz and ~19GHz). As the MMICs are highly integrated and included functionalities such as VCOs (with locking supplied by a low frequency PLL), LO amplification, LNAs, PAs and mixers over both frequency bands, a simplified solution for chip integrators is supplied. All core chips are packaged using a QFN (Quad Flatpack No Leads) packages which makes integration even easier.
A Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) demonstrator transceiver reference board illustrates the ease of adoption of this technology.
Challenges
To implement a multifunction MMIC with parameters as varied as NF, phase noise and power, the choice of MMIC foundry process which offered a compromise between all these parameters was difficult. Likewise, the avoidance of detrimental coupling between the different sections of the core chip MMICs was also difficult and required a considerable amount of simulation effort to ensure that the chips worked acceptably.
System Architecture
The basic RF system architecture is shown below:
Plan
Phases and milestones of this project include:
- Design, fabrication and testing of the individual MMICs
- Design, fabrication and testing of the core chip MMICs
- Packaging and testing of the QFN MMICs
Development and testing of the demonstrator transceiver board
Current Status
The project has been completed. The packaged QFN MMICs performance were satisfactory when compared to their bare die MMIC equivalents. The Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) demonstrator transceiver board has also been finalised.
Companies
