OMMIC sets up European design center
OMMIC, the France-based compound semiconductor foundry owned by Philips, has signed an agreement with Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) that should advance the development of monolithic microwave ICs (MMICs).
The university's high-frequency electronics research group will act as OMMIC's European "center of excellence", specifically with regard to the research and design of GaAs-based MMICs.
Vincent Fusco, the director of high-frequency research at QUB, said that the collaboration was a significant development that should lead to innovation in some key areas of microwave technology for telecommunications applications.
The high-frequency group at QUB, which is focused on solving some of the toughest problems facing wireless front-end technology, has already designed MMIC products using OMMIC's processes. It will now have access to the foundry's most advanced technology.
"This collaboration will improve time to market, provide additional support for customers and enhance our joint-venture efforts," said OMMIC's marketing and sales director Derek Smith.
OMMIC announced the agreement at European Microwave Week, where it also revealed details of a new amplifier featuring very low noise and high linearity.
Designed for use in wireless base stations, the device features two amplifiers, fabricated on the same die. At 1.9 GHz, the low-noise amplifier delivers 19 dB of gain with a noise figure of 0.5 dB.
At the same event, OMMIC also launched its new range of phase shifters, attenuators and integrated core chips for X-band and C-band applications.
The devices are aimed initially for use in phased array radar systems. Marc Rocchi, the CEO of OMMIC, said: "We see a great demand for these products "“ not only for space and military [applications], but also for commercial products in the future."
