John E. Penn
 Write for Microwaves & RF
4 results found for John E. Penn, displaying items 1 - 4

April 2010   [Computer-Aided Engineering]
Design MMICs On A Budget
Designing a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) implies million-dollar mask sets and expensive computer-aided-engineering (CAE) software. But for those on a budget, is it possible to be fiscally responsible and still create a MMIC? To explore the possibilities, a GaAs low-noise amplifier (LNA) was chosen as an example target design, since it can be created by means of a linear circuit simulator and an S-parameter file, including noise data, as supplied...

November 2007   [Devices & ICs]
Designing MMIC Distributed Amplifiers
Distributed amplifiers offer moderate to high gain over broad frequency ranges. They have been designed with transmission lines as input and output feeds for some time. An early paper (1948) by Bill Packard (co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co.) even showed how to use vacuum tubes for amplification in a distributed design.1 As GaAs monolithic-microwave-integrated-circuit (MMIC) technology developed and different types of amplifiers were fabricated ...

November 2006   [Devices & ICs]
Design An MMIC LNA With GaAs PHEMTs
Low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) are critical for extracting signals from noise in communications receivers. Other techniques are available for controlling noise in a system, including filtering and cryogenic cooling, but high-performance LNAs offer a proven, reliable means of managing communications system noise. What follows is an exploration into the design of a low-power (battery-operated) LNA operating at X-band (8 GHz). The design compares the use of GaAs PHEMT...

July 2003   [Components]
Convert Distributed MICs To MMICs
Monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) offer considerable size and weight advantages over their microwave-integrated-circuit (MIC) counterparts. But realizing proven passive MIC components as MMIC designs can present a challenging set of...