Wideband transmit modules designed for production

This paper presents novel, multi-channel transmit modules designed for high-volume manufacturing, which operate over the multioctave EW bandwidth, and are intended for use in an active array. Use of multi-layer high temperature cofired ceramic (HTCC) as the base of the modules allows high-density routing of RF, bias and digital control lines, reducing the overall size. In a tightly-packed module, custom MMIC´s are often called upon. Lower cost can be achieved by selection of MMIC´s used in popular wireless products. For each transmit channel, the phase and gain are independently controlled by digital commands sent to on-board application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC´s). The design goals were achieved without unnecessary MMIC development by selecting commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) MMIC´s designed for the wireless market.