APPLICATIONS FOR GAAS AND SILICON INTEGRATED-CIRCUITS IN NEXT-GENERATION WIRELESS COMMUNICATION-SYSTEMS

Emerging applications for portable wireless voice and data communicati ons systems are requiring increased data rates and functionality, Meet ing cost and performance goals requires careful attention to system le vel design and partitioning such that appropriate technologies are emp loyed in cost-effective solutions, New circuit designs and techniques are required to meet size, power, and regulatory restrictions, This pr ovides an exciting opportunity for GaAs, silicon, and passive componen t technologies, This review paper will discuss factors influencing the choice of which technology is best suited to a particular application and present several system level architectures of radio-based communi cation systems. The paper will illustrate appropriate applications of GaAs, silicon, and passive integrated circuit technologies. A summary is given that highlights the relative strengths and weaknesses of each technology to date.