Plastic RF power packages overtake ceramics

OVER the last five years, the wireless infrastructure industry has witnesse d explosive growth. In 1998, publicly announced infrastructure contracts ex ceeded $25 billion worldwide. From air standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) to IS-95 to IS 136, the expansion of wireless s ystems has been breath taking and there is still more on the horizon. With this growth, however, comes increased pressure on system cost, manufacturin g capacity, and overall reliability. The rapid transformation of the wirele ss industry from high-end, specialty applications to a ubiquitous telecommu nications infrastructure necessitates a new way to approach RF design.