State-of-the-Art Modular Building Blocks Accelerate RF and Microwave Design

An introduction to an innovative rapid RF prototyping system.

To be competitive in 5G, Satcom, and defense electronics, new systems must be brought to market faster and more efficiently – maximizing first pass design success. While simulation has transformed the early stages of the design process, little has changed over the last 3 decades in the physical process of characterizing components, prototyping systems, and integrating designs for production. The industry’s rapid adoption of modular design is a game changer, allowing a seamless design flow from prototype to production, reducing design risk and accelerating time to market.

X-Microwave introduced the X-MWblocks® modular design system in 2015 pioneering a new modular approach for RF and Microwave design.  They offer modular drop-in components featuring both surface mount and bare DIE devices from the industry’s leading MMIC manufactures. The X-Microwave web catalog and interactive online tools enable self-service component selection, system design and mechanical layout with real-time pricing estimates. Following a 5 step process, any RF and Microwave engineer can take advantage of this innovative new design flow.

X-MWblock Based Design Flow

  1. Component Selection

X-MWblock drop-in components feature surface mount and bare DIE devices from the industry’s leading manufacturers. S-parameters and Sys-Parameter models are available allowing direct comparison of thousands of MMICs.

  1. Design and Simulation

Cascade any number of X-MWblock drop-in components to design your own system. Free on-line layout and cascade tools allow you to build up the assembly virtually and evaluate electro-mechanical design trade-offs early in the design process.

  1. Rapid Prototyping

Build your cascade on the X-Microwave Prototyping Plate. Characterize individual components and then connect them together to analyze full system performance. The X-MWprobe, solderless interconnect and matched bias circuitry enable quick design iterations.

  1. Integration

Request a fully integrated cascade from X-Microwave that combines individual X-MWblocks into a single PCB. Maintaining the same mechanical footprint as the prototype maximizes your chances of first past design success as you move to production.

  1. Production

X-Microwave is your design and manufacturing partner for quantity 1 to 1000’s. They typically build low volume first article and pre-production quantities using individual X-MWblocks and transition to combined boards for production quantities above 10.

To get started today visit http://www.xmicrowave.com. Castle Microwave is your official source for X-MWblock drop-in components and connectorized modules in the UK.Visit https://www.castlemicrowave.com/ to learn more.