Portable communications needs and no-nos [in IC design]

Portable communications, in the form of personal communications systems - whether intended for voice, video, or data, is of great interest today - especially to those who look upon this area as a replacement for the defense projects that have paid the bills for many years. Personal communications systems cannot, however, be approached in the same way that military systems have been approached in the past. Consumers pay less, are more critical, and multiuser consumer systems are just as complex as their military relatives. They must also work at higher frequencies. Gallium arsenide in integrated circuits, the designers capable of implementing them, and the companies capable of producing them, are in a unique position to satisfy the demands of portable, personal communications. The simple reason for this is that a great deal of the frequency spectrum available for personal communications applications is in the range of 1.7 to 6.0 GHz, and higher. Unfortunately, much of what has been done up to now is practically useless. Devices developed do not meet the needs of handheld product designers, and without handheld products portable communications systems can never meet their potential.<>