Designing modules for concurrency in multimedia co-design

A modern module design approach for power amplifier (PA) and front-end module (FEM) is presented, with emphasis on efficient design flow and effective methodology. Module design is normally done in a printed circuit board layout tool, extracting a model for them with EM and simulating the model with behavioral or S-parameter models for the IC in a circuit tool. Electromagnetic solver (EM) is an integral part of module design, and its proper use provides the most accurate models for the user's design. The majority of the design for modules below 5 GHz or so, is done using RF lumped element design techniques, and the interconnects are better treated as parasitic and extracted rather than primary and modeled. A set of tools and a flow based on a common database provides a low risk path to actually using the module to achieve greater performance, higher yield and lower cost.