Case Study: mmTron achieves compact, reliable 50W mmWave single-die power amplifiers with Keysight PathWave ADS

Creating Highly Efficient and Reliable mmWave Power Amplifiers

mmTron, a Silicon Catalyst portfolio company in Redwood City, CA, designs high-power, high-linearity mmWave integrated circuits for wireless and SATCOM systems. Confronted with mmWave losses, multi-die inefficiencies, high thermal density and scarce aging models that threatened reliability and service life, mmTron sought to deliver single-die power amplifiers without sacrificing linearity or lifetime. They adopted Keysight tools — notably PathWave ADS, PathWave RFPro, PathWave Device Modeling (IC‑CAP) and the ADS Electro‑Thermal Simulator — as core parts of their workflow.

Using Keysight PathWave ADS with authentic waveform-driven multi-domain EM and electro-thermal simulation, enhanced GaN aging models in PathWave Device Modeling, and high-accuracy EM via PathWave RFPro, mmTron optimized die, package and PCB concurrently. The result is the TMC211 single‑die PA that delivers ~50 W (Psat ≈ 47 dBm) with 28% PAE, a 60% smaller die than multi‑die rivals, lower junction temperatures supporting ~15‑year life targets, a 97% first‑pass design success rate, and accelerated product cycles and customer engagements — all enabled by Keysight’s tools and support.

mmTron

Sayed Tabatabaei

Founder and CEO,