MiGaNSOS has been structured in 6 workpackages, each split into tasks. Two WPs are continuously running all through the project: WP1 (Project Management and Coordination) and WP6 (Dissemination and Exploitation).
Regarding WP1, main aim consists in the coordination of the technical activities and control of the financial flows, with the establishment of appropriate project relations and reporting to the Commission; an efficient communication system among partners has been set up, making use of a collaborative environment (EMDESK tool). WP6 aims at maximizing the impact of MiGaNSOS by ensuring the take up of its outcomes in the European and Worldwide Space Industry. Regarding strictly technical WPs, WP2, dealing with technology characterisation and models extraction, produced versions of improved Process Design KITs (PDKs), both for the 100 and 60nm technologies, representing a key element for technology potentials exploitation via successful designs. WP3 has been dedicated to circuit and test vehicles realisation, experiencing two foundry runs in total and resulting in state of the art performance in line with specifications for HPA, LNA, SPDT and their SCFE integration. In the same WP, test vehicles to be used for space qualification heve been designed, realised and tested: discrete evaluation circuit (DEC), test characterisation vehicle (TCV) and representative integrated circuit (RIC), adopted in WP4. The latter is dedicated to space evaluation, with the release of a reliability test plan, detailing all the tests to be performed on DEC, TCV and RIC. Such test plan benefitted from the feedback by the project External Expert Advisory Board, formed by leading experts in the field from research community, companies and international bodies (ESA and CNES). WP5 is devoted to system demonstrator antenna tile for EO in Ka Band.
At the end of the project, with reference to the four main objectives, of the project,
- The targeted technology, 100nm GaN MMIC from OMMIC, has been extensively studied together with the more advanced 60nm GaN one, leading to renewed PDKs and modelling and designed and successfully tested demonstrators (HPA, LNA and SPDT switch MMICs together with their integrated Single-Chip Front-End at Ka Band). Space evaluation has been carried out, leading to the definition of a reliability test plan, realisation of test circuits (DEC, RIC and TCV) and reliability tests on the previous circuits, where RIC life tests are still under way.
- Simultaneous use of 60nm and 100nm technologies has been exploited and hence fully demonstrated: LNAs and HPAs adopting the 60nm technology for the first stages and the 100 nm for the final ones have been designed and realised, leading to resulting performance improved for noise figure (for the former) and gain (for the latter). The integration of HPA and LNA into a SFCE has been also demonstrated and a successful comparison has been also carried out with an 'all-100 nm' SCFE. Ancillary circuitry (distributed amplifier with cascode cells in mixed technology) further validates the exploitation.
- The realised MMIC building blocks have been integrated into T/R modules to form a tile of an active antenna operating at Ka Band for future EO payloads. The successful integration of the active part has been demonstrated, while the realisation of the antenna demonstrator is waiting for passive components from external suppliers.
- The obtained results have been disseminated both in academic/industrial environments, leading to open scientific publications in major intenational journals and conference presentations. In addition, diffusion to the more generall public has been pursued, with workshops, open days and nation-wide magazine. As a result, the adoption of the 100nm GaN MMIC technology has grown along the years, leading to an increasing number of both dedicated foundry runs and multi-project shared wafers. The space community indeed considers OMMIC 100nm GaN MMIC technology as one of the preferred option for Space-related millimeter-wave circuit realisation.
As a final remark, it is to note that further activities are being exploited related to OMMIC technology space evaluation. A project, financed within the frame of CNES activities, is actually running aimed at the radiation hardness testing of the 100 nm Gan MMIC technology.
