ASIC design (Application Specific Integrated Circuit - “custom chip”)

• Full custom CMOS designs 0.18µm, 0.35µm, 0.8µm and 3µm, 15V to 1.5V operation (high voltage options also available up to 90V) as well as Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) with high temperature operation (up to 225°C).
• Zetex 700 series Linear Bipolar Semi-custom Arrays - low NRE (non-recurring engineering charge) analogue [analog] ASICs, up to 20V operation.  Prototype analogue ASICs can be delivered with an NRE of less than £20k, including design, layout and prototyping costs, depending on complexity.
• Low flicker noise passive infra-red (PIR) intruder detector analogue circuitry - CMOS.
• Low power gun sight auto ambient light adjusting "red dot" LED driver for chip-on-board assembly (5µA operating current at low light levels with LED illuminated) - bipolar.
• Signal processing analogue ASIC for radiation monitor - CMOS.
• 16 channel photodiode amplifier & multiplexer - bipolar
• Low noise hydrophone amplifier with input bias current cancelling circuitry - bipolar.
• Very low power logarithmic DAC with wide dynamic range - CMOS.

Most of the ASICs are for low power, battery operated systems.

ASIC cells designed include the following:

• Bandgap references.
• Voltage regulators (series and shunt).
• Comparators.
• Operational amplifiers.
• Transmission line drivers and receivers.
• LVDS (low voltage differential signalling) drivers and receivers.
• Charge amplifiers.
• Analogue to Digital Converters (ADC) - flash and successive approximation.
• Digital to Analogue Converters (DAC) - R2R and resistor string, single output and differential, linear and non-linear.
• Pulse shaping and counting.
• Analogue multiplexers, bipolar and CMOS.
• Photodiode amplifiers.
• Double balanced mixers (Gilbert Cell and also CMOS RF mixers).
• Oscillators and timers.

CMOS simulations using BSIM 3v3 models, depending on the chosen foundry process.

Key Design has good relationships with companies who are able to supply the final tested ASIC, as required.