Post by Mohamed Saeed Elsayed, PhD

This spectrum analyzer trace may not look exciting to everyone, but for an IC designer, it represents long nights of work, countless design reviews, simulations, debugging sessions, and more cups of coffee than I can count 😃. One of the things I love most about semiconductor design is that success is never guaranteed. A chip design cycle is long, and there are literally millions of reasons why silicon might not behave as expected. Even after tape-out, there is always that moment of anticipation when the first measurements begin. That is why seeing a complex mixed-signal chip power up, function correctly, and achieve its target performance is such a rewarding experience. At INCIRT, we recently reached one of those rewarding moments! The chip we are characterizing integrates an 8 GHz coherent modulation transmitter, an optional PA, an IQ ADC, a dedicated DSP, and a standards-compliant HSSL interface in 22nm FD-SOI from GlobalFoundries. Thanks to our patented architecture, we achieved a clean, filtered output spectrum without requiring additional external filtering components. What makes this achievement even more special is that the PCB, measurement setup, and GUI were all developed entirely in-house! But the real story is not the chip. The real story is the people behind it. Every clean spectrum, every successful measurement, and every milestone achieved is the result of talented engineers who refused to give up when challenges appeared. Their expertise, commitment, creativity, and persistence transformed ideas into working silicon. I am incredibly proud of what the INCIRT team has accomplished and grateful to work alongside such exceptional engineers. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project. This achievement belongs to all of you ❤️. Moments like these remind me why engineering is so rewarding: turning something that once existed only in simulations into a piece of silicon that performs exactly as intended. What has been the most rewarding moment in your engineering journey? #INCIRT #Semiconductors #ICDesign #MixedSignal #RFIC #SiliconValidation #Engineering #Innovation #DSP #Team #Teamwork #6G