First Silicon Switches for 3G Smartphones

1st March 2010

ES Admin

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RF Micro Devices announced today that the Company has successfully qualified and released its first high power RF CMOS switch using high-resistivity silicon substrates sourced at a leading silicon foundry. RFMD is leveraging this new process technology, as well as patent-pending design and circuit-related technology developed by RFMD, to introduce a product portfolio of high-performance silicon switch-based products for next-generation 3G and 4G smartphones, as well as other cellular handset, wireless infrastructure, wireless local area network (WLAN), CATV/broadband and aerospace and defense applications.

Eric Creviston, president of RFMD's Cellular Products Group (CPG), said, “RFMD's CMOS-based cellular switches deliver meaningful performance, size and cost benefits, including excellent linearity and isolation capabilities, which are critical to today's multi-band 3G handsets. We are forecasting significant customer adoption in calendar 2010 driven by leading 3G smartphone manufacturers.”

Bob Bruggeworth, president and CEO of RFMD, added, “For RFMD, these new CMOS-based products – and our entire Switch and Signal Conditioning product portfolio – highlight the increasing dollar content opportunities available to RFMD and the continued success of our diversification efforts. Equally important, our CMOS-based switch portfolio enables further improvement in our return on invested capital (ROIC) as we migrate technologies and IP developed by CPG into the markets served by RFMD's multi-market products group (MPG).”

RFMD's CMOS-based cellular switches meet or exceed the stringent linearity and isolation requirements of next-generation 3G and 4G smartphones while providing superior ESD performance (HBM data rated at 2000V). Also, by integrating the controller and RF switch on the same circuit, RFMD's patent-pending circuit-related technology and the innovative high-resistivity CMOS technology reduce product size while improving product performance. Accordingly, RFMD's silicon switches deliver a lower cost and higher performance 3G solution than is obtainable from competing silicon process technologies, including silicon-on-sapphire (SOS).

RFMD's first high power CMOS-based cellular switches include the RF1603, a single-pole, three-throw (SP3T) switch, and the RF1604, a single-pole four throw (SP4T) switch. RFMD has sampled both products to tier one customers, and commercial production is expected to commence in the first half of calendar 2010. Subsequent CMOS-based products will address increasing levels of end-product complexity and will include RFMD's growing portfolio of switch filter modules and switch duplexer modules for 3G smartphones.

RFMD offers the mobile device industry's broadest and most innovative portfolio of radio frequency components, including cellular power amplifier modules, cellular transmit modules, cellular switch and filter modules, and front ends for Wi-Fi, WiMAX and GPS applications.