UltraCMOS technology offers 50% performance improvement

For the first time Peregrine will be able to deliver cost-competitive products for 3G smartphones, due to the new 130 nm UltraCMOS 10 technology delivering the support needed for the latest generation of LTE-Advanced smartphones. With smartphone manufacturers facing a number of challenges such as balancing performance requirements with cost and maintaining consumers’ signal quality and data-rate speeds, Peregrine’s UltraCMOS 10 technology will outpace these increasing performance needs so consumers will continue to see improved connectivity. Mobile Experts’ Principal Analyst of Radio Access and RF Semiconductors Joe Madden offers his perspective on the challenges and growth curve of the smartphone market by stating, “The iPhone 5S has more than double the frequency bands than the iPhone 5, and this is just one example of how dramatically the requirements for smartphone components are increasing. LTE units are expected to grow from 150 million in 2012 to 1.2 billion in 2018 (42 percent CAGR).”

The UltraCMOS 10 130 nm generation delivers the industry’s best RON COFF performance and enables improved performance and scaling. The RON COFF figure of merit is a ratio of how much loss occurs when a radio signal goes through a switch in its ON state (RON, or on-resistance) and how much the radio signal leaks through the capacitor in its OFF state (COFF, or off capacitance). The RON COFF performance metric for UltraCMOS 10 technology is 113 fsec. This is a five-fold improvement over the first generation released by Peregrine 10 years ago. It represents Peregrine’s expertise in using best-in-class engineering methodologies and materials to lower insertion loss without sacrificing isolation performance. In addition to improved RON COFF performance, UltraCMOS 10 platform leverages Peregrine’s patented design technology, which delivers linearity of more than 75 dBm at 900 MHz and equates to higher data rates and improved co-existence for consumers.

Jim Cable, CEO at Peregrine Semiconductor, commented: “UltraCMOS 10 technology offers the industry’s highest performance at a competitive cost. The platform reinforces Peregrine’s commitment to continual innovation and honors our legacy of delivering the very best solutions for our customers.”