RFMD Touts Design Win for Triple-Path Cellular Front End for Leading 3G Handset Platform
CompoundSemi News StaffAugust 13, 2008... RF Micro Devices, Inc. (RFMD) of Greensboro, North Carolina USA, announced a major design win. RFMD said that a leading handset original equipment manufacturer's (OEM's) upcoming 3G multimode handset platform. RFMD says that the OEM's upcoming 3G multimode handset will utilize its triple-path, broadband power amplifier (PA). RFMD says that it delivers unmatched broadband performance and TRP compliance. RFMD says that based upon current customer forecasts and design activity, it expects to begin volume shipments in the fourth quarter of calendar 2008.
RFMD's triple-path 3G PA combines three broadband (multi-band capable) power amplification paths in a single, size-reduced package. According to RFMD says that the PA offers two high-band broadband amplifiers and one low-band broadband amplifier, thereby enabling 3G handset designers to simultaneously address any combination of the eight major WCDMA cellular frequency bands without the need for external tuning. The company notes that the broadband, triple-path capability allows handset designers to use a single RF platform across all 3G band combinations. This reduces space requirements and accelerating time to market, the company said.
Eric Creviston, president of RFMD's Cellular Products Group commented, "Handset designers using our broadband 3G PA can implement a single, scalable 3G platform that services multiple WCDMA bands through simple changes in filter components. No change to the RF layout of the phone board is necessary.” Company News Release
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August 13, 2008...Semi Conductor Devices (SCD) of Haifa, Israel, was awarded a Phase I contract from DARPA for the development of new "XBn" infrared detector technology. The contract valued at $1.75 million could be worth a total of $5 million once all of the phases of the program are completed. Baruch Glick, CEO of SCD said, "We see this direct contract between an Israeli company and DARPA as a recognition by DARPA in the capabilities of SCD to perform a challenging project that eventually will fit into the high end Infra Red systems."
The program hopes to develop technology for a semiconductor hetero-structure detector. The detector will not have a depletion layer in any narrow bandgap region. The company said that instead, the depletion layer will be confined to a wider bandgap barrier material. SCD says that in such a "barrier device" the dark current can be made lower than in a conventional homo-structure device operating at the same temperature. According to the company, this will allow operating temperatures of 150K without degrading the detector's performance relative to homo-structure devices with a similar photo-response operating at lower temperatures. Company News Release SolFocus Hires Former Lockheed Martin Executive as Company President
CompoundSemi News StaffAugust 13, 2008...SolFocus, Inc., a maker of commercial concentrator photovoltaics based in Mountain View, California USA, announced that Mark Crowley, a former Lockheed Martin executive, has joined the company as president. He will report to chairman and CEO Gary D. Conley. The company indicated that the expansion of its leadership team marks a shift from R&D and product development, into the commercialization and volume deployment phase of its business. Mr. Crowley joins SolFocus from Lockheed Martin Space Systems where he served as vice president of West Coast operations. Mr. Crowley reportedly has over 25 years of technical and program management experience including time at Lockheed Martin as VP of technical operations, VP of programs and subcontracts, as well as VP and program director of the company's SBIRS program, a highly technical and complex program utilizing some of the same technologies such as non-imaging optics which are used in SolFocus solar systems. The company said that Mr. Crowley will be taking over responsibilities for product development, delivery, support, and execution of its operations.
“SolFocus has recently reached a major milestone in its development as a company which is the deployment of its first commercial Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) plant,” commented CEO Conley. “We are extremely pleased to have Mark join us, as he brings with him a proven ability to address the execution challenges and processes which will face our business in this fast growth phase.” SolFocus News Release
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Nitronex Gets DOD Phase II STTR Grant for GaN-on-Silicon HEMT Technology Development
CompoundSemi News StaffAugust 13, 2008...The Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded Nitronex a Phase II STTR grant to further develop GaN-on-silicon HEMTS for high-frequency applications. Nitronex, a company started from a spin-out of research conducted at North Carolina State University, began the two-year Phase II program in the first quarter of this year with funding from a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant for military and aerospace applications. Nitronex notes that primary program objective is to deliver high power X-band GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) that address ballistic missile defense radar needs of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
“We are excited to be working with the MDA to advance our GaN-on-Silicon HEMT and MMIC manufacturing infrastructure and to broaden the operating frequency range of our RF power discrete devices and MMICs for both commercial and military applications,” said Edwin Piner, director of advanced technology. “The program's high power X-band Gallium Nitride on Silicon MMICs will enable X-band radar with increased performance capability, reduced size, weight and power consumption (SWAP) while simultaneously leveraging the inherent affordability and reliability of our technology.” Company News Release GaAs Vendors Should Continue to Improve Monolithic Integration of PAs or CMOS Will Replace It, Strategy Analytics Says
CompoundSemi News StaffAugust 11, 2008...Boston, Massachusetts USA-based market research firm, Strategy Analytics, released its “PA Technology Trends 2008-2013” report. According to the company, the report reveals an increase in the number of companies developing CMOS power amplifiers (PAs) for cellphones. The report summarizes the actions of 20 firms that promise to lead to
simplified multi-band, multi-standard cellphone front ends, potentially reducing the cost of cellphones, while potentially disrupting established suppliers. GaAs and LDMOS hold the vast majority of the market, but CMOS has so far only captured a tiny portion of the market.
Strategy Anlytics notes in the report that however, that even in mainstream PA modules based on GaAs and LDMOS RF power elements, suppliers increasingly add CMOS support chips for linearity-efficiency management and control. SA contends that this increasing adoption of CMOS leads to the prospect of replacing the entire PA-front end with a potentially lower-cost monolithic solution in CMOS or SiGe-BiCMOS. SA says that new technologies, such as MEMS tunable elements, could enable this transition. GaAs and LDMOS will continue to lead the market, SA says.
Asif Anwar, Director of the GaAs and Compound Semiconductor program of Strategy Analytics, said, "It is crucial that GaAs vendors continue to improve the monolithic integration supported by GaAs for cellular PAs, otherwise CMOS will eventually replace GaAs, as it did about a decade ago in handset transceivers." Company News Release Veeco and Asylum Settle AFM Patent Dispute
CompoundSemi News StaffAugust 11, 2008...Veeco Instruments, a company best known for its MOCVD systems based in Plainview, New York USA, reported that it has settled patent litigation that it had brought against Asylum Research Corporation in 2003 concerning technology related to Veeco’s atomic force microscope (AFM). As part of the settlement, Veeco and Asylum agreed to drop all pending claims against each other. The companies have also agreed to a five year, worldwide cross license of each other's patents. The companies have made a mutual covenant not to sue on patents either party has a right to assert. Under the terms of the agreement Asylum will make a net payment to Veeco plus an ongoing royalty for the five-year term of the cross license. According to Veeco, Asylum acknowledged the validity of the its patents asserted in the case. Other terms of the license were not disclosed.
John R. Peeler, Chief Executive Officer of Veeco, commented, "We are pleased to have reached this favorable settlement with Asylum that values our technology and validates our patents. Veeco has invested tens of millions of dollars in intellectual property and research and development for AFM technology, and this investment has helped us to bring the best AFM products to the marketplace. This settlement is a significant milestone for our employees, customers and shareholders, and we will continue to protect our valuable intellectual property, as necessary, in the future." Veeco News Release Skyworks Continues to Improve Integration of PAs as it Surpasses Two Billion GaAs PA Module Shipments
CompoundSemi News StaffAugust 11, 2008...Skyworks Solutions’ GaAs-based power amplifier (PA) shipments have reached the two billion milestone, the company reported. Skyworks says it expects to outperform market growth because of its share gains and diversification in the market.
The Woburn, Massachusetts company says that it uniquely supplies to each of the world's top five handset OEMs and two leading smartphone manufacturers. Also, Skyworks points out that it has developed design partnerships with leading baseband suppliers. Skyworks notes that most recently, it captured key sockets on Qualcomm and MediaTek reference designs. Skyworks’ Intera line of front-end modules, which includes connectivity solutions for GSM, GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA, as well as CDMA, WLAN, and WiMAX applications, integrates GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobile transistors (pHEMTs) and heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs).
"We are thrilled to surpass the two billion PA module mark and are even more excited about the design-win traction of our next generation of multimode Intera™ front-end modules," said Liam K. Griffin, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Skyworks. "Given the strength of our product pipeline, Skyworks is benefiting from the trend towards highly integrated, multi-band FEMs for 3G, EDGE, LTE and WLAN applications. In fact, new product ramps of our content-rich Intera™ portfolio coupled with our diversification initiatives is positioning Skyworks to outpace our addressable markets this quarter and moving forward." Skyworks News Release Our news features are reported
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