|
Editorial: SPECIAL REPORT: HRL Takes The Next Step
... The following Special Report was compiled for CS News by Craig Farley, Ph.D., a noted expert in GaN electronics. Craig, who hails originally from Rockwell and Emcore, founded Canyon Semiconductor in Austin, Texas and is assisting CompoundSemi Online with the organization of our annual Compound Semi Industry Outlook Conference...
Jump down to the full story
| |
Features:
|
|
KMI Projects Fiber to the Premises to Hit $3.2B in USA by '09September 9, 2004...KMI in Rhode Island, USA, a market research division of PennWell, has gone
on record as forecasting that the total Fiber to the Premises (or "home"
in some cases, or "FTTP" for short) a target market for equipment,
cable, and apparatus makers and suppliers, will reach $3.2 billion in 2009.
This represents a 54% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the forecast period.
Verizon’s recent announcement and commitment to pass one million homes
in 2004 has made FTTP the fiberoptics industry’s most exciting development
since the late 1990s, says KMI. In 2003, there was a fledgling fiber to the
home, or FTTP, market underway, consisting of approximately 100 different projects—the
majority of which were undertaken by municipalities, utility companies, real-estate
developers, and other “non-telco” organizations. In 2003, the telcos
contributed only 3% to the FTTP market for cable and equipment. But with the
ramp-up in KMI’s forecast, the telcos’ deployments will grow much
faster than the non-telcos’ deployments. Telcos will represent 70% of this
market in 2009. More details and how to access the full report are included
in the company
news release. Rubicon Scores Another Major Press Victory for Solid State LightingSeptember 9, 2004...Scoring a in-depth article, complete with sidebar, in the Chicago Sun-Times
is almost as much of a coup as getting coverage on CNN's Lou Dobbs Show.
Maybe even better as it has a longer shelf life, and Rubicon has done just that.
The article is a refreshing outside view of what our SSL industry is all about,
and the source of the expertise is Rubicon, which can now chalk up another PR
win along with its Lou Dobbs feature, which we covered as our July
8th headline news. The article is titled Let
There Be Higher Tech Light and it's bylined by Chicago Sun-Times
Business Reporter, Howard Wolinsky. It's a great read and highly recommended. Anadigics Shipping Volumes of InGaP HBTs to ChinaSeptember 9, 2004...Anadigics of Warren, New Jersey USA recently announced that it is shipping
production volumes of its AWT6108 7 mm by 10 mm InGaP HBTs (indium gallium phosphide
heterojunction bipolar transistors) GSM/GPRS PAs (power amplifiers) to Beijing
Capitel Co., Ltd., a leading handset manufacturer in China. This is especially
newsworthy in that the advanced cellphone market in China is on everyone's radar
screens, with companies like Anadigics actually being able to follow through
with the goods, and what's in the new handsets is not only HBTs but LEDs. The
Capitel C5188 GSM handset features an integrated color display and seven-color
lamp, encased in an elegant folding design. The AWT6108 GSM/GPRS PA module is
featured on a tier-one reference design and provides Capitel with the performance
required for the C5188 GSM handset. "Anadigics' strong positioning on
tier-one reference designs presents a compelling value proposition by combining
best-of-breed RFIC products, fast time-to-market, world-class customer support
and manufacturing excellence," said Dr. Bami Bastani, President &
CEO of Anadigics. More details are included in the company
news release. In further China-related news from Anadigics, has opened an
office in Shanghai, China to support its growing wireless and broadband business.
The office is located in Lippo Plaza and will represent Anadigics to Chinese
original design manufacturers (ODMs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs),
as well as international ODMs and OEMs with operations in China. Company
news release September 9, 2004...If you wanted to know how the applications world is accepting and applying
blue laser technology, just take a look at what systems integrator Kano Technologies
of Garden Grove, California USA is doing with our industry's blue laser technologies.
In May, Kano introduced
a rack mountable chassis called Axis
Blue at Networld+Interop in Las Vegas that utilized Sony's blue spectrum
laser technologies (which is included in the technologies Sony either cross licenses
from Nichia or is in litigation over... a topic we'll cover in our upcoming McD Report editorial). Axis Blue carried the suggested selling price
of $18,870. This week, Kano introduced Blue
Wav, (ref company
news release) a high capacity desktop storage line featuring Sony's Professional
Disc for Data (ProData) optical drive, boasting 23.3GB capacity on a single
sided media cartridge. This newest blue accessory is selling for $2995. Target
applications are as an archival/backup solution for professionals in areas such
as telecommunication industry billing archiving/storage, email archiving/storage,
network storage/server backup, professional audio/video post-production and
storage/master archiving/distribution, medical imaging, and banking/government.
If you've ever been in the editing room of either a sound studio or television
production company, you know that professionals have been long-awaiting this
technology leap... and now you can see that it isn't all that expensive to buy
into the technology and access it now. There's no stopping those in the the
blue laser lane now! Nokia Chooses Kopin Microdisplay for Miniature Picture Viewer Phone AccessorySeptember 9, 2004...(Updated from Sept. 7 post) Nokia, which gave the industry a much-needed
lift today when predicting it should exceed its previous estimates (ref: Nokia
news release), has selected long-time compound semi industry contributor
Kopin Corp. of Tauton, Massachusetts USA's CyberDisplay 180K as the color microdisplay
for Nokia's Kaleidoscope I, a neat little picture-viewing and storage accessory
to accompany digital still cameras and next-generation mobile phone systems. The Nokia Kaleidoscope
I upped the image-quality ante for phone-based digital imaging by making use
of Kopin's CyberDisplay 180K, a color-filter microdisplay that contains 800
x 225 (180,000) pixel dots on a quarter-inch (6 mm) diagonal active matrix liquid
crystal display (AMLCD) surface. The Kaleidoscope I is about the size of a salt
shakerand uses infrared technology to receive images from a compatible imaging
phone or digital camera, which are viewed by looking through a viewfinder. One
obvious use is to enable users to create a mobile digital photo album. The Nokia
Kaleidoscope I can store up to 24 high-resolution digital images internally
and up to 750 images using an external 64MB memory card in the device's memory
card slot. Company
news release Microsemi Introduces Ambient Light Sensor Auto Brightness Control ICSeptember 9, 2004...Microsemi Corporation of Irvine, California USA has introduced the third member
of its new portfolio of automatic brightness control ICs. Dubbed the LX1972
ambient light detector, this little low cost number is a simple 2-lead device
that mimics human eye response which is tailor-made for portable consumer display
designers. The new sensor is based on Microsemi's patent-pending architecture
that emulates the spectral response of the human eye and largely ignores both
ultra violet and infrared wavelengths that often confuse conventional light
sensors (which aren't all that smart). The circuit design is geared to
optimize the control of backlighting displays in portable consumer product lines
including digital still cameras and notebook computers, desktop monitors, and
LCD TVs. According to Paul Bibeau, VP and GM of Microsemi's Integrated Products
Group, "We made the LX1972 the easiest-to-use device in the market.
No optical filters are needed, and its output current can be used directly,
or converted to a voltage simply by placing the LX1972 in series with a single
resistor at either of its two pins." Packaged in a 2-pin 1206 Standard
Carrier that measures only 3.25 millimeters long by 1.6 millimeters wide and
1.0 millimeters high, the LX1972 is unit priced at $0.60 in 10K quantities.
Samples and production quantities are available immediately. Company
news release Demand for Blue LEDs in Taiwan for Handsets Fell 15-20% in Q-3
CompoundSemi StaffSeptember 8, 2004...Rationale for second-thoughts and perhaps even "consolidation" are
apparently continuing to gain in popularity as Taiwan blue LED manufacturers
report a continued downturn in demand for handsets using their devices. According
to another helpful DigiTimes article
Sept. 8th by Kathryn Chiu and Jessie Shen, complete with reported numbers, price
pressures credited to high inventory levels in China and increasing competition
in the industry have led to unit prices for handset LCD panel-use blue LEDs
falling sequentially from 15-20% in the third quarter, which is down from NT$3-3.5
in the second quarter. It appears the prices started dropping from NT$3.5-4
in the first quarter. Epistar, Formosa Epitaxy, UEC and Arima Optoelectronics
were named in particular, with UEC and Arima having started ramping their capacity
for high luminance chips in Q2 and Q3. Bookham USA Begins Trading Sept. 13th
CompoundSemi StaffSeptember 9, 2004...Bookham Technology plc (London:BHM.L) (NasdaqNM:BKHM) will go to sleep Friday,
September 10th as a conventional British company, and wake up Monday, the 13th,
as a bright eyed and bushy tailed, genuine all-American company ready to lead
the optical networking sector out of its state of suspended animation. (We
can only hope). According to the company's latest
official word, Bookham, its "scheme of arrangement" (the "Scheme
of Arrangement'') under the laws of England and Wales, will suspend dealings
in its ordinary shares at 1/3 pence per share on the London Stock Exchange's
market for listed securities at 7.30 a.m. (UK time) on September 10th and cancel
themselves out of that trading place. Then, on September, 13th, Under the Scheme
of Arrangement, which, subject to sanction by the High Court of Justice of England
and Wales (the "High Court'') Bookham Technology will magically become
a wholly owned subsidiary of Bookham, Inc., a Delaware corporation (that
tiny little state on the East Coast, USA, is where everybody hip incorporates)
at a common stock, par value of $0.01 per share, which will be traded on the
NASDAQ National Market. Under the Scheme of Arrangement, every ten Ordinary
Shares of the Company will be exchanged for one share of Bookham, Inc. common
stock. The industry eagerly awaits the metamorphis. (It can't be easy being
British. If it was, everyone would be.) Veeco Catches Another Piece of China GaN Build-Up
CompoundSemi StaffSeptember 7, 2004...Veeco Instruments Inc.'s TurboDisc group in Somerset, New Jersey USA has grabbed another piece of China's GaN build-up with the sale of a D180 GaN MOCVD
tool to Beijing Changdian Zhiyuan Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. A subsidiary of
Changjiang Electronics Technology. According to a company spokesman, Professor
Guang Di Shen of Beijing Changdian Zhiyuan Optoelectronics, "We believe
the D180 GaN is the ideal platform to help us pursue new innovations for our
packaged GaN devices. The precise control provided by this equipment will enable
us to fine-tune our processes and speed the transition from device development
to end-product." It was added that the equipment will help them to develop
novel applications for gallium nitride (GaN) materials, although "how novel"
was not specified. Veeco's D180 GaN platform is designed for both material development
programs and small-scale production of advanced GaN-based devices, including
UV LEDs and blue spectrum lasers. Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
For submissions or content suggestions, you can contact us using
editor -at - compoundsemi.com
For more information and to reserve promotion space contact
Info7 -at - compoundsemi.com
or call +1 (512) 257-9888 |
|
The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
SPECIAL REPORT: HRL Takes The Next Step
Craig FarleySeptember 9, 2004...The following Special Report was compiled for CS News by Craig Farley, Ph.D.,
a noted expert in GaN electronics. Craig, who hails originally from Rockwell
and Emcore, founded Canyon Semiconductor in Austin, Texas and is assisting CompoundSemi
Online with the organization of our annual Compound
Semi Industry Outlook Conference to be held Dec. 7-8 in Dallas, Texas, which
will be preceded by a Wide Bandgap Business Opportunities Workshop led by Keith
Evans of Crystal IS. Craig is helping Keith organize the workshop. Craig can
be reached at craig_farley @ canyon-semi.com +1 (512) 470-1835.
Gallium Nitride (GaN) HFETs offers the highest gain-bandwidth product of compound
semiconductor technologies, far higher than Si, which enables products for microwave
and mmwave systems with performance which surpasses that achievable with other
technologies. This performance advantage has created interest within the US
government in GaN devices for its next generation phased array radar systems,
which is reflected by the recent allocation of at least $75 M for Phase II of
the Wide Bandgap Semiconductor (WBGS)
program. The performance potential, the substantial government investment,
and future opportunities in defense and commercial markets have created substantial
interest in GaN HFETs, reflected by the significant R&D efforts currently
underway at both defense and commercial businesses.
An example of the superior performance of GaN HFETs and the results of the
industrial investment in the technology is a set of developments reported by
Hughes Research Labs (HRL), considered the leader in the development of InP
HEMT and HBT technology in the late 1990s. HRL Laboratories in Los Angeles,
CA, says that it has made two GaN HFET MMICs with "unprecedented"
performance. These demonstrations are a 33 GHz (Ka-band) power amplifier MMIC
and a low noise amplifier MMIC operating at 3-18 GHz. As with their historical
position leading the development of InP-based technologies, HRL appears to be
ahead of others in the demonstration of the performance advantages of GaN HFETs
in mmwave applications, considered the focus of future communication system
development.
The Ka-band development, targeted at two-way broadband satellite communication
links, should also pave the way to significant improvements in "X-band"
power amplifiers (operating at 8-12 GHz), considered critical to both defense
and commercial system development through 2010, as well as for next-generation
cellular base station amplifiers. Again pushing the envelope, GaN HFETs at HRL
are fabricated on a 3-inch diameter wafer currently, when almost all other players
in the technology are using 2-inch wafers. HRL will probably be one of the first
to move to 4-inch wafers, given the market demand to support the investment
in such a conversion.
The commercial market driving the development of GaN HFET technology at HRL
and elsewhere is high-speed wireless broadband data communications, which is
expected to create a diversified, multibillion-dollar market for millimeter-wave
devices in the next five years, with the key areas being cellular infrastructure,
two-way satellite terminals and terrestrial broadband access.
Cellular. New cellular phones and the resulting new service offerings will
require a large expansion and reinvestment in existing networks. Cellular operators
deploying 2.5 and 3G mobile networks are using high-frequency (>10 GHz) wireless
backhaul solutions and installing three times more cell sites than existing
networks, with backhaul data rates that are two to four times higher. Estimates
suggest that more than 1.7 million backhaul and infrastructure high-frequency
radios will be required by 2006.
VSAT. The revitalization of the market for two-way satellite services, coupled
with the recent reallocation of several GHz of spectrum above 70 GHz, is creating
demand for mmwave devices. Next-generation Ka-band (26-40 GHz) VSAT (very small
aperture terminal) systems for global access, rural connectivity, and integration
with broadcast services are expected to offer better service at a lower cost
by leveraging smaller spot beams, dynamic bandwidth allocation, smaller antennas,
and other technological innovations. The result for the customer is that Ka-band
offers significantly more overall system capacity than Ku-band, enabling lower
service pricing.
Broadband. Terrestrial broadband access demand results from an increasing demand
for enterprise-level connectivity to support Ethernet deployments, which are
happening at a rate of more than a million 1 Gb Ethernet switch ports per month.
10 Gb ports are now being deployed, and projections call for 100 Gb Ethernet
performance by 2007. This demand is considered to be most capably served by
newly released 71-76, 81-86 and 92-95 GHz (70/80/90 GHz) bands. The industry-driven
rules for these frequencies provide broad bandwidth without the limitations
of the current licensed spectrum. The broad frequency blocks and atmospheric
effects which are allow the development of radios with appropriate transmission
ranges, creates the opportunity for the development of simpler, lower-cost systems
for last mile connectivity.
A Unique Opportunity for GaN
The unmatched gain-bandwidth product of GaN HFETs allows this developing device
technology to address these developing markets without competing technologies.
Although system-level markets are often driven by performance requirements,
in contrast to consumer-level markets driven by product cost, this is probably
the first time where leading edge compound semiconductor technology has been
able to address developing markets without the need to unseat an entrenched
device technology.
This unique opportunity was likely recognized by HRL a number of years ago,
and reflected by their report at the beginning of the 21st century of the first
demonstration of a high-efficiency 20 W GaN power amplifier (GaN PA) at X-band
with 43% power added efficiency (PAE) under continuous-wave (CW) operation.
"These results clearly show that GaN HFET (heterostructure field effect
transistor) technology is ready for the next step, the development of high performance
monolithic microwave integrated circuits," said Bill Stanchina, manager
of HRL's Microelectronics Laboratory in 2000.
As directed by Stanchina four years ago, HRL has taken the next step, with
the demonstration in 2004 of a 33 GHz (Ka-band) power amplifier MMIC and a low
noise amplifier MMIC operating at 3-18 GHz.
If you have questions about the
solid state lighting and compound semiconductor industries or have news
or views to share, I'm Jo Ann McDonald, Editor of LIGHTimes and CompoundSemi News.
Feel free to contact me directly, anytime. 
My direct tel at the ranch is
+1-325-463-5345
From time to time Jo Ann may comment on companies in which she holds a
modest investment - be sure to read
her disclosure at some point in time... |
