Conexant Develops Breakthrough Smart Power Amplifier Technology That Will Enable up to Triple the Talk Time for Mobile Handsets and Third-Generation (3G) Wireless Terminals
Thomas Stites
Conexant Systems, Inc.
949-483-1492
thomas.stites@conexant.com
Carolyn Fromm/Heather McLaughlin
Benjamin Group/BSMG Worldwide
714-245-7500
heather_mclaughlin@benjamingroup.com
carolyn_fromm@benjamingroup.com
Conexant Develops Breakthrough Smart Power Amplifier Technology That Will Enable up to Triple the Talk Time for Mobile Handsets and Third-Generation (3G) Wireless Terminals
Conexant will incorporate its power-management technology into the company's next generation of code division multiple access (CDMA) power amplifiers
NEWPORT
BEACH, Calif., Feb. 28, 2000 - Conexant Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:
CNXT) today unveiled advanced power-management technology that will
significantly improve the efficiency of power amplifiers for mobile
handsets and third-generation (3G) wireless terminals. The SmartPA
technology, for which patents are pending, is expected to provide handset
designers with a convenient, single-chip solution for giving consumers up
to triple the battery life possible with current handset designs. Conexant
will embed the SmartPA technology in a new family of CDMA power amplifiers
which will begin general sampling in the second calendar quarter of 2000,
with volume production scheduled for the second half of the year.
Conexant's new SmartPA technology re-architects the power-management
circuitry in a power amplifier, partitioning it and using innovative
switching techniques so that a mobile handset's power consumption can be
optimized at various power levels. The SmartPA architecture is
particularly effective at low power ranges where handsets operate 90
percent of the time. Using this advanced architecture, Conexant's power
amplifiers will be able to dramatically increase the power efficiency of a
handset design, independent of the rest of the handset system. Conexant's
power amplifiers will also be compatible with the current generation of
baseband devices, giving designers maximum flexibility for developing a
wide variety of handset designs.
"As a leading pioneer in CDMA power amplifiers, Conexant has spent
years analyzing power efficiency issues that we believe represent the
single most important challenge for mobile handset designers," said Moiz
Beguwala, senior vice president and general manager for Conexant's Wireless
Communications Division. "SmartPA technology offers a universal solution
to the problem, and gives designers an extremely easy-to-implement
technology that will be embedded directly into our power amplifiers. It
will provide significant advantages for both IS95 CDMA handsets and for
future 3G terminals that will demand even better power management for
supporting voice and data applications."
According to market analyst Will Strauss of Forward Concepts, the CDMA market is the fastest growing cellular market, and is expected to surpass 60 million units in 2000. "The migration path from cdmaOne to third-generation cdma2000 is very clear and Conexant has the RF and mixed-signal technology to also grow rapidly with this market," said Strauss.
Power amplifiers provide the energy for transmitting a wireless signal
through the handset's antenna to the basestation, and are the handset's
biggest determinant of battery life and talk time. Until now, power
amplifiers were not capable of running at the optimum dynamic load in
response to changing power output conditions, and this has significantly
reduced power efficiency over time. In developing its SmartPA technology,
Conexant has exploited a combination of specialized mixed-signal integrated
circuit (IC) design expertise and the company's leadership in 50GHz
heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) gallium arsenide (GaAs) process
technology and multichip module IC (MMIC) packaging techniques.
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About
Conexant
With revenues of more than $1.2 billion, Conexant is the world's largest
independent company focused exclusively on providing semiconductor products
for communications electronics. With more than 30 years of experience
in developing communications technology, the company draws upon its
expertise in mixed-signal processing to deliver integrated systems and
semiconductor products for a broad range of communications applications.
These products facilitate communications worldwide through wireline
voice and data communications networks, cordless and cellular wireless
telephony systems, personal imaging devices and equipment, and emerging
cable and wireless broadband communications networks. The company aligns
its business into five product platforms: Network Access, Wireless Communications,
Digital Infotainment, Personal Imaging, and Personal Computing. Conexant
is a member of the Nasdaq-100 Index, which represents the largest and
most active stocks listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market across major industry
groups. For more information visit Conexant's website at www.conexant.com.
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