Skyworks Introduces World's First 4mm x 4mm PA Module Designed to Support China's Emerging 3G Standard
According to a November 2003 report from market research firm In-Stat/MDR, the wireless services market in China continues to grow rapidly and will reach more than 400 million subscribers by 2007.
"With the addition of our TD-SCDMA PA module, we are the only company that can offer PA modules for all three standards being considered for 3G service deployment in China," said Brian Daly, Skyworks' director of marketing for RF Solutions.
"China's Ministry of Information Industry has announced that it will require the country's six telecommunications operators to conduct 3G trials this year using TD-SCDMA technology," Daly added. "Skyworks has been an early enabler for TD-SCDMA deployment testing, including providing the prototype TD-SCDMA PA module technology for the world's first TD-SCDMA handheld call in a live network in July 2003. Today, we are the first to offer handset manufacturers commercially available TD-SCDMA PA modules to support carrier trials in China, paving the way for license awards and service roll-outs."
Chinese authorities are considering three standards as the country prepares to deploy 3G networks, each of which Skyworks now supports with a PA module offering. TD-SCDMA, or Time-Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, was for the most part developed in China, while cdma2000 builds on the CDMA standard and Wideband CDMA builds on the global system for mobile communications, or GSM, standard.
PA modules are a key element within cellular handsets as they provide the energy for transmitting a wireless signal through the handset antenna to the base station and represent the single most determining factor of handset battery. Skyworks pioneered the now-prevalent 4mm x 4mm PA module footprint in 2002, and continues to forge new territory in PA module size reduction, power efficiency improvements and extended talk times for W-CDMA, cdma2000 and, now, TD-SCDMA, and other leading standards worldwide.
Product Details
Skyworks' SKY77161 is a fully-matched, 10-pin 4mm x 4mm surface-mount PA module that was developed specifically for TD-SCDMA applications and supports TD-SCDMA multi-slot operation. Unlike alternative solutions, which were designed to support other wireless standards and then modified to support TD-SCDMA, the SKY77161 fully supports the stringent spectral linearity requirements of TD-SCDMA transmission and packs full 2010-2025 MHz bandwidth coverage into a single compact package. A low current control (VCONT) pin boosts power efficiency to 45 percent at maximum RF power (28 dBm) and 12 percent at mid-range RF power (16 dBm), enabling increased talk times and the use of smaller batteries. Additionally, digital bias control reduces current consumption in low-power mode, and a low VREF of 2.85V nominal ensures that the module can share the same voltage regulator as the handset's RF integrated circuit.
Skyworks' SKY77161 PA module is manufactured using the company's industry-leading single-chip 50 GHz gallium arsenide (GaAs) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) process technology, which delivers proven efficiency, linearity and reliability, along with excellent thermal performance. The module contains all active circuitry, including on-board bias circuit and input and interstage matching circuits.
Pricing and Availability
The SKY77161 module is available in sample quantities and scheduled to enter volume production in the third calendar quarter of 2004. It is packaged in a 4mm x 4mm x 1.5mm laminate multi-chip module (MCM) and priced at $1.75 per unit in OEM volumes of 100,000.
About Skyworks
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. is the industry's leading wireless semiconductor company focused on RF and complete cellular system solutions for mobile communications applications. The company provides front-end modules, RF subsystems and cellular systems to handset, WLAN and infrastructure customers.
Skyworks is headquartered in Woburn, Mass., with executive offices in Irvine, Calif. The company has design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, sales and service throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and India. For more information please visit www.skyworksinc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include information relating to future results of Skyworks (including certain projections and business trends). Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "believes," "plans," "may," "will," "continue," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. All such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those projected, and may affect our future operating results, financial position and cash flows.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: global economic and market conditions, such as the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and the markets addressed by the company's and its customers' products; demand for and market acceptance of new and existing products; the ability to develop, manufacture and market innovative products in a rapidly changing technological environment; the ability to compete with products and prices in an intensely competitive industry; product obsolescence; losses or curtailments of purchases from key customers or the timing of customer inventory adjustments; the timing of new product introductions; the availability and extent of utilization of raw materials, critical manufacturing equipment and manufacturing capacity; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; changes in product mix; fluctuations in manufacturing yields; the ability to continue to grow and maintain an intellectual property portfolio and obtain needed licenses from third parties; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; labor relations of the company, its customers and suppliers; economic, social and political conditions in the countries in which Skyworks, its customers or its suppliers operate, including health and security risks, possible disruptions in transportation networks and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; and the uncertainties of litigation, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Note to editors: Skyworks is a trademark or registered trademark of Skyworks Solutions, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and in other countries. All other brands and names listed are trademarks of their respective companies.
CONTACT:
Skyworks Solutions
Lisa Briggs (Media), 949-231-4553
lisa.briggs@skyworksinc.com
or
Thomas Schiller (Investors), 949-231-4700
SOURCE: Skyworks Solutions