Product category:
Communications ICs (Wireless)
News Release from: Agere Systems | Subject: RF power transistors
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 06 March 2003
Agere transistors could save billions
A new series of Agere transistors with lower operating temperatures are aimed at making lower cost wireless basestations a reality
Agere's innovative products - claimed to be the world's coolest temperature wireless RF power transistors - are targeted for third-generation (3G), 2.5-generation (2.5G) and second-generation (2G) basestation equipment Agere's power amplifier transistors can enable much cooler, smaller, and less expensive wireless basestations than are possible using any other RF power transistor technology
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 28 Jan 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Agere's products have the potential to save billions of dollars annually in combined operating and capital expenses for the wireless service provider industry.
In addition, Agere's new products help accelerate the industry trend to shrink the size and shift the location of today's typical basestations, about the size of a backyard toolshed and installed on the ground, to the size of a suitcase and installed above the ground on wireless antenna towers.
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With these products, the company is the first to achieve the transistor temperature (thermal) performance level the industry has been striving to attain for the past 10 years.
The transistors achieve 10-15% lower operating temperatures than all other competing transistors available today.
Agere's lower temperature transistors can cut in half the number of cooling fans in basestations compared with hotter transistor products.
Reducing the number of fans also reduces noise pollution, a major issue in the basestation market.
"The wireless transistor market represents an important new growth opportunity for Agere, and with our technological breakthroughs, we believe we are poised for success in this space", said Sohail Khan, Executive Vice President of Agere's Infrastructure Systems Group.
"By delivering significant cost reductions, our new products will enable wireless service providers to accelerate delivery of lower-cost, feature-rich, high data rate services to cell phone users, such as video streaming, instant messaging and gaming.
These products are a strong strategic fit with our existing portfolio for wireless basestation manufacturers, and will allow us to further expand our position as a leading provider of components to the wireless infrastructure market".
The RF power transistor is the key active building block on power amplifier circuit boards, which are about the size of a laptop computer and installed within basestations.
The transistor boosts voice, data, and video signals in various frequency ranges before the signals are delivered to wireless subscribers.
A wireless basestation functions as the conduit for routing, transmitting and receiving wireless voice, data, and video signals.
Agere is targeting sales of its product to manufacturers of basestations who also build their own amplifiers, as well as companies that manufacture amplifiers that are sold to basestation manufacturers.
More than 20 companies are evaluating Agere's transistors.
"Entering this market is a bold and positive move by Agere that has resulted from the company's technical innovation and smart investment", said Edward Rerisi, a wireless semiconductor analyst with Allied Business Intelligence.
"The potential performance gains enabled by these devices could yield enormous operational savings for existing technologies, while easing some of the financial burden of 3G deployment".
Agere's transistor technology consists of two key innovations aimed at improving power transistor performance and reliability.
The first innovation resolves the issue of how to eliminate defects in chips when making ultra-thin silicon wafers, which are roughly half the width of a human hair.
Thicker chips tend be warmer because they don't conduct heat as well as thin chips.
Agere created a proprietary wafer scale low cost, and high yield "die (chip) thinning" technique that eliminates chip defects that occur using other companies' approaches.
Agere's method results in thinner and more thermally efficient (cooler) chips.
Agere's technology breakthrough results in unparalleled transistor performance.
They can be designed to be 30% shorter in length and are 50% thinner than all competing transistors.
These thinner and shorter transistors get rid of heat more effectively than thicker and longer transistors.
The second advance improves the transistor's performance when amplifying wireless signals.
Using its patent-pending, high-density, low resistance electrical connections, Agere created a transistor with reduced resistance and parasitic capacitance.
This leads to transistors with higher gain and efficiency, two key parameters in selecting transistors for use in wireless power amplifiers.
The new product family features laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) process technology, the highest performing and most widely deployed for RF power transistors.
These 21 new products substantially broaden Agere's leading portfolio of basestation components, such as digital signal processors and network processors, and help the company offer a comprehensive system solution for these applications.
Agere plans to sell these transistors both in tandem with and separate from all the other components it sells for wireless basestations.
Agere is shipping the transistors in sample quantities and expects to ship in production quantities in the third quarter of this year.
Prices for Agere's transistors range from $12 to $207 in quantities of 10,000.
(Updated by CR, May 2007).
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