Single-chip UWB comes in smaller package

With a footprint of only 7.5 x 7.5mm, the Ripcord WCSP boasts the smallest form factor of any Certified Wireless USB based solution available on the market.

Staccato Communications has unveiled the industry's only wafer chip scale package (WCSP) based on Staccato's Ripcord single-chip, all-CMOS solution.

With a footprint of only 7.5 x 7.5mm, the Ripcord WCSP boasts the smallest form factor of any Certified Wireless USB based solution available on the market.

As the only company with a single-chip, all-CMOS solution for WiMedia ultrawideband applications, the addition of WCSP to Staccato's portfolio further positions Staccato as the supplier of choice for mobile and portable products that demand a small form factor in combination with low cost and power.

This approach further differentiates Staccato from competitors' multichip offerings that demand significantly larger space requirements and adversely impact the battery life of mobile products.

Staccato is the first to offer a single-chip UWB solution and a WCSP package option.

WCSP products ship today in high volume in applications spanning the PC, consumer electronic and mobile markets.

Staccato leverages well established manufacturing expertise of wafer level chip scale packaging to achieve a level of size, cost and integration that is unprecedented for an ultrawideband solution.

With WCSP, packaging occurs at the wafer level, allowing a low-cost and efficient manufacturing flow.

Staccato's in-house expertise behind the implementation of this packaging technology translates into the most cost-effective and smallest packaging solution currently available.

"Building on the announcement two weeks ago with Korea's largest mobile phone carrier - SK Telecom - this is another first for Staccato".

"Because real estate is at such a premium in mobile applications like laptop PCs, digital cameras, portable media players, dongles and mobile handsets, one can anticipate that Staccato's Ripcord-based WCSP will have a significant impact on these markets".

"Staccato has proven that such a small form factor and this level of integration is indeed possible, but only because of their innovative single-chip, all-CMOS design", said Fiona Thomson, Market Analyst, IMS Research.

"The three most critical design issues for mobile and consumer applications are price, power and size".

"Staccato focused on the single-chip, all-CMOS approach from the beginning, knowing that the market segments that we're targeting would ultimately have these requirements, including the smallest form factor possible", said Marty Colombatto, Chairman and CEO for Staccato Communications.

Staccato's Ripcord WCSP provides a high level of flexibility in system designs by enabling low-cost, small-form-factor modules of various materials from LTCC to organic substrates to simple FR4-based PCB designs.

In addition, the WCSP drives an aggressive cost curve required for high-volume market adoption in consumer and mobile devices.

Because of its low-cost, low-power and small-form-factor advantages, the WCSP will serve as the ideal solution enabling the most efficient supply chain for RF module vendors.

The WCSP based on Staccato's Ripcord single-chip, all-CMOS solution is expected to be available for general sampling later this quarter (Q1 2007), with early samples available through Staccato's Lead Customer Programme today.

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