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22nd January 2003

Skyworks Solutions unveiled the world's first complete handset radio system that fits into a single, dime-sized package.

Skyworks' SKY74073 Single Package Radio (inset ) solution combines all of the radio circuitry required for GSM/GPRS 900/1800 handsets into a single compact package that is one-third the size of alternative solutions created from discrete components.

The radio system and packaging breakthrough saves handset designers significant space, cost and design-cycle time while providing a roadmap for quad-band and 3G handsets in the future.

"Our Single Package Radio solution represents a fusion of Skyworks' core capabilities including leadership components, process technologies and packaging techniques," said David J. Aldrich, Skyworks' president and chief executive officer.

"As one of our highest priority product development areas from the time of our company launch last summer, this radio-in-a-package solution exemplifies the synergy created from the merger of Alpha Industries and Conexant's wireless business as it leverages best-in-class technologies from each organization."

"With launch of the world's most highly integrated RF section, we are leading the way in support of our customers' drive towards simplified handset architectures, smaller form factors, shorter product life cycles and lower system costs," said Mohy F. Abdelgany, Skyworks' vice president of RF Systems.

"At the same time, we're creating a significant opportunity for Skyworks to capture additional semiconductor content within the handset, and gain market share by virtue of our strong product differentiation."

The Single Package Radio solution combines a transceiver, power amplifier (PA) and associated controller, two surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters, and a switchplexer module that includes switches and low-pass filters in a compact 40-pin 13x13-millimeter laminate multi-chip module (MCM) package with excellent insulation properties.

Until now, handset manufacturers had to combine discrete components in an area three times the size, while also resolving difficult board- and circuit-level RF design issues and bearing the costs of shielding, insertion/assembly and other discrete-component integration tasks.

The SKY74073's package significantly reduces these and other design and engineering costs, as well as the three to five RF-board design turns that are typically required over as many as eight to nine months in design-cycle time.

Skyworks' Single Package Radio solution leverages the company's leadership expertise in PA module, switch and direct conversion transceiver technology. It incorporates functional blocks fabricated with proven high-performance process technologies to optimize performance and power efficiency.

Skyworks uses the same wafer-level testing and packaging technology for the SKY74073 product that it has used to produce and ship more than 200 million PA modules to date and more than 300 million switches each year.

Technical Details

At the heart of Skyworks' SKY74073 is the company's award-winning Full Type-approved (FTA) single-chip direct conversion transceiver technology, which is included in more than 50 mobile platform designs.

The transceiver's direct conversion architecture eliminates costly intermediate-frequency (IF) conversion steps while reducing the number of components required to support multi-band GSM/GPRS handsets and agile channel switching enables support of GPRS multi-slot operation.

PA functionality is provided by a proven Skyworks module that incorporates an EGSM900 PA block, a DCS1800/PCS1900 PA block, impedance-matching circuitry for 50 ohm input and output and bias control circuitry. Two separate HBT PA blocks are fabricated on a single gallium arsenide (GaAs) die to provide maximum performance in the smallest possible footprint.

Skyworks has a wide variety of specialty process technology expertise, including silicon germanium (SiGe) and 0.35-micron bipolar complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) process technologies for creating integrated RF solutions, and unique gallium arsenide (GaAs) manufacturing capabilities such as pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (PHEMT), AlGaAs and indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) for RF switch and power-amplifier applications.

Pricing and Availability

Skyworks' SKY74073 Single Package Radio solution is sampling now with volume production scheduled to take place in the third calendar quarter of 2003. The module is priced at $12.95 in quantities of 10,000.