Duplexer Helps Make CDMA and 3G Handsets Smaller

Agilent Technologies announced that it is now shipping more than 1 million of its FBAR (film bulk acoustic resonator) duplexers per month. Agilent shipped 1.4 million of the devices in July 2002, and has orders for more than a million per month going forward.

Picture of HPMD-7904 FBAR duplexer on left.

The breakthrough communications component, which is 50 to 80 percent smaller than traditional ceramic duplexers, allows for simultaneous two-way voice and data transmission in wireless products, and enables wireless phone manufacturers to design smaller, trimmer handsets, or add new features without impacting the size of the handset.

Six top CDMA (code division multiple access) handset manufacturers have all designed Agilent FBAR products into their next-generation PCS (personal communications service) band phones, with three added in the past two months. The FBAR duplexers have been designed into more than 35 mobile terminal platforms. Agilent has increased capacity each of the past nine months, exceeding customer demand during that period. Agilent continues to increase manufacturing and is now putting in place capacity to serve 75 percent of U.S. demand for CDMA duplexers by year end.

Agilent's FBAR duplexer (front) occupies a small fraction of the volume of a ceramic duplexer (middle ) shown alongside a key.

Based on recent data from IMS, a U.K. market research firm, Agilent's current shipping rate of 1 million PCS-band FBAR duplexers per month corresponds to more than 25 percent of the CDMA cellular phone market in the U.S. this year.

"We are very pleased at passing the 1 million per month shipping milestone. FBAR now has more than 25 percent of the US PCS-band market share in its first year of introduction, a clear indication of the strong acceptance of our breakthrough FBAR duplexer product," said Bryan Ingram, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Wireless Semiconductor Division. "Our size advantage coupled with superior technical specifications has been favorably received by industry leaders. We continue to increase production in order to satisfy 100 percent of worldwide demand for these duplexers."
Agilent's miniature HPMD-7904 FBAR duplexers measure only 5.6 mm by 11.9 mm by 2 mm and have a 50 to 80 percent smaller footprint than conventional ceramic duplexers. Their breakthrough size has enabled the design of ultra-slim cell phones and the rollout of 1xRTT data card products for 3G networks in the United States. FBAR duplexers also provide better power handling, insertion loss, and selectivity characteristics than today's competing technologies.