US
San Fracisco : Infineon Technologies announced the extension of its
BAW (Bulk Acoustic Wave) filter product portfolio for UMTS/W-CDMA
cell phones. The complimentary pair of new duplexer filters, the NWX2015CR
and the NWX2015CT, are the world’s first BAW filters produced
using WLP (wafer-level packaging) technology, which reduces production
cost and board space requirements in 3G mobile phones.
NWX2015CR (passband: 2110 – 2170 MHz) and NWX2015CT (passband:
1920 - 1980 MHz), is designed to maximize receive sensitivity and
power efficiency of PA-duplexer RF front-end modules. With insertion
loss, stop-band attenuation and isolation being stable over the entire
temperature range, and WLP permitting very cost-effective module integration,
Infineon’s NWX2015 BAW filters are a critical enabler for 3G
UMTS handsets.
WLP technology shields the bare die usually sold to customers, simplifying
module integration and making costly hermetic encapsulation unnecessary.
In consequence, the WLP technology will reduce manufacturing costs
of mobile phone front-end modules by up to 25 percent. Additionally,
because WLP technology provides a significantly greater flexibility
when bonding the filter dies WLP enables manufacturers to reduce the
module size by up to 30 per cent.
Infineon has already shipped more than 100 million BAW filters to
leading handset manufacturers and RF module vendors. The ongoing rollout
of high-speed 3G wireless communication networks is spurring interest
in small, lightweight 3G mobile phones and fuelling a strong demand
for BAW filters. Based on research by market analysts, the growth
rate in this segment of the mobile phone market is four times the
projected unit growth rate of the total mobile phone market.
“In the worldwide market for BAW filter technology we see Infineon
clearly as number two,” said Yoshiyasu Andoh, president of the
Japanese market research company Navian Inc. “We expect the
duplexer market to grow from 300 million pieces in 2005 to a total
demand of well over 900 million pieces in 2010.”
“Infineon has made significant investments to meet our customer’s
volume demand needs for BAW filter products,” stated Stefan
Wolff, vice president and general manager of Infineon’s RF Engine
Business Unit. “The new 8-inch BAW filter production line in
Regensburg, Germany, will double the production output and enable
us to further increase market share in high-performance filter applications,
such as 3G phones.”
The NWX2015CR and NWX2015CT UMTS/W-CDMA duplexer filters are sampling
now, with full production planned for mid CY2007. Sample pricing is
0.40 US-Dollar/piece.
The devices are being shown in the Infineon booth (number 1023) at
the MTT International Microwave Symposium in San Francisco from June
11 to 16.
