Intera FEMs for 3G WCDMA Simplify RF Design

US Mass : Skyworks Solutions announced that its Intera front-end module (FEM) for wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) applications is commencing production in support of several forthcoming platforms from a leading handset OEM.

The company's innovative WCDMA FEMs simplify RF design, reduce critical board space, facilitate implementation within virtually any baseband architecture, and support emerging high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) applications.

Skyworks' portfolio of Intera(TM) FEMs today support four of the five tier-one handset OEMs, and are at the heart of well over 100 million handsets following their debut just two and a half years ago. Leveraging patented load insensitive power amplifier (LIPA(TM)) technology, the company's newest WCDMA FEMs, with fully integrated filters, are ideal for 3G multimode, multimedia applications where size, performance and cost are critical.

"We are delighted to be extending our leadership front-end module capabilities into WCDMA applications with a strategic ramp underway at one of the world's largest handset suppliers," said Liam K. Griffin, Skyworks' senior vice president sales and marketing. "As the industry migrates to radio-intensive multimode applications, Skyworks is uniquely positioned to capitalize given our broad portfolio of highly integrated front-end modules. Further, as the industry's only high-volume supplier of direct conversion radios with support for EDGE, GPRS and CDMA applications, Skyworks can traverse all of the world's key cellular networks with backward compatible RF solutions. In turn, this depth and breadth enables us to offer a highly differentiated and comprehensive radio portfolio."

WCDMA is a 3G wireless technology that allows users to send and receive mobile voice, data, image and video communications at speeds up to 2 Mbps over a broad range of frequencies. HSDPA enables high-speed downlink with data transmission up to 10 Mbps. According to Deutsche Bank, WCDMA handsets are expected to grow 10 fold off a base of roughly 45 million handsets sold in 2005 to 445 million units by 2009.

About Skyworks' Portfolio of WCDMA FEMs

Small and efficient, Skyworks' 22-pin surface mount WCDMA FEMs integrate the interstage filter, the input matching, the PA, the output matching, the power detection, and the duplexer into a single 5 x 8 x 1.5mm package. Meeting the stringent spectral requirements of HSDPA standards up to 24.2 dBm output power, they incorporate an indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) heterojunction bipolar transistor PA and contain circuitry to optimize power detector performance. Integration of the RF front-end greatly simplifies the design of the handset radio as all critical matching between the interstage filter, PA, power detection and duplexer is optimized within the module.

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