wirelessZONE Products for the week of April 5, 2004

Agere Systems Says . . .

AGRB10E: Lead-Free RF Plastic Transistors Reduce Packaging Costs Up To 25%
Products Can Help Accelerate Deployment of Wireless Equipment and Services

Agere Systems, the world leader in sales of wireless infrastructure semiconductors, announced five high-performance radio frequency (RF) overmolded plastic packaged transistor products that will reduce the costs of RF transistor packaging up to 25 percent. Agere's solutions will lower the overall costs and accelerate deployment of a vast array of wireless base station amplifier equipment.

The plastic-encased transistors are used in wireless base station amplifiers, which rank among the most expensive components in a wireless base station. Furthermore, Agere's new products are lead-free, which reduces risks of environmental effects of the substance - a major concern in today's RF transistor market. They also are capable of continuous operation at a 200 degrees Celsius junction temperature. Agere's five overmolded plastic packaged transistors adhere to several of the world's most widely used wireless standards.

"The cost benefits of plastic RF transistors compared with ceramic ones are remarkable and undeniable," said Jagdish Rebello, PhD, analyst with iSuppli Corp. "A new family of products that decreases costs of wireless equipment, and thereby wireless services, positions Agere well as the widespread transition to plastic continues.

"This announcement represents the third major one since Agere entered the RF transistor market last year," he added. "Agere announced its entry into the business last year with cooling capabilities for base stations. And now they are announcing availability of a large number and wide range of plastic RF transistors."

Ceramic, a more expensive material than plastic, has been the main substance used with RF transistors for several years. RF transistor providers are transitioning to plastic because of cost and price pressures throughout the wireless industry.

"Wireless infrastructure equipment manufacturers are facing extreme pressure to reduce capital and operational costs," said Carlos Garcia, vice president with Agere Systems. "These demands drive the urgent need for such lower-priced RF power technology as plastic RF transistors. To build on our exciting momentum in the RF market, we are rolling out this new product family - squarely addressing what our customers need most."

EN-Genius Says . . .

These aren't the first LDMOS RF devices to be produced in plastic, rather than ceramic, but they are the first to claim Pb-free production as well. Agere has been making incredible inroads into the RF output sockets of basestations over the last year, both soaking up a lot of new business and taking old business away from older supply channels.

The AGRB10 is the 1.0 GHz to 2.7 GHz device in this line and is the one we will focus on for its performance. It has not yet been fully characterized about 2.4 GHz, but with a 28-V supply the CW performance with an output of 10 W at P1dB offers a power gain of 16 dB at INMARSAT frequencies (1.626 GHz to 1.661 GHz) with an efficiency of 61%, falling to 14 dB and 57% at UMTS frequencies (2.11 GHz to 2.17 GHz). Return loss from 1.626 GHz to 2.483 GHz is 10 dB. Third-order intermod (100-kHz spacing) also appears as a constant at about -32 dBc indicating that very good linearity performance can be achieved.

This particular product covers the INMARSAT, DCS, PCS, UMTS, 2.4-GHz WLAN, and MMDS bands, while the other devices cover the UHF band up to 1 GHz, including the 900 MHz cellular bands and UHF television. Package thermal resistance is just 4.5°C/W.

Although the plastic packaging is not novel, the Pb-free feature is, and this is a release which will keep Agere up there as a leader in the RF LDMOS market. We would also hope that Agere will offer some focus into other, more profitable, applications for LDMOS as its product line matures, areas that have been neglected by other vendors.

The <1.0 GHz parts are the AGRA10, AGR09030, AGR09045, AGR09060 ranging from 10 W to 30 W, 45 W and 60 W. Prices of both band's parts range from $8.50 to $32 in 10-k piece lots. All the parts are sampling with production by May 2004.

Data Sheet (AGBR10)