Infineon to Start Volume Shipments of Single Chip CMOS GSM/GPRS Radio Transceiver

July 22, 2004

Infineon Technologies AG, the industry leader in making radio frequency (RF) transceivers for mobile telephones, today announced that it had started volume shipments of its GSM/GPRS RF transceivers manufactured in standard CMOS technology to a tier 1 customer. The new SMARTi® SD is the world’s first single chip CMOS-based GSM/GPRS quad-band transceiver that is optimized for cost, size and power consumption. It integrates into one chip all the functions required by a GSM radio of today and tomorrow and enables global roaming, making possible small inexpensive devices that combine a mobile telephone with web browsing capabilities.

SMARTi SD is a member of Infineon’s successful SMARTi product line. It is the first product that uses 0.13 micron standard CMOS process technology. With SMARTi SD, Infineon is introducing its new CMOS RF transceiver family for GSM, GPRS, EDGE and UMTS mobile phones. CMOS technology offers the advantage of almost unlimited manufacturing flexibility at lowest cost and enables further integration of digital baseband functions.

“An integrated CMOS GSM/GPRS RF transceiver has been a goal of the industry for many years,” said Dominik Bilo, Chief Marketing Officer of Infineon’s Secure Mobile Solutions business group. “There were a lot of technical challenges to overcome, and with the SMARTi SD, Infineon has shown once again that it is the world leader for RF transceivers.”

A GSM/GPRS radio using SMARTi SD can be implemented with 50 percent less board space and saves 30 percent in components’ cost compared to competing solutions. Its low power consumption enables long standby time and talk time. The high integration level enables OEMs and ODMs to speed up development time and save R&D costs.

Technical details on SMARTi SD

SMARTi SD integrates into a single chip all functions required of a GSM/GPRS quad-band transceiver, including an RF VCO, Zero IF receiver and Sigma-Delta transmitter chain. Its fast locking time and low power consumption makes it an ideal solution for GPRS class 12 implementation, as well as low-cost, voice-only phones. The SMARTi SD is entirely controllable through a 3 wire bus and is housed in a VQFN-48 standard package.

Further information on Infineon’s SMARTi SD products is available at: http://www.infineon.com/wireless

The original press release can be found here.