Infineon Technologies Introduces Family of GaAs PHEMT Switches for Wireless Applications

Munich, Germany – August 27, 2001 – Infineon Technologies (FSE/NYSE: IFX), a world leader in chipsets for wireless applications, today introduced three new Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) PHEMT (Pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor) switches, the CSH210, CSH210R, and CSH210P, for present and next generation multi-band mobile phones, WLAN and Bluetooth products. The PHEMT switches will enable manufacturers to meet the performance demands of next generation handsets and wireless modules while minimizing board space requirements and reducing cost. With these new, advanced RF semiconductors, Infineon extends its commitment to offering complete wireless solutions to the telecommunications industry.

GaAs PHEMT switches play an important role in the design of wireless products. They are used in a variety of applications including transmit/receive antenna switching, filter band selection, and LO switching. PHEMT switches also can be combined with duplexers and SAW (Surface Accoustic Wave) filters to create front-end modules that are smaller and consume less than 1% of the current compared to PIN diode-based alternatives.

“Infineon offers complete wireless telecommunications solutions to its customers,” said Alvin Wong, vice president Wireless Group, Infineon Technologies North America Corporation. “Our customers can leverage Infineon’s volume production capabilities to achieve economies-of-scale in purchasing. We want to provide as many chips per wireless device as possible, enabling cost effective high integration with advanced performance and lower power consumption while maintaining the highest reliability.”

Based on Infineon’s Gallium Arsenide (GaAs)-PHEMT technology, the benefits of Infineon’s PHEMT switch technology include very low insertion loss, excellent isolation, and high linearity while consuming near-zero control current. All Infineon PHEMT switches can be biased, using only positive control voltages, and, do not require an external reference voltage. Infineon plans to develop an entire product line of PHEMT switch components to support GSM and 3G applications.

The CSH210 (standard logic) and CSH210R (reverse logic) are general-purpose SPDT (Single Pole Double Throw) switches offered in an ultra miniature SOT363 package (2mm x 2mm). The CSH210 and CSH210R achieve 0.3dB and 0.4dB insertion loss at 1GHz and 2GHz respectively. Typical isolation is better than 24dB up to 1GHz and better than 20dB up to 2GHz. Both switches achieve a P(-1dB) of 30dBm when biased with a +3V control voltage.

The CSH210P is a higher power version of the CSH210 and is also offered in the ultra miniature SOT363 package (2mm x 2mm). The CSH210P achieves 0.35dB and 0.4dB insertion loss at 1GHz and 2GHz respectively. Typical isolation is better than 25 dB up to 1GHz and better than 22.5dB up to 2GHz. The CSH210P achieves a P(-1dB) of 33dBm and an IP3 of 56dBm when biased with a +3V control voltage.

Availability and price

Samples of all three GaAs PHEMT switch products are available for immediate delivery. Pricing of the CSH210 and CSH210R starts below US$0.30 in quantities of 100,000. Pricing of the CSH210P starts below US$0.40 in quantities of 100,000. All GaAs products are manufactured in Munich, Germany in a new six-inch GaAs wafer fab facility and are 100% RF tested to meet all critical parameters.