December 2007

Executive Interview

Chuck Fox - Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Jazz Semiconductor spoke with Microwave Journal editor, David Vye about the new .18um CMOS process, the Analog-Intensive Mixed-Signal Initiative and how their latest Silicon technology is ready to deliver the single chip radio. To view the interview, please visit www.mwjournal.com.

Asif Anwar
12/10/07

The analyst: Can silicon displace GaAs in handsets?

Silicon has a history of driving GaAs out of key applications. Could it repeat that trick in handsets?
Silicon has certainly driven GaAs out of mainstream markets before. In the 1990s, GaAs ICs for CDMA and TDMA handsets from companies such as M/A-COM, RF Micro Devices and TriQuint addressed the transmit/receive chain through on-chip integration of mixers, LNAs and gain blocks. But, as the radio moved towards addressing multiple bands, GaAs processes were simply unable to match the more complex integration offered by silicon.

In handsets, GaAs became confined to the radio front-end, where it is now the incumbent technology for power amplifiers (PAs) and switches. Today, GaAs industry revenues are dictated by wireless applications, with the global market for GaAs devices - mostly MMICs - totaling $3.1?billion in 2006. But could history be repeated? Could silicon take over the handset PA and switch functions?
Jazz recently announced its "Silicon Radio Platform," again aiming for a future single-chip solution encompassing the transceiver, PA, antenna switch and power controller. In the shorter term, the company is introducing an integrated PA, power controller and antenna switch on a single die, effectively looking to displace GaAs-based discretes. Jazz also has EDGE and W-CDMA solutions in its sights.

Stan Bruederle
12/3/07

Jazz Semiconductor Silicon Radio Platform Provides Means to High-Integration RF Designs

Jazz Semiconductor's 0.18-micron Silicon Radio Platform (SRP) provides designers of integrated RF solutions with a range of fully characterized capabilities, including CMOS, SiGe BiCMOS and high-voltage DMOS technologies, which all have a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) option. RF designers can combine these options to achieve different design goals aimed at different RF applications. The main advantages claimed for this platform are lower cost compared with gallium arsenide (GaAs) and higher integration.

The company states that designers can create a front-end module (FEM), including power amplifiers, with integrated switches and the power control chip. The SOI feature makes it possible to integrate the antenna switch, in which multiple air interfaces may be supported. Beyond the FEM applications, designers can create integrated radios that include a transceiver and the FEM functions. The company states that it has wireless LAN and cellular
customers designing with the SRP and that production is expected to start in 2008.

Peter Clarke
11/12/07

GloNav plans to integrate GPS RF, baseband ICs

GloNav Inc., a developer of baseband and RF chips for global positioning by satellite (GPS) applications, is planning to integrate its baseband and RF chips. GloNav has two products in the market, the GNR1040 RF IC and the GNS4540, which the company describes as a single-chip "assisted" GPS system.

The RF IC is made using a 0.18-micron silicon-germanium process from Jazz Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Jazz Technologies Inc. (Newport Beach, Calif.). "We have an SOC integration strategy," Strong said but declined to outline it. Strong said the primary advantage of its GPS chips were their low power consumption which he said was lower than that of chips from Sirf, Qualcomm and TI.

Steve Leibson
11/11/07

There's a fab in Newport Beach!

Gil Amelio has had quite a career in the semiconductor industry. Today, he is Chairman and CEO of Jazz Semiconductor. Jazz is running RF, analog, and high-voltage CMOS and BiCMOS processes on 8-inch wafer lines. Consequently, Jazz is not currently a volume producer of low-cost digital wafers. It's not competing directly with TSMC, IBM, Chartered, or the other digital, mass-market fabs. Jazz is finding its own way in the 21st-century semiconductor market and the company serves as an interesting reminder that differentiation can still pay well.

The focus is not on digital chips but on wireless, optical networking, power management, storage, and high-performance applications, which Jazz has dubbed the AIMS (analog-intensive, mixed-signal) market. One of the "secret sauces" in Jazz's semiconductor recipe box is SiGe transistors. Jazz' SiGe transistors deliver fts in excess of 200GHz, so Jazz silicon can be used directly in many RF applications.

In fact, Jazz has its sights set on using silicon to replace high-volume GaAs parts such as antenna switches and power amplifiers, which are ubiquitous in cell phones. Jazz is developing what it calls a "Silicon Radio Platform" that promises to eradicate GaAs parts, resulting in a claimed 50% die cost savings and a 20% cost reduction.

10/31/07

Telecom & Networking
Leaders in telecom and networking are turning to SOI-based solutions to enhance performance and functionality, to decrease power consumption, to help integrate multiple functions on a single chip, and to decrease complexity.

The Power of Mobile
By Julio Costa, Senior Manager
Technology Development, RFMD

The market leader in RF power amps for mobile phones, RFMD is working with Jazz on an SOI-based solution for the next generation of handsets. RFMD supplies nearly 50% of all RF power amplifier (PA) modules used in cellular handsets. Currently, these cellular PA modules use a combination of technologies: GaAs HBT or PHEMTs for the RF power amplifiers, high voltage silicon CMOS for the power management, and GaAs PHEMT technology for the RF high power switches. The challenge, however, is that next generation (3G/4G) multi-band multi-mode systems will require several additional PA functions, which creates a definite problem from a size, cost and technology proliferation point of view .

Three functions, one cost-effective die
RFMD, in joint collaboration with Jazz has developed a silicon SOI-based technology to potentially integrate all of these three key PA module functions (amplification, power management and RF switching) into one monolithic and cost-effective die. This technology utilizes what we call 'Thick Film Silicon-on-Insulator' (TF-SOI) substrates engineered by Soitec.

10/29/2007

Jazz Semiconductor Releases Cryogenic CMOS Models

Jazz Semiconductor recently announced the release of cryogenic CMOS models enabling design of Read-Out Integrated Circuits (ROICs) for cooled infrared imagers. The offering complements Jazz's 8-inch ROIC process technology which includes large-die stitching services and spans CMOS linewidths from 0.5-micron to 0.13-micron.

Jazz's 0.25um process offers 3.3V CMOS while its 0.18um process offers both 1.8V and 3.3V transistors. In addition to the core CMOS, the process supports poly resistors and linear MIM capacitors at densities of up to 4fF/um2. The CMOS cryogenic modeling library has been validated at temperatures of 78-kelvin to 298-kelvin through a wide range of DC and AC tests. Resistors and metal parasitic effects are also modeled at 78-kelvin, enabling full post layout simulation under cryogenic conditions.

Is fab lite on analog's diet?

Mark LaPedus
10/22/07

As digital integrated-device manufacturers increasingly turn to foundries for their production needs, with some announcing they will no longer build fabs, an inevitable question arises: Will the big analog IDMs follow the same path and move toward fab-lite or even fabless strategies? One specialty foundry provider suggests the tide is slowly turning for analog IDMs. "A lot of these companies are now looking to outsource," said Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology and engineering for Jazz Semiconductor.

Jazz and other analog-oriented outsourcing specialists are beginning to see some manufacturing demand for products that traditionally have not been outsourced, such as high-precision data converters. "We see that business accelerating," Racanelli said in a recent interview. Analog products with digital circuitry--such as audio analog/digital converters, digital/analog converters and class D amplifiers--are being manufactured in volume in the foundries today, said Gartner analyst Stephan Ohr.

The specialty foundries are gearing up for what could be a boom in analog. Last month, Jazz announced an acceleration of its efforts in the analog and mixed-signal foundry markets. Jazz's Analog-Intensive Mixed-Signal (AIMS) initiative will push its current processes, such as specialty CMOS, BiCMOS, silicon-germanium (SiGe) Bi- CMOS and high-voltage CMOS. "Over the next 18 months, Jazz will announce new process offerings and services that support this aggressive initiative," Gil Amelio, Jazz chairman and CEO, said in announcing the program.

US firm SiTime puts MEMS and CMOS together

David Manners
10/16/07

SiTime, the MEMs-based oscillator company seeking to replace quartz-based oscillators, has moved into volume production. The company uses Jazz Semiconductor as a foundry and, as it moves from the development stage of the company into the production stage.
The company has also cracked the key goal of developing an integrated process for both the MEMS and CMOS sides of the manufacturing process. After seven masking stages to implement the MEMS part of the product, the wafer proceeds to have the CMOS masking layers added.
The integrated process is ready for development now, but won't be used for commercial product until mid-2009. The first products on the integrated process will be run at Jazz.

Jazz Plays Up Single-Chip Silicon Radio Process

10/12/07

Combining SiGe, SOI and CMOS in a radio front end will provide Jazz Semi with proof that it can meet cellular standards by early 2008, says the California-based foundry. Jazz is challenging the dominance of compound semiconductors in integrated single-chip power amplifiers (PAs) with a low-cost radio platform provided on a single piece of silicon.

The Californian foundry has moved its RF process up a notch, by shrinking gate lengths from 0.35 to 0.18 microns and developing silicon-on-insulator (SOI) capabilities. SOI allows inclusion of an antenna switch for the first time, alongside a SiGe or CMOS power amplifier, a SiGe-based low-noise amplifier and a passive module.

"We have put all four elements of a radio into a single piece of CMOS silicon, and now we can be more effective at attacking GaAs PAs and switches," said Chuck Fox, Jazz's director of sales and marketing. 8-inch RF wafers made this way are already available from Jazz, and the company says its process can reduce die cost by 50 percent over GaAs.




Silicon radio platform does away with GaAs frontends

10/10/07

At the European Microwave Week in Munich, US foundry services provider Jazz Semiconductor announced the availability of its 0.18-micron platform. With the platform, clients can integrate the entire RF frontend into their chips, doing away with costly separate GaAs frontends, the company claims.

The platform includes an enhanced RFCMOS process, a BiCMOS DMOS High-voltage process and a SiGe BiCMOS High Performance Process, explained Jazz Sales & Marketing Vice President Chuck Fox. In addition, the company offers four optional silicon radio modules including SOI, integrated passive devices, SiGe LNA process technology and LDMOS and SiGe PA process technology. Since in analog RF environments intensive detail support is crucial, Jazz also offers this support. For the respective design tools, Jazz maintains a close cooperation with Cadence.

"Our message is: Customers can save up to 50 percent on their mixed-signal products if they chose to integrated the RF parts into the chip," Fox said. With the process, highly integrated semiconductors for cellphones, WLANs and WiMAX can be produced. Potential customers are IDMs as well as system vendors who produce certain chips for their captive market.

Jazz tips 0.18µm silicon radio platform

10/9/07

Jazz Semiconductor is releasing a silicon radio platform that it claims allows complete integration of higher-frequency radio components in a wireless device on a single piece of silicon -- transceiver, antennae, power amplifier, and controllers -- without the need for discrete GaAs devices. Target applications include cell phones, wireless LANs, and WiMAX systems.

The technology uses Jazz's 0.18-micron RF CMOS process and SiGe BiCMOS process with four modules: an SOI option for integrating the antenna switch, a PA module with high-power SiGe or CMOS devices, an LNA module with SiGe low-noise devices, and a module with passive elements for inter-stage filter and matching circuits.

In a statement, Jazz points out that the SOI option enables integration of both the antenna switch and power amplifier. The company says the technology is cheaper than chips built with GaAs, reducing die costs by up to 50%. A through-wafer-via module to improve the efficiency of power amplifiers is under development.

e2v, Jazz combine for next gen ADCs

John Walko

10/2/07

Components and susbsystems group e2v is to use foundry Jazz Semiconductor as the maker of its next series of high resolution programmable data converters. Jazz will use its 0.18 micron SiGe BiCMOS process to make the parts, which are targeted at communication infrastructure, high IF broadband digital receivers, test and measurement equipment, high-speed data acquisition and radar and communications systems.
The two companies are no strangers, with Jazz making e2v's latest 12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) on its 0.35-micron SiGe BiCMOS process. The device, dubbed the AT84AS001TP, recently received the 2007 EE Times Ultimate Product ACE Award for the fastest monolithic 12-bit ADC.

e2v is now developing A/D Converters using Jazz's 0.18 micron SiGe BiCMOS process, SBC18HX, including a reconfigurable Quad 8-bit 5 Gsps A/D Converter that provides on-chip interleaving of four separate channels with conversion rates from 1.25 Gsps to 5 Gsps from a single chip at 1W per channel.

Michelle Cheng

9/14/07

Jazz has just announced its Analog-Intensive Mixed-Signal (AIMS) initiative to accelerate its leadership in price/performance and power consumption for specialty CMOS technologies and quicken time-to-revenues for analog-intensive products.

[Regarding its AIMS process technologies], Marco Racanelli, VP of technology and engineering at Jazz said the sweet spot for the silicon geranium BiCMOS process lies at 0.18-micron, but the company is working to extend it to 013-micron. For high-voltage BCD, the sweet spot is at 0.25-micron, but Jazz's technology has already reached 0.18-micron, he said.

Jazz's RF CMOS process has advanced to the sub-90nm levels and the company is working towards 65nm, he said, adding the technology is expected to be ready in the first half of 2008 to allow Jazz to adopt Fujitsu's RF CMOS process, Racanelli said.





Making it as a mixed-signal foundry: Jazz Semiconductor seeks a strategy

Ron Wilson

9/13/07

Jazz Semiconductor outlined a strategy that appears to have come from the company's new investor, chairman and CEO, long-time Silicon Valley executive Gil Amelio. Amelio saw unrecognized value in the company if it could provide a new value proposition to customers. And that proposition needed to be based not just on process expertise-increasingly hard to differentiate today-but on the way the foundry interfaced to the customer's design team.

Chuck Fox, VP of sales/marketing for Jazz said that even today, the standard practice for best-of-breed analog and RF design is to create a design, tape it out, characterize the silicon, and iterate until the circuit is finally within specs. For all the reasons too obvious to repeat here, this is increasingly intractable for most companies. But can it really be changed?

Jazz is betting that it can. Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology and engineering at the company, believes it is possible to establish a new design interface, based not on test chips, but on statistical models that are connected directly to process-control data. [For more information on Jazz enablement solutions and to view this article in its entirety, please go to: http://www.edn.com/blog/1690000169/post/270014427.html].

Jazz plays analog, mixed-signal tune

Mark LaPedus

9/12/07

Jazz Semiconductor Inc. has rolled out a new initiative to accelerate its efforts in the analog and mixed-signal foundry markets.

Jazz' program is called the Analog-Intensive Mixed-Signal (AIMS) initiative. Jazz is addressing this effort by pushing its current processes, such as specialty CMOS, BiCMOS, silicon-germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS and high voltage CMOS.

''Over the next 18 months Jazz will announce new process offerings and services that support this aggressive initiative," said Gil Amelio, Jazz chairman and CEO, in a statement. "We expect new specialty technology options and new AIMS design enablement tools we have in development will extend our rich history of leadership in the analog-intensive mixed-signal market."

Intelligent Power Amplifiers: Atlanta IC Developer VT Silicon to Develop WiMax Chips [using SiGe from Jazz Semiconductor]

9/12/07

VT Silicon will design and produce prototypes of its new "intelligent power amplifier" chips for the next-generation of WiMax mobile devices. Based on silicon-germanium (SiGe) semiconductor materials, the VT Silicon chips will include patent-pending distortion-prevention techniques - known as linearization enhancement - that are designed to support the complex signals used by WiMax devices. To reduce chip costs to justify high-volume consumer applications, the company is building its amplifiers on low-cost SiGe instead of the more exotic - and costly - gallium arsenide (GaAs) materials used in most existing WiMax power amplifiers.

The company initially plans to produce two power amplifiers for the WiMax market, operating at 2.5 GHz or 3.5 GHz. As a step toward volume manufacturing, it will work with customers to create a reference design for each prototype chip. Jazz Semiconductor Inc. of Newport Beach, Calif. will produce the chips.

9/5/07

Infinera Corp. utilized Jazz Semiconductor's 0.18-micron Silicon Germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process (SBC18QTD) to enable the integration required to develop aspects of the electronics for a new architecture, Digital Optical Networks. The new digital architecture is designed to be more flexible, simpler and quicker to deploy than traditional DWDM Systems.

"Jazz process technologies are well-suited for our complex, highly advanced optical systems. Our multi-channel approach requires high levels of integration at high speed and low power and the 0.18-micron SiGe BiCMOS technology has been a good fit," said David Welch, chief marketing and strategy officer at Infinera. "Their robust design kits and tools have allowed us to bring this product to market quickly and Jazz has provided us with world-class support.

Jazz puts Infinera in the mood for SiGe

9/3/07

Three years since Infinera first started selling its InP digital optical networks, Jazz Semiconductor says their development has relied on its BiCMOS process. Jazz Semiconductor has unveiled itself as the provider of the SiGe technology employed in Infinera's 100 Gb/s ICs that feature in its DTN network system.

Jazz, based down the California coast from Infinera in Newport Beach, said the DTN system primarily needed high levels of integration at high speed and low power. SiGe BiCMOS met these requirements.
"SiGe BiCMOS offers bipolar devices with performance that approaches that of InP and III-V materials together with the large integration potential of CMOS - making it the right choice for many Analog-Intensive Mixed-Signal (AIMS) products," Jazz said.

Jazz claims that SiGe BiCMOS makes designing AIMS devices comparatively straightforward, in contrast to deep-submicron CMOS, where numerous design cycles are often needed to attain the required analog performance. In addition it says combining SiGe with logic CMOS in AIMS products can also be more economical than using InP or GaAs material systems.

Jazz 0.18-Micron SiGe BiCMOS Process Utilized To Deliver 100 Gb/s ICs

9/3/2007

Jazz Semiconductor, the leader in analog-intensive mixed-signal (AIMS) foundry solutions recently announced that it has collaborated on the design and production of the first 100 Gb/s (Gigabits/second) integrated circuits (ICs) for service provider networks. Infinera Corporation utilized Jazz Semiconductor's 0.18-micron Silicon Germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process (SBC18QTD) to enable the integration required to develop aspects of the electronics for a new architecture, Digital Optical Networks.

The Jazz SBC18QTD offers next-generation solutions for low-power, integrated wireless and optical products that require high-performance bipolar transistors, high-quality passives and 3.3V CMOS FETs suitable for moderate levels of mixed-signal and logic integrations.

Infinera selects Jazz Semiconductors' 0.18-micron SiGe BiCMOS process for 100-Gbit/sec IC

8/28/07

Jazz Semiconductor, provider of AIMS foundry devices today announced that it has collaborated on the design and production of what it claims are the first 100-Gbit/sec integrated circuits (ICs) for service provider networks. Infinera Corp. has utilized Jazz Semiconductor's 0.18-micron Silicon Germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process to enable the integration required to develop aspects of the electronics for a new architecture, Digital Optical Networks.

"Customers like Infinera can take advantage of our high performance SBC18 platform to achieve aggressive performance and power consumption specifications as well as fast time-to-market for differentiated, highly integrated products," adds Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology and engineering, Jazz Semiconductor. "We are pleased to sustain our successful relationship with Infinera as they continue to develop, design, and meet the ever-changing market demands for optical networking ICs."

Jazz Semiconductor Gets Win At Nexsem

8/14/07

Newport Beach-based Jazz Semiconductor, a RF and analog chip foundry, has signed on Irvine's Nexsem as a customer of its foundry services. Jazz said yesterday that Nexsem is using the firm's 0.5-micron Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS for its power management ICs. Nexsem is designing step down converters used for power management products. Nexsem designs power related hardware ICs, including switching controllers, linear regulators, and drivers.

Nanoradio and Jazz trumpet SiGe WLAN chips

7/17/07

Nanoradio and Jazz Semiconductor are working together on SiGe chips for wireless LAN support in handsets, further increasing the competition to GaAs in this area. Combining the transceiver and power amplifier (PA) functions using Jazz's 0.35-micron SiGe BiCMOS process, Nanoradio says its second generation NRX511 chip has "an impressive small footprint".

"There have been other announcements around CMOS single chip transceivers, but here we've gone a step further and done away with the GaAs PA, using Jazz's SiGe BiCMOS technology," said Johnny Johannson, Nanoradio's vice-president of operations. "Given that we're targeting handsets, which have relatively low transmit power and high demands on battery life, we get exactly what we need from SiGe."
Attaining the right performance took an extensive development process, according to Johansson, both in terms of designing the chip's architecture, and in finding a foundry partner whose technology gave Nanoradio the optimal combination of cost, size and power.

Jazz Semi to fab Nanoradio's radio IC

7/12/07

Nanoradio AB, the Swedish specialist developer of radio ICs targeted at the Wi-Fi and multimedia consumer electronics sectors, has chosen RF and analog foundry Jazz Semiconductor to make its parts on a 0.35-micron SiGe BiCMOS process.

Nanoradio's integrated RF transceiver, optimized on the 2.4 - 2.5GHz ISM band, uses differential RF-input and output to optimize the RF performance. Channel filtering is provided on-chip and no extra SAW filters are required. Dubbed the NRX511, the device integrates an efficient RF power amplifier to minimize bill of materials.

The SBC35 process at Jazz Semiconductor is already used by many fabless companies that have developed devices for power sensitive networking chips. The process provides designers with the flexibility of using any combination of three SiGe bipolar (NPN) transistors, each of which provides a different optimization for power and speed.

"We selected Jazz as the manufacturer of our RF transceivers because we are convinced that Jazz's SiGe process provides superior RF performance at mainstream silicon cost. In addition, the modeling of the proven SiGe BiCMOS process and Jazz's RF expertise in manufacturing high quality RF devices have been key parameters," said Par Bergsten, CEO of Nanoradio AB.

Jazz also provides foundry services using a high performance 0.18-micron process and a low-power, streamlined 0.13-micron version.

Intel favors RF startup with money, advice, contacts

7/3/07

Intel Capital, the global investment arm of Intel Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.), has said it is the lead investor in a $10 million Series B round of funding for Mirics Semiconductor Inc. (Fleet, England). Mirics is fabless RF and mixed-signal startup that has developed a single-chip tuner for all currently used broadcast standards.
By developing a single RF chip that mobile devices and PCs to receive content based on multiple technical standards it can reduce energy consumption compared with a multi-chip approach.

Mirics first product, the MSI001, also demonstrates the value of design as opposed to simply scaling technology, as it has been implemented in a 0.35-micron BiCMOS process being made for the company by Jazz Semiconductor. The MSI001 is the world's first true poly-band tuner, according to Mirics and the reconfigurable RF tuner could be designed into mobile phone handsets, notebook computers and other mobile devices. Mirics was included on the most recent iteration of the Silicon 60, EE Times' list of 60 emerging startup companies.

Buyer Driven -- Local Semiconductor Execs Weigh In on Future of Consumer Focused Market

6/11/07

We're in the decade of the consumer, according to Gil Amelio, semiconductor industry veteran and chief executive of Jazz Semiconductor.

"I think for the first time in the history of the semiconductor industry, the technology driver for business is not the computer anymore, as it was for almost 50 years," Amelio said to a group of entrepreneurs, investors and managers at Octane¹s chip confab in Newport Beach. "It's now moving on to communications and the consumer as the principal driver of innovation."

"For chipmakers to stay competitive, Amelio encourages an industry-wide redefinition of the techie principle known as "Moore¹s Law." With the focus on digital technology, (the industry) has become driven by smaller and smaller geometries," he said. "We are very soon going to be getting down to our mechanical limits if not in the next generation than certainly in the next 10 years or so."

That poses a problem for today's $200 billion-plus global semiconductor industry, he said. The biggest challenge for chipmakers then, is to design chips that don't just get smaller and cheaper. New chips have to pack in more functions. "We need to get back to the original notion that Gordon meant when he talked about functional density," Amelio said. "There are other ways to pack more function into a piece of silicon real estate other than just making (it) smaller." The big driver for the next generation of chips will be consumers, Amelio said. "If you are going to make a little gadget to carry with you, you can't have a bunch of chips in it," he said. "Increased functional density is becoming ever more important."

Fujitsu, Jazz Semi ink manufacturing partnership

5/25/2007

Fujitsu Limited Ltd. will work with foundry Jazz Semiconductor Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Jazz Technologies Inc., to manufacture SoC products for RF CMOS devices. The companies said that the alliance will allow Fujitsu to offer Jazz's RF models and design kits using Fujitsu's 90-nm and 65-nm LSI manufacturing process. The duo will conduct joint marketing and sales activities, and the products will be manufactured at Fujitsu's 300-mm Mie fab located in Kuwana city, Mie prefecture in Japan.

"This collaboration demonstrates Jazz and Fujitsu's commitment to developing solutions to quickly and effectively address our customers' next-generation technology needs," Gil Amelio, chairman and CEO of Jazz Technologies Inc., said in a statement. "The joint development model is a cost-effective approach to providing innovative manufacturing solutions."

Jazz taps Fujitsu as foundry for RF CMOS process

5/25/07

Jazz Semiconductor has entered into a technology and foundry agreement with Fujitsu in which Jazz will provide its RF and mixed-signal expertise to combine with Fujitsu's 90nm and 65nm manufacturing technology.

"We are pleased to announce this agreement with Jazz, and we are confident that we will provide optimal solutions to our mutual customers," said Shigeru Fujii, corporate senior vice president and group president of Fujitsu's Electronic Devices Business Group. "The wireless SoC market is becoming increasingly important. Through this collaboration, we will support customers as they expand their markets."

"Jazz has RF modeling capabilities, a specialized design platform in analog and mixed-signal technologies and RF expertise. Coupled with Fujitsu's 65nm and 90nm process technologies and comprehensive library of digital IPs, our joint efforts with Jazz will provide customers access to state-of-the-art and flexible manufacturing technology that will provide first-rate solutions," said Kazuyuki Kawauchi, president and chief executive officer at Fujitsu Microelectronics America.

Fujitsu, Jazz ink foundry alliance

5/24/07

Fujitsu Ltd. and Jazz Semiconductor Inc. have announced a foundry alliance under which the companies will work together to manufacture system-on-a-chip (SoC) products for radio-frequency CMOS applications.

Specialty foundry provider Jazz is expanding its technology roadmap and production capabilities by offering its customer base volume production access to Fujitsu's 90- and 65-nm foundry services.

This will also enable Fujitsu to serve its customers with RF CMOS using Jazz's RF models and design kits. The combination of Jazz' expertise in analog and mixed-signal, along with Fujitsu's digital IP portfolio, provides mutual customers with both fast time to market for complex wireless SOCs.

Phyworks Leverages Jazz Semiconductor's SiGe BiCMOS Process Technologies for FTTx Market

4/23/2007

"Our range of technology and features allows customers like Phyworks to create differentiated high-speed products targeting multiple standards at different levels of integration while taking advantage of a known and consistent design environment and supplier interface," said Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology and engineering, Jazz Semiconductor.

Phyworks offers two highly integrated FTTx transceivers designed using Jazz's 0.35-micron SiGe process (SBC35); the PHY1078 optimized for 1.25Gbps GEPON, and the PHY2078 designed for the higher bandwidth 2.5Gbps GPON. Phyworks FTTx transimpedance amplifiers, the PHY1095 and PHY1097, are designed using Jazz's 0.18-micron process (SBC18). The TIAs complement the transceiver ICs by offering the highest sensitivity available and low noise, extending network reach without compromising quality.

Phyworks Leverages Jazz Semiconductor's 0.35 and 0.18-Micron SiGe BiCMOS Process Technologies to Maintain Competitive Edge for FTTx Market

4/17/2007

Phyworks, Ltd., one of the leading suppliers of ICs for the communications industry, recently announced it is leveraging Jazz Semiconductor’s 0.35 and 0.18-micron SiGe BiCMOS process technologies for next-generation products in the FTTx market, offering high performance SiGe transimpedance amplifiers (TIA) and transceiver devices.

"We continue to utilize Jazz process technologies for our next-generation products to provide us with a competitive advantage. Jazz offers advanced processes and provides us with the benefits of a high degree of flexibility and reliability as well as a high level of support in our business critical projects with tight timescales," said Tim Esparon, VP of manufacturing operations, Phyworks. “Jazz is focused on high speed process technologies which align with our product needs, providing us with the features that enable us to reduce design cycle time, reduce costs, and achieve quick time to market."

Jazz launches 200GHz, 130nm SiGe BiCMOS process

4/16/2007

“The Jazz SBC13 process further extends our SiGe technology roadmap and addresses our customers’ needs for a high-performance SiGe BiCMOS process by complementing our 200GHz 0.18µm process with a 200GHz process at the 0.13µm node,” says Marco Racanelli, VP of technology and engineering.
Jazz also offers a comprehensive design and modeling environment tailored to address hurdles encountered in increasingly complex RF and analog designs. New PSP MOSFET models, statistical models, and a Process Control Model Tool (PCMT) are available. The new models and tools provide more accurate simulations, reduce design time and speed time-to-market.

Jazz Announces 0.13-micron SiGe BiCMOS Process Designed for High Speed Wireless, Optical Communications Apps

4/13/2007

Jazz has announced the release of its 130nm SiGe BiCMOS technology (SBC13) designed for high speed wireless and optical communications applications. This process combines industry standard 130nm CMOS with 200GHz HBT NPN transistors for high performance RF and millimeter-wave integrated circuits. The technology offering includes advanced analog components (inductors, capacitors, and resistors) with high-density digital circuitry to provide scaling of both the analog and digital blocks in a Systems-on-Chip (SoC) approach. This technology enables the design of the highest performance circuits in advanced high speed optical, wireless, and millimeter-wave applications.

Jazz Announces Bipolar CMOS DMOS High Voltage Process

3/27/2007

"Our 0.18-micron BCD process adds to our portfolio of power technology that includes 0.5-micron (BCD05) and 0.25-micron (BCD25) processes. This wide range of technology choices allows our customers to create cost effective products at any desired level of integration while taking advantage of a consistent design environment for fast time to market," said Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology and engineering, Jazz Semiconductor. "As we add features to our BCD18 and BCD25 technology, we provide our customers with a strong advantage in this competitive market."

Jazz Semiconductor Announces Availability of Industry Leading 0.18-Micron BCD High Voltage Process

3/20/2007

"As a leading foundry, Jazz Semiconductor has extended its BCD offerings to 0.18-micron up to 40V capability for complex power management and smart power applications, offering one of the most advanced BCD processes on the market," said Joanne Itow, managing director, Semico Research. "Jazz specialty process technologies, such as its BCD offerings, enable their customers to produce devices that are more power-efficient, highly integrated and smaller than those produced using standard foundry offerings."

Firms Fabricate Power Management Devices on BCD Process

3/14/2007

Jazz Semiconductor and Sipex, a fabless semiconductor company, have collaborated to develop a number of power management devices utilizing Jazz Semiconductor's 0.5µm and 0.25µm Bipolar CMOS DMOS (BCD) processes. BCD processes provide features that enable higher levels of integration, smaller size, and better efficiency than general foundry offerings.

Jazz Semiconductor's BCD processes incorporate bipolar (for analog control), CMOS (for digital control) and DMOS (for handling the high currents required for managing on-chip or system power) into a single foundry process flow. The combined process is ideally suited to address the power requirements of both consumer and handheld electronics.

Jazz Semiconductor and Sipex to Collaborate on Power Management Devices

3/13/2007

Sipex is using the Jazz BCD05 process for the continued development of their family of WLED backlighting solutions for notebook and monitor displays. The combination of high voltage and small geometries allow the integration of digital interfaces and the capability of driving large numbers of LEDs in series. In addition, the BCD05 process will also be used to manufacture Sipex's PowerBlox devices, as well as the company's first sub-µm interface device.

"We are expanding our roadmap for BCD processes to continue to provide our customers with access to technology that can be utilized to develop more integrated power and analog products," said Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology and engineering, Jazz.

3/12/2007

A startup nurtured within Intel has announced a low-cost integrated RFID reader chip for the UHF band. At less than $40 in cost, just 8 x 8 mm in size and with 1.5-watt power consumption, the R1000 chip could enable a new class of portable readers. Intel's R1000 "is significant" because "the attention has all been on tag pricing and the readers have been left out of the equation," said Jonathan Collins, an analyst in London with ABI Research. "The cost of these systems is a big thing."

The R1000 is made at Jazz Semiconductor in a 180-nanometer silicon germanium process. The parts, sampling now, will be in production in April.

Jazz Semiconductor and Sipex to Collaborate on Power Management Devices

3/9/2007

Jazz Semiconductor and Sipex Corporation announced an agreement to jointly develop power management devices. The devices will use Jazz Semiconductor's 0.5-micron and 0.25-micron Bipolar CMOS DMOS (BCD) processes to enable higher levels of integration, smaller size, and better efficiency than general foundry offerings.

Sipex is using the Jazz BCD05 process to continue developing LED backlighting solutions for notebooks and monitors. The company says that because of the small size and the high voltage, designers can integrate a digital interface and can drive large numbers of LEDs in a series. The BCD05 process will also be used to manufacture Sipex's PowerBlox devices, as well as the company's first sub-micron interface device. Sipex also reported that it has selected Jazz's BCD25 process for its new high performance power devices and new high-speed interface products.

UCSD and Jazz Semiconductor Develop 8-Element 6 To 18 Ghz Phased Array Chip

3/7/2007

The University of California, San Diego (UCSD), provider of a program in microwave and millimeter-wave RFICs and mixed-signal, and Jazz Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jazz Technologies, Inc., recently announced that they have collaborated to develop an 8-element RFIC phased array receiver covering the 6-18 GHz frequency range. First time success was achieved for the RFIC chip using Jazz's own proprietary models, kit and 0.18-micron silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process (SBC18HX).

The SiGe BiCMOS chip is only 2.2x2.3 mm, replaces at least 16 GaAs chips, consumes 20x less power than traditional phased array implementations, and will allow a new generation of miniature and very low-cost phased arrays for X to Ku-Band applications. This is the first demonstration, ever, of a single silicon chip with 8 complicated 6-18 GHz phased array receivers together with all the necessary CMOS controlling circuits.

Acquicor Completes Merger with Jazz Semiconductor, Announces Name Change to Jazz Technologies, Inc.

2/20/2007

Jazz Technologies, Inc., formerly Acquicor Technology Inc., and Jazz Semiconductor, Inc. today announced the completion of the merger between the two companies. Under the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of September 26, 2006, Jazz Technologies acquired all of the outstanding securities of Jazz Semiconductor and Jazz Semiconductor became a wholly owned subsidiary of Jazz Technologies. After the completion of the merger, Acquicor Technology changed its name to Jazz Technologies, Inc.

"We are extremely excited about the completion of the merger," said Shu Li, president and chief executive officer of Jazz Semiconductor. "We expect our new status as a publicly traded company to provide Jazz Semiconductor with greater financial flexibility as we grow our business organically and through strategic acquisitions."

"Jazz Semiconductor's customers will also benefit from the stronger balance sheet and our access to increased capabilities of the combined entity to serve their needs even better," concluded Li.

2/20/2007

Publicly traded asset acquisition firm, Acquicor Technology, has completed its merger with privately held, specialty foundry Jazz Semiconductor. A new holding company, Jazz Technologies acquired all of the outstanding securities of Jazz Semiconductor, with Acquicor Technology changing its name to Jazz Technologies (AMEX: JAZ) upon the merger completion.

Shu Li, president and chief executive officer of Jazz Semiconductor, said: "We expect our new status as a publicly traded company to provide Jazz Semiconductor with greater financial flexibility as we grow our business organically and through strategic acquisitions."

2/20/2007

Jazz Semiconductor and GloNav Inc. have teamed to deliver GloNav's ultra low-power L1 GPS RFIC, optimized for integration into cellular handsets, portable consumer electronic devices and battery operated GPS devices. GloNav uses Jazz Semiconductor's 0.18-micron Silicon Germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process, SBC18 for the design and manufacture of the GNR1040, an enabler for high performance and low power consumption. Jazz SBC18 provides a next-generation solution for ultra low-power, integrated wireless products that require high-performance bipolar transistors with high-quality passives together with medium-complexity logic.

SYSTEMS-ON-CHIP: Jazz expands libraries for its RF process, gives nod to Novocell nonvolatile memory --- IP options grow for new processes

1/22/2007

Jazz Semiconductor is expanding its portfolio of intellectual-property (IP) cores for its recently launched 0.13-micron process. Jazz has also validated a nonvolatile-memory IP core from startup Novocell Semiconductor Inc.

The cores will let customers develop a range of analog and mixed-signal chip products, said Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology and engineering at Jazz. The new IP cores consist of "higher-density and lower-power libraries to the [0.13-micron RF/SiGe] process." Jazz has broadened its position in the specialty foundry market. "I would now call us an analog and RF foundry. Silicon germanium is one of the technologies used in RF applications."

Today, Jazz offers a range of RF- and SiGe-based processes. Last month, it announced the availability of its 0.25-micron bipolar CMOS DMOS (BCD) process, targeted for the emerging power management and high-voltage markets.

Monolithic device enables hybrid tuning

1/18/2007

With the XC5000, a hybrid terrestrial and cable TV receiver, Xceive continues to harness the benefits of device integration to further enhance performance of silicon tuners over can tuners. Fabricated by Jazz Semiconductor on a SiGe process, the tuner requires only a single quartz crystal. Based on the same overall advanced system architecture from the previous-generation XC3028 silicon tuner, the XC5000 improves on its performance while reducing power consumption by 20% to 25%.

Novocell Non-volatile Memory IP in 0.18µm CMOS

1/15/2007

Novocell Semiconductor Inc. announced its NovoBlox OTP memory IP, implemented in a patented, gate oxide antifuse technology. It yields a non-volatile memory block. The memory IP has been silicon-validated in Jazz Semiconductor's CA18HR 0.18µm process.

NovoBlox OTP Memory, a non-volatile memory IP, can be embedded in standard Logic CMOS without additional process steps and also includes a unique, highly reliable bit cell.The NovoBlox SmartBit cell generates and confines the breakdown voltage entirely in the memory cell. NovoBlox can be programmed at the wafer or circuit level or in the package, while some competitive memory blocks can only be programmed at the wafer level. Active detection of hard breakdown guarantees 100 percent programmability and data retention.

NovoBlox OTP Memory Qualifies at Jazz Semiconductor

1/3/2007

Novocell Semiconductor's NovoBlox OTP Memory has been silicon-validated in Jazz Semiconductor's CA18HR 0.18-micron process. NovoBlox test devices were subjected to a 1000 hour High Temperature Retention Bake at 150°C and a 1000-hour High Temperature Operating Life Test (HTOL) at 150°C with zero failures at Jazz Semiconductor. Programming yield was 100%.

"Non-volatile memory is becoming an increasingly important component of analog design and this result helps provide our customers a level of confidence in using the NovoBlox OTP to fill this need," said Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology and engineering at Jazz Semiconductor.

"The availability of NovoBlox OTP Memory in Jazz Semiconductor's premier CA18HR mixed-signal process enables new functionality including circuit trimming, chip configuration, security and memory repair at the wafer, package and circuit level," said Novocell vice president and COO Charles Buenzli.

CMOS RFICs

1/1/2007

Since applications are getting more complex and require more advanced RF technologies to supply smaller line widths and better passive elements and other specialty features, Jazz Semiconductor intends to continue to build on its current 130 nm CMOS node and eventually migrate to 90 nm CMOS. In 130 nm, the foundry has released advanced features such as silicon germanium and high-voltage power devices to enable higher levels of integration. "As digital technology moves to 65 nm and beyond, it will become increasingly difficult to integrate RF functions with the large digital SoC and we, therefore, see a sweet spot in the 180 nm to 130 nm nodes serving the RFIC marketplace for some time to come but will migrate this capability to 90 nm in the future," stated Marco Racanelli, vice president of technology & engineering at Jazz.

SEE Archived "In the News" from 2006