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UCSD AND JAZZ SEMICONDUCTOR DEVELOP 8-ELEMENT 6-18
GHz PHASED ARRAY CHIP WITH RECORD PERFORMANCE
UCSD Innovative Design Leverages Jazz 0.18-micron SiGe BiCMOS Process,
Models and Design Kit to Deliver Miniature RFIC Phased Array Receiver
Capable of Controlling 8-Antennas for 6-18 GHz Operation
SAN DIEGO and NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March
7, 2007 -- The University of California, San Diego (UCSD),
provider of a leading program in microwave and millimeter-wave RFICs
and mixed-signal, and Jazz Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Jazz Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: JAZ) and an independent wafer
foundry focused primarily on specialty CMOS process technologies,
today 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 Semiconductor's
own proprietary models, kit and 0.18-micron silicon germanium (SiGe)
Bi-CMOS process (SBC18HX). The SiGe Bi-CMOS 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.
By developing this chip, UCSD has successfully demonstrated independent
amplitude and phase control at 6-18 GHz of 8 different antenna elements
with at least 4-bit of phase resolution, and provides commercial
availability of highly integrated RF-IC modules for X and Ku-Band
phased array applications. The chip was designed and tested by Kwangjin
Koh, a graduate student from the Electrical and Computer Engineering
School at UCSD, and was sponsored by the DARPA SMART (Scalable Millimeter-Wave
Array Technology) program under the direction of Dr. Mark Rosker,
and under a subcontract to UCSD from Teledyne Scientific Corporation
in Thousand Oaks, CA.
The RFIC chip contains 8 silicon low-noise amplifiers operating
at 6-18 GHz, 8 phase shifters with at least 4-bit of phase control,
and an 8:1 active power combiner with very wide bandwidth, together
with all the digital functions needed to control the chip such as
the address decoders for the individual 8-elements, the memory latches
for the phase settings, the clock enable functions to load the information
on the chip, and power regulators. The chip is only 2.2x2.3 mm in
area, consumes 140-200 mA of DC current from a 3.3 V power supply,
provides an RF gain from 12 to 24 dB with a noise figure of 6 dB,
and can be integrated directly with 8 planar antennas on a standard
printed circuit board.
Furthermore, the chip can operate over a narrow bandwidth for communication
systems, or over an instantaneous 12 GHz (6-18 GHz) bandwidth while
keeping all its performance un-changed, thus solving one of the
key barriers to complex phased array fabrication while still leveraging
the standard low cost RF packaging techniques. The application areas
are in low cost phased arrays for mobile satellite systems, smart-antenna
wireless systems for high data-rate communications, and of course,
defense systems such as radars and high-bandwidth telecommunication
links covering the X to Ku-Band frequency range.
The phased array chip was developed using Jazz Semiconductor's
SiGe BiCMOS process, SBC18HX which offers high-performance 0.18-micron
SiGe bipolar and high quality passive elements combined with high
density 0.18-micron CMOS for high-speed networking and millimeter
wave applications. The process offers SiGe transistors with peak
Ft of 155GHz and peak Fmax of 200GHz ideal for low-power, high performance
millimeter wave and OC-192 and OC-768 circuits. SBC18HX comes standard
with three bipolar (NPN) transistor types, 1.8 and 3.3 volt CMOS
(dual-gate), deep trench isolation, lateral and vertical PNP transistors,
MIM capacitors, high-performance varactors, poly-silicon as well
as metal and N-well resistors, high-Q inductors, a triple well option,
and six layers of metal.
"UCSD believes that the silicon RFIC phased array controller
will be a disruptive element in the design of future phased array
systems and will enable low-cost phased arrays in the near future
by integrating so many functions on the same silicon chip,"
said Gabriel M. Rebeiz, Professor of Electrical Engineering at UCSD,
a co-developer of this chip. "Our success in bringing this
exciting technology to market depends strongly on the Jazz 0.18-micron
SiGe BiCMOS process which enables integration of both the RF functions
and the digital blocks all on the same chip. We were delighted to
work with Jazz, whom we view as one of the leading foundries in
the RF semiconductor space."
"We believe the results achieved by UCSD's RFIC phased array
controller demonstrate the still-to-be-tapped capability of the
highly advanced wafer processes, models and kits offered to customers
by Jazz. We are pleased to be a part of the expansion of this technology,
and others, to commercial markets," said David Howard, executive
director of new product technology for Jazz Semiconductor. "UCSD
and Teledyne Scientific's use of the Jazz multi-project wafer (MPW)
program provided a low cost approach to enable an innovative, cost-effective
silicon-based chip, designed to address the high data-rate communications
and satellite-based systems markets."
Availability
The chip is available from UCSD and interested parties should contact
Prof. Gabriel M. Rebeiz; Department of Electrical and Computing
Engineering at UCSD, 858/534-8001 or rebeiz@ece.ucsd.edu.
About Phased Arrays
Phased arrays allow the electronic steering of an antenna beam in
any direction and with high antenna gain by controlling the phase
at each antenna element. The radiation beam can be "moved in
space" using entirely electronic means through control of the
phase and amplitude at each antenna element used to generate the
beam. This beam steering technique is much more compact and much
faster than mechanically steered arrays. Furthermore, phased arrays
allow the creation of deep nulls in the radiation pattern to mitigate
strong interference signals from several different directions. They
have been in use since the 1950's in defense applications and have
seen limited use in commercial system due to their relatively high
cost. UCSD's design and utilization of Jazz existing wafer processes
are targeted to greatly reduce the cost of phased arrays.
About UCSD
The University of California, San Diego, is one of the leading Universities
in mixed-signal, microwave and mm-wave RFICs, digital communications,
applied electromagnetic, RF MEMS (microelectromechanical systems)
and nano-electronics research, and is home to the Center for Wireless
Communications and the DARPA S&T Center for RF MEMS Reliability
and Design Fundamentals. UCSD has an annual research budget exceeding
$700M, and its Jacobs School of Engineering is ranked as Number
11 in the US-News and World Report 2007 ranking. The Electrical
and Computer Engineering Department, consisting of 52 teaching tenure
faculty, trains approximately 400 graduate students per year. For
more information, please visit www.ece.ucsd.edu
and www.ucsd.edu.
About Jazz Semiconductor
Jazz Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jazz Technologies,
Inc. (AMEX: JAZ), is an independent wafer foundry primarily focused
on specialty CMOS process technologies, including High Voltage CMOS,
SiGe BiCMOS and RFCMOS for the manufacture of highly integrated
analog and mixed-signal semiconductor devices. The company's specialty
process technologies are designed for customers who seek to produce
analog and mixed-signal semiconductor devices that are smaller and
more highly integrated, power-efficient, feature-rich and cost-effective
than those produced using standard process technologies. Jazz customers
target the wireless and high-speed wireline communications, consumer
electronics, automotive, and industrial end markets. Jazz executive
offices and its U.S. wafer fabrication facilities are located in
Newport Beach, CA. Jazz Semiconductor also has engineering, manufacturing,
and sales support in Shanghai, China. The company has expanded its
wafer capacity in China through manufacturing alliances with Advanced
Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation and Hua Hong NEC Electronics
Co., Ltd. For more information, please visit www.jazzsemi.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified
by words or phrases such as "trend," "potential,"
"opportunity," "pipeline," "believe,"
"expect," "anticipate," "intention,"
"estimate," "position," "assume,"
"outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain,"
"sustain," "seek," "achieve," and
similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will,"
"would," "should," "could," "may"
and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based largely
on expectations and projections about future events and future trends
and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties,
which change over time. Actual results and consequences, including
any expected benefits, could differ materially from those anticipated
in forward-looking statements and you should not place any undue
reliance on such forward looking statements. Factors that could
cause actual performance to differ from these forward-looking statements
include the risks and uncertainties disclosed in Jazz Technologies'
filings with the SEC. Jazz Technologies' filings with the SEC are
accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the
UCSD Contact
Gabriel M. Rebeiz
858/534-8001
rebeiz@ece.ucsd.edu
Jazz Company Contact
Melinda Jarrell
949/435-8181
melinda.jarrell@jazzsemi.com
Jazz Media Contact
Lauri Julian
949/715-3049
lauri.julian@jazzsemi.com
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