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JAZZ SEMICONDUCTOR ANNOUNCES ANALOG-INTENSIVE MIXED-SIGNAL (AIMS) INITIATIVE
Focused on AIMS Specialty CMOS Technologies and Faster Time-to-Revenue
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., September 12, 2007 - Jazz Semiconductor®, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jazz Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: JAZ), today 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-revenue for analog-intensive products. Today's consumer electronics products contain more analog-intensive components and demand an AIMS foundry solution for optimized chip design. Jazz is addressing these market demands by offering modular AIMS technologies including RFCMOS and specialty CMOS technologies such as BiCMOS, SiGe BiCMOS and High Voltage CMOS along with extending its world class design enablement tools to allow complex designs to be achieved quickly and more accurately.
Broad AIMS Specialty CMOS Technologies
AIMS technologies make possible what were once formidable challenges, by providing integrated circuit technologies that allow analog components to be manufactured in cost effective specialty silicon platforms. This enables consumer applications such as wireless personal area networks, portable GPS systems, and TV tuners in cell phones and PCs. Jazz specialty AIMS technology solutions are based on a modular RFCMOS platform that enables innovative and high performance best of breed circuit designs. Built upon this platform, Jazz provides enhanced RF capabilities with compatible modules including BiCMOS, SiGe BiCMOS, High Voltage CMOS, Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD), SOI Switches, and Integrated MEMS technology. The company has pioneered this modular approach to provide customers with increased design flexibility, greater levels of integration and higher analog performance than what is currently available with CMOS technology. Jazz offers other RF technology enhancements such as a high performance Vertical PNP (VPNP) module to enable the design of analog circuits that require complementary drive or amplification beyond the capability of standard CMOS.
Accelerating Time to Revenue
Along with the breadth and depth of its AIMS technology solutions, Jazz enables faster time to revenue by providing state-of-the-art AIMS modeling platforms and advanced statistical analysis tools which allow customers to successfully design for manufacturability. Jazz fully supports the PSP model, an advanced surface potential based MOSFET model, at the 180nm node. The PSP model permits IC designers to more accurately simulate RF circuits, a requirement for advanced AIMS designs. Jazz also offers a Process Control Model Tool (PCMT) which allows designers to close the loop between simulated results from their silicon models and actual results for their product designs. In addition, the Jazz Inductor Toolbox (JIT), an advanced inductor design and modeling platform, enables customers to realize optimal performance of their designs while greatly reducing design cycle times.
"The high speed analog market is demanding higher performance, better noise margins and lower power along with digital gates. These new high speed analog-intensive mixed-signal designs are ideal for a CMOS based technology realized in a process like Jazz's 0.18-micron platform with RF, SiGe, and high-voltage extensions," said Joanne Itow, managing director, Semiconductor Partners, LLC. "Jazz's well regarded design enablement kits facilitate increased creativity for analog designers with their wide variety of specialized process features."
"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. "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."
About Jazz Semiconductor
Jazz Semiconductor®, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jazz Technologies,
Inc. (AMEX: JAZ), is the leading independent wafer foundry focused
on analog-intensive mixed-signal (AIMS) CMOS process technologies.
The company's broad product portfolio includes RFCMOS and specialty
CMOS technologies, such as SiGe BiCMOS and High Voltage CMOS. These
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. 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," "create" "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 http://www.sec.gov.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made.
Jazz Technologies assumes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements.
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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