TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR’S NEW HV-HBT TRANSISTORS CAN LOWER COSTS OF 3G/4G MOBILE
INFRASTRUCTURE
New 2-Stage HBT Products Provide Complete RF Solution When Paired
With TriQuint’s High Power HV-HBT Family
HILLSBORO, OR & ATLANTA, GA (USA) – June 18, 2008 – TriQuint
Semiconductor (Nasdaq: TQNT), a leading RF semiconductor manufacturer
and foundry services provider, today announced the release of two new
HV-HBT (high voltage-heterojunction bipolar transistor) devices created
at TriQuint’s San Jose, CA design center, formerly WJ Communications1.
The highly efficient, highly linear devices expand TriQuint’s HV-HBT
portfolio, and when paired with TriQuint’s high power HBT devices,
provide a complete RF solution for 3G/4G high power amplifier (HPA)
mobile infrastructure designs. Greater amplifier efficiency can enable
lower initial base station costs, lower power consumption and lower
operating costs.
“An important customer advantage of the recent WJ Communications
acquisition is the ability of the companies’ portfolios to complement
each other,” remarked TriQuint Product Marketing Director, Dan Green.
“WJ’s device line-up complements our base station portfolio very well.
WJ’s expertise in InGaP HBT technology and the new devices’ excellent
linearity, paired with TriQuint’s high power, highly efficient and
highly linear HBT devices offer a complete RF transistor solution.”
The role of highly efficient, highly linear RF transistors in base
station amplifier design is critical to enabling network operators’
plans for meeting 3G / 4G service demands, Mr. Green noted.
“GSM system amplifiers (2G) don’t require linear operation, and their
efficiencies were much higher because of this fact. But next-generation
3G/4G systems demand linearity and efficiency, so technology that was
well-suited to older network systems suffered a setback when deployed in
WCDMA or other next-generation platforms. Consequently, early 3G network
operators saw dramatic increases in operational expenses (OpEx) due to
the loss of efficiency, so they sought solutions. The more highly
efficient and linear nature of HV-HBT products from TriQuint provide the
right solution at the right time,” said Mr. Green.
A typical RF section in a base station radio is made up of three areas
known as the pre-driver, driver and output stages. The relatively low
power HBT devices released today by TriQuint are ideally suited as
pre-drivers and drivers. TriQuint released its first generation of high
power HV-HBT devices in October of 2007. These products serve the driver
and output stages and provide exceptionally high efficiency and
linearity. When paired with devices like TriQuint’s new AP631 and AP632
a complete RF solution is achieved.
“Efficiency at the driver and output stages is especially critical since
these components have the greatest impact on minimizing electrical
consumption, and play a significant role in reducing the waste heat
generated in the RF section of an amplifier,” explained Mr. Green.
“Because our high power HV-HBT devices are so efficient, they generate
about half the waste heat of competing technology in WCDMA systems.
Cutting waste heat in half reduces electricity used by cooling systems
and also shrinks carbon footprints for network systems operators focused
on reducing global warming.”
The release of TriQuint’s new HBT devices comes at a time of continued
growth for highly linear RF transistors in the base station networks
market. According to EJL Wireless Research2, the growth in demand for 3G
and 4G base stations will result in a higher number of transceiver and
therefore power amplifier shipments in the next several years. This
research suggests that the 2008-2011 compound annual growth rate (CAGR)
for high linearity transceivers will be approximately 35.25%. These
systems require highly linear amplifiers, and TriQuint’s HV-HBT devices
provide this needed linearity with unprecedented levels of efficiency.
The new HV-HBT devices released today at the IEEE IMS MTT-S Convention
and Exhibition in Atlanta, GA (USA), integrate two stages into a single
package. This allows designers to reduce the number of discrete
amplifier components in a system. When used in a typical base station
HPA design, a 25% cost reduction and a PCB area savings of 12 square
centimeters can be achieved compared to designs using two separate
discrete amplifier stages.
The new amplifiers’ high linearity minimizes additional signal
distortion for repeater applications when used in final amplifier
stages, and reduces backoff power requirements to minimize distortion
from high PAR (peak to average ratio) signals in 3G/4G mobile base
stations. This translates into reduced overall system costs and improved
efficiency, which can lower HPA power consumption and improve OpEx
(operational expenditures) for multi-carrier 3G mobile infrastructures.
Samples of TriQuint’s new high dynamic range 2-stage 28V HBT amplifiers,
AP631 (4W) and AP632 (7W), will be available in July 2008 through
TriQuint’s global sales and distribution channels. Contact TriQuint
Product Marketing at: tuan.nguyen@tqs.com / +1 408 577 6318 or visit
www.triquint.com for details.
For a detailed list of TriQuint RF products including gallium arsenide (GaAs)
power amplifiers and transistors, LDMOS RF transistors, surface acoustic
wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters for wide-ranging
telecommunications applications, visit www.triquint.com. Register for
new product details and to receive our newsletter at
www.triquint.com/rf.
1 TriQuint completed its acquisition of WJ Communications on May 22,
2008.
2 ©2008 EJL Wireless Research, 4th Edition: “Global BTS Transceiver
Market Analysis and Forecast, 2007-2012”, April 2008.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (Nasdaq: TQNT) press release contains
forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are
cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties. The cautionary statements made in this press release
should be read as being applicable to all related statements wherever
they appear. Statements containing such words as ‘leading’,
‘exceptional’, ‘high efficiency’, ‘adding value’, ‘leading supplier’, or
similar terms are considered to contain uncertainty and are
forward-looking statements. A number of factors affect TriQuint’s
operating results and could cause its actual future results to differ
materially from any results indicated in this press release or in any
other forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, TriQuint
including, but not limited to: those associated with the
unpredictability and volatility of customer acceptance of and demand for
our products and technologies, the ability of our production facilities
and those of our vendors to meet demand, the ability of our production
facilities and those of our vendors to produce products with yields
sufficient to maintain profitability, as well as the other “Risk
Factors” set forth in TriQuint’s most recent 10-Q report filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. This and other reports can be found
on the SEC web site, www.sec.gov. A reader of this release should
understand that these and other risks could cause actual results to
differ materially from expectations expressed / implied in
forward-looking statements.
FACTS ABOUT TRIQUINT
Founded in 1985, we “Connect the Digital World to the Global Network”™
by supplying high-performance RF modules, components and foundry
services to the world's leading communications companies. Specifically,
TriQuint supplies products to four out of the top five cellular handset
manufacturers, and is a leading gallium arsenide (GaAs) supplier to
major defense and space contractors. TriQuint creates standard and
custom products using advanced processes that include gallium arsenide,
surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technologies to
serve diverse markets including wireless handsets, base stations,
broadband communications and military. TriQuint is also lead researcher
in a 3-year DARPA program to develop advanced gallium nitride (GaN)
amplifiers. TriQuint, as named by Strategy Analytics in August 2007, is
the number-three worldwide leader in GaAs devices and the world’s
largest commercial GaAs foundry. TriQuint has ISO9001 certified
manufacturing facilities in Oregon, Texas, and Florida and a production
plant in Costa Rica; design centers are located in North America and
Germany. Visit TriQuint at www.triquint.com/rf to register for our
newsletters.
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