Wave Issue 0204 2/08/02 Article 4-01

***Infineon Announces World Record High Frequency Semiconductor
Results At IEEE Conference
(February 6)

This week at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits
Conference (ISSCC), Infineon Technologies announced several world
records in the field of high frequency communication IC's. The
company presented technical papers describing new performance
records for 0.12 um CMOS technology, including a static 25 GHz
frequency divider, a 25 Gbit/sec. Multiplexer and a 51 GHz VCO
(Voltage Controlled Oscillator), as well as record performance
achieved using SiGe (Silicon Germanium) process technology to
produce a 45 GHz frequency multiplier.

The technology developments reported by Infineon are the result
of advanced circuit design and fabrication process technology.
The resulting chips extend the continuing upward shift in the
frequency limits of CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor) and SiGe process technology. Infineon believes the
higher speeds will enable greater integration of functions on
single chips, and ultimately reduce costs for advanced
communications systems.

The papers presented at ISSCC describe how Infineon is
accelerating the replacement of the GaAs (Gallium Arsenide) and
InP (Indium Phosphide) chips now used in very high-speed data
communication systems with SiGe chips that are less costly, more
highly integrated and have greater bandwidth. The developments in
high frequency CMOS IC technology will make smaller, less costly
chips manufactured with this process suitable for applications
where SiGe chips are currently required.

The papers on high-speed communications presented are summarized
below. The first production-level products based on Infineon's
pioneering research results are expected by the beginning of
2003.

25 GHz Static Frequency Divider and 25 Gb/s Multiplexer using
0.12 um CMOS technology

Frequency dividers are basic key components for frequency
synthesis as well as clock and data recovery in high-speed data
communication systems. Data multiplexers are used to combine
several serial data streams into a single high-speed data stream.
In the past, most of these functions were realized using BiCMOS
or III V technology because of the faster speed that could be
achieved. However, CMOS solutions are much more economical
because of the lower production costs, higher yield and greater
chip density that can be achieved. The Infineon researchers set
out to design circuits that fully exploited the speed potential
of a 0.12 um standard CMOS process. The results of these attempts
are the record-breaking 2:1 static frequency divider's maximum
operating frequency of 25 GHz and the 2:1 multiplexer's maximum
throughput of 25 Gbit/s. This record benchmark performance opens
up new avenues in high-speed CMOS system integration.

Fully integrated 51 GHz VCO with 1V and 1mW using standard CMOS
Technology

Modern data communication systems operate at throughput of around
40 Gbit/sec, and the industry is working to achieve values in
excess of 80 Gbit/sec. This very high throughput can only be
achieved using IC's based on materials such as InP, GaAs and
SiGe. To date, low-cost, highly integrated CMOS IC's have been
announced for throughput of up to 10 Gb/sec. Researchers at
Infineon have now succeeded in producing a voltage-controlled
oscillator (VCO), one of the most critical elements in a data
communication system, using Infineon's 0.12 um standard CMOS
process. This chip has an integrated inductor and operates at the
record CMOS frequency of 51 GHz. It also has the world's lowest
power consumption of 1 mW with a 1 V supply voltage. These
results break new ground in the development of high-throughput
system-on-a-chip IC's based on CMOS.

45 GHz SiGe Active Frequency Multiplier

Frequency multipliers handle frequency conversion in
communication systems. The 45 GHz of the SiGe active frequency
quadrupler developed by Infineon represents the highest frequency
ever reported using silicon technology. It is a low-cost,
powerful alternative to conventional GaAs and InP frequency
quadruplers. The SiGe quadrupler has a bandwidth of 3 dB between
24 and 45 GHz, a new record for CMOS, and a maximum gain of +7.3
dB achieved at 44 GHz.

Future application areas for this record-breaking multiplier
include wireless broadband services such as the 28 and 38 GHz
American Local Multipoint Distribution Systems (LMDS), the 42 GHz
European Microwave Video Distribution System (MVDS), 40.5 GHz
satellite communications and 24 to 45 GHz point-to-point
microwave telecommunication systems and radio relay systems.

www.infineon.com