Amkor's MicroLeadFrame Near Chip-Scale IC Package Lends Small Footprint, Top RF Performance to Silicon Wave's Single-Chip Bluetooth Radio-to-Baseband IC.

CHANDLER, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 13, 1999--

What are expected to be the first wireless products to incorporate the Bluetooth standard for small form-factor, low-cost, short-range radio links between mobile PCs, mobile phones and other portable devices will take advantage of the latest advance in semiconductor packaging. Amkor Technology (NASDAQ: AMKR) and Silicon Wave, Inc. today announced that Silicon Wave's radio modem controller (RMC(TM)) products for Bluetooth wireless communications will be packaged in Amkor's near chip-scale MicroLeadFrame (MLF(TM)) packages.

Thanks to its flush leads, the 68-pin, 10-mm by 10- mm MLF package that will be used for Silicon Wave's RMC product family has a footprint 73 percent smaller than a conventional 64-lead thin shrink small-outline package (TSSOP), and has roughly half the parasitic lead inductance. Lower parasitics lead to improved RF performance, which is critically important at the Bluetooth specification's 2.4-GHz operating frequency. The MLF package also has a lower manufacturing cost than a conventional TSSOP. Due to its size, assembly cost, and RF characteristics, the MLF package has become the most rapidly adopted RF package type in the cellular telephone industry.

"Innovative companies pursuing leading-edge technologies, such as Silicon Wave, are often leaders in the rapid implementation of packaging advances as well. The combination of Silicon Wave's RMC silicon and Amkor's MLF package will bring practical Bluetooth hardware to consumers ahead of the industry's most optimistic predictions," said Terry Davis, Product Manager Advanced Leadframe packages.

"It takes a marriage of Amkor's industry leadership in packaging and Silicon Wave's leadership in silicon integration to deliver Bluetooth technology in a single, small footprint component," said Dave Lyon, Silicon Wave Chairman and CEO. "The characteristics of Amkor's MLF package are perfectly suited to the integration of RF, synthesizer, and logic functions on single-chip silicon."

Silicon Wave's RMC product family uses an innovative approach to radio design that utilizes a Silicon On Insulator (SOI) BiCMOS process technology to deliver significant advantages in size, performance and power consumption. These are critical factors in the design and integration of Bluetooth-enabled wireless components. The Bluetooth standard, endorsed by the 1000+-member Bluetooth special interest group (SIG), was created to provide for interoperability between products in the 2.4-GHz unlicensed band. Adherence to the standard is expected to result in lower prices for consumers, as products such as Silicon Wave's RMC chip are employed by multiple manufacturers in an array of diversified offerings.

About Silicon Wave

San Diego based Silicon Wave, Inc. develops and manufactures RF-enabled system-on-chip solutions for use in wireless and wireline broadband communications systems and products. The venture-backed startup, founded in mid-1997, has assembled a seasoned, multi-talented design team that takes a system-level approach to IC design. www.siliconwave.com

About Amkor Technology

Amkor is the world's largest provider of contract semiconductor packaging and test services. The company offers a complete set of services including deep submicron wafer fabrication, wafer probe testing, IC packaging assembly and design, final testing, burn-in, characterization and reliability testing. More information on Amkor is available from the company's SEC filings and on Amkor's web site, http://www.amkor.com.