INFINEON TECH AND SANYO ELEC SIGN ALLIANCE ON RF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES.

Infineon Technologies AG and Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. will cooperate on the production of ultra high-frequency (RF) devices. Under the terms of this agreement Infineon will supply high end SIEGET RF transistor chips to Sanyo. Using these chips, Sanyo will start production of leadless ECSP (Environmentally-considered Chip Scale Packages) for Infineon. At the same time, Infineon and Sanyo will commence marketing Infineon RF transistor chips in ECSP package under their own brands.

Sanyo's leadless ECSP package with dimensions of only 1.0mm x 0.6mm x 0.48mm together with Infineon's superior SIEGET RF transistor chips (fT = 45 GHz) are ideal components for all wireless applications. By addressing the specific requirements of higher operating frequencies, reduced power consumption and space saving packaging, Infineon's RF transistors using Sanyo's ECSP technology provide a perfect basis for future mobile communication and wireless internet standards such as 2.5G, 3G, and Hyper LAN. These devices are targeted to be used as low noise amplifiers (LNA), driver amplifiers, buffer amplifiers and RF transistors for voltage controlled oscillators (VCO). The agreement combines the strengths of Infineon and Sanyo on RF chip design, manufacturing and packaging.

The alliance of Sanyo and Infineon brings together ECSP and industry-leading high-frequency discrete device technologies possessed by the respective companies, marking a significant move for both companies and enabling them to offer a wider lineup of competitive products to the growing mobile communications equipment market. Sanyo and Infineon will continue to expand their ultra-high-frequency product lines while ensuring a stable product supply.

The mobile communications market, which largely revolves around wireless telephony, has continued its significant growth due to advances in mobile communications equipment through data communication capability, multimedia features, high performance, and multi-functions as well as the compact size, thin dimensions, and light weight of individual units. Miniaturization of the chips, primarily LSIs, in these mobile devices is being promoted aggressively. At the same time, demand has been growing for units of even higher performance, smaller size, thinner dimensions, and lighter weight in module components incorporating high-frequency discrete devices.

In December 1998, Sanyo developed the world's smallest and thinnest leadless transistor package based on an original ECSP concept. This ECSP uses no lead by virtue of its leadless structure, and also reduces resin waste to less than 1/30 of Sanyo's previous products in the packaging process. Sanyo hopes to establish its ECSP as a global standard for environmentally friendly transistor packages.

Infineon is a pioneer in the field of high-frequency transistors. In 1994, the company was the first to commercialize the SIEGET 25 family of ultra-high-frequency transistors with a cut-off frequency (fT) of 25 GHz. In 1999, Infineon successfully developed and launched the SIEGET 45, the world's highest-performance silicon bipolar transistor with a cut-off frequency of 45 GHz. The company is currently promoting the SIEGET 45 as well as the SIEGET 25 line in the mobile communications equipment market. The success of these products has established Infineon as one of the leading manufacturer of high-frequency transistors (fT of 1 GHz and above).