Infineon Technologies Introduces Tiny, High-Efficiency Power Amplifiers for Bluetooth and Home RF Applications.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MUNICH, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 2000

Infineon Technologies (FSE:IFX)(NYSE:IFX)(DAX:IFNX) today introduced a tiny, high-efficiency power amplifier for Bluetooth(1), home radio frequency (RF), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) applications and WLAN applications compliant with the IEEE 802.11 standard. The power amplifier can operate at four power settings supporting long range, 100m (class 1), and short-range (class 2 and 3) Bluetooth applications.

Available now, the amplifier can be purchased in either a 10-pin Thin Shrink Small Outline Package (TSSOP), the CGB240, for use in applications where there are no size limitations such as stationary Bluetooth devices and in a flipchip die, the T628, for integration into Bluetooth modules, modems, and other applications with size limitations.

The chips are manufactured using Infineon's Indium Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (InGaP) Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT) process technology. Using this process Infineon is able to achieve improved RF performance and Power Added Efficiency (PAE), resulting in an extended battery life.

With four power output step settings, 23dBm, 17dBm, 12dBm, and 7dBm, achieved through analog voltage control adjustments, the power amplifiers achieve best in class performance at low current consumption for all four power steps. The CGB240, has shown excellent PAE values of 50% at 2400 megahertz (MHz). In class 3 mode (10m distance) the current consumption is less than 15mA at a supply voltage of 3.2V and an input power of 3dBm.

"Our advanced InGaP HBT process has proven reliability and achieves the high yield required for volume market applications, such as the emerging Bluetooth standard," said Dr. Ewald Pettenpaul, general manager and vice president of the Gallium Arsenide business unit at Infineon. "Our Bluetooth power amplifiers achieve the best RF performance compared to the competition for class 1 Bluetooth applications, further demonstrating our technological leadership and reinforcing our market position as a leading provider of advanced RF semiconductors for the telecommunications market."

Additional advantages of Infineon's power amplifiers are high harmonic suppression of greater than 30dBc for the packaged and 40dBc for the flipchip solution as well as low power output (Pout) -- variation versus supply voltage.

These power amplifiers and other Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) products are manufactured in Munich, Germany, in Infineon's six-inch GaAs wafer fab facility, which began production in September 2000. Both the CGB240 and T628 amplifiers are available for immediate shipment. Fully assembled evaluation boards are also available from Infineon.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor solutions for applications in the wireless and wired communications markets, for the automotive and industrial sectors, for security systems and chip cards as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 1999 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 4.24 billion (US $4.51 billion) with about 26,000 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.

This press release is available online at http://www.infineon.com/news.

(1) Bluetooth is a trademark owned by its proprietor and used by Infineon Technologies under license.