Peregrine Semiconductor UltraCMOS Technology Tops 13 GHz; PE9308 Rad-hard Prescaler is first-ever CMOS device to operate in X and Ku Band.

SAN DIEGO -- Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, a supplier of the industry's most advanced RF CMOS and mixed-signal communications ICs, today announced that its leading-edge UltraCMOS(TM) process technology is producing products that now reach 13.2 GHz, a speed level never-before attained by traditional CMOS processes. The PE9308 Rad-hard Prescaler, designed for space, high-performance military and infrastructure applications, is the first CMOS device to operate in X and Ku Band, showcasing the UltraCMOS speed advantage.

"UltraCMOS(TM) technology has broken the speed barrier long associated with traditional CMOS processes," commented Jim Cable, president and chief executive officer of Peregrine. "This new Peregrine Prescaler delivers industry-leading RF performance at X or Ku Band on CMOS -- it's an extraordinary solution for our customers, and a price/performance benchmark our competitors simply cannot match," he added.

The PE9308 also reaches an ultra-low-power milestone, operating at 25mA (typ.) @ 2.5V -- which is about 1/10th the power of an equivalent GaAs device -- yet delivers decidedly superior rad-hard performance, including fixed divide ratio of 4; low SSB phase noise; immunity to Single Event Latchup (SEL); Single-event Upset (SEU) of less than 10E-9 errors/bit-day; and tolerance total dose radiation of 100 Krads (Si). Additionally, output frequency can be fed directly into Peregrine's complete line of PLLs, offering a complete frequency synthesis capability, from DC to Ku band, entirely from the Peregrine portfolio. This reduces purchasing and vendor management for all frequency synthesis designs.

"We are pleased to work with Peregrine Semiconductor to push UltraCMOS technology to Ku band. This dramatically expands our ability to utilize the low power and integration advantages of Peregrine products," said Massimo Comparini, CTO of Italy-based Alenia Spazio, one of the largest space industry developers in Europe.

Evaluation Kits support development with the devices, and UltraCMOS technology tutorials are available from Peregrine on its website at www.psemi.com. The PE9308 is offered in the 8-lead Formed Flat Pack or die, and is in production now. Pricing is available per customer specifications by contacting Peregrine at [e-mail].

About Peregrine Semiconductor and UltraCMOS(TM) Technology

Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets high-performance communications ICs for the wireless infrastructure and mobile wireless; broadband communications; space, defense and avionics markets. Manufactured on the Company's proprietary UltraCMOS(TM) mixed-signal process technology, Peregrine products are uniquely poised to meet the needs of a global RF design community in high-growth applications such as WCDMA and GSM digital cellular, broadband, DTV, DVR and rad-hard space and defense programs. The UltraCMOS technology is a patented variation of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, and is the first commercially qualified use of Ultra-Thin-Silicon (UTSi(R)) on sapphire substrates with high yields and competitive costs. Peregrine 0.25um and 0.5um UltraCMOS devices are manufactured in its 6" CMOS facility located in Sydney, Australia and in Hachioji, Japan through an alliance with OKI Electric Industry Co., Ltd. The Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, maintains global sales support operations and a worldwide technical distribution network. Additional information is available on the web at psemi.com.

The Peregrine Semiconductor name, logo and UTSi are registered trademarks and UltraCMOS is a trademark of Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.