Freescale Broadens RF Power Transistor Options for WiMAX Base Stations; Wireless Infrastructure Industry's First LDMOS Transistors Designed to Meet Stringent WiMAX Demands Up To 3.8 GHz

SAN DIEGO--Jan. 1, 20067, 2006--With its seventh-generation high-voltage (HV7) RF LDMOS technology, Freescale Semiconductor has achieved the RF power amplifier performance required for use in WiMAX base stations operating in the 3.5 GHz band. Freescale's achievement marks the first time RF Laterally Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor (LDMOS) technology from any manufacturer has met these challenges.

Freescale, which already offers a portfolio of 12V GaAs Pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor (PHEMT) products, plans to continue development of high-voltage GaAs PHEMT technology that will result in higher-power GaAs devices for use in WiMAX system designs, as well as other applications between 2 GHz and 6 GHz.

By offering power transistors in RF LDMOS and GaAs PHEMT technology, Freescale's RF solutions support virtually any high-power wireless infrastructure application -- with LDMOS performance up to 3.8 GHz and GaAs PHEMT performance up to 6 GHz.

"With the latest advancements in our HV7 RF LDMOS technology, Freescale is well positioned to serve the future of WiMAX and other high-frequency markets," said Gavin P. Woods, vice president and general manager of Freescale's RF Division. "Our high-voltage GaAs technology developments will continue to provide the highest level of efficiency of any competitive products in the marketplace, while extending our infrastructure presence to 6 GHz."

WiMAX: Stringent Demands

WiMAX systems use a 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signal. QAM OFDM signaling presents some unique challenges to the power amplifier designer. RF power transistor linearity in back-off is critical, not only in its spectral form with mask requirements, but also in its quadrature form with the EVM (Error Vector Magnitude) requirement. Prior to this announcement, silicon LDMOS technology did not provide an acceptable level of RF power performance at 3.5 GHz. This meant that compound semiconductor devices, such as GaAs PHEMTs, were the only choice available for designers. Freescale's advanced 3.5 GHz HV7 LDMOS devices now offer the efficiency, linearity and EVM performance required by WiMAX systems, providing designers with a choice between compound semiconductors and silicon LDMOS.

HV7 RF LDMOS availability

Samples of the initial 3.5 GHz LDMOS device are available now. The MRF7S38075H is a 75 Watt P1dB RF transistor capable of 42dBm (16W) average power while meeting WiMAX performance requirements over the 3.5 GHz band. In addition, samples of 40W and 10W P1dB 3.5 GHz devices are expected in February 2006. These three advanced LDMOS devices round out Freescale's existing portfolio of RF power transistors targeting the emerging WiMAX/WiBRO bands at 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5 GHz.

High-voltage GaAs Availability

While advanced HV7 LDMOS devices complement 12V GaAs PHEMT devices for 3.5 GHz WiMAX applications, the new high-voltage GaAs devices currently under development will operate up to 6 GHz. This makes them an excellent choice for WiMAX and other wireless applications operating in this frequency range. With an operating voltage above 20V, the GaAs devices will achieve output powers as high as 100W while still meeting the stringent demands of digitally-modulated systems.

Samples of Freescale's first high-voltage GaAs PHEMTs are expected to be available in Q3, 2006.

For further information on Freescale's latest RF Power devices for WiMAX, visit www.freescale.com/rf.

About Freescale Semiconductor

Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale became a publicly traded company in July 2004 after more than 50 years as part of Motorola, Inc. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale, a member of the S&P 500(R), is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies, with 2004 sales of $5.7 billion (USD). www.freescale.com

Freescale(TM) and the Freescale logo are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. (C) Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. 2006.