Infineon to Enter Ultra-Wideband Market with Industry’s First Dual-Band RF-CMOS Transceiver Core - Paving the Way for the Converged Entertainment Cell Phone

Munich, Germany, July 19, 2006 -- Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX), a leading provider of communication chips, today announced successful tape-out of a dual-band UWB (Ultra-Wideband) Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver core. Based on the company’s proven low-power CMOS process, this breakthrough paves the way toward fully integrated high-speed communications system-on-chip solutions optimized for mobile devices, such as cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), camcorders, digital cameras and MP3 players. According to market analyst IMS Research, some 120 million mobile phones will be equipped with UWB in the year 2010 alone. UWB will add high-speed data transmission for multimedia applications to future cell phones, and accelerate convergence as well as mobility.

 

The dual-band UWB RF-CMOS transceiver core supports both the 3 GHz-to-5 GHz frequency band and the above-6 GHz band up to 9 GHz, as defined in the WiMedia band plan. It is ideally suited for both Certified WirelessUSB and Bluetooth-over-WiMedia Ultra-Wideband systems, and will be an essential component for UWB system manufacturers to enable such applications as wireless video streaming, picture download and file transfer at speeds up to 480 Mbps. In addition to applications in mobile devices, the UWB RF-CMOS transceiver technology is also suitable for PCs, printers, DVD drives, TV sets, and other consumer electronic devices.

 

The UWB RF transceiver core is based on Infineon’s market-leading RF technology, which has resulted in more than 200 million RF chips being shipped by Infineon in 2005 alone. Fabricated using the company’s proven 90nm CMOS process, the UWB transceiver makes for compact, low-power designs that are ideal for mobile handset applications. Since it supports both the high- and low-frequency bands of the WiMedia band plan, Infineon’s RF UWB transceiver supports all regulatory requirements world wide, allowing manufacturers of mobile devices, PCs and PC peripherals, and CE equipment to design universal UWB devices capable of world-wide operation. Another category of applications for the new technology is connectivity of PCs to peripherals, such as mobile devices, printers and TV sets, via high-speed wireless connection.

 

“We see a strong demand in the industry for UWB solutions working in the above-6 GHz frequency range, as this will enable real-life multimedia applications which can operate world-wide. Our RF-CMOS transceiver implementation is a major step toward a single-chip UWB solution, and will enable our customers to develop cost-effective, low-power platforms meeting market needs,” said Thomas Pollakowski, Vice President and General Manager of the Connectivity Business Unit at Infineon.

 

“Infineon is taking a big step toward integrating UWB into mobile handsets with its low-power CMOS technology and support for frequencies above 6 GHz,” said Fiona Thomson, market research analyst, IMS Research. “Mobile phones are quickly becoming portable entertainment consoles with higher resolutions, extended memory and support for audio and video streaming. What they currently lack is the technology to share megabytes of content, to download it to PCs or play it on TV sets. With UWB, these converged applications become a reality.”

 

Infineon plans to have a single-chip CMOS UWB device, including MAC, PHY and RF transceiver, based on WiMedia UWB specifications ready by mid-2007.

 

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Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for automotive, industrial and multimarket sectors, for applications in communication, as well as memory products through its subsidiary Qimonda. With a global presence, Infineon operates through its subsidiaries in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2005 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 6.76 billion with about 36,400 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. Further information on Qimonda is available at www.qimonda.com.