Infineon Introduces Two New RF-Chips for LTE and 3G - SMARTi LU for Highest Data Rates with LTE and SMARTi UEmicro for Lowest Cost 3G Devices

Jan 14, 2009 | Market News

Neubiberg, Germany – January 14, 2009 – Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX) today announced it has sampled its 2nd Generation Long-Term-Evolution (LTE) RF transceiver. The SMARTi™ LU is a single-chip 65nm CMOS RF transceiver providing 2G/3G/LTE functionality with a DigRF digital Baseband interface for highest Data Rates up to 150 Mbps in LTE Networks.

Additionally Infineon announced the 3rd Generation of its successful 3G RF transceiver family, SMARTi™ UE. The SMARTi™ UEmicro is optimized for lowest cost 3G designs and enables an RF-system e-BoM for Dual Band WCDMA/EDGE as low as 6.50 US-dollars. That’s about 40 per cent lower than available solutions on the market.

“With the world’s first single chip 2G/3G/LTE RF transceiver, SMARTi LU, we once again demonstrate our leadership in providing high performance, multi-mode RF transceiver solutions”, says Stefan Wolff, Vice President of the Wireless Solutions Division and General Manager of the RF Engine business at Infineon. “In addition to being the innovation leader for LTE RF, we are also addressing the need for lowest cost 3G mobiles for the mass market by further reducing component count and system cost with SMARTi UEmicro. Meeting the ambitious cost targets of the consumer segment will fuel the commercial roll out of 3G technology to emerging markets.”

SMARTi™ LU

SMARTi LU is a highly integrated 2G/3G/LTE multi-mode RF transceiver compliant to 3GPP Rel.7 and Rel.8. It supports up to six 3G and LTE Bands simultaneously with Quad Band GSM/EDGE. Its long feature list includes LTE FDD class 4 (up to 150 Mbps downlink, 50 Mbps uplink) MIMO Rx diversity (2Rx + 1Tx), HSPA+, HSPA, WCDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE. The device is supporting the global spread of HSPA/LTE spectrum throughout a wide variety of bands. With its MIPI DigRF v4 compliant high-speed digital Baseband interface, SMARTi LU sets a milestone towards “all digital” implementation and enables the silicon intensive baseband chips to follow a faster shrink path towards smaller technology nodes such as 32nm and below. SMARTi LU is based on a standard 65nm CMOS technology provided by multiple semiconductor foundries.

Samples and measurement results will be shown at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

SMARTi™ UEmicro

The SMARTi UEmicro is a single chip 2G/3G CMOS RF transceiver for the low end segment of the 3G market. It is a cost down version of the proven and widely adopted SMARTi UE with a backward compatible hard- and software interface via DigRF v3.09. With the elimination of external Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA’s) and a simplified co-banded RF frontend without Rx filters SMARTi UEmicro is perfectly matching the mass market requirements for ultra low cost 3G handsets. SMARTi UEmicro delivers exceptional RF performance for up to three of the globally used WCDMA bands plus Dual- or Quad-Band GSM/EDGE at lowest system cost. Customer sampling will start beginning of 2nd quarter 2009, mass production is planned for end of 2009.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG, Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy efficiency, communications, and security. In the 2008 fiscal year (ending September), the company reported sales of Euro 4.3 billion with approximately 29,100 employees worldwide. With a global presence, Infineon operates through its subsidiaries in the U.S. from Milpitas, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore, and in Japan from Tokyo. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Infineon currently holds a 77.5 percent equity interest in Qimonda AG, a leading supplier of DRAM memory products. Qimonda is separately listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “QI”.

Information Number

INFWLS200901.024

Press Photos

  • SMARTi(tm) LU is a single-chip 65nm CMOS RF transceiver and Infineon's second generation LTE chip. It underlines once again Infineons leading position for high performance, multi-mode RF transceiver solutions.
    SMARTi(tm) LU is a single-chip 65nm CMOS RF transceiver and Infineon's second generation LTE chip. It underlines once again Infineons leading position for high performance, multi-mode RF transceiver solutions.
    SMARTi_LU

    JPG | 1.3 mb | 2126 x 1595 px