Infineon Makes ‘First Call’ with Revolutionary Single-chip EDGE Phone Solution: S-GOLDradio offers best integration and lowest bill of materials for feature-rich EDGE handsets

Munich, Germany, February, 08, 2007 - Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX), a leading provider of communication ICs, today announced that its S-GOLD®radio, a revolutionary single chip solution for EDGE mobile phones, has been used to make phone calls on a GSM/EDGE network.  S-GOLDradio includes a monolithically integrated baseband controller, RF transceiver and power management unit in one package to create the industry’s smallest footprint EDGE solution.  The S-GOLDradio reduces system component count by 15 percent, the modem printed circuit board (PCB) area by as much as 20 percent and the overall engineering bill-of-material (eBOM) by up to 30 percent.  Despite its small size, this application-enhanced modem supports comprehensive multimedia features, including video and audio playback and recording, video streaming, dual color display, camera modules and enhanced security features with no need for an external application processor.

 

S-GOLDradio powers the Infineon MP-Elite (Multimedia Platform – EDGE lite), which targets a wide range of EDGE phones and enables design of a complete feature-rich 2.75G phone with the lowest semiconductor costs in the smallest form factor.  The Infineon MP-Elite builds on the success of the company’s MP-E platform, which is currently shipping in various handsets from LG-Electronics.  The MP-Elite extends the benefits of the MP-E platform by offering a maximized level of integration, lowest cost-of-ownership, small footprint and low power consumption.

 

The Infineon EDGE MP-E solution was recently named “best-in-class” in terms of integration and price in a report issued by ABN AMRO Bank NV.  The report, which also compared Infineon’s EDGE solution with those of six other semiconductor suppliers also states, “Infineon is the only company in the market capable of delivering a full EDGE platform using the lower-cost CMOS process for the RF transceiver chip.  Infineon’s technical lead should continue into the 3G chipset market, with in particular the only single-chip HSDPA/EDGE CMOS RF solution on the market.” (ABM AMRO Bank NV, A comparison of EDGE platforms, Nov. 2006).

 

“The S-GOLDradio is yet another outstanding achievement of our experienced research and development teams,” said Prof. Dr. Hermann Eul, Executive Vice President and member of the Infineon Management Board and President of the Communication Solutions business group.  “Leveraging our proven strengths in monolithic integration of CMOS RF and baseband, we are now able to further minimize the complexity of handling multi-band RF on our customers’ handsets, helping them gain superior cost position and achieve faster time-to-market.  Our recent successes in the GSM/EDGE/UMTS markets are attributed to our ability to provide complete hardware/software solutions and our continuous higher integration level.  The single-chip EDGE solution is one step farther towards a single-chip UMTS solution.”

 

Availability

 

Samples of the S-GOLDradio are available now, with production scheduled to begin in Q2 2007.

 

About the Infineon S-GOLDradio and MP-Elite

 

The Infineon S-GOLDradio (PMB8888) is the world’s smallest single-chip EGPRS/GPRS/GSM controller providing all baseband, RF, and power management functions for feature-rich mobile phones.  It features the CMOS baseband solution, the S-GOLD2 and a CMOS RF solution, the SMARTi-PM, both monolithically integrated.  In addition the S-GOLDradio incorporates the Infineon power management unit, the SM-Power.  The chip offers additionally packaging option for phones with lowest footprint requirements.  Full support for mainstream multimedia features such as still picture up to 2 MPixel, video streaming and video playback/record is offered without the need for additional hardware.

 

The Infineon MP-Elite EDGE phone platform reuses the mature components and system design of the field proven Infineon MP-E solution.  In addition to the above hardware components, the platform offering also includes the necessary software components provided by Infineon’s wholly owned subsidiary Comneon.  All components and modules are currently ready for mass production.  For further information please visit our website at: www.infineon.com/sgoldradio.

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions addressing three central challenges to modern society including energy efficiency, mobility and security.  In fiscal year 2006 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 7.9 billion (including Qimonda sales of Euro 3.8 billion) with approximately 42,000 employees worldwide (including approximately 12,000 Qimonda employees).  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. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.