Skyworks Solutions has announced a new EDGE radio chipset called the Helios II-Plus EDGE which promises to reduce the amount of radio frequency board space by 25 percent when compared to the previous Helio design. What does this mean for handset providers? Ever smaller handsets with less complexity, lower power consumptions and lower manufacturing costs. ! First Samsung announces smaller CMOS Imaging Sensors, and now Skyworks announces smaller radio chipsets. This all bolds well for people looking for smaller and smaller phones.
The new Helios II-Plus EDGE consists of two compact devices that deliver EDGE RF functionality. The two pieces are the SKY74138 RF Transceiver and the SKY77523 Tx/Rx FEM. I won’t go into the full details on these pieces – you can read the press release below if you want additional details.. but suffice it say – this chipset (if used) means smaller handset designs or handsets which come with even more features as a result.
Skyworks is sampling the chipset now and is pricing them at $5.00 a piece in quantities of 10,000. Volume production should begin during the first quarter of 2007.
Skyworks Introduces Helios(TM) II-Plus EDGE Radio
Ultra Compact RF Solution Ideal for Next-Generation, Quad Band, Multimedia Handsets; Positions Skyworks for Further Market Share Gains at Samsung and Others
WOBURN, Mass. –(Business Wire)– Dec. 20, 2006 Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWKS), an innovator of high performance analog and mixed signal semiconductors enabling mobile connectivity, today unveiled its Helios(TM) II-Plus EDGE radio. Given its high level of integration and robust performance, Helios(TM) II-Plus is ideal for manufacturers developing next-generation quad band handsets incorporating advanced multimedia features such as DVB-H, FM radios, MP3 players, digital cameras, and Web browsing. Helios(TM) II-Plus reduces radio frequency (RF) board space by an additional 25 percent when compared to the company’s previous Helios(TM) design. Skyworks’ radio solution also interfaces with virtually any analog baseband and radically simplifies factory calibration, allowing OEMs to substantially increase production throughput. In addition, Helios(TM) II-Plus surpasses GSM and EDGE specifications under a variety of real-world conditions such as extreme temperature, low-battery voltage and antenna mismatch. Most importantly, Helios(TM) II-Plus enables increased user talk times by exceeding transmitted radiated power (TRP) specifications for improved current consumption.
“Helios(TM) II-Plus demonstrates Skyworks’ unique ability to push the RF integration envelope,” said Brian M. Daly, vice president of marketing for Skyworks. “Our ultra-compact RF transceiver coupled with our highly efficient front-end module, is enabling entirely new levels of handset performance while at the same time extending consumer talk times. With our broad technological capabilities and support for all tier-one handset OEMs, we are well positioned for further share gains as an increasing number of Helios(TM)-based multimedia handsets come to market from Samsung and others.”
About Helios(TM) II-Plus
Helios(TM) II-Plus condenses EDGE RF functionality into two compact devices:
SKY74138 RF Transceiver
The SKY74138 RF transceiver is a highly integrated device for multi-band GSM, GPRS and EDGE applications. The receive path implements Skyworks’ direct conversion architecture, consisting of four integrated low noise amplifiers (LNAs), a quadrature demodulator and selectable baseband filter. Similar to its predecessors, the transmitter path uses Skyworks’ proprietary closed Polar Loop(TM) EDGE architecture. This enables the highly integrated device to be combined with virtually any standard GSM/EGPRS baseband without requiring any special processing interfaces.
SKY77523 Tx/Rx FEM
The SKY77523 is a transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) front-end module (FEM) with integrated coupler for quad band GSM and EDGE applications. In addition, a CMOS integrated circuit provides the internal PAC function, interface circuitry, and decoder circuitry to control the RF switches.
Together, feedback signals from the SKY74138 and SKY77523 form an integral part of Skyworks’ Polar Loop(TM) transmit architecture, which automatically adjusts amplitude and phase, providing very robust performances of the radio system, and not relying on blind corrections of the power amplifier (PA) process variation like other EDGE transmit architectures.
Pricing and Availability
Helios(TM) II-Plus is sampling today and is priced at $5.00 for quantities of 10,000. Volume production is scheduled to commence in the first calendar quarter of 2007.
About Skyworks
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. is an innovator of high performance analog and mixed signal semiconductors enabling mobile connectivity. The company’s power amplifiers, front-end modules and direct conversion transceivers are at the heart of many of today’s leading-edge multimedia handsets. Leveraging core technologies, Skyworks also offers a diverse portfolio of linear products that support automotive, broadband, cellular infrastructure, industrial and medical applications.
Headquartered in Woburn, Mass., Skyworks is worldwide with engineering, manufacturing, sales and service facilities throughout Asia, Europe and North America. For more information, please visit Skyworks’ Web site at http://www.skyworksinc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release includes “forward-looking statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include information relating to future results and expectations of Skyworks (including certain projections and business trends). Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “believes”, “plans”, “may”, “will”, “continue”, similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. All such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those projected, and may affect our future operating results, financial position and cash flows.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: global economic and market conditions, such as the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and the markets addressed by our, and our customers’, products; our ability to develop, manufacture and market innovative products in a highly price competitive and rapidly changing technological environment; fluctuations in our manufacturing yields due to our complex and specialized manufacturing processes; fluctuations in the manufacturing yields of our third party semiconductor foundries and other problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products; the availability and pricing of third party semiconductor foundry, assembly and test capacity and raw materials; our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and evolving industry standards, and to identify opportunities in new markets; our ability to rapidly develop new products and avoid product obsolescence; our ability to retain, recruit and hire key executives, technical personnel and other employees in the positions and numbers, with the experience and capabilities, and at the compensation levels needed to implement our business and product plans; lengthy product development cycles that impact the timing of new product introductions; losses or curtailments of purchases or payments from key customers, or the timing of customer inventory adjustments; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage inventory; our reliance on a several key customers for a large percentage of our sales; unfavorable changes in product mix; the quality of our products and any remediation costs; shorter than expected product life cycles; problems or delays that we may face in shifting our products to smaller geometry process technologies and in achieving higher levels of design integration; economic, social and political conditions in the countries in which we, our customers or our suppliers operate, including security and health risks, possible disruptions in transportation networks and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; our ability to continue to grow and maintain an intellectual property portfolio and obtain needed licenses from third parties; and the uncertainties of litigation, including disputes over intellectual property, as well as other risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Skyworks, Skyworks Solutions and Helios are trademarks or registered trademarks of Skyworks Solutions, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other brands and names listed are trademarks of their respective companies.
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. Media Relations: Amanda Ingalls, 949-231-3045 Investor Relations: Thomas Schiller, 949-231-4700
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