Anadigics eyes integration, nets Samsung order
RF chip and module manufacturer Anadigics says that it is leading the industry movement towards greater GaAs device integration.
The Warren, NJ, company says that the convergence of cellular handsets and broadband wireless access is ushering in a need for increased device integration at the chip level.
And Anadigics says that it can now integrate both HBTs and PHEMTs on the same InGaP/GaAs die, a technology that should lead to longer talk-times for wireless terminals.
While Anadigics believes that it is the first company to develop and implement into volume production a commercially-viable HBT/PHEMT process, other GaAs manufacturers such as TriQuint Semiconductor and Agilent Technologies are pursuing other integration paths (see related stories).
Ultimately, all of these integration strategies should result in smaller RF devices, components and modules offering greater functionality to suppliers of all kinds of wireless terminals.
This kind of development is regarded as critical for GaAs manufacturers to meet the needs of their key customers in the wireless communications industry, and to boost profit margins as annual price erosion of up to 20% continues to affect existing products.
Anadigics says that it has also received a production order for GSM/GPRS power amplifiers (PAs) from Samsung, the Korean company that is the world's third-biggest supplier of cellphone handsets.
Samsung is set to use Anadigics' AWT6166 quad-band PA, which measures just 6mm x 6mm, in several of its new handset models.
