News Article
Skyworks begins volume shipments of GaAs ICs to Siemens Healthcare
The analogue control ICs, some of which incorporate gallium arsenide, enable MRI scanners; Skyworks is capitalising on the increasing RF content required in the medical market.
Skyworks Solutions, an innovator of high reliability analogue and mixed signal semiconductors enabling a broad range of end markets, has begun volume shipments of analogue control switches to Siemens Healthcare for their state-of-the-art MAGNETOM magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners.
Skyworks’ devices allow Siemens to manufacture scanning equipment that is 50 percent more productive and easier for medical technicians to manoeuvre. The switches deliver low insertion loss, positive voltage operation and very low direct current power consumption - all critical elements for magnetic resonance imaging. Each scanner requires hundreds of switches.
Skyworks’ portfolio of low noise amplifiers, Schottky and varactor diodes, attenuators and multi-throw switches are also supporting other wireless medical applications including blood sugar and heart monitors, pacemakers, and patient telemetry devices.
According to Nerac, a research and advisory firm, the number and variety of wireless medical devices is growing rapidly, driven by the expansion of wireless communication technology and the medical needs of an aging population. Wireless medical devices that monitor patients range from defibrillators to infusion pumps.
According to Nerac’s “Wireless Medical Devices: Security Issues, Market Opportunities and Growth Trends” article, by 2020 at least 160 million Americans alone will be monitored and treated remotely for at least one chronic condition. The market for such remote monitoring of patients is forecast to reach $5.1 billion by 2013 up from $3.6 billion in 2007.
“Skyworks is delighted to be partnering with Siemens to help enable state-of-the-art imaging for medical applications,” said Liam K. Griffin, executive vice president and general manager of high performance analogue. “At a higher level, this design win is yet another example of how Skyworks’ analogue portfolio is gaining traction across a wide array of end markets, demonstrating Skyworks’ success in diversifying into highly profitable, adjacent segments.”
About Skyworks’ Product Portfolio Supporting Medical Applications
Switches
SKY13267-321LF – a GaAs T/R diversity switch
SKY13268-344LF – a GaAs SPDT switch
SKY14151-350LF – a high-power SP4T switch with decoder
Low Noise Amplifiers
SKY67014-396LF – a 1.5 – 3.0 GHz low power, active bias LNA
Attenuators
SKY12348-350LF – a GaAs IC 4-bit digital attenuator
Diodes
SMV1233, SMV1236 and SMV1237 Series – hyperabrupt junction tuning varactors for discrete devices
SMV1763-079LF – a silicon hyperabrupt junction varactor diode for 3 V platforms
