TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor develops mmwave RFCMOS
Speciality foundry TowerJazz and TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor, a Japanese analogue foundry, have developed what is claimed to be the first 65nm millimeter wave (mmwave) 110GHz RFCMOS platform targeted for a variety of applications, such as wireless communication (60~77GHz), automotive radar (57~86, mostly 77GHz), and imaging and scanning (100GHz), among others.
According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the millimeter wave technology market was valued at $208.1 million in 2014 and expected to grow at a 43 percent CAGR. The North American millimeter wave technology market is expected to increase from $96.1 million in 2014 to $782.9 million by 2020, driven by growing applications in the mobile and telecom sectors. TowerJazz anticipates its growth to surpass the overall market growth as customers move from III-V technology to silicon-based technology with either SiGe or RFCMOS.
TowerJazz and TPSCo are expanding their mmWave platform capabilities by introducing new process modules and comprehensive validated EDA tools and modeling, targeted to support a larger application segment. The platform supports 110GHz with state of the art RF modeling for MOSFETs, inductors and transmission lines, a very large set of metal combination and a full set of RFCMOS elements.
RF applications such as WiFi 802.11, Wireless HDMI, and WiGi that require 65nm mmWave technology can now use modeling capabilities up to 110GHz. In addition, this platform is automotive qualified at TPSCo's 300mm fab in Uozu, Japan, considered one of the best fabs in the automotive industry.
"Expanding our 65nm RFCMOS automotive platform into the mmWave regime is a mandatory part of our global MS/CMOS and RFCMOS roadmap in order to provide a comprehensive and total solution for our automotive customers in Europe and to our wireless customers in the US, Europe and across the board," said Ilan Rabinovich, VP and GM of MS/CMOS Business Unit at TowerJazz.
"This is yet an additional expansion of our offering in this marketplace. Having both advanced SiGe solutions and a 65nm Si-based RF platform enables our customers maximum flexibility in selecting the right technology for their specific application," he added.
