Pulse~LINK Selects Jazz Semiconductor As SiGe Foundry Partner
SAN DIEGO, Calif., October 1, 2003 - Pulse~LINK Inc. and Jazz Semiconductor today announced an agreement in which Pulse~LINK will develop a SiGe RF chip for Ultra Wideband (UWB) Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) communications utilizing Jazz Semiconductor's advanced silicon germanium (SiGe) Bi-CMOS process. Under the agreement, Jazz will provide foundry services for the RF transceiver chip, the most critical front-end part of Pulse~LINK's high speed UWB WLAN chipset. Pulse~LINK, a leading developer of Ultra Wideband wireless and wired communication systems, has agreements to supply its chipsets and solutions to customers for highly secure, high performance, next generation WLAN applications.
Pulse~LINK is the only UWB company that has announced an FCC compliant UWB system with up to 100 meter transmission ranges comparable to WiFi but with significantly higher data rates. The company is also an active voting member in the IEEE 802.15.3a Standards Group for sub 10 meter Ultra Wideband Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) technology.
"The added complexity involved in achieving these greater transmission ranges (WLAN vs. WPAN) requires a microchip process technology that can provide capabilities far in excess of what is typically used for other UWB and wireless communications," states John Santhoff, Pulse~LINK founder and CTO. "To mitigate developmental risks, we turned to a microchip technology normally reserved for advanced fiber-optics."
Pulse~LINK complements its selection of Jazz with a new team of ASIC engineers that have already commercially developed several successful microchips in the fiber optic industry using the same Jazz SiGe120 process. Bruce Watkins, Pulse~LINK president and COO adds, "Jazz is a perfect selection for several reasons. Their 0.18um SiGe120 process with Ft = 150GHz and Fmax = 170GHz is one of the most advanced production processes in the world. The superior performance and integration capabilities of this process shall enable us to develop UWB transceivers that would of not even have been possible just a few years ago. Furthermore, since the manufacturing is located inside the United States, this relationship complements potential domestic security markets for our technology."
"We are very excited to have been chosen by Pulse~LINK to pursue this technologically challenging project," said Theodore Zhu, VP of Sales, Strategy and Business Development of Jazz Semiconductor. "The market opportunity for Ultra Wideband applications is significant and the combination of Pulse~LINK's talented design team and Jazz Semiconductor's unique process capabilities will help drive the adoption of this technology."
About Pulse~LINK, Inc.
Pulse~LINK, Inc. is a privately held Delaware Corporation
headquartered in Carlsbad, California, with nearly 300 issued and
pending patents pertaining to UWB wired and wireless
communications technology. Pulse~LINK's CWave® solution provides
up to Gigabit data rates over coax and wireless networks from the
same chipset, enabling consumers the unprecedented ability to
stream and distribute high quality multimedia content throughout
the home. CWave® solutions have the ability to support both 1394
and Gigabit Ethernet over coax as well as wireless HDMI. For
additional information about Pulse~LINK, Inc., please visit: http://www.pulselink.net.
About Jazz Semiconductor
Jazz Semiconductor manufactures semiconductor wafers that enable
the development of high-performance, low-power radio-frequency
(RF) wireless and broadband wireline communications products. The
company's rich heritage in analog and RF integrated circuits (IC)
manufacturing has evolved into a leadership position in silicon
germanium (SiGe) bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(BiCMOS) and silicon BiCMOS technologies and design tools that are
setting the standard for communications IC foundry services. Jazz
manufactures wafers using bipolar, BiCMOS, SiGe, analog, and
mixed-signal CMOS process technologies. The Newport Beach
ISO9001-certified facility includes 100,000 square feet of Class 1
clean-room space, and has the capacity to support 21,000
eight-inch wafer starts per month. Jazz Semiconductor is a
privately held company headquartered in Newport Beach, CA. and has
approximately 730 employees. To learn more, visit
www.jazzsemi.com
Forward Looking Statements
Any statements contained in this release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking
statements rely on assumptions and are subject to various risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from expectations.
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For More Information:
Pulse~LINK, Inc.
Laurie Watkins
Tel: (858) 794-9414
Mobile: (858) 349-1989
Email: lwatkins@pulselink.net