Oki and STATS Partnership Delivers Production Test Solution for Bluetooth™ Devices
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. achieves
breakthrough designing RF devices with CMOS process
Japan, Singapore and Milpitas, California, August 16, 2000 -- Oki
Electric Industry Co., Ltd. and ST Assembly Test Services ("STATS" - Nasdaq :
STTS, SGX : ST Assembly) have jointly developed a radio frequency (RF) chip package
and production test solution, making it one of the industry's first CMOS offerings
of the Bluetooth™ specification of wireless
communication. The achievement showcases the respective strengths of Oki and STATS
in design and test technology development in wireless communications segment.
The CMOS RF device can now be mass produced. "This Bluetooth™
device is using CMOS RF process, which can be commercially produced at a competitive
price, " said Mr. Kaoru Saito, General Manager, Advanced Products Department Oki
Electric Industry Co., Ltd. "We believe this breakthrough has brought Bluetooth™
technology one step closer to internet appliances in the 3G/wireless world."
The Bluetooth™ RF transceiver integrated
circuits (IC) was designed by joint project of Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd.,,
and Oki Techno Centre, Singapore (OTCS). By using the CMOS process design, The
Project team has developed a chip which reduces the overall system cost while
delivering the speed requirements of the Bluetooth™
specification. This device was tested using the RF MicroWave-6000 option on a
Teradyne platform.
"It is usual for RF chips to be designed using BiCMOS or SiGe processes due
to the high speed performance requirements. Our challenge was to create a chip
which is cost competitive, without compromising the speed specification," said
Dr. Hiroshi Nakamura, General Manager of RFIC Development & Design at OTCS. "With
our first silicon Bluetooth™ prototype, we
have managed to incorporate vital intermediate frequency (IF) and radio frequency
(RF) circuits on a low cost, integration-friendly, bulk CMOS process."
STATS was brought on board by Oki at the embryonic stage of this project to
develop both the packaging design and test program. "Special tooling specifications
had to be developed to meet the stringent requirements to accommodate the unique
inner design of the advanced high performance package. STATS demonstrated its
capability to give us the complete assemble-test turnkey, from designing the STPBGA
package to provising cost effective test solutions," added Saito.
"Adding advanced packaging techniques and broadening our testing platform
to include high frequency like RF and Bluetooth™
has enabled us to better partner and support wireless communications customers
like Oki," said Tan Bock Seng, Chairman & CEO of STATS.
David Derian, Wireless Product Manager for Teradyne, said, "Teradyne has taken
the lead in Bluetooth™ by offering the ability
to test in full-functional mode, including frequency hopping and RF interferer.
In addition, we provide all the performance tests needed for correct Bluetooth™
operation, including production-speed phase noise testing and settling time measurements."
According to Cahners In-Stat Group (www.instat.com),
the shipment of systems with Bluetooth™ wireless
connections will grow to 1.4 billion units by 2005 after the first products begin
appearing on the market this year. Chip shipments for Bluetooth™
wireless systems will gain momentum in the second half of 2000, and by 2005, the
market is expected to approach US$5 billion.
About Oki
Founded more than a century ago in 1881, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is Japan's
first telecommunications manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo Japan. With more
than 20,000 employees worldwide, Oki Electric provides customers with top-notch
products and technologies for telecommunication systems, information systems and
electronic devices through its corporate slogan "Oki, Network Solutions for Global
Society." Oki's all manufacturing facilities are ISO9001 and ISO14001 certified.
Oki Techno Centre (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (OTCS) is an offshore R&D subsidiary
fully owned by Oki established in Singapore in 1996. Major activities of the company
are system LSI design and advanced RFIC design for commercial wireless applications.
About ST Assembly Test Services Ltd. (STATS)
ST Assembly Test Services ("STATS" - NNM: STTS and SGX: ST Assembly), is a leading
semiconductor test and assembly service provider to fabless companies, integrated
device manufacturers and wafer foundries. With its principal operations in Singapore
and global operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Taiwan,
STATS offers full back-end turnkey solutions to customers worldwide. STATS expertise
is in testing mixed-signal semiconductors which are extensively used in fast growing
communications applications such as data networking, broadband and mobile communications.
STATS also offers advanced assembly services and has developed a wide array of
traditional and advanced leadframe and laminate based products, including various
ball grid array packages to serve some of the world's technological leaders. STATS
was listed on the Nasdaq National Market and The Singapore Exchange in January
2000 and has a current market capitalisation in excess of US$2 billion. Further
information is available at www.stats.com.sg or www.statsus.com.
Notes:
- Bluetooth is a trademark owned by Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson, Sweden
and licensed to ST Assembly Test Services.
Press Contact:
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Public Relations Division
Phone: +81-3-3580-8950 |
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