FEATURED NEWS
TowerJazz Completes Maxim Fab Acquisition
TowerJazz announced it has completed its acquisition of an 8-inch wafer fabrication facility in San Antonio, Texas from Maxim Integrated. The acquisition will expand TowerJazz’s current worldwide manufacturing capacity, cost-effectively increasing production by approximately 28,000 wafers per month. The availability of capacity is needed to serve current and forecasted customer demand.
TowerJazz offers a broad range of customizable process technologies including SiGe BiCMOS and RF CMOS for RF and HPA applications. For many years it has been Maxim’s supplier for a family of high-end SiGe based products.
As part of the transaction, the firms signed a 15-year supply agreement under which TowerJazz will manufacture products for Maxim in the San Antonio facility.
Pixelplus to Manufacture Sensors at TPSCo
TowerJazz, TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Co. TPSCo, and PIXELPLUS announced they have collaborated to produce a state-of-the-art HD and FHD (full HD) SoC security sensor using TPSCo’s leading 65nm CIS process.
PIXELPLUS integrates ISP and HD-Analog transmission function onto a CMOS sensor, said to be the first time in the world. The HD-transmission function enables data transmission over coaxial cables to distances longer than 500 meters. PIXELPLUS is said to hold number one position worldwide in the security/surveillance market, which includes 34% market share in 2014 by dominating VGA.
“Through our collaboration with TPSCo, we were able to produce an HD and FHD SoC security sensor with unprecedented performance,” said Seo-Kyu Lee, CEO, PIXELPLUS.
TowerJazz signs agreement with Semiconductor Laboratory
TowerJazz announced the signing of a definitive agreement with Semiconductor Laboratory, an Asian Governmental Agency. Under the agreement, TowerJazz will leverage its manufacturing expertise and assets while providing during the coming three years the required process engineering and equipment maintenance support for successful operation of the facility. In addition, TowerJazz will provide support to help establish wafer reclaim capabilities and will provide training and procedures on the establishment of chemical lab capabilities.
The deal will generate revenues of approximately $35 million, which are incremental to TowerJazz’s revenues from its existing manufacturing facilities. This agreement allows TowerJazz to realize profits and cash generation from its valuable manufacturing expertise and its skilled engineering manpower.
TPSCo Announces Development of the First Comprehensive 65nm mmWave 110GHz RFCMOS Platform
TowerJazz and TPSCo announced the development of 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.
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 utilize 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.
TowerJazz’s new RF process for 4G LTE
TowerJazz and TPSCo announced breakthrough in RF technology for next-generation 4G LTE smartphones and IoT devices. Through a collaborative effort, TowerJazz and its subsidiary TPSCo, have developed a new 300mm RF SOI process that can reduce losses in an RF switch by as much as 30% relative to current technology, improving battery life and boosting data rates. The technology is now being sampled to a lead customer.
“This achievement reflects our strategy to combine TPSCo’s digital technology with TowerJazz’s RF expertise,” said Russell Ellwanger, TowerJazz CEO. Guy Eristoff, CEO of TPSCo, said: “This process combines 0.18um TowerJazz RF SOI technology with TPSCo’s advanced 45nm process capabilities to create a silicon-based device with breakthrough performance. To our knowledge, this is the lowest Ron X Coff demonstrated in RF SOI devices with robust power handling capability.”