Agilent Technologies Builds Production Fab and Assembly Lines For FBAR Duplexer; Expects New Lines to be Ready for Q4 2000 Production
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2000--Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced that it is building a dedicated 6-inch wafer fabrication line in its Newark, Calif. facility for its innovative film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) filter products. Agilent is also outfitting high-volume automated back-end manufacturing capabilities in its Penang, Malaysia facility, and is increasing engineering and production staffing to support this manufacturing ramp.
FBAR technology enables miniature high performance filtering products, such as duplexers for CDMA mobile phones, operating in the 400 MHz to 10 GHz frequency range. The first product, expected to be released in September, is a CDMAdvantage PCS duplexer. A duplexer is a combination of filters that separates the transmit and receive signals, permitting simultaneous transmission and reception in CDMA phones.
"Companies have been researching FBAR-type devices for several years. Agilent's commitment to build a dedicated world class production facility shows that we are the first to make this a viable, high-volume technology," said Bryan Ingram, business unit manager for Agilent's Wireless Semiconductor Division.
Today, there are two main technologies for duplexers -- ceramic and surface acoustic wave (SAW). The Agilent FBAR duplexer occupies a small fraction of the volume of a ceramic duplexer, and has better rejection, insertion loss, and power handling characteristics than SAW devices. This combination enables manufacturers to produce new, compact phones with high performance. Since FBAR is a semiconductor technology, it permits integration of the filters into the RF section of a phone, enabling ultra small RF modules.
"FBAR's combination of small size and high performance has resulted in tremendous pull from customers who are creating the next generation of CDMA handsets," said Dave Allen, vice president of Agilent's Wireless Semiconductor Division. "With this new fab, we intend to stay ahead of this demand so our customers can achieve their expected growth over the next several years."
The fab is expected to yield first volume production in Q4 for Agilent's lead customers. Sampling of the CDMAdvantage PCS duplexer for other handset manufacturers is expected to begin by the end of 2000.
The CDMAdvantage RF chipset provides RF functions used in CDMA handsets. It uses Agilent second-generation PHEMT (pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor), advanced silicon bipolar, and FBAR processes to achieve a flexible, efficient and compact solution.
For more information, visit www.agilent.com/view/cdmadvantage.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is a diversified technology company, resulting from Hewlett-Packard Company's plan to strategically realign itself into two fully independent companies. With approximately 43,000 employees serving customers in more than 120 countries, Agilent Technologies is a global leader in designing and manufacturing test, measurement and monitoring instruments, systems and solutions, and semiconductor and optical components. The company serves markets that include communications, electronics, life sciences and healthcare. In fiscal year 1999, the businesses comprising Agilent, then a subsidiary of HP, had net revenue of more than $8.3 billion.
Information about Agilent Technologies can be found on the Web at www.agilent.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements relating to the our intention to stay ahead of demand, the growth in demand and the date of expected yield of the fab and the expected timing of the sampling, that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results of Agilent Technologies to differ materially from management's current expectations. These risks include: the ability of Agilent to successfully operation as an independent company; the timely ability to ramp manufacturing capacity to meet order demand; the timely innovation, production, commercialization and acceptance of new products and services; the economic, political and other risks associated with international sales and operations; the cyclical nature of many of the industries and markets into which Agilent sells its products; and other risks detailed in Agilent's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 1999, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2000, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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CONTACT:
Agilent Technologies Inc.
Don Parkman, 408/654-8794
don-parkman@agilent.com |
