IBM technology could put phones in almost anything
By Robert Lemos, ZDNet
A phone in your PalmPilot?
That could be one benefit from the latest high-tech announcement from IBM Corp. On Monday, the company unveiled improvements in the manufacturing of integrated chips using a material known as silicon germanium, or SiGe.
The technology promises not only to put communications capabilities into handheld organizers such as the PalmPilot, but into almost any type of digital device as small as a decorative pin.
"Today, we only have rudimentary chips," said Bill O'Leary, manager of media relations for IBM (NYSE:IBM). "Within a couple of years, you will see a cell phone integrated into a single chip."
Silicon germanium is a semiconductor that is more efficient than the CMOS technology used in producing today's computer chips. That means the SiGe chips can
run faster and use less power than those used in most mobile applications today.
IBM estimates that communications chips made from the semiconductor will use one-third to one-fourth the power of other high-speed chips, while only taking one-fifth to one-tenth the space. While not new, SiGe has rarely been used in products. The material is difficult to work with, said IBM's O'Leary. "But we wanted to prove that SiGe is ready for prime time," he said.
"IBM now produces thousands of parts instead of a dozen [per wafer],"he said. "It will lower the cost of phones to levels that we could not imagine previously."
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