Innovative RF MEMS antenna tuners leverage advanced wafer level packaging to provide OEMs with high quality chip scale packages
Singapore and San Jose, CA – 7 April 2015 – STATS ChipPAC Ltd. (“STATS ChipPAC” – SGX-ST: STATSChP), a leading provider of advanced semiconductor packaging and test services, today announced that Cavendish Kinetics, a leading provider of high performance RF MEMS tuning solutions for LTE smartphones and wearable devices, has adopted its advanced wafer level packaging technology to deliver Cavendish’s SmarTune™ RF MEMS tuners in the smallest possible form factor, as a 2mm2 chip scale package.
LTE smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are rapidly adopting antenna tuning solutions to be able to provide the required signal strength across the large number of LTE spectrum bands used globally. Cavendish’s SmarTune RF MEMS tuners outperform traditional RF silicon-on-insulator (SOI) switch-based antenna tuning solutions by 2-3dB, resulting in much higher data rates (up to 2x) and improved battery life (up to 40%). Cavendish RF MEMS tuner shipments are ramping aggressively and can now be found in six different smartphone models across China, Europe and North America, with many additional designs in development.
"Our RF MEMS tuners present demanding packaging requirements, including the need to deliver the smallest possible form factor in a process that protects the integrity of our hermetically sealed MEMS structure,” said Atul Shingal, Executive Vice President of Operations, Cavendish Kinetics. “STATS ChipPAC’s wafer level packaging platform provided advantages in package size, performance and scalability, and a proven, cost effective manufacturing process that supports our accelerating volume production.”
STATS ChipPAC provides a comprehensive platform of wafer level technology from Fan-in Wafer Level Packaging (FIWLP) to highly integrated Fan-out Wafer Level Packaging (FOWLP) solutions known as embedded Wafer Level Ball Grid Array (eWLB). Cavendish Kinetics and STATS ChipPAC are jointly working to utilize the inherent benefits of wafer level packaging technology to drive further RF antenna tuning innovations for the smartphone market.
“Through our successful partnership, Cavendish Kinetics has been able to implement their current generation industry leading MEMS-based antenna tuning solution. In future products, we will be able to provide Cavendish Kinetics with options for greater functional integration and silicon partitioning capabilities that are only feasible with our industry leading fan-out eWLB technology,” said Dr. Rajendra Pendse, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, STATS ChipPAC.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in this release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; prevailing market conditions; demand for end-use applications products such as communications equipment, consumer and multi-applications and personal computers; decisions by customers to discontinue outsourcing of test and packaging services; level of competition; our reliance on a small group of principal customers; our continued success in technological innovations; pricing pressures, including declines in average selling prices; intellectual property rights disputes and litigation; our ability to control operating expenses; our substantial level of indebtedness and access to credit markets; potential impairment charges; availability of financing; changes in our product mix; our capacity utilisation; delays in acquiring or installing new equipment; limitations imposed by our financing arrangements which may limit our ability to maintain and grow our business; returns from research and development investments; changes in customer order patterns; customer credit risks; disruption of our operations; shortages in supply of key components and disruption in supply chain; inability to consolidate our Malaysia operations into our China operations and uncertainty as to whether such plan will achieve the expected objectives and results; loss of key management or other personnel; defects or malfunctions in our testing equipment or packages; rescheduling or cancelling of customer orders; adverse tax and other financial consequences if the taxing authorities do not agree with our interpretation of the applicable tax laws; classification of our Company as a passive foreign investment company; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; changes in environmental laws and regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; majority ownership by Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited (“Temasek”) that may result in conflicting interests with Temasek and our affiliates; unsuccessful acquisitions and investments in other companies and businesses; labour union problems in South Korea; uncertainties of conducting business in China and changes in laws, currency policy and political instability in other countries in Asia; natural calamities and disasters, including outbreaks of epidemics and communicable diseases; the continued trading and listing of our ordinary shares on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”). You should not unduly rely on such statements. We do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
About Cavendish Kinetics
Cavendish Kinetics is the leading provider of high-performance RF MEMS antenna tuning solutions for smartphones, handheld and wearable devices. Cavendish’s SmarTune devices feature a MIPI RFFE interface, have been qualified beyond 100 billion cycles and are shipping in volume since 2014. Cavendish Kinetics has offices in San Jose, CA, China, Korea, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.
About STATS ChipPAC Ltd.
STATS ChipPAC Ltd. (SGX-ST Code: S24) is a leading service provider of semiconductor packaging design, assembly, test and distribution solutions in diverse end market applications including communications, digital consumer and computing. With global headquarters in Singapore, STATS ChipPAC has design, research and development, manufacturing or customer support offices throughout Asia, the United States and Europe. STATS ChipPAC is listed on the SGX-ST. Further information is available at www.statschippac.com. Information contained in this website does not constitute a part of this release.