Silterra, Telekom Malaysia team for sub-130-nm RF ICs

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor
Electronic News
URL: http://www.edn.com/article/CA6486697.html 
Wednesday, 3 September 2007

With the aim of meeting the growing demand for wireless broadband services in Malaysia, semiconductor wafer foundry Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd is working with Telekom Malaysia Bhd as its first customer for its sub-130-nm RF CMOS chips, according to news reports.
Silterra said its RF CMOS technology can be used in wireless communications and optoelectronics applications and allow consumer electronics products using RF chips on RF CMOS technology to be priced competitively.

To set the stage for further collaboration between the companies for R&D on design, fabrication and device modeling based on Silterra’s RF CMOS technology, Telekom Research & Development Sdn Bhd (TM R&D), the research arm of Telekom Malaysia, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), the reports also said following a signing ceremony in Kulim.

Researchers from both companies are to carry out fabrication on integrated chip designs, with Silterra having access to some of the RF test facilities and design services provided by TM R&D, and for its part, TM R&D said it would enhance its RF IC capabilities by accessing Silterra’s RF CMOS technology, the report said.

The first batch of RF chips is expected in 12 months, targeted at TM and other multinational telecommunication companies.

This match signals a milestone in terms of enhancing cooperation between two Malaysian government-linked companies to develop core competencies in wafer fabrication and chip design capabilities using leading edge technologies.

Silterra noted that it has collaborated with higher learning institutions for the past six years in various capacities, and is seeing positive results in terms of increasing availability of specific skill sets to better support the front-end activities of the semiconductor industry, the reports concluded.


About Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.:

Market demand driven, SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a semiconductor wafer foundry offering major foundry compatible CMOS logic, high-voltage and mixed-signal/RF technologies down to 0.13-micron feature size. This includes complete, competitive contract manufacturing for fabless and IDM customers’ designs. SilTerra’s wafer fab has a design capacity of 40,000 eight-inch wafers per month.
Environmentally vigilant, SilTerra delivers award winning, world-class performance to its customers seeking flexible capacity, competitive advantages and around the clock customer support. SilTerra is ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 certified. Founded in 1995, the company’s headquarters and factory are located in Malaysia’s Kulim High-Tech Park, and SilTerra has sales and marketing offices in San Jose (California) and Hsinchu (Taiwan). For additional information on SilTerra or its services, please visit www.silterra.com.