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Relationship Leverages Low-Cost, Low-Power Benefits of RF MEM
Waterloo, Ontario, Sept. 24, 2003
DALSA Semiconductor, a premier supplier of specialized and custom wafer foundry services and Discera, Inc., an innovative provider of low-cost, low-power microcomponents, announced today that Discera has selected DALSA as its high-volume manufacturer for a suite of RF MEMS integrated micro-components for frequency and timing applications, including silicon technology seen as a replacement for quartz crystals and SAW filters.
The business relationship will combine Discera’s expertise in RF MEMS, advanced RFIC circuitries, and miniaturization of transceiver architectures, with DALSA’s low-temperature MEMS processes and high-volume manufacturing experience to ensure a stable supply of high-quality micro-components for use in cellular, WLAN, GPS, Bluetooth and RFID devices.
DALSA’s semiconductor foundry, which has a history of MEMS production, will first manufacture discrete versions of Discera’s micro-oscillator — a single, low-cost, low-power silicon device designed to replace the multiple quartz-based devices used extensively in the market today. The micro-oscillators use a bank of micro-resonators, measuring only 20 microns each and operating at different frequencies, etched on a single miniature silicon die measuring one millimeter by one millimeter. Samples of Discera’s micro-resonators are currently in the hands of large customers for evaluation, with volume ramp-up expected in 2004.
Discera is seeing significant interest in its micro-oscillators, which are currently being tested by a number of potential partners in the component and RFIC industry,” said Didier Lacroix, president and CEO of Discera, Inc. “We chose DALSA as a primary manufacturer because it has a strong business track record and considerable expertise in high-volume production of MEMS-based components.”
DALSA’s advanced materials research and low-cost, low-temperature processes offer far-reaching advantages for the integration of MEMS devices using CMOS and/or High Voltage circuitry for inertial, industrial, automotive, RF, medical and photonics applications, with CMOS control logic manufactured in-house or from other foundries with deep sub-micron lithographies.
About Discera Corporation
Discera is a fabless analog semiconductor company focusing on tiny, high performance silicon resonators for the frequency and timing control markets. The company’s PureSilicon™ resonator technology is a fundamental building block that can be used in creating fully integrated, low cost, small form factor wireline and wireless products, such as oscillators, filters, and RF components. Unlike crystal based oscillators, Discera’s PureSilicon™ based CMOS oscillators can be integrated into other CMOS based circuits. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in San Jose, California, Discera is a privately held company with investments from Ardesta, Partech, 3i, and Qualcomm Ventures. More information is available at www.discera.com.
About Dalsa Corporation
DALSA is an international high performance semiconductor and electronics company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets digital imaging products and solutions, in addition to providing wafer foundry services. DALSA’s core competencies are in specialized integrated circuit and electronics technology, and highly engineered semiconductor wafer processing. Products include image sensor components; electronic digital cameras; and semiconductor wafer foundry services for use in MEMS, high voltage semiconductors, image sensors and mixed-signal CMOS chips.
DALSA is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “DSA”. Based in Waterloo, ON. Canada, the company has operations in Bromont, PQ; Colorado Springs, CO; Tucson, AZ; Eindhoven, NL; Munich, Germany and Tokyo, Japan. Additional information can be found at www.dalsasemi.com. and www.dalsa.com.
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