Infineon Technologies sets standards for high frequency communication ICs: More than 40 Gbit/s using CMOS technology for first time

Munich, November 12, 2002 – Infineon Technologies has smashed the performance barrier for high frequency communication IC’s using well tried and low-cost CMOS process technology. Infineon researchers are now presenting a multiplexer/demultiplexer chipset using 0.13 µm CMOS technology that achieves a transmission rate of 40 Gbit/s. Infineon broke its own previous record of 25 Gbit/s using optimised circuit techniques and by using the CMOS process with maximum efficiency.

The goal of the research work was to achieve 40 Gbit/s CMOS high frequency circuits, a target that was previously only possible using SiGe bipolar or complicated and expensive process techniques such as GaAs or InP. The major benefit of CMOS technology is high integration density which allows integration of complex logic together with the high-speed circuits that are now available. The research results that have been achieved therefore represent a pioneering success in the direction of a multifunctional multiplexer/demultiplexer chipset, which is up to now realised using separate SiGe RF components and CMOS logic chips and is currently being marketed by Infineon.

Monolithic integration is therefore the next stage in the development cycle, which has major technical and financial benefits because it reduces the total power consumption of an integrated solution, increases manufacturing output and lowers production costs. The research results that have been achieved therefore play an important part in maintaining Infineon’s future market leadership in the field of 40 Gbit/s applications.

“Infineon is setting new standards with these RF-CMOS circuits and is reasserting its leading technical position in the semiconductor market,” stated Dr. Soenke Mehrgardt, CTO and board member at Infineon. “This and other successes are the result of the hard work and investments that Infineon has made within the scope of its global research and development activities.”

Data multiplexers are key elements in many data communication applications, where several low-speed data streams are combined into a single serial high-frequency data stream in order to be transmitted at high transmission rates in a cost-efficient way. The multiplexer/demultiplexer chipset was implemented using current mode logic and differential 50 Ohm I/O. A modified form of this circuit technique, which is widely used in SiGe bipolar, has now also been successfully used in CMOS. The high transmission rate of more than 40 Gbit/s originates from careful circuit optimisation: pre-latch configuration, transistor size, operating current per stage, gain peaking due inductive loads and a new type of output signal transmission optimisation from chip to outside world. The data multiplexer (2:1) achieved a maximum transmission rate of 43 Gbit/s in initial tests. It used a 1.5 V power supply and has power consumption of a mere 66 mA. The data demultiplexer (1:2) also used 1.5 V and has power consumption of 72 mA. The maximum data speed for the demultiplexer was measured at 40 Gbit/s.

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 2002 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.21 billion with about 30,400 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.