IMEC and ANSEM launch design service to bring innovative radio chips to the market

Leuven, Belgium – October 6, 2009 – IMEC, Europe’s largest independent research centre on nanoelectronics and ANSEM, the IMEC spinoff specialized in analog and mixed-signal design, announce a collaboration to offer services for the customized design of radio ICs for wireless communication applications.

The joint offering is targeted at companies that want to integrate IMEC’s innovative research results, and choose to outsource the design and customized development of their advanced communication ICs. The technology that is offered includes IMEC's first generation of flexible radio's, reconfigurable transceivers that can be tuned to operate with all present and future cellular, WLAN, WPAN, broadcast, and positioning standards.

In IMEC’s first generation of flexible radios, all parameters are reconfigurable over a wide range (RF carrier frequency, channel bandwidth, noise figure, linearity, filter characteristic, etc.). This allows to tune the performance and power consumption to the specific requirement of any application, such as satellite and terrestrial TV broadcast systems, navigation systems, mobile phones, or wireless access points. The technology enables both single-standard implementations, in which the front-end transceiver spans a single-channel bandwidth in a single-frequency band, and multi-standard or multi-mode designs, spanning multiple-channel bandwidths or multiple-frequency bands. The reconfigurable radio front-end IC in 130nm technology uses a 1.2V supply voltage and has an active area of 7.7mm². Depending on its configuration it has a power consumption ranging from 60 to 120mA, which is comparable to a single-mode radio.

Liesbet Van der Perre, program director wireless communication in IMEC, stated, “This service answers a need in the electronics market. It lowers the threshold for companies to launch innovative communication products, and reduces the risk, effort, and time to market.”

Stefan Gogaert, CEO of AnSem, added, “Both IMEC and AnSem bring their complementary expertise to the table. IMEC has a strong background in technology innovation and exploration, while AnSem is the expert in design services for analog and mixed-signal ICs. The combination is a unique customization and productization offering.”

About IMEC

IMEC performs world-leading research in nanotechnology. IMEC leverages its scientific knowledge with the innovative power of its industrial partners. In ICT, healthcare and energy, IMEC delivers industry-relevant technology solutions. In a unique high-tech environment, IMEC’s international top talent is committed to providing the building blocks for a better life in a sustainable society.

IMEC is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and has offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, Taiwan, US, China and Japan. Its staff of more than 1,650 people include over 550 industrial residents and guest researchers. In 2008, IMEC's revenue (P&L) was 270 million euro.

Further information on IMEC can be found at www.imec.be.

About AnSem

AnSem is a fabless IC design company, founded in 1998, specializing in the state-of-the-art design of high-performance analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits in the most advanced technologies. AnSem offers IC design services and cost-effective turnkey solutions for wireless communication, high-speed data communication and data acquisition. AnSem's customers are leading OEM and semiconductor companies active in the industrial, medical and wireless semiconductor market. The company is based in Leuven, Belgium and is a member of DSP Valley and the Global Semiconductor Association (GSA). AnSem is ISO9001-2000 certified. For more information, please visit www.ansem.com.

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