UMC and Gear Radio Introduce 55nm Bluetooth 5 IP Platform

Jointly developed Bluetooth 5 RF IP has been verified and used by customers

Hsinchu, Taiwan -- Nov 21, 2018– United Microelectronics Corporation, a leading global semiconductor foundry, (“UMC”, Taiwan Stock Exchange: 2303) and Gear Radio Electronics Corporation, a wireless RF IC design and service company, today announced the availability of Bluetooth 5 dual-mode radio frequency (RF) IP on UMC’s 55nm process. The advanced IP has been silicon verified and integrated into UMC’s customer products.

This Bluetooth 5 IP is the result of the joint development between UMC and Gear Radio and serves as an important milestone for UMC to establish an RF IP platform. With an IP area of 0.85mm2, this offering is the world’s smallest Bluetooth 5 dual-mode RF IP. The premium RF IP has been well received by customers due to its performance and quality, with very low power consumption an interference resistance index for the IP physical layer achieving world-class levels.

T.H. Lin, director of UMC’s IP Development and Design Support Division, said, “Gear Radio and UMC are close strategic partners. This cooperation enables UMC to provide our foundry customers with a highly competitive RF IP solution on our 55nm process. In addition to 55nm, UMC also provides a clear migration path for customers’ future Bluetooth SoCs with ultra-low power and ultra-low leakage process technologies on 40nm and 22nm nodes.”

“We are pleased that Gear Radio’ Bluetooth RF IP has been verified on UMC’s 55nm platform,” said Guo Bingjie, general manager of Gear Radio Electronics Corporation. “Bluetooth is becoming increasingly important in products such as headphones and speakers. As Bluetooth technology continuously evolves, more and more smart devices will utilize Bluetooth in everyday applications including smart home, smart medical, smart sports and other fields. Through our cooperation with UMC, we can incorporate our RF technology excellence with high-quality professional services to better support our global customers. We will continue to develop new products and expect to launch our Bluetooth IP on 28nm and 22nm platforms in the near future.”

The Bluetooth 5 dual-mode RF PHY is based on UMC’s 55nm low-power (LP) and ultra-low-power (ULP) eflash process. Continuous process evolution can greatly reduce operating voltage to realize significant improvements in dynamic and static power consumption, making this IP the ideal technology choice for battery-powered applications that require Bluetooth.

About Gear Radio

Gear Radio Electronics Corp. is a wireless RF IC design and service company. It has integrated circuit design experience and a passionate RF technology development partner team that can design a complete RF solution. The entire team has extensive design experience and has design capabilities for all frequency bands in RF applications. We can provide design services for any RF application from 1GHz to commercial 2.4GH to UHF. In addition, we have extensive production experience from 110nm to 28nm process nodes. We have been studying technology in depth and have issued a number of patents. While meeting customer needs, we are constantly pursuing excellence in technology and breakthroughs.

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced IC production for applications spanning every major sector of the electronics industry. UMC’s comprehensive foundry solutions enable chip designers to leverage the company’s sophisticated technology and manufacturing, which include world-class 28nm High-K/Metal Gate technology, 14nm FinFET volume production, specialty process platforms specifically developed for AI, 5G and IoT applications and the automotive industry’s highest-rated AEC-Q100 Grade-0 manufacturing capabilities for the production of ICs found in vehicles. UMC’s 11 wafer fabs are strategically located throughout Asia and are able to produce over 600,000 wafers per month. The company employs more than 20,000 people worldwide, with offices in Taiwan, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.