Staccato Expands Single-Chip UWB Portfolio With Industry's Smallest Form Factor




New single-chip, all-CMOS Ripcord Chip Scale package reduces the space required to implement UWB in mobile products by 70%

-/January 8, 2007 - Wi-Fi Technology News/-Staccato Communications, an Ultra Wideband (UWB) wireless technology pioneer and Certified Wireless USB leader, today unveiled the industry's only Wafer Chip Scale Package (WCSP) based on Staccato's Ripcord single-chip, all-CMOS solution. With a footprint of only 7.5mm by 7.5mm, the Ripcord WCSP boasts the smallest form factor of any Certified Wireless USB based solution available on the market.

As the only company with a single-chip, all-CMOS solution for WiMedia Ultra Wideband applications, the addition of WCSP to Staccato's portfolio further positions Staccato as the supplier of choice for mobile and portable products that demand a small form factor in combination with low cost and power. This approach further differentiates Staccato from competitors' multi-chip offerings that demand significantly larger space requirements and adversely impact the battery life of mobile products.

Staccato is the first to offer a single-chip UWB solution and a WCSP package option. WCSP products ship today in high volume in applications spanning the PC, consumer electronic and mobile markets. Staccato leverages well-established manufacturing expertise of wafer level chip scale packaging to achieve a level of size, cost and integration that is unprecedented for an Ultra Wideband solution. With WCSP, packaging occurs at the wafer level, allowing a low-cost and efficient manufacturing flow. Staccato's in-house expertise behind the implementation of this packaging technology translates into the most cost-effective and smallest packaging solution currently available. "Building on the announcement two weeks ago with Korea's largest mobile phone carrier - SK Telecom - this is another first for Staccato. Because real estate is at such a premium in mobile applications like laptop PCs, digital cameras, portable media players, dongles and mobile handsets, one can anticipate that Staccato's Ripcord-based WCSP will have a significant impact on these markets. Staccato has proven that such a small form factor and this level of integration is indeed possible, but only because of their innovative single-chip, all-CMOS design," said Fiona Thomson, market analyst, IMS Research.

"The three most critical design issues for mobile and consumer applications are price, power and size. Staccato focused on the single-chip, all-CMOS approach from the beginning, knowing that the market segments that we're targeting would ultimately have these requirements, including the smallest form factor possible," said Marty Colombatto, chairman and CEO for Staccato Communications.

Staccato's Ripcord WCSP provides a high level of flexibility in system designs by enabling low-cost, small-form-factor modules of various materials from LTCC to organic substrates to simple FR4-based PCB designs. In addition, the WCSP drives an aggressive cost curve required for high-volume market adoption in consumer and mobile devices. Because of its low-cost, low-power and small-form-factor advantages, the WCSP will serve as the ideal solution enabling the most efficient supply chain for RF module vendors.

Availability
The WCSP based on Staccato's Ripcord single-chip, all-CMOS solution is expected to be available for general sampling later this quarter (Q1'07), with early samples available through Staccato's Lead Customer Program today.

A photo of Staccato's Ripcord-based WCSP is available at: http://staccatocommunications.com/press/photos/SC3500C_WCSP.jpg.

About Staccato Communications' Products
Based on the WiMedia Alliance's UWB common radio platform and the Certified Wireless USB specification from the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), Ripcord is implemented using leading 110nm digital CMOS process technology. The Ripcord SC3500 product family is offered in two packaging options, a complete System-In-Package (SiP) which provides a fully-integrated solution for simplified RF design and a high degree of manufacturability, and a Wafer-Level Chip Scale Package (WCSP) which provides a low-cost, small-form factor option for module manufacturers and OEMs' that have in-house RF expertise. Ripcord provides a complete, fully integrated single-chip, all-CMOS solution for the first commercial applications of high-speed UWB at 480 Mbps based on Certified Wireless USB. Ripcord's high level of integration minimizes design risk, lowers system cost and accelerates customers' time-to-market by consolidating all hardware and software components necessary to implement a commercial product. With the advanced design of the Protocol Independent Kernel, the SC3500 product family is extensible to support simultaneous operation of Certified Wireless USB, Bluetooth 3.0 and WiMedia's WiNET IP.

About Staccato Communications
Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Staccato Communications is an Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology pioneer with applications expertise in Certified Wireless USB, Bluetooth and Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity. The fabless semiconductor company serves the personal computing, consumer electronics and mobile phone industries with small form factor, single-chip, all-CMOS wireless solutions. Staccato's WiMedia-based offerings include PHY, MAC, drivers, application software, development kits and reference designs. The Team Staccato Partner Program enables total solutions through alliances with industry leaders throughout the value chain. For more information, please visit http://www.staccatocommunications.com.