CHARTERED AND NTU IMPLEMENT HIGH-PERFORMANCE 10-GHz VCO IN 0.18-MICRON PROCESS
Leading foundry and research center of excellence achieve research breakthrough
utilizing RF CMOS process
SINGAPORE - June 2, 2003 - Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (Nasdaq: CHRT and SGX-ST: Chartered),
one of the world's top three dedicated semiconductor foundries, today announced that the Center for Integrated Circuit
& Systems at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has successfully designed and manufactured a 10-GHz
voltage control oscillator (VCO) utilizing Chartered's proven 0.18-micron RF CMOS semiconductor process. This research
achievement is considered an industry breakthrough for RF integrated circuit (IC) design as most 10-GHz VCO circuits
commercially available today are manufactured using more costly silicon germanium processes. High-speed, high-performance
VCOs are integral RF components for supporting rapid data transmission by wireless and optical communications networks.
"This is a powerful success story of the symbiotic relationship between industry and research organizations," said
Dr. Sun Shi-Chung, senior vice president of technology development for Chartered. "Chartered believes that ongoing
technological and intellectual exchange among its global research network and industry partners are key for bringing
to market sophisticated system-on-chip (SoC) solutions at next-generation technology nodes. We applaud NTU for its
advanced research initiatives to drive technology innovation in complex yet cost-effective SoC designs."
"Chartered has been a committed and an important partner in NTU's ongoing RF IC research program, where our objective
is to deliver cost-effective and silicon-verified RF design solutions to the wireless and optical communications markets,"
said Dr. Do Manh Anh, Professor and Head of Division of Circuits and Systems at NTU. "We are very excited to be able
to implement a 10-GHz VCO using Chartered's cost-effective CMOS technology platform. It is clear that Chartered's RF
CMOS process is superior and supports the extremely stringent requirements of high-performance SoC applications."
The VCO designed by NTU is the first to adopt a complementary cross-coupled structure for high-frequency low-phase noise
oscillators. This circuit is an important building block in transceiver designs for Synchronous Optical Network (SONET)
and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) applications. Combined with the high-performance, low-noise and low-power
consumption capabilities of Chartered's RF CMOS manufacturing platform, NTU designers were able to overcome the constant
battle between signal speed and noise faced by RF IC designers.
NTU optimized design performance along four critical parameters to achieve high-speed frequency at 10-GHz with a wide
tuning range of 1.1-GHz. The power consumption of the core VCO is only 5.8-mW and 22.6-mW with buffer. The circuit
demonstrates low phase noise of -91-dBc/Hz at 100-kHz-offset frequency. The outstanding quality and first-pass design
success are also attributed to the highly accurate RF CMOS models made available in the process design kits provided by
Chartered, coupled with a robust manufacturing platform.
Chartered's 0.18-micron RF CMOS process is currently available for volume production. The RF CMOS module features
high-performance transistors and a complete suite of passive components characterized and tuned for RF applications.
The RF CMOS process is supported with Chartered's comprehensive product design solution that, in addition to process
design kits, includes silicon-validated standard cell libraries, memory compilers and I/O components, as well as
production-proven design kits for the ARM7TDMI® core and the ARM946E™ core, two of the most popular 32-bit RISC ARM®
microprocessors.
About Chartered
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, one of the world's top three dedicated semiconductor foundries, is forging a
customized approach to outsourced semiconductor manufacturing by building lasting and collaborative partnerships with
its customers. The Company provides flexible and cost-effective manufacturing solutions for customers, enabling the
convergence of communications, computing and consumer markets. In Singapore, Chartered operates five fabrication
facilities and has a sixth fab, which will be developed as a 300mm facility.
A company with both global presence and perspective, Chartered is traded on both the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: CHRT)
and on the Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST: CHARTERED). Chartered's 3,500 employees are based at 11 locations around the
world. Information about Chartered can be found at www.charteredsemi.com.
About NTU
Nanyang Technological University (www.ntu.edu.sg), formerly known as Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI), was
established in August 1981 as a tertiary institution for education and research in various branches of engineering
and technology. As of March 2003, the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has more than 260 academic
staff and 400 administrative, research and technical staff. The School also has 482 doctorate, 203 Masters of
Engineering and 833 Masters of Science students. The full-time and part-time undergraduate engineering students are
3,447 and 386 respectively.
The School's mission is to excel in teaching, research and professional services in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
thereby contributing to the technological and economic advancement of Singapore. The School has adopted the motto, E3,
to promote and cultivate the identity and culture in the School to achieve excellence in engineering education. E3 covers
three main areas: excellence in teaching and learning, excellence in research and development and excellence in services
to industry.
Chartered Safe Harbour Statement under the provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This news release may contain forward-looking statements, as defined in the safe harbour provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, reflect Chartered's current views with
respect to future events, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from historical results or those anticipated. For example: changes in market outlook and trends; the rate of
semiconductor market recovery; economic conditions in the United States as well as globally; customer demands; the
successful implementation of our co-operation with NTU; the performance level in our fabrication facilities and
competition. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable
assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained. In addition to the foregoing factors, a
description of certain other risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially can be found
in the section captioned "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are based on the
current view of management on future events. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
