5G Deployment Driving RF and

SOI Technology Opportunity

Laura Formenti

DMA Marketing Director

STMicroelectronics

International RF-SOI Workshop, Shanghai, September 17, 2019

2Agenda 2

• 5G deployment status

• 5G disruption driving RF content

• RF technology for 5G

• ST RF-SOI technologies

• ST value as RF technology partner

35G Standardization & Deployment

• 5G standard status & schedule

• Major equipment manufacturers carrying out trials to achieve 5G commercial use by 2020

• 5G will cost much more to deploy than previous mobile technologies and it will take much longer to perfect

3

• Rel.15 (5G phase 1 or ‘stand-alone’) frozen in

Q1-19

• Rel.16 (5G phase 2 5G V2X, industrial IoT,

URLLC enhancements) to be frozen in Q1-20

Image courtesy of 3gpp

45G Deployment Status

• 5G investments organized since 2015 at national level through the three mobile operators: China Mobile, China Unicom and

China Telecom

• 5G commercial roll-out in 40 cities by October 2019

• Leading 5G network deployment in more than 80 cities

• 5G trials started in 2014

• Recent warning the technology will take much longer than

previously thought

• All MNOs have started 5G trials with commercial launches

planned by the end of 2019

• AT&T plans to expand 5G nationwide in the first half of 2020

• AT&T and Verizon using mmWave spectrum for FWA

• 138 trials across all 28 member states recorded by early 2019

• However only 7% of 5G spectrum assigned

4

Source:ABI Research

The 5G Disruption

• Very high peak data rate – x10-20* (up to 20Gbps DL)

• Reduced latency – 10 times lower (1ms)*

• Very high reliability – 99.999%

• High density connected nodes ( >106 / km2 )

• High coverage

• New architecture with diversified and denser network (small cells)

• New technologies: Advanced beamforming, massive MIMO

• New spectrum: Use of millimeter wave

* vs 4G

5G Network Infrastructure

Front Haul Fixed Wireless To the Home

Small Cell

Repeater

Base

Station

5G Mobility

5

5G Driving Smartphone RF Content Growth

5G massive multi-band requirement expands Si content in RF Front End Module

6

Sub-6 GHz

2016 2018 2019-20

>75% RF-SOI

area increase

>25% RF-SOI

area increase

RF FEM

• MIMO 4x4 DL/UL

• Sub-6GHz bands• Total Carrier BW

800MHz (up to 8 CC CA)

• Dual connectivity• Continuing growth

of CA combination number

5G RF TechnologiesFull range of 5G RF leading technologies for terminals and infrastructure ICs

7

H9SOIFEM C65SOIFEM SOIMMW BiCMOS7RF BiCMOS9MW BiCMOS55 28FDSOI

Device Cross-section

Applications • 4G & 5G sub-6GHz handsets /

BTS RF FEM

• WiFi RF FEM

• 5G sub-6GHz

handsets / BTS

RF FEM

• WiFi

802.11ac/ax FEM

• 5G mmWave

handsets / BTS RF

FEM & RF

Transceiver

• 5G mmW PAA

• WiGig

802.11ad/ay

• WiFi

802.11ac/ax RF

FEM

• 5G sub-6 GHz /

mmW BTS RF

FEM &

Transceiver

• 5G mmW BTS

RF FEM &

Transceiver

• 5G mmW PAA

• High-speed

AD/DA and I/O

• 5G BTS RF

FEM &

Transceiver

Process lithoWafer size

Techn. node

130nm

8’’

PD-SOI

65nm

12’’

PD-SOI

65/40nm

12’’

PD-SOI

250nm

8’’

SiGe

130nm

8’’

SiGe

55nm

12’’

SiGe

28nm

12’’

FD-SOI

Key benefits High performance analog RF dedicated processes for RF Switches, LNA, PA & RF FEM integration capability

Based on high-performance HBT

Analog RF for infrastructure, including high-end & digital

integration capability

RF, Mixed signal

& Digital

Integration

Status Production Production 2020 Production Production Production Production

RF-SOI BiCMOS FDSOI

88

Picture Source: Soitec

RF switch (*)

H9SOIFEM

LNA 4G LTE & 5G sub-6 GHz

H9SOIFEM C65SOIFEM

WiFimodule

Sub-6 GHz

WiFi FEM (Switch, LNA, PA) @ 2.4 – 5.8 GHz

H9SOIFEM BiCMOS7RF

ST RF Technologies for 5G Sub-6 GHz Smartphone RF FEMs

(*) proliferation due to multi-antenna & multi-band support

99

RF FEM + RF Transceiver integration

SOIMMW (RF-SOI 65/40nm)

mmWave

RF FEM RF + IF Transceiver

Switch

Antenna tuner

LNA

PA

• SOIMMW RF-SOI process for mmWave support

• 28FDSOI wide IP portfolio including low power / high-speed AD/DA and SerDes

Picture Source: Soitec

28FDSOI

Mixed signal / digital designs

ADC

DAC

IF Up/Down Conv.

High-speed

IO

ST RF Technologies for 5G mmWaveSmartphone RF FEMs

RF Up/Down Conv.

10

ST RF FEM Technologies across multiple end markets

Terminals Internet of Things

2.4GHz WiFi & IoT4.5G LTE-A Pro

5GHz WiFi(802.11ac/ax)

5G sub-6GHz

5G mmWave/PAA, WiGig 802.11ad/ay

Cellular Infrastructure WLAN (WiFi, WiGig)

IoT

Integration scale

H9SOIFEM

BiCMOS7RF (WiFi FEM)

H9SOIFEM

C65SOIFEM

BiCMOS9MW

SOIMMW

BiCMOS9MW (BTS, Small cell)

Phased Array Antenna / beamforming

BiCMOS55 (BTS, Small cell)

BiCMOS7RF (WiFi FEM)

ST RF-SOI Technology

Technology R&D for best

in class process development & support

3 RF-SOI fabs

8” (2) and 12”

Continued strategic

investments & long term commitment

ST RF-SOI: enabling technology for 5G RF Front-End Modules

11

2000

2009

2013

2016

2019

ST RF-SOI History

H9SOI process available for 1st RF

Switch demonstrator

H9SOI RF Switch production Ramp-up

Introduction of H9SOIFEM

C65SOIFEM production

H9SOIFEM high vol production

5G sub-6GHz

5G mmWave

4G LTE-A

8’’ wafers

12’’ wafers

2020

SOIMMW

12’’ wafers

Rousset - France

CR200 (200mm) R8 (200mm)CR300 (300mm)

Crolles - France

SOI substrates in partnership with major suppliers

12

H9SOIFEM for 4G & 5G sub-6 GHz RF FEMs

H9SOIFEM (130nm lithography, 200mm wafer)

• Solid and proven RF-SOI technology

• High performance RF Switches with

Low Insertion Loss and High linearity

• Low Noise Figure LNA

• High Efficiency PA

• RF FEM Monolithic Integration

• Multiple back-end stack options for best performance/cost trade-off

• thick copper option for low loss Transmission Lines and High Q inductances

• High Resistivity and Trap Rich SOI substrates

Switch - continued RonCoff advancements over multiple generations

LNA – NMOS NFmin vs Frequency (Si meas vs model)

Vds=1.2V,Vgs=0.5-1V

13

C65SOIFEM (65nm lithography, 300mm wafer)

• High performance RF-SOI for 5G FEM:

• 5G LNA + Switch Integration

• Full copper back end

• High Resistivity and Trap Rich SOI substrates

Sub-6 GHz• 5GHz LNA ref. design

silicon measurement:• >15dB Gain

• < 1dB NF @ 5GHz

LNA ref. design NF vs Frequency

IDC=12.2mA, Vgs=0.48V, Vdd=1.2V, TR sub

NMOS Ft vs VgsSi measurement vs model

ST C65SOIFEM for 5G Sub-6GHz 14

• Innovative RF technologies (RF-SOI, FDSOI, BiCMOS) for 5G terminal and infrastructure

• Multiple band support from 5G sub-6 GHz to mmWave

• Flexible architecture partitioning, for best RF performance and silicon integration trade-off

• Long term technology roadmap & continued strategic investments

• High volume production & short cycle time

• High capacity RF-SOI fabs (8’’ and 12’’) in France

• Experienced supply chain handling billion units/year

• Dedicated customer support

• Technology, Design & DK support from fab experts & design specialists

• Assembly, Packaging, Testing services

ST Value as 5G RF Technology Partner 15

16

Thank you

for your attention !

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