Startup Looks to Put PAs on CMOS Express

Dylan McGrath, EETimes
7/8/2016 05:01 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO—After emerging from semi-stealth mode to announce the infusion of $35 million in April, ACCO Semiconductor Inc. is looking to take its CMOS-based RF power amplifier business to the next level.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based startup, which traces its roots back to 1994, believes it can cash in on the growing opportunity for RF front end chips for cell phones and Internet of Things (IoT) products by strapping power amplifiers (PAs) to the same economic engine that has propelled most other types of chips: complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process technology.

PAs are required for communications in modern cell phones and many IoT-connected products. The vast majority are built using silicon germanium or gallium arsenide technology rather than CMOS. ACCO has since 2007 been developing a technology to enable PAs to be built using CMOS, which the firm believes will enable them to take advantage of CMOS integration, Moore’s Law and the growing market for smartphones and IoT devices.

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