Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, a fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), today announced the signing of a collaborative agreement with Murata Manufacturing Company on a multi-sourcing arrangement for RF switches based on Peregrine’s proprietary UltraCMOS technology. Under the collaboration agreement, Murata agrees to source a majority of its RF switching requirements from Peregrine in exchange for being granted a license to purchase or manufacture RF CMOS switches utilizing Peregrine’s technology and intellectual property (IP). The parties expect this agreement to result in an expanded source of supply for these critical RF components and to assure global OEMs broad access to RF CMOS products.

Peregrine Semiconductor pioneered RF CMOS-based devices with its UltraCMOS technology, a form of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process, and more than 20 years of research and development have resulted in 150 patents issued and pending. With this strong IP portfolio, Peregrine has established its position in the RF front-end section of mobile devices for RF switches and tunable RF components.

Murata is a supplier of RF front-end (RFFE) modules for the global mobile wireless marketplace. RF front-end modules are products that incorporate RF switches and tuning devices with SAW filters, passive components, and advanced packaging techniques.

“Global OEM customers of both Peregrine and Murata have for some time requested that the companies implement an independent source of supply for the critical switching elements that are widely utilized in today’s smart phones and other wireless-communications products,” said Jim Cable, Peregrine’s president and CEO. “This agreement marks the first license of Peregrine’s switch-based intellectual property to a third party; we look forward to working collaboratively with Murata to expand the deployment of UltraCMOS technology.”