TDK Develops, Begins Mass-Producing Industry's First 1608-Size, High-Attenuation Bandpass Filter

JCN Newswires, Sept 17, 2008

Tokyo, Sept 17, 2008 - (JCN Newswire) - TDK Corporation announced today that it developed and began mass-producing in September a multilayer bandpass filter for 2.4 GHz wireless LAN and Bluetooth1 use that achieves same low-loss and high-attenuation2 characteristics of earlier products despite its 1608 size and 0.55 mm thickness, making it about 40% smaller in volume.

As mobile communications terminals such as mobile phones have been made smaller and lighter while functioning at higher speeds and higher frequencies, there have been rising demands in recent years for the high-performance electronic components used in such devices to become more compact and slimmer. Equipping such devices with short-range wireless communications systems such as wireless LAN and Bluetooth has made possible high-speed, high-volume data communications, and use of such devices is expected to grow substantially in the future.

Bandpass filters are a type of electronic component that isolate the necessary electrical signal by allowing only certain frequencies to pass through. The new filters adopt an innovative design with a compact resonator3 and a low-loss structure for the resonator connector to achieve the industry's first* low-loss, high-attenuation filter with the same properties as TDK's earlier 2012-size filter in a 1608-size component with 40% less volume. This filter will contribute to the miniaturization of mobile devices as well as space and power savings.

* As of September 2008, according to TDK investigations.

Main Features

1. High-Q4 inter-digital resonator and a resonator connector with a low-loss structure.

2. Volume is 40% smaller than earlier products but the characteristics are the same.

3. Compact size saves resources and electric power.

Glossary

1. Bluetooth: A short-range wireless communications technology that uses the 2.4 GHz band to link mobile information terminals over short distances of about several meters. Laptop PCs, mobile phones, and other devices can be linked to exchange voice and other types of data without the use of cables.

2. Attenuation: The opposite of amplification. When an input signal passes through an element or circuit, the signal strength declines. Attenuation is measured in decibels (dB).

3. Resonator: A type of high-frequency circuit element whose function is passing singles of a specific frequency. Only electromagnetic waves that satisfy the resonation conditions can exist within the resonator.

4. Q: An abbreviation for quality factor. An indicator of circuit element performance. In the case of high-frequency circuits, the higher the Q value, the better the ability to select the frequency and the lower the electrical energy losses.

Main Electrical Characteristics
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                 Frequency(MHz)  Specifications(dB)
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Insertion Loss    2400 - 2500      2.5 max.
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Attenuation       1920 - 1990      40 min.
                  2110 - 2170      25 min.
                  4800 - 5000      30 min.
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Production and Sales Plan

- Production location: Japan

- Production capacity: 10 million units/month (initially)

About TDK Corporation

TDK Corporation (TSE: 6762; NYSE: TDK) is a leading global electronics company based in Japan. It was established in 1935 to commercialize "ferrite," a key material in electronics and magnetics. TDK's current product line includes ferrite materials, electronic components and ICs, wireless computer networking products, magnetic heads for HDD, digital recording hardware and advanced digital recording media. For more information, please visit http://www.tdk.co.jp/tetop01/index.htm .

Source: TDK Corporation

Contact:

Corporate Communications
Mr. Osuga
Tel.: 81-3-5201-7102

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