Akoustis Blog

by Akoustis|February 16, 2024

2023: A Year in Reflection

As Akoustis welcomes 2024, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the achievements of 2023 and commemorate our past successes. We ended the year with significant design wins, expanded our product portfolio, and continued to ship high volume of XBAW® filters. The first major event was the acquisition of GDSI, a reputable US-based supplier of premium semiconductor back-end supply chain services. Then we proudly launched a state-of-the-art foundry service and design software portal, introduced, and sampled a new single-crystal material, as well as our XP3F technology servicing filters up to 20 GHz. We concluded the year by securing the phase 2 contract for the DARPA COFFEE program.

Akoustis XBAW® Milestone Highlights

Design Wins: 16

New XBAW® Products Launched: 5

Cumulative XBAW® Filters Shipped: 82,600,000

2023 XBAW® Filters Shipped: 35,500,000

This year, Akoustis had a total of 16 design wins, including 13 in Wi-Fi, one in IoT/Industrial, one in 5G Infrastructure, and one in Defense. We also introduced five new XBAW® products and entered a new market segment, Automotive. These filters have better performance and size reduction than prior generations, expanding the Company’s product catalog. As of December 31, 2023, we have shipped a cumulative total of 82.6 million XBAW® filters, out of which 35.5 million were shipped during the 2023 calendar year. The Company continues to see the demand for XBAW® filters and looks forward to many new product launches and design wins for 2024.

Akoustis RFMi Business and Product Highlights

Major Design Wins: 5

New Products Launched: 62

New Products Released to Production: 14

In calendar year 2023, RFMi had five major design wins and 34 small design wins. The major design wins include a reference design of a world leading chip supplier’s wBMS (wireless Battery Management System) chipsets for EV (Electric Vehicle), a smart meter of a world leading smart home device supplier and industrial conglomerate, an automotive module and two telecom applications. The small design wins cover Automotive, Industrial, IoT, Telecom, Defense and Medical applications.

Completed Acquisition of GDSI, An Akoustis Company

Starting off at the beginning of the year, Akoustis announced the acquisition of GDSI, a trusted supplier of premium semiconductor back-end supply chain services. By bringing GDSI into the Akoustis family, our customer base has expanded by 250 customers. This strategic move has played a pivotal role in introducing Akoustis’ XBAW® foundry services, leveraging GDSI’s expertise in critical back-end competencies, including wafer grinding and Stealth Dicing®.

Launch of Akoustis’ State-of-the-Art XBAW® Foundry Services and Portal

Halfway through the year, Akoustis introduced its cutting-edge foundry and engineering services, strategically targeting key market segments such as Wi-Fi, 5G Mobile and Infrastructure, Defense, and SATCOM. Akoustis’ world-class foundry has provided customers with distinct XBAW® technology, catering to 2 to 20 GHz. Within the portal, users can input parameters to generate a filter response and download the corresponding filter design file. The XBAW® Process Design Kit (PDK) grants designers the capability to create, simulate, and validate designs prior to submitting them to chip manufacturing. This software has streamlined the design process and enhanced the likelihood of achieving successful filter designs on the first attempt.

Development and Sampling of New Single-Crystal Material

We have redeveloped our single-crystal nanomaterials that deliver BAW filters with higher power handling and improved harmonics. Akoustis began sampling the new advanced single-crystal solution to a Tier-1 enterprise-class Wi-Fi access point (AP) customer.

Introduction of XP3F Technology

Akoustis launched its XP3F technology as an advancement in XBAW®. Now reaching up to 20 GHz, XP3F features a remarkable Q factor for minimal loss and exceptional selectivity. Additionally, it employs a high electromechanical coupling (kt2) to ensure wide bandwidth. It’s tailored for the emerging mobile FR3 spectrum and caters to applications including Defense EW/Radar and SATCOM.

COFFEE Contract Phase 2

Akoustis concluded the year by successfully completing phase 1 of its contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), aiming to explore novel materials and manufacturing techniques for scaling its XBAW® technology to 18 GHz. Additionally, the Company secured a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract for Phase 2 of the DARPA Compact Front-End Filters at the ElEment-level (COFFEE) program. The COFFEE program has been crucial for Akoustis, showcasing the feasibility of BAW overtone operation. This approach maintains a high Q-factor while effectively addressing the challenge of decreased electromechanical coupling. After much success, Akoustis has already introduced XP3F technology to the public and plans to unveil XP3F filters and resonators in the future.

Press Releases

To stay up to date on the latest news of 2024, be sure to enroll in email alerts, or to recap on events from 2023, visit our Press Release archive.