GREENSBORO, N.C., Jan. 3, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RF Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq:RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio frequency components, announced today that RFMD Fellow Kevin W. Kobayashi has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) by the IEEE Board of Directors.

The IEEE grade of Fellow was conferred on Mr. Kobayashi in recognition for his extraordinary contributions to monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). The IEEE is the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology. Less than one-tenth of one percent of the total IEEE voting membership is recognized each year by the IEEE Board of Directors for elevation to IEEE Fellow.

Bob Bruggeworth, CEO and president of RFMD, said, "Kevin is an outstanding engineer with an extraordinary record of accomplishments. His extensive industry knowledge and deep expertise across multiple technologies are valuable assets to RFMD and to our customers. We stand with the IEEE in congratulating Kevin for his industry achievements and for his recognition as IEEE Fellow."

Mr. Kobayashi is the principle author of 130 technical publications and the inventor of 48 U.S. patents. Noteworthy are his inventions improving the broadband linearity and dynamic range of fundamental MMICs such as the Darlington pair, Gilbert cell, Doherty, cascode, and distributed amplifier topologies.

Mr. Kobayashi's early work on GaAs MMIC technology established the foundation for many of the first HBT, HEMT, and MESFET MMIC insertions in national space satellite systems and for the first commercial GaAs HBT MMIC products for the wireless industry. He was early to recognize the benefits of GaAs HBT for RF and microwave applications, and he was first to design a microwave GaAs HBT Darlington feedback amplifier, later helping to commercialize it into a high volume product.

Mr. Kobayashi's extraordinary contributions to MMICs span multiple compound semiconductor and silicon technologies. He helped prove the viability of monolithic GaAs BiFET-type solutions in challenging microwave designs. He also demonstrated the advantages of InP HBT for millimeter-wave and fiber optic applications, later inventing a wide dynamic range transimpedance amplifier currently deployed in an industry-leading 40 Gbps InP receive optical subassembly (ROSA). More recently, Mr. Kobayashi is engaged in the development of GaN MMICs, having achieved record low noise and wideband linearity expected to enable future radio architectures. One of his HEMT-HBT MMIC demonstrations (the world's first) is displayed in the MTT historical exhibit, along with a GaAs HBT MMIC he developed.

Mr. Kobayashi serves on several IEEE conference committees and has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Solid-State Circuits, applying his extensive RF and microwave experience in technical reviews of emerging silicon RF, millimeter-wave and fiber optic ICs.

About RFMD

RF Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq:RFMD) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio frequency components. RFMD's products enable worldwide mobility, provide enhanced connectivity and support advanced functionality in the mobile device, wireless infrastructure, wireless local area network (WLAN or WiFi), cable television (CATV)/broadband, Smart Energy/advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and aerospace and defense markets. RFMD is recognized for its diverse portfolio of semiconductor technologies and RF systems expertise and is a preferred supplier to the world's leading mobile device, customer premises and communications equipment providers.

Headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., RFMD is an ISO 9001-, ISO 14001-, and ISO/TS 16949-certified manufacturer with worldwide engineering, design, sales and service facilities. RFMD is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol RFMD. For more information, please visit RFMD's web site at www.rfmd.com.

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About IEEE

IEEE is the world's leading professional organization for advancing technology for humanity. Through its 400,000 members in 160 countries, the IEEE is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Dedicated to the advancement of technology, the IEEE publishes 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed more than 900 active industry standards. The organization also sponsors or co-sponsors nearly 400 international technical conferences each year. For more information, please visit www.ieee.org.

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CONTACT: At RFMD

         Doug DeLieto

         VP, Investor Relations

         336-678-7088

Source: RF Micro Devices

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