D&R Headline News (February 2011)

Headlines for Monday Feb. 28, 2011

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Synopsys DesignWare IP First to Support Final Release of PCI Express 3.0 Specification

Synopsys today announced that it is the first IP provider to support the final version of the PCI Express® (PCIe®) 3.0 base specification (version 1.0), recently released by the PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG®).

• Cadence Opens and Extends Verification IP Catalog for Use Across Silicon, SoC and System Development
• NXP and ARM Extend Strategic Licensing Agreement for Microcontrollers
• Fujitsu Semiconductor and ARM Sign Comprehensive License Agreement
• InterDigital to Deliver SlimChip Modem Core to New Entrant to Mobile Chipset Market in China
• Evatronix and Avery Announce Partnership for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 IP Development and Verification
• ISSCC panel sees challenges at 20-nm
• ARM Cortex-M3 Reference Platform Running Micrium uC/OS II Released On OVP

Headlines for Friday Feb. 25, 2011

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Mentor Graphics Reports Annual and Fiscal Fourth Quarter Results

Mentor Graphics today announced results for the fiscal fourth quarter and full year ending January 31, 2011. For the full year, the company reported revenues of $914.8 million, up 14% from fiscal year 2010.

• JEDEC Announces Publication of Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Standard
• The first configuration of Dolphin Integration stars an audio converter at 40 nm LP to a high SNR of 100 dB
• Duolog Extends Solutions to Support EDA360 Vision in Collaboration With Cadence
• Imec and Renesas Electronics Announce Development of an Innovative SAW-Less Reconfigurable Transceiver

Headlines for Thursday Feb. 24, 2011

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Barco Silex presents enhanced version of Public Key hardware solution

Barco Silex has announced an enhanced version of its Public Key Hardware Accelerator. The BA414E is the first member of a new generation of Crypto Intellectual Property (IP) cores developed, validated and licensed by Barco Silex.

• MIPS Technologies Signs License to Distribute OEM Version of the Imperas Open Virtual Platforms Simulator
• InterDigital Signs SII Mobile Communications to Worldwide Patent License Agreement
• ARM DS-5 Supports Freescale i.MX53 Multimedia Applications Processors
• Evatronix and LeCroy Host a Joint Webinar on SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Performance Validation
• MOSAID Introduces HLNAND2 Flash Memory Specification
• SoftJin enhances analysis capabilities and performance of NxDAT Defect Analysis Software

Headlines for Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011

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Mentor Graphics Confirms Receipt of Unsolicited Conditional Proposal from the Icahn Group

Mentor Graphics today confirmed that it has received an unsolicited conditional proposal from Carl Icahn and certain of his affiliated entities for all of the outstanding shares of the company other than those it already owns at a price of $17 per share in cash.

• SMSC Declines to Increase Price for Conexant
• Arrow Devices Announces USB 3.0 Host Emulation Testing Suite
• DMAP and MoreThanIP Announce a strategic partnership on D0-254 Ethernet technology for safety-critical systems
• SEMI book-to-bill slips
• Report: TSMC wins key 40-, 28-nm deals
• Firms push to extend mobile DRAM spec

Headlines for Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011

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ITE Tech and Alvand Technologies Announce Joint Development of Low Power Mobile TV Frontend Receivers

ITE Tech and Alvand Technologies today announce a joint development for a highly integrated, low power mobile TV frontend receiver.

• HRD Video Camera Development Kit and Evaluation Reference Design Now Available for LatticeECP3 FPGA Family
• Innopower Achieves Remarkable Business Milestones in 2010
• NXP Expands ARM Cortex-M0 Microcontroller Portfolio With LPC1200 Industrial Control Series
• Synopsys Announces Immediate Availability of Silicon-Proven DesignWare Data Converter IP in SMIC 65-nm LL Process Technology
• Broadcom Expands Use of Cadence Verification Computing Platform to Tackle System Realization
• Fortis Chooses Tuxera NTFS to Extend Interoperability for Its Full HD PVRs

Headlines for Monday Feb. 21, 2011

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CSR Plc Announces Merger with Zoran Corporation

CSR and Zoran have entered into a merger agreement under which Zoran will merge with CSR for an equity value equivalent to approximately US$679 million.

• Intel buys Dutch multimedia DSP firm, Silicon Hive
• MIT, TI tip 28-nm processor
• Study: foundries provide more IP than IP vendors
• Intilop Engineering Executive, K Masood to Present on 10G TCP Offload Engines at Ethernet Summit
• Intel: Foundry business is in oversupply trouble
• Update: Intel to build fab for 14-nm chips
• CEA-Leti: Magillem Design Services and CEA Sign Multi-Year Collaboration Agreement
• Achronix and Mentor Graphics provide state of the art physical synthesis support for Speedster22i FPGAs - the world's most advanced FPGAs leveraging Intel's 22nm process technology
• Accellera Approves Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) Standard
• Intel Expands Mobile Computing with New Silicon, Software and Connectivity Capabilities

Headlines for Friday Feb. 18, 2011

• Disruption in library offering for the 90 nm LP process with Dolphin Integration's new generation of High Density Standard Cells

Headlines for Thursday Feb. 17, 2011

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Analysis: 'Rogue' design win hurts ARM

ST-Ericsson's announcement of a design win for a PowerVR Series 6 graphic processor core from Imagination Technologies Group plc in the Nova A9600 applications processor is a blow to ARM Holdings plc and its aspirations in graphics

• PrismTech Announces Forthcoming Patent Grant for FPGA IP Core Middleware Technology
• Cypress Signs Innopower to Enable SONOS-Based Embedded Flash Solutions for 130-nm and 65-nm Technology Nodes
• mimoOn & BDTI simplify processor performance evaluation for LTE base stations
• Ridgetop Group Offers IP License Rebate to Celebrate its Participation in Altera's AMPP Partnership Program
• Huawei Extends License with SPIRIT DSP for HD Voice & Video
• Fingerprint Cards and SMIC Work in Collaboration to Bring the World’s Smallest and Most Power-Efficient Fingerprint Sensor to China

Headlines for Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011

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Broadcom-ARM deal hits MIPS

There is good news for ARM Holdings plc. It's not so good for MIPS Technology Inc. Broadcom Corp. and ARM have announced the signing of a broad reaching license agreement, enabling Broadcom to access the entire range of ARM processors, from the ARM Cortex-M0 processor, through to Cortex-A15 application processor and beyond.

• Synopsys Posts Financial Results for First Quarter Fiscal Year 2011
• ARM Development Studio-5 v5.4 Delivers Enhanced ARM NEON Technology Support
• Renesas Electronics Introduces R-Car M1 Series of Integrated SoCs Developed for Mid-Range Automotive Infotainment Systems
• Is Apple switching foundry partners?
• TSMC Board of Directors Proposes NT$3.0 Cash Dividend Per Share

Headlines for Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011

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Evatronix Enhances its USB Portfolio with High Speed Inter-Chip (HSIC) Compatible PHY IP

Evatronix have announced today the introduction of a High Speed Inter-Chip (HSIC) compatible PHY IP for significant power and area savings in USB 2.0 chip-to-chip connections.

• Tabula Accelerates Development of ABAX 3PLDs with New Development Kit
• Gemtek Licenses Discretix Multi-Scheme DRM Client with Microsoft PlayReady support
• Imagination partners drive mobile and embedded graphics to new level
• SMSC's Inter-Chip Connectivity Technology Licensed by Leading Company
• Broadcom and ARM Extend Relationship with Strategic Licensing Agreement
• Open-Silicon Releases Max Technology 2.0
• Imagination Technologies reports licence agreement with STMicroelectronics NV
• Altair Semiconductor Licenses Sonics' On-Chip Networks for Ultra-Low Power, High-Performance 4G Processors
• MIPS Technologies Gains Further Traction in Mobile Baseband Designs
• Skyviia Selects Tuxera NTFS for Multimedia Chipsets

Headlines for Monday Feb. 14, 2011

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ARM Processor Technology and ARM Partners Continue to Lead in Wireless Connectivity with the Transition to LTE and LTE-Advanced Markets

ARM and a number of its Partner Community today highlighted their ongoing activity in baseband modem designs and momentum in the LTE and LTE-Advanced markets. The group also welcomed the acceleration of LTE / 4G technologies that will provide consumers with improved mobile experience based on the ARM® architecture.

• MIPS Technologies Processor Cores to Power Devices for Mobile TV in Handsets and Other Mobile Products
• Freescale vs. TI: Base station SoC battle
• Imagination brings HD Radio Technology to its global radio platform
• Sequans Communications Uses VeriSilicon's ZSP Core for WiMAX/LTE Products
• CEVA Collaborate for Future Wireless Baseband Technologies with NEC CASIO Mobile Communications
• Cosmic Circuits announces portfolio of 14-bit Analog-to-Digital Converter IP-cores for Measurement and Communication Applications
• Novocell Semiconductor, Inc. to Provide OTP Solution Across Multiple IBM Foundry Semiconductor Process Nodes
• Ridgetop Group Joins Altera's AMPP Third-party IP Program
• Content protection on HTC's Android Devices, powered by Discretix
• The Linley Group Releases Second Edition of Popular FPGA Report
• Imagination brings exciting, innovative apps from POWERVR Insider Partner Ecosystem to MWC 2011
• Freescale files for $1.15 billion IPO
• Global on chip broadcast and connectivity now a reality, says Imagination

Headlines for Friday Feb. 11, 2011

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Silicon Image Completes Acquisition of Product Lines and Intellectual Property from Anchor Bay Technologies

Silicon Image today announced it has completed the acquisition of select assets from privately held, Campbell, California-based Anchor Bay Technologies, Inc. (Anchor Bay). Acquired assets include Anchor Bay's semiconductor, IP and DVDO systems products developed for the DTV and home theater markets.

• AuthenTec to Demonstrate DRM and VPN Client Security at Mobile World Congress 2011
• U.S. District Court Denies Sidense's Motion for Delay

Headlines for Thursday Feb. 10, 2011

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MediaTek Licenses Coresonic DSP Architecture

Coresonic today announced that MediaTek licenses its SIMT™ DSP architecture. Through this cooperation, MediaTek is enabled to develop, manufacture and sell wireless communications products based on Coresonic’s technology and patents around the world.

• MPEG LA Announces Call for Patents Essential to VP8 Video Codec
• MIPS Technologies and 4M Wireless Demonstrate 3G/4G Multimode Protocol Stacks on MIPS® Architecture
• TSMC January 2011 Sales Report
• Dialog Semiconductor to Acquire Sitel, a Leading Supplier of Wireless Connectivity and VOIP ICs
• CEVA and Alango Partner to Add Innovative Voice Enhancement Software to CEVA-TeakLite-III DSP family
• CSR and TSMC Extend Collaboration to 90-nm Embedded Flash Process Technology and IP
• SST and STARCHIP Announce Licensing and Design Partnership
• Alcatel OT-980 Android Phone Integrates AuthenTec DRM Solution
• 450-mm: The best bargain we've ever had
• Momentum Carries MCUs Into 2011
• Renesas Mobile to Demonstrate the Industry's First POWERVR SGX MP Enabled Mobile Application Processor at Mobile World Congress 2011
• Indian x86 FPGA Core Used in Japanese Air Traffic Control
• Ittiam to showcase HD multi-way conferencing on mobile devices at the Mobile World Congress 2011
• MIPS Technologies, its Licensees and Partners to Showcase MIPS in Mobile from Handsets to Wireless Infrastructure

Headlines for Wednesday Feb. 09, 2011

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Synopsys' DesignWare Universal DDR Memory Controller Delivers up to 30 Percent Lower Latency and Increases System Performance

Synopsys today announced the release of its enhanced DesignWare® Universal DDR Memory Controller, which delivers up to 30 percent lower latency and offers up to 15 percent higher throughput than the previous generation controller. The DDR Memory Controller offers new features such as high-priority bypass and configurable 'look-ahead.'

• Altair Semiconductor Licenses MIPS Technologies' Multi-threaded IP for LTE Broadband and Mobile Devices
• mimoOn and Tensilica Demonstrate Atlas LTE Platform for Mobile SDR Baseband at MWC 2011
• PA Consulting Group and CEVA Partner for Software-Based 3G Solution Targeting Wireless Infrastructure
• STMicroelectronics Announces ARM Software Support for SPEAr Microprocessor Families
• Cosmic Circuits tapes out Clocking Solutions in 28nm

Headlines for Tuesday Feb. 08, 2011

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Silicon Image Expands Its Low-Power Camera Processor IP Core Family to Support 3D Video and Resolutions Up to 64MP

Silicon Image today introduced the camerIC™-3D/64MP, the newest member of its camerIC family of camera processor IP cores capable of supporting 3D and up to 8Kx8K (64 megapixel) still images and video.

• Altera Delivers Industry's First Interface Targeting MoSys's Serial, High-Density Bandwidth Engine Device
• Mindspeed and CEVA Collaborate to Bring Software-Defined Radio Technology to LTE Wireless Infrastructure Market
• Chips&Media to showcase its latest video IPs at Mobile World Congress 2011
• Multiple cores power fifth generation of TI's OMAP
• SMSC Issues Statement in Response to Announcement by Conexant of Receipt of Unsolicited Proposal from Golden Gate Private Equity, Inc.
• Conexant Announces Receipt of Acquisition Proposal
• Foundry spending could lead to oversupply
• Analog Bits Unveils Industry's Lowest Power 40nm High Bandwidth SerDes

Headlines for Monday Feb. 07, 2011

• Synopsys Announces New Technology for Optimizing Multicore Systems
• Tensilica Announces Availability of Atlas Reference Architecture Dataplane Processors for a Complete Baseband PHY for LTE, HSPA+ and WiMAX
• Tensilica Announces ConnX BBE64-128 - the World's Highest Performance DSP IP Core for LTE Advanced
• CEVA and mimoOn Offer Complete LTE PHY Reference Architectures for UE and eNodeB Applications
• Xilinx to Demonstrate Its Targeted Design Platforms for Radio and Baseband Processing at Mobile World Congress 2011
• Lattice Announces Five New IP Suites for the LatticeECP3 FPGA Family
• DOLPHIN Integration enable virtual prototyping of automotive applications through multi-domain EDA
• Presto Engineering Becomes IBM Business Partner

Headlines for Friday Feb. 04, 2011

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MoSys, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and 2010 Financial Results

MoSys today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2010. Full year 2010 revenue increased 36 percent to $15.6 million from $11.5 million in 2009.

• HDL Design House joins the Hellenic Semiconductor Industry Association
• Silicon Image Grows Revenue 27% in Fiscal Year 2010
• USPTO Validates Sidense's Non-infringement Position and Rejects Two Kilopass Patents
• USPTO Validates One of Three Key Kilopass 1T Anti-Fuse Patents Asserted Against Sidense
• TowerJazz seeks acquisitions
• Patriot Scientific and TPL Announce New MMP Licenses and Support for Licensing and Litigation Efforts

Headlines for Thursday Feb. 03, 2011

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Xilinx CTO: FPGA can drive the crossover SoC

Ivo Bolsens, chief technology officer of field programmable gate array vendor Xilinx Inc., sees a future where FPGAs are a fundamental part of the system-on-chip, either merged monolithically with software programmable microprocessor cores or making use of multi-die configurations in three dimensional system-in-packages.

• Cadence exec: EDA needs 'breakaway value'
• X-FAB and MFI Combine MEMS Foundry Offerings
• Synopsys Invites Cadence Incisive and Mentor Graphics Questa Users to the Verification FastForward Program
• Cadence Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Results
• EDA not yet ready for cloud computing
• HiSilicon, a Division of Huawei, Extends License of Tensilica's IP Cores, ConnX Baseband Engine, and HiFi Audio DSP for LTE Base Stations and Handsets
• Picochip delivers next generation femtocell SoC

Headlines for Wednesday Feb. 02, 2011

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Novocell Semiconductor Announces the Release of NovoBlox Nano One-Time Programmable Memory

Novocell Semiconductor today announces the release of NovoBlox Nano, a new, enhanced high density version of Novocell’s reliability leading NovoBlox OTP. NovoBlox Nano OTP is available in densities ranging from 8K to 256K bits.

• CEVA to Showcase Next-Generation 4G and Multimedia Technologies at Mobile World Congress
• Xylon logiCRAFT-CC Development Kits Accelerate Development of FPGA Companion Chips for Popular Embedded Processors
• DesignCon: FPGA caveman lag in tools
• 450-mm brings confusion to supply chain
• Red Herring Selects Arteris as Global 100 Private Companies Winner
• ARM updates roadmap with Kingfisher, Cygnet

Headlines for Tuesday Feb. 01, 2011

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ARM Holdings plc Reports Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010

ARM Holdings plc announces its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31 December 2010. ARM continues to gain share as market leaders adopt ARM technology for a broadening range of end-markets, increasing ARM’s long-term royalty opportunity

• NSCore NVM IP "Ready for IBM Technology"
• DesignArt Networks Selects SonicsMX for High-Powered, Next-Generation Mobile Base Station SoC Platform
• Cosmic Circuits announces availability of platform for Power Management ASICs
• Avago Technologies Debuts 28-nm ASIC Embedded SerDes with Industry-Leading 30-Gbps Performance
• Intel has late metal fix for design error
• TSMC tips 450-mm fab
• Cavium Networks Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire China-Based Celestial Semiconductor
• Rambus CEO sees light in semi growth
• InterDigital Signs Acer to Worldwide Patent License Agreement
• WiLAN Provides Settlement Update
• MIPS Technologies, its Licensees and Partners Showcase Broad Range of MIPS-Based Products at Recent International CES