D&R Headline News (January 2012)

Headlines for Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012

Top Story

ARM Holdings PLC Reports Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011

ARM Holdings plc announces its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31 December 2011.

• LTE Expected to Dominate Wireless Infrastructure Spending by 2013
• Semiconductor Industry Revenue to Endure Slow Growth in 2012
• CEVA, Inc. Announces Record Fourth Quarter and Year End 2011 Financial Results
• Xilinx Launches First Design Platforms for Accelerating 7 Series FPGA Design Productivity and System Integration
• Digital Blocks Expands Video Signal & Image Processing IP Core Family
• North American Companies Held More Than Half of IC Sales in 2011
• Cortus and SST to Jointly Exhibit Low Power IP Solutions for System on Chip (SoC) Design at Embedded World 2012
• Breadth of MIPS-Based Products at CES 2012 Shows Strength of MIPS Architecture in Connected Home; Growing Presence in Mobile

Headlines for Monday Jan. 30, 2012

Top Story

Tilera Leaps Forward with the Breakthrough TILE-Gx Family, Design Wins and Welcomes Back Co-Founder as CEO

Tilera today announced several significant steps for the company including the immediate general availability of two of its highly anticipated, low-power, high-performance 64-bit processors – TILE-Gx36™ and TILE-Gx16™ – as well as companion evaluation systems.

• eASIC Grows 2011 Revenue by 80%
• Evatronix Announces the USB 3.0 Compatible High Speed Hub IP Core with Analog and Digital PHY Options
• MStar Licenses ARM Mali GPU Technology for Smart-TV Applications
• eInfochips Announces Smallest Form-Factor System-on-Module Based on TI's DaVinci DM816x and DM814x Video Processors
• NetLogic Microsystems Announces the Industry's First Open–Source Xen Hypervisor for Multi-Core MIPS64 Processors
• MoSys Demonstrates Interoperability of its Bandwidth Engine(R) IC at DesignCon 2012
• Rebuilding America: Proposals emerge to fix 'dysfunctional' R&D tax credit
• Globalfoundries CEO says company is back on track

Headlines for Friday Jan. 27, 2012

Top Story

Arteris Counters Sonics Patent Infringement Claims

Arteris today announced that it has filed a complaint alleging that Sonics' newest product, SonicsGN (SGN), infringes Arteris patents. In addition, Arteris responded to the lawsuit that was filed by Sonics Inc. on November 1, 2011, asserting that it has not infringed the Sonics patents, and further that the Sonics patents are invalid.

• Intel to Buy Patents and Next Generation Video Codec Software From RealNetworks
• Lattice Semiconductor Reports Fourth Quarter 2011 Results
• SENSIO Reports its Financial Results for 2011-2012 Second Quarter
• Systemcom Ltd announces silicon validated Current-Input Analogue Front End IP module
• Who are Imagination's four missing customers?

Headlines for Thursday Jan. 26, 2012

Top Story

TSMC returns fire over 28-nm process issues

Foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. has hit back at analysts who have said it has yield problems with its 28-nm CMOS manufacturing processes.

• Rambus Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results
• Startup proposes processor on DRAM process
• Elpida Memory Develops Resistance RAM Prototype
• Packet Plus and Dini Group partner to provide new approach to debug networking on logic emulation platforms
• MIPS Technologies Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2012 Financial Results

Headlines for Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012

• Yamaha Standardizes on Synopsys' Processor Designer after Cutting DSP Development Time in Half
• Samplify Systems Announces APAX Acceleration for Multi-Core Applications
• Altera Adopts the Mentor Graphics Veloce Hardware Emulator to Accelerate Time-to-Market for their Next-Gen Products
• Elliptic Technologies Debuts Security Engine For 4G LTE Mobile Backhaul Applications
• Altera Announces Fourth Quarter Results
• Kilopass Names Semiconductor Industry Veteran James T. Lindstrom CFO

Headlines for Tuesday Jan. 24, 2012

Top Story

Arteris Concludes Profitable CY 2011 With 100% Growth in Licensees

Arteris today announced that it has finished the twelve months of 2011 with an accounting profit based on strong revenue growth. IP licensees in 2011 grew from 18 at beginning of the year to 39 at year end -- an addition of 21 new licensees and more than 100% growth.

• Three New Devices Extend The Power Efficiency, Package Size, And Performance Of The Popular LatticeECP3 FPGA Family
• European startup attempts many-core revolution
• Lauterbach and Beyond Semiconductor Partner for Easier System Development with BA22 Royalty Free 32-bit Processors
• ALMA project: Can programming of reconfigurable multi-cores be easier, please?
• Shanghai HDIC Picks Tensilica's HiFi Audio DSP For Digital Television System-on-Chip
• Presto Engineering Announces Opening of New Semiconductor Service Hub in Israel Through Its Acquisition of ITH's Assets
• Dolphin Integration Announces a Net Margin of 17% for the Fiscal Year Ended on September 30, 2011
• Aldec adds Documentation for Safety-Critical Designs in ALINT 2012.01
• Semtech Announces Plans to Acquire Gennum Corporation
• Intel Takes Key Step in Accelerating High-Performance Computing with InfiniBand Acquisition

Headlines for Monday Jan. 23, 2012

Top Story

LSI Expands Strategic Relationship with ARM to Offer Energy-Efficient Multicore Processors for Networking Applications

LSI today announced an expansion of its long-term strategic relationship with ARM. The agreement will lead to new product solutions designed to address critical customer needs for accelerated performance as applications such as mobile video and cloud computing dramatically increase network traffic.

• Synopsys Acquires ExpertIO
• Arasan Chip Systems Announces New Partner in Russia
• TI unveils ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0 system-on-chip with integrated ARM Cortex-M3 processor and memory
• New Infineon 32-bit Microcontroller Family XMC4000 for Industrial Applications Combines Powerful Application-optimized Peripherals and ARM Cortex-M4 processor
• Intel, Samsung 2012 Capex Budgets in a League of Their Own
• Opinion: ARM is no longer an underdog
• Open-Silicon's Configurable Interlaken IP Core Delivers High-Performance Chip to Chip Interface for Networking Products at 28nm Process Node
• Could 450-mm wafers play away from the leading edge?
• New Report Outlines Trends in U.S. Global Competitiveness in Science and Technology
• WiLAN Files Patent Infringement Suit

Headlines for Friday Jan. 20, 2012

• TSMC's 28-nm process in trouble, says analyst
• Everspin Technologies reports more than 300 percent growth of MRAM product shipments in 2011
• Samsung Mass Producing Highly Efficient Embedded Multi-Chip Memory for Entry-level Smartphones

Headlines for Thursday Jan. 19, 2012

Top Story

M&A Activity Shakes up Mobile Device Semiconductor Market, But Qualcomm Still Holds 30% of the over $25 Billion Market

2011 marked a big year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the mobile device semiconductor market. From Intel’s acquisition of Infineon Technologies AG Wireless Solutions to NVIDIA’s purchase of Icera, the mobile device semiconductor market has seen a lot of moving and shaking. Despite all the M&A activity, however, the market is still projected to remain relatively flat, with only 5.6% CAGR from 2010 to 2016, pushing the market from $25 billion in 2010 to $35 billion in 2016.

• Microsemi Acquires Timing, Synchronization and Synthesis Business from Maxim Integrated Products
• Xilinx Announces Q3 Fiscal 2012 Results

Headlines for Wednesday Jan. 18, 2012

Top Story

36% of Fabs in High-Risk Zones

Semico's 2011 Fab Database study provides key information on changes that occurred in 2011, and what plans are in place for upcoming fab construction and closures in 2012-2013. Key issues addressed in this report are the development work occurring with 450mm and 3D production.

• MIPS Joins Renesas Electronics' SoC Partner Program
• Picochip Achieves First Silicon Success for 40-nm picoXcel Femtocell Chip Using Synopsys' Lynx Design System
• TSMC Reports Fourth Quarter EPS of NT$1.22
• Global Industry Leader Jeff Waters Joins Altera as Senior Vice President and General Manager
• Sidense Enjoys Best Quarter in its History
• Xilinx Announces ISE Design Suite 13.4 Further Extending 7 Series FPGA Support and Design Productivity
• INSIDE Secure Introduces Open NFC Stack for Google Android 4.0
• Analyst warns of chip downturn in 2013
• MIPI Alliance Advances Radio Frequency Interface Technology in Mobile Devices

Headlines for Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012

• BiTMICRO and Global Unichip Fabricate Revolutionary Solid State Drive Controller
• NetLogic Microsystems Strengthens its Innovation and Technology Leadership with Expanded Patent Portfolio
• MoSys, Inc. Earns ISO 9001:2008 Certification

Headlines for Monday Jan. 16, 2012

Top Story

Posedge Inc. Unveils "Multifunction Non-Volatile Memory Controller IP Platform" for SOC designers

The bundled IP Platform’s Development board has the ability to choose any memory solution like Serial Flash, NAND Flash, NOR Flash, SRAM or SD/eMMC memory. It has all the required connectors for SD/MMC devices and plug-in sockets for NAND/NOR/Serial Flash/SRAM ICs.

• Moortec Semiconductor Demonstrates Temperature Sensor IP on Low-Geometry Technologies
• CAST Shipping New CAN Bus Controller IP Core
• ARM's East unimpressed with Medfield, design wins
• SuperSpeed USB-Enabled Device Shipments on Fast Track to 1 Billion in 2014
• IcyHeart EU project launch: Highly integrated ultra-low-power SoC solution for unobtrusive and energy-efficient wireless cardiac monitoring
• Scaleo chip and ARM Address the Need for Cleaner, More Energy-efficient Automotive Solutions
• Silicon Harmony licenses PLL from Cosmic Circuits
• Windows on ARM will not be terribly successful says analyst
• Tensilica's ConnX Baseband Engine DSP Core Successfully Deployed by NXP Semiconductors
• GLOBALFOUNDRIES Names New Head of Global Sales and Marketing

Headlines for Friday Jan. 13, 2012

• Mentor Graphics Partners with Freescale to Deliver Vista-based Virtual Prototype Solution for Freescale Processors

Headlines for Thursday Jan. 12, 2012

• EDA Consortium Reports Revenue Increase for Q3, 2011
• Mentor Graphics Appoints Three New Executives
• AceThought introduces multi-threaded software video decoder suite for ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore and Cortex-A15 MPCore multi-core processors
• Ridgetop Group Signs Contract with Boeing for Prognostic Condition-Based Maintenance Technology Development
• IFI Announces Top Global Companies Ranked By 2011 U.S. Patents
• PwC sees China growth despite IP fears
• Multicore Security Processors Show Continued High Growth According to New Linley Group Report

Headlines for Wednesday Jan. 11, 2012

Top Story

Vivante GPU Powers Leading Smart TV Platforms

Vivante Corporation announced that it has been selected to power the Marvell® ARMADA® 1500 Media SoC. The Vivante GC Cores inside the ARMADA 1500 perform complex visual processing using the latest 3D graphics APIs and GUI composition interfaces.

• Beijing Nufront Selects Arteris FlexNoC Interconnect IP and C2C for Mobile Phone Systems on Chip (SoC)
• Who are ARM's top ten customers?
• Intilop Corporation announces release of a whole new series of 4th Gen Ultra-Low latency; sub 100 ns, Full TCP Offload and UDP Offload Engines and System solutions for the entire Network Communication sector
• Kawasaki Microelectronics Licenses CAST 8051 IP Core for New Design Platform
• Fab Spending Down in 2012 - Dip in First Half, but by Mid-Year Recovery Begins

Headlines for Tuesday Jan. 10, 2012

Top Story

Imagination announces first PowerVR Series6 GPU cores

Imagination Technologies announces the first IP cores in its ground-breaking PowerVR Series6 GPU core family. The PowerVR G6200 and G6400 GPU IP cores are the first in a growing family of PowerVR Series6 GPU cores.

• TSMC December 2011 Sales Report
• Imagination's Ensigma UCCP330 delivers global broadcast TV demodulation plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
• Hua Hong NEC Deploys Springsoft's Laker IC Design and Verdi Debug to Accelerate PDK Development and Chip Verification
• TCL and SENSIO announce planned integration of SENSIO Hi-Fi 3D technology in 3DTVs
• Aldec and SynthWorks deliver Randomization and Functional Coverage Capabilities to VHDL Designers with OS-VVM
• TI's OMAP platform powers Windows 8 tablets with advanced visual and computing capabilities
• IBM and GLOBALFOUNDRIES Begin First Production At New York's Latest Semiconductor Fab
• Marvell and Tuxera Announce Industry's Fastest Full-Featured NAS Solution
• Multimedia and connectivity technologies transforming much wider markets than just smartphones, says Imagination

Headlines for Monday Jan. 09, 2012

Top Story

Cadence Expands Proven NAND Flash Design IP Offering With ONFI 3 PHY and Controller

Cadence today announced it has expanded its Flash IP offering to include support for the Open NAND Flash Interface (ONFI) 3.0 specification. Cadence is the first company to provide a combined ONFI 3 controller and PHY IP solution.

• Cryptography Research and CPU Tech Sign Patent License Agreement for DPA Countermeasures
• NXP Semiconductors Comments on Impact of Trident Microsystems Chapter 11 Filing Announces Conference Call to Review Fourth Quarter 2011 Financial Results
• SENSIO licenses its SENSIO Hi-Fi 3D decoding technology for 3DTV chips
• Memoir Systems Selects ChipStart as Global Sales Representative Company
• Why the semiconductor industry will rise again
• MIPS Technologies Teams with Leading Providers of Multimedia and Gaming Solutions to Enable Multi-screen Consumer Experience
• IP-Maker to deliver the first IP core compliant to the NVM Express specification
• Chips&Media to Exhibit its latest Video IP at CES 2012
• Enverv uses Cosmic Circuits ultra low-jitter PLL
• MIPS Technologies Teams with Gameloft to Bring Popular HD Games to MIPS-Based Android Tablets
• Tensilica's HiFi 3 DSP IP Core Provides Over 1.5x Better Performance for Audio Post Processing and Voice in Smartphones and Home Entertainment
• HomePlug Powerline Alliance Announces AV2 Specification for Next-Generation Broadband Speeds over Powerline Wires
• Toshiba Introduces Super Speed USB 3.0-Compliant USB Flash Memory
• UMC Reports Sales for December 2011
• Microdul Adopts Advanced Mixed-signal Solution from DOLPHIN Integration and Tanner EDA and Leads Regional User Group to Drive Continued Innovation

Headlines for Friday Jan. 06, 2012

• Cypress Announces USB-IF Certification of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Controllers
• Needed: A U.S. manufacturing renaissance
• TranSwitch Corporation Provides Revised Guidance Regarding Fourth Quarter Results and Announces Extension to Agreement To Sublease Office Space

Headlines for Thursday Jan. 05, 2012

Top Story

Semiconductor Inventory Declines as Suppliers Adjust to Slow Market Conditions

Chip inventories held by semiconductor suppliers declined in the third quarter of 2011, putting a halt to the steady expansion of the previous seven quarters, as the industry cut production in order to reduce oversupply.

• Mindspeed Technologies to Acquire Picochip
• Xilinx Making Immersive 3D and 4K2K Displays Possible with 7 Series FPGA System Integration
• MoSys Partners with Macnica, Inc. Division, TecStar Company, to Strengthen Representation in Japan for its Bandwidth Engine(R) ICs
• Alvand Technologies Analog IP Portfolio Availability in TSMC’s 28nm Process
• Socle Technology Develops ARM Mali Graphics Based SOC Designs Targeting 28nm Technology
• Xilinx Paves the Way for a New Generation of Automotive Driver Assistance and Infotainment Systems at CES 2012
• Lattice Semiconductor and Aptina Announce Dual Image Sensor Stereo Camera Reference Design for CES 2012
• Toshiba NAND Solutions Address Growing Demand for Error Correction
• JEDEC Publishes Breakthrough Standard for Wide I/O Mobile DRAM
• Tensilica HiFi Audio DSP Supports Dolby Volume to Eliminate Volume Fluctuations in Home Entertainment Systems and DTVs
• Arasan Chip Systems Announces opening of two new Sales offices in Europe
• TranSwitch Introduces HDwire, The World's Fastest, High Definition Video Panel Interface Solution

Headlines for Wednesday Jan. 04, 2012

Top Story

CEVA Announces Availability of CEVA-MM3101, a Programmable, Low Power Imaging and Vision Platform for Camera-Enabled Devices

CEVA today announced the availability of the first imaging and vision platform based on its CEVA-MM3000™ architecture framework. The CEVA-MM3101 platform integrates video and imaging functions that today are distributed among multiple processor engines, to address the image and video pipeline, image enhancement, embedded vision applications and image encoding functions

• Marvell Acquires Xelerated
• LSI Completes Acquisition of SandForce, Inc.
• Entropic Communications Files Intent to Purchase Trident Microsystems' Set-Top Box Business Unit
• Trident Microsystems, Inc. and Cayman Subsidiary File for Chapter 11 Protection
• RDA Microelectronics Signs Digital TV IP License and Development Agreement With Trident Microsystems
• Cosmic Circuits announces silicon-proven PLL portfolio
• Moortec Extend Temperature Sensor IP Offering to Global Foundries 28nm
• Tensilica Showcases Latest Customer Innovations in Smartphones, DTV, and Other Consumer Electronics Equipment at CES 2012
• Test and Verification Solutions Limited (TVS) Announces Opening of German Office
• NVE Files Patent Infringement Suit Against Everspin Technologies
• EnSilica announces new design centre in India focusing on verification

Headlines for Tuesday Jan. 03, 2012

Top Story

Global Semiconductor Sales Experience Near Term Challenges, Long Term Growth

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25.1 billion for the month of November 2011, a decrease of 2.4 percent from the prior month when sales were $25.7 billion.

• Fabless subsidiary, Toumaz Microsystems supported by Imagination Technologies Group
• Rambus Updates Fourth Quarter Revenue Guidance
• Lattice Announces Transfer Of Its Standard Military Drawing (SMD) Product Line To Arrow Electronics Inc.

Headlines for Monday Jan. 02, 2012

• Elecard SATA Controller IP Core hits the market
• ASIX Releases the World's First Single-Chip USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Controller