D&R Headline News (August 2007)

Headlines for Friday Aug. 31, 2007

Top Story

Next acquisition target for MIPS: DSP core?

While keeping his cards close to the vest, MIPS CEO John Bourgoin hinted in an interview with EE Times this week that a DSP core company may be next.

• Cosmic Circuits Named as "Red Herring 100 Asia" Award Winner for 2007
• Denali IP Products Deployed in Next-Generation Dual-Core Packet Processors For Wireless Multimedia Networks
• MOSAID Announces First Quarter Results for Fiscal 2008 and Dividend

Headlines for Thursday Aug. 30, 2007

Top Story

Dolphin Integration -- Silicon IP Amidst a Drastic Reorientation

In two of the domains the company occupies on the sector of Silicon Intellectual Property, namely that of Memory and Cell Libraries and that of High Resolution Peripheral Components, its competitors continue their series of Mergers through Acquisitions by providers of microprocessors for Systems-on-Chip.

• Kaben Wireless Silicon appoints Paul Slaby as Chairman
• Letter to the editor: IP, cars share common ground (C. Paul Slaby, Kaben Wireless Silicon)
• Letter to the editor: IP worth its weight (Jim Gobes, CEO, Intrinsix)
• Broadcom Extends Leadership in Networking Silicon Market with Industry's First 65 Nanometer Gigabit Ethernet Switches
• Gaisler Research announces new licensing agreements with leading Asian companies
• Chip makers' dependence on software, IP growing
• Sunplus Presents World's First DVD SoC Solution SPHE8203A with DivX HD Playability
• Frontier Silicon partners with other industry leaders to deliver world's first range of DAB+ radios
• Mobilygen Appoints Anoop Khurana as New VP Engineering
• Patriot Scientific Announces Licensing Agreement with the LEGO Group

Headlines for Wednesday Aug. 29, 2007

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ASIC Architect Announces the Availability of AMBA 2 AHB to PCI Express Bridge

The solution product has passed PCI Express Compliance and Interoperability testing in PCI-SIG compliance workshop. This solution enables SoC designers to plug-in PCI Express Controller Core into AMBA 2 AHB system bus. This directly leads to low design implementation risk.

• Synopsys and SMIC Jointly Address China Mobile TV Market with Low Power Design Solution
• VeriSilicon Introduces VZ.VoiceHQ Appplication Platform to Accelerate Development of Next Generation VoIP Products
• Dune Networks Announces Availability of SPAUI Implementation on Altera FPGAs
• PowerLayer Microsystems Licenses MIPS32 24KE Core for Next-Generation DTV Designs in Growing China Market
• Avago Technologies Leads Industry With 17 Gbps SerDes Performance in 65 nm CMOS Process
• hd Lab Becomes Tensilica Authorized Design Center
• MoSys, Inc. Authorizes Stock Repurchase Plan
• Averant Announces Release of SolidPC 2.0, ARM AMBA 3 Assured Status
• Lantronix Launches Family of Turnkey Networking System-on-Chip Coprocessors for High-Volume, Low-Cost Products
• LogicVision Announces New Release of Its Embedded SerDes Test Solution

Headlines for Tuesday Aug. 28, 2007

Top Story

NEC Electronics Sets New Bar for ARM Processor Core Performance

NEC Electronics' 90-nanometer (nm), 700 MHz (931 MHz under nominal process conditions) dual-core implementation of the ARM11(TM) MPCore(TM) multicore processor is the highest-performing ARM processor core on the market, while the NEC Electronics-implemented ARM926EJ-S(TM) processor core is the industry's fastest at 130 nm, clocking in at 400 MHz (532 MHz under nominal process conditions).

• Altera Ships First Member of High-End Stratix III FPGA Family
• OCP-IP and Nexus Announce Collaboration on Industry Standard Debug Efforts
• Acacia Semiconductor Announces a New Family of Best-in-Class High-Speed 10-bit ADC IPs Silicon Proven in a 130nm Process
• IBEX Becomes Tensilica Authorized Design Center

Headlines for Monday Aug. 27, 2007

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MIPS Technologies Acquires World's Leading Analog Intellectual Property Company; Acquisition of Chipidea Microelectronica S.A. Propels MIPS to #2 Ranking

MIPS Technologies will pay an aggregate of $147 million in cash, with an additional performance-based milestone payment of 610,687 shares of MIPS Technologies' common stock in 2009. At today's closing, MIPS Technologies will make an initial payment of approximately $120 million from its current cash reserves with the balance released from escrow within two years subject to an indemnification holdback and deferred payments for the Chipidea co-founders remaining with the company.

• Sonics files for IPO
• Cadence Selects Wipro-Newlogic's Wireless LAN IP For Its SoC Functional Verification Kit
• New Kit From Cadence Cuts Risk and Time for Adopting Functional Verification Methodology
• Actel Drives FPGAs "Under the Hood" Into Critical Automotive Powertrain and Safety Systems
• Magna Electronics Chooses Actel's ProASIC3 FPGAs to Enable Automotive Vision Systems
• Cadence Selects Chipidea's USB 2.0 IP For Its SoC Functional Verification Kit
• Sentivision Enables Real-Time Multiple Channel H.264 Encoding on the TMS320DM647 and TMS320DM648 Texas Instruments DaVinci(TM) Processors
• Spreadtrum Announces First Commercial AVS Audio/Video Decoder Chip
• Edgeware Video-on-Demand Server Achieves Breakthrough Performance With Altera FPGAs

Headlines for Friday Aug. 24, 2007

• Rambus Provides Update Regarding Independent Review of Past Stock Option Practices
• HiSilicon Licenses Sarance Interlaken Protocol IP

Headlines for Thursday Aug. 23, 2007

Top Story

NSCore's PermSRAM(R) Nonvolatile Memory Licensed to ROHM

NSCore, Inc., a supplier of nonvolatile memory (NVM) intellectual property (IP), today announced an agreement under which NSCore's PermSRAM technology is licensed to ROHM, a Japanese leading semiconductor manufacturer for use throughout its logic products.

• Letter to the editor: Turley speaks out (Patriot Scientific)
• Accellera Approves Functional Design Verification Standard
• Rambus Receives European Commission Statement of Objectives
• Kilopass Announces Embedded Non-Volatile Memory for 65 nm Low Power and 65 nm General Purpose Processes
• Luminary Micro Closes $25M in Series C Round
• Stretch Inc. Introduces World's First 16-Channel H.264 Digital Video Recorder in a PCI-Express Add-in Card
• Alchip Strengthens Executive Management Team Industry Veteran Jim Bailey Joins as Chief Operating Officer
• Nasdaq Board Grants Rambus Extension for Continued Listing
• Micronas Announces Single-Chip Solution for Full HD 1080p Flat-Panel TVs
• Garmin Integrates New GPS Chipset from STMicroelectronics

Headlines for Wednesday Aug. 22, 2007

Top Story

Mentor Graphics Offers Sonics(R) SMART Interconnect(TM) Solutions

Sonics announced today that Sonics SMART Interconnect solutions are now available as library elements for Mentor Graphics' Vista(TM) and Visual Elite(TM) products. Mentor Graphics now offers a complete configuration, analysis and verification of SystemC SoC platforms based on Sonics SMART Interconnect solutions.

• Salamander Error Correction announces 1 Gbps Viterbi decoder
• ChipX XPath Methodology Enables Seamless Migration from Structured ASIC to Standard Cell
• Xi'An Huaxun Licenses ARM7TDMI Processor
• ASUS licenses HelloSoft's Echo Cancellation Technology for mobile handset platforms

Headlines for Tuesday Aug. 21, 2007

Top Story

SNOWBUSH microelectronics Announces Silicon Verified 6-Bit, 2.5 GSPS, ADC IP Core in 90nm CMOS Process

SNOWBUSH's 6-bit ADC is compact, low-power, and by utilizing its high bandwidth sample-and-hold front-end, it maintains excellent dynamic performance throughout the full range of input frequencies. The ADC features INL of 0.59 LSB, DNL of 0.51 LSB, and ENOB of 5.2 or greater for sampling clock frequencies up to 2.5 GHz. The ADC occupies a silicon area of 0.43 square millimeters.

• D2 Technologies Delivers Expanded VoIP Support for ARM Microprocessors
• Xilinx DSP Development Tools Deliver Up to 38 Percent Higher DSP Performance
• TSMC Starts Production of 0.13-micron Embedded Flash Process
• Qimonda Selects Denali to Enable Rapid Deployment of Industry's First GDDR5 Memories
• Qimonda Expands Foundry Agreement with SMIC
• Letter to the editor: IP holds the SoC key (Bob Tait, S3)
• Patriot Scientific Appoints Nick Tredennick to its Board of Directors
• Letter to the editor: Foundry vs. IP (Les Wilson)
• Letter to the editor: IP vendors must unite (Susan Cain, Previous VSIA Executive Director)
• LogicVision Announces Production Release of Memory Built-In Self-Repair and ScanBurst At-Speed Scan Solution Integrated With Mentor Graphic's FastScan and TestKompress

Headlines for Monday Aug. 20, 2007

Top Story

QuickLogic Announces Availability of Ultra-Secure, Digital Rights Management, Single-Chip Silicon Solutions for Handheld Electronics Products

QuickLogic today announced it has added a suite of digital rights management (DRM) security functions, including AES encryption, to the library of IP available for its programmable connectivity platforms. The technology greatly enhances time to market and time in market for handheld elec tronics products. It allows developers to extend the capability of their chosen embedded systems processor with both the security and peripheral interfaces they need, via a single low power consumption IC.

• SiBEAM, Inc. Selects Tensilica Configurable Processor for Baseband DSP in Wireless Link for HDTV Devices
• Elliptic and Impinj Collaboration Bolsters System-On-Chip Digital Content Protection
• Actel FPGAs Bring Clarity to Visibility Enhancement Technology Platform from LYYN AB
• Broadcom Announces Complete Digital TV Receiver System Designed to Meet the NTIA's Digital-to-Analog TV Coupon Program
• Toshiba Announces Second-Generation, High-Performance 3D Comb Filter And Video Decoder For Next-Generation Flat-Panel TVs, Set-Top Boxes, DVD Recorders And PC-TV Cards
• Transmeta Appoints Sujan Jain as Chief Financial Officer
• Tower Semiconductor Announces Supply Chain Efficiency Plan; Expects Cost Reduction of Approximately $15 Million through the Coming Three Years
• Tilera Now Shipping the TILE64 Processor: the World's Highest Performance Embedded Processor

Headlines for Friday Aug. 17, 2007

• Kaben Research changes name to Kaben Wireless Silicon
• Synopsys was not invited to join SystemVerilog OVM initiative
• Tallika Corporation Opens Office in the Silicon Valley
• UMC Announces a Reorganization of Management Structure
• Cadence Extends DFM Solution with Acquisition of Design-side Litho and Variability Leader Clear Shape Technologies

Headlines for Thursday Aug. 16, 2007

Top Story

Cadence and Mentor Graphics Deliver Interoperability with Open SystemVerilog Verification Methodology

The Open Verification Methodology (OVM) will deliver a tool-independent solution for designers and verification engineers that promotes data portability and interoperability. It delivers on the promise of SystemVerilog with established interoperability mechanisms for Verification IP (VIP), transaction-level and RTL models, and full integration with other languages commonly used in production flows. The OVM will include a robust class library and be available in source code format.

• Letter to the editor: Semico's insights on IP (Richard Wawrzyniak)
• Letter to the editor: IP model a mess (Timothy Llewellynn, Anagram Technologies)
• Letter to the editor: One IP vendor rocks (David Almagor)
• Virage Logic Completes Acquisition of Ingot Systems
• TI Acquires Integrated Circuit Designs, Inc. to Expand Low-Power RF Design Resources

Headlines for Wednesday Aug. 15, 2007

Top Story

Microsoft Embraces TSMC 90nm Embedded DRAM Process for Xbox 360

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. today announced that Microsoft has started production of the Microsoft Xbox 360 graphics-memory subsystem using the TSMC 90nm embedded DRAM process. Designed to meet the needs of volume consumer electronics devices, the TSMC 90nm eDRAM process features a high-density macro design (80Mb) and fast performance to 500MHz.

• Letter to the editor: Legal framework broken (Teck Phen, IntoTest)
• Patriot Scientific Reports Fiscal 2007 Net Income $23.7M or $0.06 Diluted EPS
• Tower Semiconductor Reports 28 Percent Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth in the Second Quarter 2007 and 40 Percent Growth in the First Half 2007
• ARM Appoints ZLGMCU to Distribute Keil Development Tools in China
• Transmeta Announces Reverse Stock Split

Headlines for Tuesday Aug. 14, 2007

Top Story

Faraday Introduces Next Generation ARM v5 Compliant Ultra High Performance Processor - FA626TE

The first hard core which reaches the worst case clock speed at 533MHz is available in UMC 0.13um process. Faraday expects its next versions for 90nm in UMC, running 667MHz and 800MHz in worst case, to be available in initial Q4 and the end of 2007 respectively.

• Letter to the editor: IP remains critical (Hal Barbour, CAST)
• Letter to the editor: Synopsys weighs in (John Koeter)
• Trinity Convergence Announces Availability of IP Video Phone Software for TI's DaVinci Processors
• Xilinx Leads Teams with EDA Leaders to Tackle Ultra High-Capacity FPGA Design Verification
• Letter to the editor: IP needs integration (Richard John)
• Letter to the editor: DSPs for IP (Shaul Berger)
• Letter to the editor: Golf more fun than IP (Doug McKenney, LSI)
• Letter to the editor: IP pros, cons (Jonah Probell)

Headlines for Monday Aug. 13, 2007

Top Story

New VRaptor-Based ARC Video Subsystems Set the Standard for High Quality Video Encode in Consumer Devices

ARC International today set a new standard for high-quality video encoding with the introduction of five new members of the ARC® Video Subsystem family: AV 417V, AV 407V, AV406V, AV 404V, and AV 402V. All include ARC's new patent-pending technology "dynamic adaptive encoding" that enables encoding of video streams at the lowest power.

• New ARC VRaptor-Based Video Subsystems Receive Strong Industry Support
• Tallika Announces Asymmetric Public-Key Cryptography Acceleration Solution
• Speed Pixel Licenses ARM7TDMI Processor for New Digital Wireless Video SoC
• Hynix Semiconductor Licenses ISi's Z-RAM Memory Technology for DRAM Products
• Letter to the editor: Patents a sore spot (Tuan Pham, EM Microelectronic Marin)
• Coventive Licenses and Deploys Espial's Evo IPTV Middleware and Applications on Its Multimedia Set-Top Box

Headlines for Friday Aug. 10, 2007

• TSMC July 2007 Sales Report
• IPextreme Expands Global Presence with Three New Representatives: Maojet in Taiwan; Progate in Korea; and Sital in Israel
• AKA's MIL-STD 1553 RT core validated by leading independent test house

Headlines for Thursday Aug. 09, 2007

Top Story

PCI-SIG Announces PCI Express 3.0 Bit Rate for Products in 2010 and Beyond

PCI-SIG®, the Special Interest Group responsible for the PCI Express® industry-standard I/O interconnect technology, today announced the approval of 8GT/s as the bit rate for the next generation of PCIe® architecture, PCIe 3.0. In keeping with the industry expectations for ever-higher performance, low cost and compatibility, this represents the second speed increase since the initial launch of this I/O interconnect standard in 2003.

• The TPL Group Moves to Further Streamline Moore Microprocessor Patent (MMP) Infringement Trial for Texas Court
• Nokia and STMicroelectronics Plan Deeper Ties in 3G Technology Development

Headlines for Wednesday Aug. 08, 2007

Top Story

Samsung Teams with Denali Software to Improve Memory System Design Process

Denali Software today announced that it has become the exclusive commercial provider of simulation models for memory devices made by Samsung Electronics. In naming Denali as exclusive provider of its simulation models, Samsung is ensuring faster access to high-quality simulated designs for its memory customers, while enabling designers to speed development of systems that utilize Samsung DRAM and NAND Flash memory, among other current and future memory devices.

• eASIC and Avnet ASIC Israel (AAI) Partner to Support Increasing Demand for Structured ASICs in Israel
• Altera Cyclone III FPGAs Land Leading Role in New SVS Multiviewer Products

Headlines for Tuesday Aug. 07, 2007

Top Story

Virage Logic Enters into Agreement to Acquire Ingot Systems

The planned acquisition will expand Virage Logic's ability to serve the company's chosen market by adding new products and services required in the rapid development of System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated circuits to Virage Logic's current family of memory compilers, logic libraries and related development tools

• Time for Structured ASIC?
• Genesis Microchip Licenses MIPS Cores to Power Next-Generation Flat-Panel Display Solutions
• Altera Delivers PCI-SIG Compliant x1 and x4 PCI Express Solution Supporting Arria GX FPGAs
• Sun Microsystems Enters Commercial Silicon Market With World's Fastest Commodity Microprocessor
• Stonestreet One Joins As Tensilica Configurable Processor Design Center
• Faraday Monthly Sales Report -- July 2007
• AIT Licenses ARM926EJ-S Processor For Next-Generation Feature Phones
• Xilinx Delivers DDR2-400 Support for Spartan-3 Generation FPGAs with Hardware-Verified Reference Design
• VinChip Announces Verification Testbench for Certified Wireless USB
• Transmeta Reports Second Quarter 2007 Results
• Xilinx PlanAhead 9.2 Software Streamlines FPGA to PCB Integration
• Xilinx CEO Announces Retirement

Headlines for Monday Aug. 06, 2007

Top Story

ChipX Offers ARM Processors on Wide Range of ASICs

ChipX announced today it has licensed processor IP cores from ARM. The licensed ARM® processors include the ARM926EJ(TM) featuring an enhanced 32-bit RISC CPU, Data and Instruction CACHE, a memory management unit (MMU) and DSP instructions.

• Leading Tools And Systems Providers Put Powervr Insider Tools In Own Offerings
• Actel Delivers Power-Efficient System Management Solution Starting at $1.20 for Embedded Applications

Headlines for Friday Aug. 03, 2007

• Acquisition of Intrinsix Corp.'s Federal Systems Division Expands Abraxas Corporation's Engineering Capabilities
• Wi-LAN Announces Completion of Early License Program
• Renesas Technology Develops SuperH Family SH72546RFCC Achieving Industry's Top-Level Operating Speed of 200 MHz and Featuring Industry-First Use of 90 nm Process for a Microcontroller with On-Chip Flash Memory
• Wi-LAN Signs another U.S. V-chip License
• Silicon Image Reports Second Quarter Results

Headlines for Thursday Aug. 02, 2007

Top Story

Semi IP sector is a lost cause

Except in a few cases, the semiconductor intellectual-property (IP) sector is a non-profit business. It's simply a lost cause, with a questionable business model. Most IP vendors are losing money in the arena. This week, in fact, several IP vendors posted losses for the quarter, including Aware, MoSys and Virage.

• Silicon Interfaces ships the new SI16FWA20 Link Layer Controller Fire Wire IP
• QUALCOMM and Exoteq Sign OFDM/OFDMA License Agreement
• LSI to outsource entire production
• Cadence and SMIC Collaboration Validates RF Design Kit for Wireless IC Design
• Wi-LAN Signs License with Powerstar International
• Virage Logic Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2007 Financial Results
• Broadcom's Industry-Leading Bluetooth Silicon and Software Achieve Bluetooth 2.1 Qualification
• MIPS Technologies Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2007 Financial Results
• Certess Certitude Improves Verification Strategy at Juniper Networks
• QUALCOMM Begins Utilizing 45 Nanometer Semiconductor Process Technology

Headlines for Wednesday Aug. 01, 2007

Top Story

Altera Offers Complete USB 2.0 Device Controller Solution

Altera today expanded its intellectual property (IP) portfolio with the introduction of a complete USB 2.0 Hi-/Full-Speed Device Controller solution from System Level Solutions (SLS). This new solution is comprised of a soft IP core, software and class drivers, and SLS’s Snap-On PHY daughtercards. The daughtercards are designed for use exclusively with Altera® development kits.

• Nethra Imaging introduces 3.2-megapixel image processor with JPEG encoder for today’s smallest handheld devices
• MIPS32 24KE Core Designed Into VDSL2 Residential Gateway from Ikanos
• Tata Elxsi Becomes Tensilica's First Authorized Multimedia Processor Design Center
• MoSys, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2007 Financial Results
• ARC Announces Unaudited Preliminary Results for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2007
• Beach Solutions Auto-generates Firmware for Concurrent SoC Engineering
• Aware, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2007 Financial Results