EE Daily News

Intel acquires patent portfolio from RealNetworks for $120M

2012-01-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

RealNetworks, Inc. has announced that the company "has signed an agreement to sell a significant number of its patents and its next generation video codec software to Intel Corporation for a purchase price of $120 million." RealNetworks will retain rights to use the inventions in current and future products. The two companies have also signed a "memorandum of understanding to collaborate on future support and development of the next-generation video codec software and related...

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Elliptic announces IPsec security protocol processor core for LTE mobile backhaul

2012-01-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

Elliptic Technologies, a supplier of security semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) and software based in Ottawa, Canada, has announced release of the SPP-230: ESP/AH (Encapsulating Security Payload/Authentication Header) PDU (Protocol Data Unit) Processor for applications in 4G LTE internet protocol (IP) ethernet-based backhaul networks. (For a reference on IPsec, see the IPsec paper from former AT&T Labs researcher Patrick McDaniel at...

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CES Downloads: Faster and easier WiFi, or just more confusing?

2012-01-20T16:47:00.000-08:00

The TI CC3000 is a complete WiFI module that can be added to an embedded system with an inexpensive MCU, through a simple SPI inter The hype from semiconductor companies eager to promote their solutions for next-generation WiFi, or IEEE 802.11ac, began last year well before the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). At CES, we had the opportunity to see some of these Gigabit wireless LAN chips in action, but not all WiFi vendors were focused on the speed war. Texas Instruments...

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CES Downloads: Google-TV vs. Android-TV

2012-01-19T21:21:00.000-08:00

Marvell has developed an ARM-based processor for Google-TV, while Broadcom has developed a MIPS-based STB to enable Android on TV outside of Google's control. On January 5th, just a few days before the opening of the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, Google announced a new set of partners for the development of Google-TV 2.0. For integration directly into TVs, Google has added LG, Samsung, and Vizio to 1st generation partner Sony. Intel has dropped out of the smart-TV...

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CES Downloads: AT&T, Nokia, and Microsoft Become Fast Friends

2012-01-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

For the last six years, (not coincidentally - since the introduction of the first iPhone in January 2007), AT&T has held their Annual Developer Summit on the day before the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In recent years the event has shown AT&T playing catch up to the latest trends in mobile devices, such as waiting until 2010 to introduce their first Android device, while Google was simultaneously announcing the Nexus One. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer onstage...

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Intel and Qualcomm launch mobile application processor battle in China

2012-01-11T00:15:00.000-08:00

Attendees at the opening of the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show may well have been wondering if a lightning storm had struck one of the fountains along the Las Vegas strip overnight, as a high-tech version of "The Change-Up" played out in the two keynote addresses that started and finished the day's events. In the morning there was Dr. Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of Qualcomm, inviting Liu Jun - Senior VP at Lenovo, on stage to demonstrate the use of his company's...

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CES First Night

2012-01-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

The first night at the International Consumer Electronics show always starts with the "Official Press Event" - CES Unveiled. Inexplicably, the press queues up in a line that wraps down the corridors of Venetian Hotel's convention space, just to get into an overcrowded ballroom with <100 exhibitors. It should be evident from the photograph that the venue and crowd makes actually getting to see any of the exhibitors an exercise roughly akin to getting on a subway train in Tokyo at rush hour....

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EE Daily News at the International Consumer Electronics Show

2012-01-06T19:04:00.000-08:00

The International Consumer Electronics Show, or simply CES, officially opens on Tuesday (January 10th) in Las Vegas. For media and analysts, events kickoff on Sunday afternoon with the "CES Unveiled" Preview. The EE Daily News will be there for exhausting day of the show. With an attendance on the order of 100,000.. this isn't a show like and other trade show, it's a crazy frenzied mob scene from start to finish. This is not the kind of event where you can just walk in and roam the show floor...

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Magma details a shotgun marriage to Synopsys, after a 10-month courtship and wooing of Cadence.

2012-01-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

Last year, the biggest news in the EDA industry broke on November 30th, when Magma announced that they had agreed to be acquired by Synopsys for $507M - equivalent to $7.35 per share. Thanks to SEC disclosure requirements for publicly traded companies, we now know that discussions started much earlier, on February 2, 2011, and that it was Synopsys that initially approached Magma. The details of the negotiations in Magma's preliminary proxy statement provide an intriguing behind the scenes...

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Spin Clean Record Washer Mk II

2011-12-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

I first heard of the Spin Clean Record Cleaner when Michael Fremer reviewed it for Sterophile Magazine, in February 2010. The device also was named as one one of the runners up for Stereophile's Accessory Product of the Year in 2010. As a frugal audiophile, I have used the DiscWasher D4 record cleaning brush and fluid since I first purchased my Yamaha YP-701 turntable (still working great after ~35 years!). The more sophisticated LP vacuum systems are just too expensive and bulky for me. But...

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DSP-FPGA Resource Guide

2011-12-28T22:04:00.000-08:00

The 2011-12 edition of the DSP-FPGA Resource Guide is now available online from OpenSystems Media. Designers of embedded signal processing systems will find a wealth of reference material and product profiles in the guide on the latest Development Tools, DSP Board-Level Products, FPGA Hardware, and FPGA & CPLD ICs. In my Feature Article, "Virtual or real: Prototyping platform(s) for ARM-based FPGA design", I discuss how a combination of EDA tools and hardware prototyping platforms is...

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Wireless chip companies target 802.11ac Gigabit WiFi in 2012, but it's not all about the speed

2011-12-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

Following on Quantenna Communications' recent claim to be first to market with a 802.11ac chipset and reference design, add Broadcom and Redpine Signals to the companies planning to rollout chipsets for the next-generation IEEE WiFi standard. Though the standard will not complete the IEEE 802.11 Working Group ratification process until December 2013, Broadcom and Redpine have both announced plans to have chipsets available by the 2nd half of 2012. In a pre-Consumer Electronics Show...

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Texas Instruments extends KeyStone DSP architecture for Cloud-RAN applications

2011-12-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

Texas Instruments (TI) has announced enhancements to their KeyStone DSP architecture to support emerging cloud-based Radio Access Network (RAN) applications for wireless base stations. C-RAN is a development project being led by the China Mobile Research Institute, in which the conventional base station hardware and software resources at individual cell sites are removed and aggregated in a centralized location, connected remotely to the towers over high bandwidth fiber. With pooled...

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Magma sale to Synopsys causes eruption of shareholder claim investigations

2011-12-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

The November 30 announcement by Magma Design Automation , that they had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Synopsys for $507M, has resulted in an eruption in potential lawsuits over the low valuation. This is just a sample of the number of announced investigations: Tripp Levy PLLC Announces Investigation of Magma Design Automation, Inc. The Law Firm of Weiss & Lurie Investigates Magma Design Automation Inc. Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims on Behalf of Investors of Magma...

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Geoffrey Moore on Escape Velocity, How To Free Your Company From the Pull of the Past

2011-12-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

On November 29, SAP hosted a discussion with Geoffrey Moore, the well-known author of "Crossing the Chasm", who has written a new book - "Escape Velocity: Free Your Company's Future from the Pull of the Past." Moore has been a consultant to SAP in the past, so it is understandable that he framed most of his comments at the company's Hillview Speaker Series event on how to apply the book's principles to SAP's business. However, the message which Moore describes in his introduction,...

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LAVA flows to Synopsys in $507M fire sale

2011-12-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

On November 30, Electronic Design Automation (EDA) vendor Magma Design Automation (Nasdaq: LAVA) announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Synopsys (Nasdaq: SNPS), for $507M. With Magma ranked as the 4th largest company in the EDA industry in terms of revenue, this low valuation stands in dramatic contrast to other large EDA acquisitions over the last 12 to 18 months. At the close of trading just before the deal was announced on Wednesday, Magma had a market...

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Altair and AsiaTelco develop TD-LTE hotspot for ChinaMobile

2011-11-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

Altair Semiconductor and AsiaTelco have announced development of a TD-LTE mobile hotspot for China Mobile, which incorporates Altair's TDD/FDD LTE chipset - the FourGee-3100/6200. This is the second TD-LTE device announced by the two companies, following their demonstration in June of a TD-LTE USB dongle. The FourGee-3100 is Altair's LTE baseband chip, which the company packages in a 9x9mm VFBGA package. The FourGee-6200 provides the companion LTE RF front-end, in a 8x8mm QFN...

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Intel at ISSCC 2012: David Perlmutter keynote, details on 22nm tri-gate design and Ivy Bridge demo

2011-11-21T15:18:00.001-08:00

An illustration of a 32nm transistor (left) in which the current (yellow dots) flows in a plane underneath the gate. On the right is a 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate transistor with current flowing on 3 sides of a vertical fin. (source Intel) Intel Executive VP David Perlmutter will conclude the Monday February 20 morning plenary session to kickoff the 2012 International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) with a presentation on "Sustainability in Silicon and Systems Development". Perlmutter will be...

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Samsung to Top List of Industry Presenters at 2012 International Solid State Circuits Conference

2011-11-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

The 2012 International Solid State Circuits Conference, annually the industry's premier venue for presentations on new developments in the integrated-circuit industry, will return to the San Francisco Marriott Hotel February 19-23, 2012 with the theme of "Silicon Systems for Sustainability". Samsung will lead the group of 69 industry papers at ISSCC, with contributions to 15 papers, followed by Intel with 13. A total of 202 papers will be presented by companies, universities and research...

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Verizon and Vodafone tap into Silicon Valley ecosystem with new Innovation Centers

2011-11-18T18:07:00.000-08:00

Visitors to Verizon's Application Innovation Center in San Francisco are treated to this spectacular view of the Bay Bridge. Verizon Wireless recently invited a few members of the mobile technology media/analyst corps to their 12,000 square foot Application Innovation Center (AIC) in San Francisco, which they opened for business in August 2011. The AIC is located in the heart of San Francisco's rapidly growing application developer community, and offers three private labs along with an RF...

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Quantenna claims 1st chipset for future IEEE802.11ac Gigabit WiFi standard

2011-11-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

Fabless WiFi chip supplier Quantenna, based in Fremont, CA, has announced what they claim is the first availability of a chipset and reference design for the forthcoming 802.11ac addition to the IEEE WiFi Standard. IEEE 802.11ac, which promises transmission speeds of at least 1 Gbps, is one of several projects of the IEEE 802.11 Working Group. The group has scheduled final ratification in December of 2013. Quantenna says that by using a 4x4 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) design, they...

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ARM extends big-LITTLE multicore strategy to GPU computing with new Mali-T658

2011-11-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

Semiconductor intellectual property provider ARM Holdings has recently been promoting a "big.LITTLE" strategy, which enables System on a Chip (SoC) design to be based on multiple heterogeneous core processors that share the same architecture, but are scaled to fit the needs of various performance level tasks. For highest performance, ARM has introduced their Cortex-A15 MPCore™ processor, which designers can mix with the Cortex-A7 for maximum energy efficiency. ARM is now similarly increasing...

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Apache Design Solutions adds RTL Power Model to accelerate design of mobile devices

2011-11-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

Apache Design Solutions, now a subsidiary of Ansys, has announced the addition of new technology to the company's PowerArtist-XP software for developing a RTL Power Model (RPM). The company is targeting low-power applications such as mobile devices, where power budgeting is especially critical. RPM provides designers with a set of tools to predict power behavior directly from the register-transfer-level (RTL) description of a design, enabling decisions to be made earlier regarding...

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Sprint CEO Dan Hesse at the Open Solutions Conference: expects seamless hand-off for multiple LTE bands

2011-11-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sprint Nextel has been widely criticized after their October 7th 4G strategy conference, where the company outlined an expensive and complex shift to LTE, and away from their current 4G WiMAX provider - Clearwire. The company added more confusion to the strategy by announcing they had signed a "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) with Clearwire to cooperate on development ot TDE-LTE. It was against this backdrop that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse responded to warm applause as he began his...

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LightSquared CEO: We want to be the DUMBEST wireless broadband pipe.

2011-11-02T23:21:00.001-07:00

Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO of LightSquared In a keynote address on the opening day of the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco, Sanjiv Ahuja - CEO of LightSquared, made his case for how his company plans to disrupt the wireless industry with a satellite-terrestrial network and wholesale business model. Ahuja started by recalling the very beginning of the mobile industry, describing Martin Cooper's first cellphone call in 1973 as a publicity stunt that was intended to convince the FCC to allocate...

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