The Week In Review: Design/IoT

Mergers/Acquisitions
Lattice Semiconductor agreed to pay $600 million for Silicon Image, which makes connectivity solutions for high-definition content for mobile and consumer electronics. Lattice already makes programmable connectivity solutions, so the combined IP portfolio is expected to strengthen its position in wired and wireless markets.

Tools
Cadence expanded the tool portfolio it acquired from Sigrity, tripling the speed for PCB extraction, adding power-aware signal integrity checks for LPDDR4, and adding more licensing options for small teams.

IP
Synopsys uncorked medium density non-volatile memory IP, which it says will reduce die costs by up to 25%. The new IP can be integrated with microcontrollers in 180nm 5V CMOS and BCD processes, where embedded flash isn’t available.

Deals
Mentor Graphics formed the HyperLynx Alliance around its PCB tool suite to accelerate new technology adoption. Founding partners include Altera, PMC-Sierra, Samtec and eASIC.

Rambus‘ Cryptography Research Division won a deal with Microsemi, which will resell its security technologies in government and military markets.

Cadence inked a deal with China’s Espressif Systems, which will use Cadence’s Tensilica DSPs for IoT WiFi chips.

Sonics said it closed up 2014 with 13 new customer licenses for its NoC technology. The company also received a new patent for its “Intelligent Power Controller” and created an Agile IC Methodology group.

Numbers
Rambus reported its Q4 and fiscal year 2014 results that were significantly stronger than results from 2013. In Q4 the company generated $72.0 million, up 3% sequentially and down 2% year over year. But net income was $7.8 million, compared with a loss of $9.8 million in the same period in 2013. For the year, revenue was $296.6 million, up from $271.5 million in 2013. Net income was $26.2 million, compared with a loss of $33.7 million in 2013. During the year it signed a license deal with Cisco and launched security and validation platforms.

Certifications
NXP received D-PAS certification by Discover Financial Services, allowing NXP to implement EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) cards across the Discover card network.