Week In Review: Design, Low Power

Analog Devices (ADI) acquired the HDMI business of Invecas. “The acquisition of Invecas’ HDMI business positions ADI to deliver more complete solutions throughout the entire customer journey – from chip, to certification, to end product,” said John Hassett, Senior Vice President, Industrial and Consumer at Analog Devices. “We are thrilled to enhance ADI’s capabilities with the addition of this group’s expertise.” Around 150 R&D staff will join ADI, and the company plans to continue a strong presence in the HDMI standards body. The Invecas HDMI business was boosted with the 2017 acquisition of Lattice Semiconductor’s HDMI group, formed from Lattice’s 2015 acquisition of Silicon Image. Invecas will retain its ASIC design services and software and systems businesses. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tools, IP, Power
Intento Design unveiled ID-Calibre, an AI-based tool that calibrates the extracted substrate model for any foundry design kit. The company says the tool works with its other product to detect potential substrate failure areas and eliminate test structure fabrication and foundry measurement expenses.

M31 Technology launched a comprehensive physical IP platform on TSMC 22nm process, including 22ULP and 22ULL. The range of IP includes 6.5-Track, 7-Track, and 9-Track Standard Cell Library, SRAM and ROM Memory Compiler, and special ONFI IO and EMMC/SD IO foundation IP; USB3.0/2.0 PHY and PCIe3.1 PHY interface IP as well as MIPI D-PHY v1.2 for 22ULL; and analog IP including SAR-ADC, Temperature Sensor, PLL, and Relaxation Oscillator.

Qualcomm uncorked a new fast charging platform for Android smartphones. Quick Charge 5 supports more than 100W charging power and can charge devices from 0% to 50% battery power in five minutes. It has voltage, current and temperature protections, including USB-input overvoltage protection at 25V and external power controls beyond 30V.

Deals
Fraunhofer IIS licensed its MPEG-H Audio patents to Samsung Electronics for use in products. The next generation audio codec is specified in TV broadcast standards such as ATSC 3.0 and DVB as well as in the mobile broadband standard 3GPP.

If you’re looking to brush up on physics simulation, Ansys debuted free, on-demand online courses that integrate real-world simulation case studies within physics theory short courses. While the lessons are aimed at students and early-career engineers, they are available to anyone. The courses are led by Ansys and academic partners including Cornell University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Market research firm IC Insights predicts DRAM and NAND to hold their positions as the two largest IC segments in 2020. The DRAM market is forecast to reach nearly $64.6 billion, up 3.2% to take 17.5% of the IC market. NAND is predicted to take the number two spot with $56.0 billion in sales, an increase of 27% and making up 15.2% of the IC market. IC Insights also things demand for personal computers will drive the CPU category to number three with sales projected to increase 2.2% to $41.7 billion.

Events
Virtual DAC saw a big attendance boost, with 52% more people checking in compared to last year’s in-person event. Submissions to the research track increased by 20% in the past two years, and the Designer, IP and Embedded Tracks submissions increased by 15% compared to 2019. For registered attendees, keynotes, SKYtalks, Tech Talks, and exhibitor content will be accessible through September 1.

Find a new conference or learning opportunity at our events page, or check out an upcoming webinar. Plus, watch Ins And Outs Of In-Circuit Monitoring to learn the techniques to predict failures and improve reliability.