Industry Buzz

Leveraging its Power Architecture, IBM will produce the CPUs for Nintendo‘s hot new Wii U on 45nm SOI.  IBM’s unique embedded DRAM on SOI (see ASN6) triples the amount of memory on a single chip, feeding the multi-core processor large chunks of data for a smooth and extreme entertainment experience. The Wii U hits store shelves in 2012.

NXP has introduced the GreenChip SSL4101T controller IC for Solid State LED lighting power supplies. Based on SOI, its industry-leading performance includes Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of less than 20 percent, a high Power Factor (PF) of .99, and high efficiency of 94 percent.

SiTime, which leverages its SOI-MEMS technology, has introduced the SiT820X family of MEMS-based Programmable Oscillators, the industry’s highest-performance oscillators for telecom, networking, storage and wireless apps.

Freescale‘s new QorIQ™ P2041 quad-core processor on 45nm SOI for security and other networking equipment delivers up to 10 Gb/s performance and operates at 12W typical power.

SiTime has expanded its line of SOI-MEMS-based silicon timing solutions with the SiT8004, the industry’s lowest power high-frequency oscillator. The SiT8004 reduces oscillator power consumption by up to 66% and is ideally suited for high performance networking, video, computing and storage applications.

High-temp SOI specialist Cissoid has introduced Moon, a new  40V N-channel MOSFET transistor that can switch currents up to 2A. At 225°C, the gate leakage current remains below 100nA, while its drain off current doesn’t exceed 3.5μA.

CEA-Leti and EDA specialist InfiniScale are collaborating on process-variability management in SOI sub-28nm devices.  The goals are to offer the design community access to Leti’s FD SOI technology,  and to validate InfiniScale tools with measurements on silicon.

Freescale and CEA-Leti recently celebrated 10 years of MEMS collaboration, which includes producing a million SOI-based accelerometers a year for airbag and ESC apps in the automotive market.

 

(Image courtesy: Leti and Freescale)

Luxtera’s new optical engine chip-set for the HPC and data center markets uses mainstream SOI-CMOS photonics fabrication processes (foundry: Freescale). It delivers on-chip waveguide level modulation and photo-detection, along with associated electronics, and supports four fully-integrated 14 Gbps opto-electronic transceiver channels on a single CMOS chip.

 

(Image courtesy: NXP)

New GreenChip power ICs from NXP leverage SOI for the lowest standby capability in the industry, reaching levels below 10mW. They’re designed for adapters for mobile devices such as cell phone chargers, tablets and notebooks, as well as major home appliances or white goods.

• GreenChip TEA1721 has two internal silicon dies – the controller die is built on ABCD-SOI and the high-voltage switch die is built on EZ-HV-SOI.
• TEA1753 is low voltage ABCD-SOI for control and High Voltage DMOS (dual die)
• TEA1703 & TEA173x low voltage ABCD-SOI (single die)

A former IBM exec (and ASN contributor), Steve Longoria joins Soitec as Senior Vice President Worldwide Strategic Business Development. He’ll drive foundry and fabless adoption of Soitec‘s new FD-SOI platform for mobile consumer devices, and work with the SOI Consortium to extend the momentum generated by the recent FD-SOI/ARM results.

NXP‘s new SSL21081 is a highly efficient, high-voltage LED driver IC for compact retrofit lamps. It’s based on NXP‘s EZ-HV-SOI GreenChip™ technology.

Skyworks is augmenting their RF front-end portfolio with a new family of SOI-based antenna switch modules (ASMs) for dual and triple-mode smart phones, tablets and datacards, which require design flexibility, high performance and cost-effective architectures.

Freescale has launched a new QorIQ Qonverge portfolio, integrating DSP and communications processor technologies on 45nm SOI for a true “base station-on-chip”. Infonetics projects the radio access network base station market will reach $197 billion worldwide by 2015.

With the new LPC11C22 and LPC11C24 integrated CAN transceiver microcontroller solution, NXP opens the door for widespread adoption of low-cost CAN in an increasing variety of industrial and automation applications for factories, buildings and in the home. An SiP solution, the CAN transceiver is built on SOI.