March 14, 2012 eoSemi has started to ship pre-commercial versions of its first all-CMOS silicon oscillators to key strategic customers and partners. eoSemi's ATOC (Accurate Timing Oscillator Circuit) technology allows the company to offer all-CMOS silicon alternatives to the costly, bulky quartz crystal oscillators that are used in almost every consumer electronic product. Read more

March 6, 2012 Seiko Instruments Inc. has developed its S-5716 Hall-IC Series in CMOS technology to provide precise magnetic sensors using the Hall-effect to detect omnipolar N- and S-pole or unipolar either N- or S-pole magnetic flux. Read more

February 22, 2012 Diodes Incorporated has expanded the company’s low-voltage CMOS (LVC) general–purpose logic family, beyond single- and dual-gate products, with the addition of 10 popular functions in 14-pin TSSOP packages. Read more

February 22, 2012 Downsizing big bulky terahertz (THz) detectors for integration on CMOS image chips has been accomplished by the University of Texas (Dallas) with funding from the Semiconductor Research Corporation. (SRC). Accomplished under SRC’s Focus Research Program, the demonstration of terahertz speeds on standard CMOS opens a door for a new slew of consumer devices that can see through solid objects. Read more

February 20, 2012 Toshiba Corporation has developed the world’s first circuit technology to remove distortion in wireless transmissions that can be directly integrated into a CMOS radio frequency (RF) power amplifier. The new circuit is being unveiled at the 2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, California, USA. Read more

February 15, 2012 austriamicrosystems business unit Full Service Foundry has introduced a new analog/mixed signal high performance process design kit (HIT-Kit) for its 0.35 µm CMOS, High-Voltage CMOS and SiGe-BiCMOS specialty technologies. Read more

February 7, 2012 The reduction of CO2 emissions is the long-term goal of the research project SOI-HITS (Silicon on Insulator - High Temperature Systems). The project's contribution to this goal is developing CMOS-compatible high-temperature sensors for use in automotive combustion systems as well as in domestic or industrial boilers. Read more

February 3, 2012 EoSemi Ltd., (Congleton, England), a developer of CMOS replacements for quartz oscillators, has announced it has secured a $2.3 million (£1.5milion) second tranche of funding. Read more

February 3, 2012 X-FAB Silicon Foundries has used Silicon Frontline Technology, Inc’s R3D (Resistive 3D) software for X-FAB’s 0.18 micrometer high-voltage process (XH018), to provide improvements in reliability and efficiency by addressing the high-voltage and driver characteristics of mixed-signal SOC designs. Read more

January 17, 2012 Baolab Microsystems SL (Barcelona, Spain) a startup pioneering the creation of microelectromechancial systems (MEMS) within the metal interconnect layers of CMOS wafers, has announced that will offer evaluation kits for its tri-axis compass by the end of February 2012. Read more

January 16, 2012 Baolab Microsystems has announced evaluation kits for its recently announced 3D NanoCompass electronic 3-axis CMOS MEMS technology. NanoEMS technology not only offers significant cost reductions in motion MEMS sensors but Baolab envisages the possibility for NanoEMS structures to be easily incorporated into ASICs for applications such as RF Antennas, RF switches, Near Field Communications and Automotive. Read more

December 7, 2011 A micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) transistor was announced by Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC) and Cornell University, giving SRC members access to on-chip timing solutions for their CMOS chips. Read more

December 1, 2011 austriamicrosystems’ Full Service Foundry business unit has released its further expanded fast and cost-efficient IC prototyping service, known as Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) or shuttle run, with a more extensive schedule in 2012. The prototyping service, which combines several designs from different customers onto a single wafer, offers cost advantages for foundry customers as the costs for wafers and masks are shared among a number of different shuttle participants. Read more

November 15, 2011 INSIDE Secure has collaborated with Integrated Device Technology to bring to market a compact, single-package secure microcontroller and oscillator solution that reduces the bill of materials when designing USB tokens for authentication and digital signatures. Read more

November 8, 2011 ON Semiconductor has introduced a new CMOS image sensor that offers the speed, resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance required to address the needs of the growing number of high-end biometric applications such as fingerprint detection as well as several medical device designs. The MANO 9600 is a rolling shutter 9.6 MP (3840 x 2500 pixel) device that runs at 20 fps at full resolution. Read more

October 28, 2011 Integrated Device Technology, Inc., has released the industry’s first CMOS oscillators to feature a breakthrough ±50 ppm frequency accuracy and ultra-low power consumption. The new devices replace traditional quartz crystal-based oscillators (XOs) for up to 75% power savings in any of a broad range of applications requiring a ±50 ppm timing reference, including computing, communications, and consumer markets. Read more

October 27, 2011 CMOSIS announced an ultra-high-resolution image sensor, the CHR70M, that offers an image area of 10,000 by 7,096 active pinned photodiode pixels having a pixel pitch of 3.1x3.1µm, in a 2-pixel sharing pattern. The sensor offers a frame rate of 3 frames per second at full resolution. Application areas include ultra-high-resolution industrial imaging, such as flat-panel and PCB inspection, document scanning and high-resolution areal photography. Read more

October 17, 2011 Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., has expanded the company DG92xx family of CMOS analog switching and multiplexer products with the introduction of four new devices designed for 2.7 V to 16 V single-supply or ± 2.7 V to ± 8 V dual-supply operation. The new devices combine their wide voltage range operation with compact package sizes and low-voltage logic compatibility for high-speed, high-precision switching applications. Read more

October 6, 2011 austriamicrosystems' Full Service Foundry business unit is to expand its 0.35 µm High-Voltage CMOS technology portfolio. By introducing special inter-metal dioxide (IMD) layers, galvanic isolation is improved to over several hundred volts. Read more

September 29, 2011 The next generation 100GbE line cards targeted for data center and enterprise networks face several design challenges when they look to retain a lower carbon footprint while they upgrade to 100GbE networks. In this news analysis article EE Times Europe Analog's editor, Paul Buckley discusses with Siddharth Sheth, Vice President of Marketing for Inphi's high-speed connectivity products how Inphi is approaching its development of low power CMOS 100GbE Gearbox and CDR PHY semiconductors for line cards and modules that aim to enable the next generation of 100G platforms. Read more

September 20, 2011 Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe and the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS) are facilitating the development of future-proof nanometer chips for their customers by exchanging expertise and granting mutual access to their IP pools. Read more

September 19, 2011 Inphi Corporation has unveiled what the company claims is industry’s first, lowest power100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) CMOS PHY solutions that support the IEEE 802.3ba standard and target next generation high density 100G line cards. The company says the new 100GbE CMOS chipsets will deliver three times less power and twice the levels of integration compared to available offerings. Read more

August 19, 2011 Crystek Corporation has launched a new ultra-low phase noise CMOS oscillator providing a -168 dBc/Hz noise floor. Compact and powerful, the CCHD-575 claims to be the industry’s lowest-jitter clock oscillator in a 5 x 7.5 mm package. Read more

August 5, 2011 Tower Semiconductor Ltd., a specialty foundry that trades under the name TowerJazz, has transferred a 130-nm silicon-germanium process from its Newport Beach fab to one at Migdal Haemek, Israel. Read more

July 13, 2011 Imec and its 3D integration partners have proven the potential of 3D integration of a commercial DRAM chip on top of a logic IC for next-generation low-power mobile applications. Imec's applied 3D EDA (electronic design automation) tools including thermal models have proven to be valuable means to design next-generation 3D stacked ICs. Read more

July 11, 2011 The EU FP7 project ATHENIS (Automotive Tested High Voltage Embedded Non Volatile Memory Integrated System On Chip) has for the first time demonstrated a manufacturing technology platform for IC operation for the combination of harshest environmental conditions known in the automotive industry which includes full reverse polarity capability at the low cost of CMOS, application voltages up to 120 V, currents up to 10 A, temperatures up to 200°C, embedded non-volatile memory, chip-level ESD up to >8 kV HBM, and high logic gate densities. Read more

July 8, 2011 Toshiba Electronics Europe has launched a 1.12 micrometre pixel CMOS image sensor, combining the industry's smallest level pixel size with the enhanced sensitivity and improved imaging performance of back-side illumination technology (BSI). BSI sensors deploy lenses on the rear of the sensor - on the silicon substrate – rather than the front, where wiring limits light absorption. Read more

July 5, 2011 Baolab Microsystems is claiming to be the first to design a pure CMOS Lorentz force MEMS sensor and, as a result, its new 3D Digital NanoCompass matches performance benchmarks for sensitivity, power consumption and package size, but at a lower cost. An additional feature resulting from the integration is that the device auto-calibrates to maintain consistent accuracy. Read more

June 9, 2011 Micronas has unveiled a new gas sensor chip generation based on the mySENS technology. The GAS85xyB chip generation is based on a standard CMOS technology which has been proven successful in automotive and industrial applications. Read more

June 9, 2011 ON Semiconductor has introduced five ultra small package, low dropout (LDO) linear voltage regulators to bolster its existing portfolio for smart phones and other portable electronics. Based on complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, the new devices can each deliver an output current of 150 mA. Read more

June 6, 2011 SuVolta, Inc. has introduced its PowerShrink low-power platform which reduces the power consumption of CMOS ICs by 2x or more while maintaining performance and improving yields. Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited has also licensed SuVolta’s innovative PowerShrink low-power technology. Read more

May 17, 2011 Sony Europe's Image Sensing Solutions division has added three high definition models to its FCB range of block cameras, which come with both digital and analogue outputs. All three HD units benefit from Sony's Exmor CMOS sensor technology, they require just 3.4W (4.7W when the motors are active); are operational from -5 to +60ºC and are well suited to CCTV, intelligent transport, IP monitoring, and low vision applications. Read more

May 16, 2011 Beginning in 2011 CMOS image sensor sales are expected to gain momentum and consistency with 13 percent growth in 2011 to a new record high of $5.1 billion, topping the previous peak of $4.6 billion set in 2008, according to market research company IC Insights. Read more

May 3, 2011 Tanner EDA and Dongbu HiTek have jointly developed a foundry-certified process design kit (PDK) that is seamlessly integrated into Tanner EDA's cohesive, integrated tool flow. Dongbu HiTek’s AN180 (0.18-micron analog CMOS) is optimized for performance and density. Read more

April 14, 2011 The supply of CMOS image sensors, becoming ubiquitous in cell phones and notebook computers, has been affected by the Japan earthquake of March 11. In turn this is affecting the manufacture and distribution of camera modules for cell phones, according to market research firm IHS-iSuppli. Read more

April 5, 2011 Lattice Semiconductor Corporation is offering full support for Aptina's High-Speed Serial Pixel Interface (HiSPi) using LatticeXP2 FPGAs.  The LatticeXP2 HiSPi bridge reference design allows any Image Signal Processor (ISP) with a traditional CMOS parallel bus to interface with an Aptina HiSPi CMOS sensor. Read more

March 30, 2011 austriamicrosystems is conditionally releasing for volume production the company’s advanced 0.18 µm High-Voltage CMOS process technology "H18” which will be manufactured in IBM’s 200 mm Burlington wafer facility. Jointly developed with IBM, the 0.18 µm High-Voltage CMOS process is the 6th generation of continuously improved High-Voltage CMOS technologies developed at austriamicrosystems. Read more

February 28, 2011 ON Semiconductor has completed the acquisition of the CMOS Image Sensor Business Unit (ISBU) from Cypress Semiconductor in an all cash transaction for approximately $31.4 million, subject to adjustment under the purchase agreement. The purchase price was approximately 1x annual sales for the division. Read more

February 24, 2011 Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS in Duisburg, Germany have found a solution to a problem caused by the passivation process used to apply a protective coating to CMOS image sensor in the final stage of CMOS semiconductor production. The protective silicon nitride coating limits the range of optical applications because it is impermeable to light in the UV and blue spectral range. The outcome is that CMOS sensors for high-performance applications, used in special cameras are partially color-blind. Read more

February 22, 2011 A team of German researchers is developing "intelligent" orthodontic brackets with integrated stress sensors to enable orthodontists to measure the forces being exerted on individual teeth. Read more

February 7, 2011 Scientists have long been interested in integrating lasers onto silicon to enable on-chip communications using light instead of electrons, which would lead to faster communication and increased bandwidth. But, unfortunately, there is a lattice mismatch between silicon and the traditional III-V materials used to craft semiconductor lasers. Read more

February 1, 2011 Coventor and the nanoelectronics research center imec have announced a strategic partnership to improve and expand the use of advanced design and manufacturing techniques for the development of CMOS integrated MEMS. The partnership includes strategic alignment on R&D roadmaps and collaboration on advanced research topics. Read more

January 27, 2011 ON Semiconductor and Cypress Semiconductor Corp., have signed a definitive agreement which will see ON Semiconductor acquire the CMOS Image Sensor Business Unit (ISBU) from Cypress in an all cash transaction for approximately $31.4 million. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2011, subject to customary closing conditions. Read more

January 25, 2011 In September 2010 fabless semiconductor company, Black Sand Technologies, Inc., demonstrated the world's first 3G CMOS RF PA and last week Texas-based company introduced a couple of new 3G CMOS RF power amplifier (PA) product lines that aim to improve the reliability and data throughput of mobile phones, tablets and datacards. The product lines feature six unique power amplifiers across multiple frequency bands. Read more

January 20, 2011 Texas-based fabless semiconductor company specializing in advanced power amplifier technology for wireless applications, Black Sand Technologies, Inc., is launching two new 3G CMOS RF power amplifier (PA) product lines that claim to improve the reliability and data throughput of mobile phones, tablets and datacards. The product lines comprise six unique power amplifiers across multiple frequency bands. Read more

January 7, 2011 OmniVision Technologies, Inc. has introduced a 10-megapixel CMOS image sensor built on OmniVision’s optimized 1.4-micron OmniBSITM pixel architecture. The 1/2.5-inch OV10810 is designed to offer complete convergence between high-resolution still photography and full high-definition (HD) video by combining 10-megapixel burst photography at 30 frames per second (fps) with full 1080p HD video in a native 16:9 aspect ratio. Read more

December 23, 2010 Maxim Integrated Products has introduced the newest additions to its GPS/GNSS low-noise amplifier (LNA) family. Designed using Maxim's advanced SiGe processes, these fully integrated LNAs feature a low noise figure of 0.65 dB. The devices improve receive sensitivity and read range over discrete or highly integrated CMOS solutions. Read more

December 20, 2010 A CMOS image sensor from Cypress Semiconductor Corp’s Image Sensor Business Unit has been designed into the state-of-the-art, 35 mm ALEXA digital motion picture camera from ARRI (Arnold & Richter Cine Technik GmbH), headquartered in Germany. Read more

December 13, 2010 Diodes Incorporated has released new versions of the company’s 74LVC1GXX and 74LVCE1GXX CMOS logic families in DFN1410 packages measuring 1.4 mm x 1.0 mm x 0.4 mm high. Read more

November 22, 2010 austriamicrosystems' Full Service Foundry business unit is expanding the company's fast and cost-efficient ASIC prototyping service, known as Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) or shuttle run, with a more extensive schedule in 2011. The service, which combines several designs from different customers onto one wafer offers cost benefits for foundry customers becuase the costs for wafer and masks are shared among a number of different shuttle participants. Read more

November 11, 2010 Fabless mixed-signal semiconductor company Elonics Ltd., based in Livingston, UK, has won the National Microelectronics Institute (NMI) Start Up of the Year Award. The Award recognises the importance to innovation and the long term potential to the economy that young companies possess. Judges assess applications based on success indicators that include the management team, technology, business model and market opportunity. Read more

November 9, 2010 Shortlink AB and Landshut Silicon Foundry GmbH sign a partnership agreement to provide Shortlink low power RF and mixed-signal custom IP in LFoundry's industry leading LF150 modular 150 nm CMOS process technology. Read more

November 3, 2010 Avago Technologies is claiming to be the first company to demonstrate 28-Gbps Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) performance in 40-nm CMOS process technology. Read more

October 21, 2010 Integrated Device Technology, Inc., is claiming the industry's most accurate all-silicon CMOS oscillator, which achieves an industry-leading 100ppm total frequency error across temperature, voltage and other factors. Read more

October 12, 2010 Silicon Laboratories Inc., has acquired Ireland-based ChipSensors Limited, an early stage technology company creating innovative single-chip CMOS sensors designed to detect temperature, humidity and gases. ChipSensors' technology complements Silicon Labs' touch, proximity sensing and recently acquired MEMS technology, expanding the company's capabilities in CMOS-based sensors. Read more

October 6, 2010 CMOSIS announced the launch of a standard high-end CMOS image sensor family: the 4.2 megapixel CMV4000E12. The off-the-shelf image sensor features a square 5.5x5.5µm (2048 x 2048) pixel format. It offers high NIR sensitivity, low noise, central shutter and full frame rate of 180 fps. Read more

September 6, 2010 Elonics Ltd announced the closing of a GBP 6.1m of series B investment round led by Scottish Equity Partners ('SEP') and supported by Octopus Ventures ('Octopus'), a division of Octopus Investments, alongside a number of existing investors. The CMOS RF tuner company, founded in 2003, has achieved a breakthrough in RF tuner technology, solving the perennial problem of combining high performance with low power and cost. Read more

September 2, 2010 The OV2643 and OV2659 CMOS image sensors introduced by OmniVision Technologies are designed to address the increasing demand for 2-megapixel resolution cameras in the mid- to low-end feature phone segment, bringing high-definition (HD) video and excellent low-light sensitivity to this high-volume market. The chips offer advanced image signal processing and deliver 720p native HD video at 30 frames per second. Read more

August 5, 2010 Mixed-signal semiconductor IC provider, Creative Chips, has taped out its most complex mixed-signal chip to date using Synopsys' Galaxy Implementation Platform. The 180-nm CMOS industrial bus controller contains complex analog and digital blocks that were created using the Galaxy cell-based physical implementation solution and Synopsys' Galaxy Custom Designer custom implementation solution as a unified platform to accelerate time-to-market. Read more

June 24, 2010 austriamicrosystems business unit Full Service Foundry is releasing its new analog/mixed signal high performance process design kit ("HIT-Kit") for its 0.18 µm High-Voltage CMOS technology H18. Read more

June 22, 2010 A 3D-IC MPW service based on Tezzaron's SuperContact technology and GLOBALFOUNDRIES 130nm CMOS is to be offered by a partnership formed between Grenoble-based broker in ICs and MEMS for prototyping and low volume production, CMP, and CMC Microsystems, a non-profit organization that supports microelectronics and microsystems R&D in Canada, and California-based MOSIS that provides fabrication services to designers of advanced integrated circuits (ICs). Read more

June 22, 2010 After falling by 19 percent in 2009, sales of image sensors will grow by 31 percent in 2010, reaching a new record of $8.5 billion, according to projections from market research firm IC Insights Inc. The 2009 decline was the worst suffered by image sensors since the 2001 semiconductor recession, when the market segment fell by 24 percent, IC Insights (Scottsdale, Ariz.) said. Read more

June 15, 2010 X-FAB Silicon Foundries is now supporting Mentor's Olympus-SoC place and route system across X-FAB's wide range of advanced modular CMOS process technologies for digital and analog/mixed-signal (AMS) applications. Read more

June 7, 2010 Diodes Incorporated has released its first family of single-gate logic products which are built on an advanced 5 V CMOS process and offer performance enhancements over existing alternatives. Read more

June 1, 2010 Freescale Semiconductor has developed a high-performance audio and power management solution for Intel's new Atom processor-based platforms (formerly codenamed "Moorestown"). Read more

May 26, 2010 Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, a supplier of high- performance RF CMOS and mixed-signal communications ICs, has introduce the new PE42451 SP5T (single pole five throw) RF switch. Read more

May 26, 2010 Berkeley Design Automation, Inc., provider of the Analog FastSPICE unified circuit verification platform (AFS Platform), has unveiled a new platform - the AFS Multi-Core Parallel operating mode (AFS MCP). Read more

May 18, 2010 A new ultra-high-speed operational amplifier (op amp) from National Semiconductor Corp., claims to deliver the industry's lowest noise (0.69 nV/sqrt Hz) with -3 dB bandwidth of 900 MHz at a gain of 10. Read more

May 11, 2010 Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, a supplier of high-performance RF CMOS ICs, has signed an exclusive joint development agreement with IBM for the development and manufacture of future generations of Peregrine's patented UltraCMOS silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) process technology, which claims to be the industry's highest-performance radio frequency complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (RF CMOS) process. Read more

May 4, 2010 Integrated Device Technology, Inc., has unveiled its all-silicon CMOS oscillators, the MM8202 and the MM8102 in wafer and package forms, making IDT claim it is the only company to offer quartz-crystal-level performance with a CMOS oscillator in both forms. Read more

April 30, 2010 Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT) has entered the all-silicon oscillator market with a line of CMOS oscillators that obsolete the ubiquitous quartz crystal that maintains a time base in most electronic devices today, but without having to resort to micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Read more

April 28, 2010 Silicon Laboratories Inc., has acquired Silicon Valley-based Silicon Clocks, an early stage company creating innovative microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology. Read more

April 21, 2010 Landshut Silicon Foundry GmbH (LFoundry) and Tesat-Spacecom are collaborating to develop advanced, mixed-signal CMOS technology for space applications. Read more

March 22, 2010 Opnext Inc. (Fremont, Calif.), a developer of optical communications, has announced that it has developed a low-power quad CMOS analog-to-digital converter (ADC), designed for use in a 127-Gbps Polarization Multiplexed Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (PM-QPSK) modulation scheme. Read more

March 22, 2010 Just as photographic film was mostly replaced by silicon image chips, now quantum film threatens to replace the conventional CMOS image sensors in digital cameras. Made from materials similar to conventional film, a polymer with embedded particles, instead of silver grains like photographic film the embedded particles are quantum dots. Read more

March 11, 2010 Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation (San Diego, CA, USA), the supplier of high-performance RF CMOS and mixed-signal communications integrated circuits (ICs), is expanding its European design and manufacturing operations and the opening of a new facility located in Aix-en-Provence, France. Read more