"The acquisition of Sound Design Technologies solidifies our position as a leading supplier of ultra-low-power digital signal processing (DSP) technology for hearing aids and audio processing applications," said Robert Tong, VP of ON Semiconductor's Medical Division.

Providing a rare glimpse inside an IC design and R&D center in China, Freescale Semiconductor revealed that it plans to expand its efforts amid booming demand in the nation.

The demand for medical instrumentation - combined with new and lower-cost transducers - means that analog-circuit design and interface for this market segment a growth area with lots of innovation and interesting work.

Apple has bought Intrinsity, the Texas-based chip outfit that (supposedly) played a role in the design of the chip driving the iPad.

Representatives from GlobalFoundries and TSMC said their companies are focused on tighter cooperation with EDA and IP vendors. The comments were part of a panel discussion at the Design, Automation and Test in Europe (DATE) conference, held last week in Dresden, Germany.

Researchers have demonstrated a tiny chip based on silicon that could be used to diagnose dozens of diseases. The design is simpler and requires less blood be taken.

EDA company Mentor Graphics has entered into a multi-year software and services agreement with Globalfoundries which includes the provision of Calibre software for the design of 32nm and 28nm chips.

Chip design outsourcing growth fell to 6.5% in 2008, down from nearly 34% the year earlier, and the number of chip design starts are expected to fall another 18% this year...

Mitsubishi Electric and industrial design company IHI are now teaming up in the race to develop new technology within four years that can beam electricity back to Earth without the use of cables.

Cadence Design Systems and Globalfoundries have jointly announced a multi-year software and services agreement for advanced semiconductor design.