TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc., a leading RF solutions supplier and technology innovator, today announced two new high-performance Multi-band, Multi-mode Power Amplifiers (MMPAs) that extend browsing time while simplifying complex RF design for today's increasingly sophisticated wireless devices. The highly integrated MMPAs support more frequency bands in 20% less board space than discrete architectures, and have already captured design wins in leading next-generation 3G / 4G smartphones."Customers have told us they will be migrating to our new MMPAs because these modules deliver longer battery life and extended operating time," explained Shane Smith, Vice President of Global Marketing for Mobile Devices. "The versatile design of TriQuint's new MMPAs also allows manufacturers to use a common platform to release new products at a faster pace, while controlling design and manufacturing costs."Product DetailsAligned with a leading chipset supplier's reference design, the TRIUMF TQM7M9050 supports five of the world's most popular 3G / 4G bands in addition to quad-band GSM/EDGE. The high-efficiency 3G/4G power amplifier (PA) outperforms its closest competitors, achieving nearly 46%* PAE. Its new cousin, the TRIUMF TQP9058, is almost identical, except that it features a different approach to controlling output power for the 2G PA that is compatible with reference designs from several other major chipset manufacturers. "We've expanded our product portfolio to align with multiple chipset vendors. In doing so, we've broadened our ability to serve several key customers," said Smith.Both MMPAs feature a two-gain-state WCDMA PA with low and high power modes to maximize talk time over the entire range of operating conditions. Each is fully matched with a coupler and band distribution switches, ideal for today's small data-enabled phones. At 5x7mm, the highly integrated modules provide an ultra-small form factor to shrink overall product footprints while reducing external component count, minimizing assembly costs, speeding time to market and enabling industry-leading performance.TriQuint's new modules build on the company's existing MMPA products, which are found in some of the world's most sought-after smartphones. The TQM7M9023 also is included on a leading chipset supplier's reference design. Another TriQuint MMPA, the TQM7M9053, offers higher efficiency at a lower cost. The company nearly tripled its MMPA shipments during the past year.The TRIUMF MMPA TQM7M9050 and TQP9058 are currently sampling into many new wireless devices. Visit TriQuint in Booth 6E-84 at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 25-28 for more information about the company's MMPA solutions. To locate one of TriQuint's distributors, resellers or field sales representatives, please visit http://www.triquint.com/sales.*Note: Based on internal company estimatesTriQuint's TRIUMF TQM7M9050 MMPA achieves best-in-class power added efficiency (PAE) across several popular bands. This means the amplifier consumes less power, delivering longer battery life and extended operating time for today's mobile devices. Source: TriQuint lab results

Chilisin Electronics Corp. and Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. have entered into a worldwide, non-exclusive licensing agreement that grants Chilisin patent coverage of high-current, molded power chokes / inductors, including the right to manufacture, have manufactured, use, sell, offer for sale, distribute, import and export such products.Chilisin's high-current and molded power chokes / inductors include its MHCC-, MHCI-, and MHCD-Series power inductors. These products are ideal for high-current and low-profile power-line applications frequently used in notebooks, ultrabooks, tablets, smartphones, graphic cards, servers, etc. Chilisin is a reputable provider of these components in the Greater China area and other markets.Chilisin is one of the largest inductor manufacturers in the Greater China region. Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. is one of the world's largest manufacturers of discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components. Chilisin-made inductors are used in virtually all types of electronic devices and equipment, in the industrial, computing, automotive, consumer, telecommunications, military, aerospace, power supplies, and medical markets. More information can be found at http://www.chilisin.com.tw/.

TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc., a leading RF solutions supplier and technology innovator, is enabling next-gen 802.11ac Wi-Fi and a superior wireless user experience with the introduction of three new high-performance WLAN front-end modules and two advanced Wi-Fi / 4G coexistence filters.The company has captured smartphone design wins with its two 5 GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi RF modules, as well as its new 2.4 GHz product. Thanks to advances in output power technology, all three TriConnect Wi-Fi modules provide extended operating ranges when compared with earlier products. For Wi-Fi users, that means the freedom of wireless connectivity across longer distances.Rounding out the company's expanding WLAN product line are two new specialty 4G / Wi-Fi coexistence filters. These specialty filters serve as electronic traffic guards to keep signals in the crowded 2.4GHz spectrum isolated from one another. They leverage TriQuint's advanced bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technology to address some of the industry's toughest filtering challenges."TriQuint is the only RF supplier that is currently delivering all three WLAN device components - the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz front-end modules as well as multiple variants of coexistence filters - to provide a superior consumer experience," explained Shane Smith, Vice President of Global Marketing for Mobile Devices at TriQuint. "We're enabling 802.11ac Gigabit speeds and solving Wi-Fi / LTE coexistence problems simultaneously, for smartphones, tablets and other wireless devices."Ubiquitous Wi-Fi evolves to the next levelAs demand for Wi-Fi proliferates, consumers have developed an ever-growing appetite for faster mobile data rates to support video streaming and other multimedia applications. With data rates up to 1.3 gigabits per second, the new IEEE 802.11ac standard will deliver transfer rates three to four times faster than current-generation 802.11n Wi-Fi."TriQuint introduced the industry's first 802.11ac-ready module for mobile devices last year," Smith said. The award-winning dual-band product was selected by a major manufacturer for its next-generation smartphone and was included on a reference design by a leading chipset supplier. Smith added, "Our 802.11ac technology expertise also expands our future market opportunity for infotainment applications such as in-home video distribution."In addition to power amplifier modules that enable faster speeds, demand is surging for high-performance Wi-Fi / LTE coexistence filters. Today's high-end smartphones house a growing number of cellular and Wi-Fi bands to support 2G / 3G / 4G voice and data services, as well as global roaming. At the same time, the global spectrum crunch is leading governments around the world to squeeze new 4G bands next to pre-existing Wi-Fi spectrum, often with minimal guard bands. Advanced filter technology is needed to mitigate the resulting interference issues.All products are sampling now, and scheduled for production in the second quarter. Visit TriQuint in Booth 6E-84 at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 25-28 for more information about the company's Wi-Fi connectivity products. To locate one of TriQuint's distributors, resellers or field sales representatives, please visit http://www.triquint.com/sales.TriQuint product details

Imagination Technologies Group plc (LSE: IMG, "Imagination") has completed the acquisition of the operating business and certain patent properties of MIPS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS, "MIPS") as well as license rights to all of the remaining patent properties.MIPS is a leading provider of CPU (central processing unit) architectures and IP cores.The cash consideration of US$100 million was paid on completion, financed from Imagination's existing cash resources and a new acquisition facility. At the MIPS Stockholder Meeting held on 6 February 2013, MIPS stockholders voted by the requisite majority on all proposals to enable the acquisition to complete.Imagination has now commenced implementation of its detailed integration programme. Further details on this will be provided in the Interim Management Statement in March.Hossein Yassaie, Group Chief Executive, Imagination, said: "We are delighted to have completed this acquisition, which has been welcomed by both companies' customers and the electronics industry at large, and also to welcome our MIPS colleagues to the Imagination family. The combination of MIPS' capabilities with our existing Meta CPU technologies will accelerate our growth in the substantial CPU IP market across many segments."ImaginationImagination - a global leader in multimedia and communication technologies - creates and licenses market-leading processor solutions for graphics, video, display, embedded processing, multi-standard communications and connectivity, and cross-platform V.VoIP & VoLTE. These silicon and software intellectual property solutions for systems-on-chip (SoC) are complemented by an extensive portfolio of software drivers, developer tools and extensive market and technology-focused ecosystems. Target markets include mobile phone, handheld multimedia devices, connected home consumer, tablets/mobile computing, in-car electronics, telecoms, health, smart energy and connected sensors and controllers. Imagination's licensees include many of the world's leading semiconductor, network operator and electronics OEM/ODM companies. Corporate headquarters are located in the United Kingdom, with sales and R&D offices worldwide. See: http://www.imgtec.com/

Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation and CogniMem Technologies today announced an exclusive global partnership in which Digi-Key will be the only global distributor of CogniMem's unique cognitive memory products.The products are available today on http://www.digikey.com/.CogniMem is an innovator in neural network architecture built to resemble the synapses of the human brain, creating reactive memory components that use high speed and parallel pattern recognition to 'learn' versus being programmed. The company's unique neural network architecture products feature embedded embed intelligence into miniature sensory devices to enhance their performance in speed and power consumption. The products also scale to allow for fuzzy matching of data patterns in data mining."Our customers are searching for innovative memory solutions ideal to support advanced technology applications such as natural language computing, adaptive optics, robotics, consumer electronics and security products," said Mark Zack, Vice President, Global Semiconductor Product at Digi-Key. "Now, we're able to respond to this growing customer demand with innovative new products from CogniMem."Visit Digi-Key.com (http://www.digikey.com/) to view all available products from CogniMem.

Heraeus Precious Metals, business group of the German precious metal and technology group Heraeus, has purchased the Ferro Corporation's solar paste business unit. Heraeus acquires the assets including intellectual property associated with development and production of metallization pastes for solar cells. The former Ferro activities will be integrated in the Photovoltaics Business Unit of Heraeus, a leading innovator and supplier of metallization pastes for solar cells. With the signing of the contract on February 06, 2013, Heraeus continues its long-term commitment to photovoltaics."We are confident in the future growth of the photovoltaic industry. The merger of Heraeus' innovation and industry leadership with Ferro's PV history and technology will strengthen our competence as a supplier to the cell producers globally", said Dr. Ralf Droste, Executive Vice President of Heraeus Precious Metals.Ferro has more than a thirty year history of developing thick-film pastes for the photovoltaics industry. Heraeus has produced thick film pastes for over forty years and solar pastes since 2008.Heraeus, the precious metals and technology group headquartered in Hanau, Germany, is a global, private company with over 160 years of tradition. Our fields of competence include precious metals, materials and technologies; sensors; biomaterials and medical products, as well as dental products, quartz glass, and specialty light sources. With product revenues of EUR4.8 billion and precious metals trading revenues of EUR21.3 billion, as well as more than 13,300 employees in over 120 subsidiaries worldwide, Heraeus holds a leading position in its global markets.

Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry's largest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, announced the addition of Holt Integrated Circuits, Inc., a leader in data bus communication IC production, focused primarily in the military, aerospace, and industrial markets.Holt Integrated Circuits is a major supplier of Integrated Circuits for the aerospace industry. For over twenty years, Holt has manufactured data bus and display drivers for both commercial and military users worldwide. From F-16 to A-350, Holt ICs are found at the heart of flight control, navigation, engine management, communications, safety equipment, and in-flight entertainment systems. Over 400 avionics manufacturers rely on Holt's proven track record of customer service, unsurpassed quality and cost-effectiveness, and technical excellence."The demand for Mil/Aero products has never been higher, and a prominent supplier such as Holt is ideally placed to serve this growing market," said Mark Zack, Vice President, Global Semiconductor Product at Digi-Key. "Their high-quality product provides unsurpassed value for our customers and we are pleased to add them to our customer offering."Holt designs and tests all its products in-house, providing innovative, cost effective, mixed signal solutions for microprocessor-based embedded applications. Holt's product lines include MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, Discrete-to-Digital sensing, Controller Area Network (CAN), analog switches and RS-485/422. Holt's range of ICs supporting the ARINC 429 standard is the widest in the industry, ranging from simple line receivers to full protocol solutions with integrated RAM. The latest line of ARINC 429 products are fully functional terminal ICs designed to operate from a single 3.3V supply, resulting in a significant reduction in system complexity and board space."Holt is delighted to add Digi-Key to its worldwide sales distribution network," said David Mead, Executive VP and COO at Holt Integrated Circuits. "Digi-Key's well-known brand and respect among the design engineering community will enable us to broaden our customer base and provide a world-class online resource to promote Holt's products".Holt Integrated Circuits' full selection of interconnect products are available on Digi-Key's Global Websites: http://www.digikey.com/

Official support for UEFI BIOS by Windows 8 facilitates the standardized firmware interface migration that has already been implemented for a long time in the industry. UEFI BIOS design differs from its legacy counterpart by significantly enhancing BIOS features and functionality that help improve innovative firmware layer design for embedded and intelligent systems, in addition to PC-based applications.Phoenix Technologies, having focused on the BIOS market for decades, launched a new version of Phoenix SecureCore Technology (Phoenix SCT) 3.0 at the end of 2012 that included EDK II support. With its security, manageability, and connectivity features, Phoenix SCT actively supports the diverse applications of UEFI BIOS for embedded systems, while helping embedded system developers devise increasingly differentiated and value-added products.UEFI BIOS will drive the next generation of embedded applications and developmentCompared to the BIOS traditionally written in assembly language, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) BIOS is written in C language with a modular architecture that has better graphics capability and cross-platform support, bringing a new change to the long developed BIOS technology.Terry Chen, VP, Development Engineering at Phoenix, indicated that since UEFI BIOS was adopted for laptops in 2008, the industry has experienced a painful period of more than four years during the process of migration to UEFI BIOS. The official support by Windows 8 has further reinforced this trend from the beginning of this year.The x86 architecture dominates the embedded market and the UEFI BIOS migration trend has been gradually emerging. Terry Chen pointed out that, due to the long life and diverse applications of the embedded devices, both new and legacy BIOS architectures will co-exist in the market for a long period of time. For the new generation of connected embedded systems focusing on intelligence, connectivity, and security, innovative design is possible for the firmware layer by utilizing UEFI BIOS to improve the features and functionality of embedded systems. This not only strengthens vendors' customization design capabilities, and improves their after-sale services for their products, but also highlights the importance of BIOS firmware for embedded design.Phoenix SCT 3.0 helps vendors enhance differentiation of embedded systemsWhile UEFI BIOS has technologically driven new development, a number of standardized specifications have been developed for software that presents challenges never faced in the past for BIOS vendors having proprietary technology. Terry Chen said that a unified BIOS technology will make an impact on vendors placing importance on proprietary technology, but the improved features of UEFI BIOS will open up more possibilities.UEFI BIOS is written in a way that is different from the one used for the serial architecture of legacy BIOS. While legacy BIOS is based on interrupt architecture, UEFI BIOS works in timer polling mode with the time-sharing concept where a core hosts the execution of each process. UEFI BIOS also features a shell and file structure, meaning it can be considered a light operating system. Terry Chen said that Phoenix Technologies is committed to the advanced development of UEFI BIOS, and offers more cost-effective and differentiated firmware solutions depending on end-user requirements, instead of only providing BIOS technology.Phoenix SCT 3.0 has a comprehensive development environment with advanced featuresPicken Hu, Senior Product Manager at Phoenix, pointed out that Phoenix SCT 3.0 is a comprehensive solution with a complete build system and development tools. It enables development of diverse customizable solutions, which is the main advantage Phoenix Technologies has over its competitors. In addition, Phoenix SCT 3.0 supports native EDK II used by the next generation of Intel-based platforms and provides backward compatibility with EDK 1117 for developers needing to seamlessly transition to EDK II in a more efficient manner.Picken Hu explained that the differences between EDK I and EDK II include the package, build system, library, and deployment. For customers, more costs and resources are needed to support different code bases. Furthermore, in an embedded system application, the lifecycle of a customer's terminals is usually more than a decade. Even if the core computing platform is upgraded, ensuring compatibility with the user interface, security mechanism, management features, and hardware as well as software integration, must be maintained. Phoenix SCT 3.0 can provide support for firmware features developed with EDK I on the new EDK II platform without any modification, effectively reducing risks and enhancing cost-effectiveness.Touch featureTo support the touch features of Windows 8, Phoenix SCT 3.0 is also optimized for touch-enabled devices, providing the new Windows-8 style GUI BIOS Setup and GUI customization tools for a seamless user experience that bridges Windows 8 and Phoenix SCT 3.0 BIOS.Terry Chen indicated that Windows 8 helps improve the visibility of the touch interface for embedded devices, such as ATM, POS, KIOSK, HMI, Interactive Signage, and Intelligent Retail devices. Consumers can look forward to enjoying better touch features in the future.Phoenix SCT 3.0 supports programmable touch hot zones. Embedded device vendors can set these hot zones as specific hotkeys or use them to run commands for easily recognizable product differentiation. For example, different hotkeys can be defined for different positions on the screen to run predefined applications, such as BIOS setup, system diagnostics, or to connect to a remote control interface.User interfacePhoenix SCT 3.0 has a Windows-8 style GUI BIOS Setup interface, which supports touch and multiple languages with graphics effects.Picken Hu said that Phoenix Desktop Manager (PDM) is Phoenix Technologies' unique customizable GUI BIOS core engine, which has a development environment identical to Windows x86 and provides a WYSIWYG GUI SDK with support for various fonts, color settings, and a virtual keyboard. For BIOS developers who struggle with graphic design, the customizable user interface design process can be greatly simplified with PDM.In addition, PDM can be used as a platform for differentiation. Customers can run their own or third party UEFI applications in PDM, such as a calculator, QR Code, music player, or even POS system. PDM can also connect to networks and work with features (such as file explorer) developed with UEFI BIOS by Phoenix.SecurityPhoenix SCT 3.0 also provides security and system integrity that are important for connected embedded devices. Picken Hu indicated that for remote devices, Sure Boot, provided by Phoenix SCT 3.0, ensures that these devices can automatically restore to the default BIOS settings or a stable version for a normal boot when a problem occurs. This effectively improves system reliability when they are used in an extreme environment or left unattended.Unlike Dual BIOS mode of the past, Phoenix SCT 3.0 provides Safe Recovery BIOS2 to further save space and costs for embedded devices without the need to have 2 pieces of Flash ROM. With hidden sectors, two BIOS images can co-exist. When the primary BIOS image is corrupted, the system switches to the secondary BIOS image for restoration. Two sectors are split on the same ROM to reduce space and complexity for hardware design while reducing power consumption and space.With these added features, you can create a new user experience for embedded systems. Through the UEFI architecture, some simple features, such as a clock, map, thermometer, music player, or calculator, can be integrated in a BIOS application package and directly used during the pre-OS phase, without the need to boot the OS.Terry Chen explained that, as the UEFI sees BIOS as a firmware OS, with an Internet connection and Sure Boot, the basic features required by a small cloud connected device can be provided without a complete OS. This can bring a noticeable cost-effectiveness for cost-sensitive applications.Phoenix Technologies' BIOS solutions have been widely used in various embedded devices, such as POS, KIOSK, factory automation, digital signage, networking equipment, the military, and in-flight entertainment systems. Globally renowned industrial PC manufacturers, such as Kontron and Emerson, are their customers. In the future, Phoenix Technologies will aim at customized support services to improve the features of embedded systems.Picken Hu, Senior Product Manager at PhoenixTerry Chen, VP, Development Engineering at Phoenix

In 2012, Chilisin broke its 3rd consecutive record high in revenue. In a difficult year for many passive component makers due to decline in PC demand and price erosion, Chilisin, one of the largest inductor manufacturers in the Greater China region, achieved an outstanding 7% revenue growth year-on-year. Chilisin was able to outperform most industry peers due to various reasons; most importantly, its early penetration into China's hand-held device market and its newly developed relationships with Chinese and Korean customers contributed to its outstanding performance in 2012.Sales to smartphone customers accounted for roughly 20% of Chilisin's total revenue in 2012. Last year, in response to smartphone market's quick rise and hand-held device miniaturization trend, Chilisin was able to successfully offer many new products, including its LVS Series wire-wound power inductor as well as 0402-sized chip beads and inductors. Digitimes Research estimated that smartphone shipments in China will reach 189 million in 2012, achieving a 137% growth rate year-on-year compared to 2011, and continue to grow 36% to drive shipments to reach 256 million in 2013. Jack Chung, Chief Operating Officer at Chilisin, states that in light of its continued growth momentum, smartphone sales will become one of the main factors that will support sustainable growth for the company.Continued success in 2013 will depend largely on Chilisin's technological capability in offering new products, production capacity expansion, as well as market penetration into new regions and applications. In anticipation of the thinness and lightweight trend of hand-held devices, Chilisin successfully developed the AME/MHCD Series high-current molding power inductor and 0201-sized chip beads and inductors in 2012. Sources from the industry have stated that focus in 2013 will be on battery performance enhancement within hand-held devices. Ready for full production this year, the AME-MHCD Series is set to become a main driver of growth. Alongside the AME/MHCD Series power inductor, the TFL Series thin-film chip inductor was developed last year for high-precision smartphone and tablet RF application. Production is expected to ramp up significantly in 2013 as demand for high-end hand-held devices continue to grow. Another product development highlight will center on the multilayer and thin-film type Common Mode Chokes for USB 3.0 and HDMI application. Currently in testing phase, these new products lead the way among various other inductors to be developed in 2013.Growth in sales will be boosted by capacity expansion of both newly developed and mature products. In the months transitioning from 2012 to 2013, roughly 80% of Chilisin's production lines operated at full capacity. Since November 2012, Chilisin has already expanded its workforce by 20%, and is projecting to invest roughly 15 million US dollars in 2013 to expand and enhance its production facilities in both China and Taiwan.Further growth in 2013 will be driven by market penetration into new geographies and applications. Sales to the Greater China region in 2012 accounted for 82% of Chilisin's total revenue. After its strategic entry into China's handheld device market in 2011, Chilisin is expecting to enter into new markets beyond the greater China region. The 2012 CEATEC Exhibition in Japan was a hallmark for Chilisin's entry into the Japanese market, through which Chilisin established relationships with both Japanese and International distributors and customers. Chilisin expects to receive substantial orders from Japan in the coming year as Japanese end-product manufacturers face increasing price pressure. Continued marketing efforts in the US and Russia is also expected to yield promising returns in the coming year. Apart from hand-held devices, automotive and lighting applications will be an important working point for Chilisin to diversify its product application.Chilisin has had a successful run since 2009, almost doubling its revenue in 3 years. Through strategic planning in terms of market penetration, product development, and capacity expansion, Chilisin has been able to break its own revenue record year on year since 2009. By focusing on its core strengths, Chilisin seeks to achieve its fourth consecutive record revenue in 2013.

Acer and Intel have announced the Acer Liquid C1 smartphone based on Intel's Atom Z2420 processor for the Asia Pacific region. The smartphone will be available with a special promotion during Mobile Expo from February 7-11.The smartphone will be available in retail channels at a price of THB9,990 (US$335) in the weeks following. Acer Liquid C1 smartphone specifications Item Detail CPU Intel Atom Z2420 (1.2GHz) Modem Intel XMM 6265 slim modem with quad-band capability Display 4.3-inch IPS qHD touchscreen (960 by 540, 16:9 ratio) OS Android (Ice Cream Sandwich) Camera 8-megapixel main camera at 5 frames per second, AF & LED 0.3-megapixel front camera Storage 4GB Wireless support Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n (/n HT20) GPS / Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, February 2013Acer Liquid C1 smartphonePhoto: Company