Author Archives: david manners

Pericom bought by Diodes

imageDiscretes specialist Diodes of Texas is to buy Milton Keynes analogue and mixed signal company Pericom Semiconductor.

The price is said to be ‘about $400m’, including the company’s cash. The combined companies will have revenues of $1bn plus.

The price is about 40% more than the company’s market cap before the bid was made.

“The proposed acquisition of Pericom accelerates the attainment of Diodes’ goal of a $1bn annual revenue run rate with 35% gross margin, while being immediately accretive to earnings,” says Diodes CEO Keh-Shew Lu. “This transaction broadens Diodes’ analogue footprint and adds a strong mixed-signal connectivity offering that will drive expanded product content in target market applications. Also, Pericom’s extensive timing product lines complement Diodes’ standard product portfolio and broaden our analogue footprint.”

“Diodes’ size and scale provides an excellent platform for our products to gain access to a broader customer base and drive a higher level of growth than Pericom would be able to achieve as a standalone company,” said Pericom CEO Alex Hui.

The combined trailing 12-months reported revenue is about $1bn and gross profit is about $337m.

Diodes expects to fund the purchase price of the acquisition mainly by drawing down additional capital following a recent $200m increase to its existing credit facility.

david manners

Pericom bought by Diodes

imageDiscretes specialist Diodes of Texas is to buy Milton Keynes analogue and mixed signal company Pericom Semiconductor.

The price is said to be ‘about $400m’, including the company’s cash. The combined companies will have revenues of $1bn plus.

The price is about 40% more than the company’s market cap before the bid was made.

“The proposed acquisition of Pericom accelerates the attainment of Diodes’ goal of a $1bn annual revenue run rate with 35% gross margin, while being immediately accretive to earnings,” says Diodes CEO Keh-Shew Lu. “This transaction broadens Diodes’ analogue footprint and adds a strong mixed-signal connectivity offering that will drive expanded product content in target market applications. Also, Pericom’s extensive timing product lines complement Diodes’ standard product portfolio and broaden our analogue footprint.”

“Diodes’ size and scale provides an excellent platform for our products to gain access to a broader customer base and drive a higher level of growth than Pericom would be able to achieve as a standalone company,” said Pericom CEO Alex Hui.

The combined trailing 12-months reported revenue is about $1bn and gross profit is about $337m.

Diodes expects to fund the purchase price of the acquisition mainly by drawing down additional capital following a recent $200m increase to its existing credit facility.

david manners

GloFo links with QEOS and Catena

imageGlobalfoundries (GloFo) has announced partnerships with Catena and QEOS.

The QEOS partnership is intended to develop a millimeter-wave CMOS platform to support the higher data rates required in future mobile broadband access networks, while enabling customers to integrate mixers, low noise amplifiers, power amplifiers and inter-frequency amplifiers, all in a single package.

Using GloFo’s 40nm and 45nm processes, the platform will enable gigabit interactivity everywhere – from centimetres to hundreds of metres – at a cost of less than $500 per link, says the company.

The Catena partnership is to develop Wi-Fi and Bluetooth solutions for SoC designers targeting mobile, IoT and RF connectivity markets using GloFo’s 28nm super low power (SLP) combined with Catena’s RF IP to enable chip designers to integrate RF SoC functionality into their products.

The technology is enabled with key RF features, including core and I/O (1.5V/1.8V) transistor RF models along with 5V LDMOS devices, which simplifies RF SoC design, according to GloFo.

Catena’s Connectivity RF IP portfolio includes optimised, very low power Bluetooth Smart radio, Bluetooth Smart Ready radio, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac 1×1, 2×2 and 4×4 MIMO) radios and combo Bluetooth/Wi-Fi radio.

The radio IPs are available/under development at GloFo’s 28nm-SLP technology, and may be ported to alternatives based on customer requirements. Solutions for GNSS/FM broadcast systems are also found in the offerings of Catena.

david manners

GloFo links with QEOS and Catena

imageGlobalfoundries (GloFo) has announced partnerships with Catena and QEOS.

The QEOS partnership is intended to develop a millimeter-wave CMOS platform to support the higher data rates required in future mobile broadband access networks, while enabling customers to integrate mixers, low noise amplifiers, power amplifiers and inter-frequency amplifiers, all in a single package.

Using GloFo’s 40nm and 45nm processes, the platform will enable gigabit interactivity everywhere – from centimetres to hundreds of metres – at a cost of less than $500 per link, says the company.

The Catena partnership is to develop Wi-Fi and Bluetooth solutions for SoC designers targeting mobile, IoT and RF connectivity markets using GloFo’s 28nm super low power (SLP) combined with Catena’s RF IP to enable chip designers to integrate RF SoC functionality into their products.

The technology is enabled with key RF features, including core and I/O (1.5V/1.8V) transistor RF models along with 5V LDMOS devices, which simplifies RF SoC design, according to GloFo.

Catena’s Connectivity RF IP portfolio includes optimised, very low power Bluetooth Smart radio, Bluetooth Smart Ready radio, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac 1×1, 2×2 and 4×4 MIMO) radios and combo Bluetooth/Wi-Fi radio.

The radio IPs are available/under development at GloFo’s 28nm-SLP technology, and may be ported to alternatives based on customer requirements. Solutions for GNSS/FM broadcast systems are also found in the offerings of Catena.

david manners

GloFo links with QEOS and Catena

imageGlobalfoundries (GloFo) has announced partnerships with Catena and QEOS.

The QEOS partnership is intended to develop a millimeter-wave CMOS platform to support the higher data rates required in future mobile broadband access networks, while enabling customers to integrate mixers, low noise amplifiers, power amplifiers and inter-frequency amplifiers, all in a single package.

Using GloFo’s 40nm and 45nm processes, the platform will enable gigabit interactivity everywhere – from centimetres to hundreds of metres – at a cost of less than $500 per link, says the company.

The Catena partnership is to develop Wi-Fi and Bluetooth solutions for SoC designers targeting mobile, IoT and RF connectivity markets using GloFo’s 28nm super low power (SLP) combined with Catena’s RF IP to enable chip designers to integrate RF SoC functionality into their products.

The technology is enabled with key RF features, including core and I/O (1.5V/1.8V) transistor RF models along with 5V LDMOS devices, which simplifies RF SoC design, according to GloFo.

Catena’s Connectivity RF IP portfolio includes optimised, very low power Bluetooth Smart radio, Bluetooth Smart Ready radio, Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac 1×1, 2×2 and 4×4 MIMO) radios and combo Bluetooth/Wi-Fi radio.

The radio IPs are available/under development at GloFo’s 28nm-SLP technology, and may be ported to alternatives based on customer requirements. Solutions for GNSS/FM broadcast systems are also found in the offerings of Catena.

david manners

ARM, IBM expand IoT collaboration

imageIBM today announced an expansion of its IoT platform – called IBM IoT Foundation – through a collaboration with ARM mbed-enabled devices connecting to analytics services.

This fusion will allow data from devices such as industrial appliances, weather sensors and wearable monitoring devices to be gathered, analyzed and acted upon.

IBM also announced the first in a series of IBM Cloud-based, industry-specific IoT services with IoT for Electronics. The service will enable electronics manufacturers to gather data from individual sensors that can be combined with other data for real-time analysis.

The IBM IoT Foundation is a platform upon which a family of fully managed, cloud-hosted offerings on the SoftLayer Infrastructure is built. IoT Foundation makes it simple to derive value from Internet of Things (IoT) devices, IBM says. It includes:

  • “Analytics tools capable of dealing with large quantities of fast-moving data”,
  • “Access to IBM Bluemix, IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service, that is capable of handling the immense flow of data and provide anytime access for decision makers”
  • “Security systems capable of helping organizations protect IoT data as rigorously as they do their own confidential financial, IP and strategy information”.
Internet of Things - IoT

Internet of Things – IoT

The integration between IBM and ARM will allow products powered by ARM mbed-enabled chips to automatically register with the IBM IoT Foundation, and connect with IBM analytics services. This unifies the ARM mbed IoT Device Platform and the IBM IoT Foundation at the point where information gathered from deployed sensors in any connected device is delivered to the cloud for analysis, says IBM.

The IoT connection also enables delivery of actionable events to control equipment or provide users with alerts or other information. For example, the triggering of an alarm message on a washing machine to ask the owner to confirm a breakdown engineer appointment if a fault is detected.

According to the company:

This integration can help clients improve engagement, accelerate innovation and enhance operations through connected devices and analysis of the data. Custom hardware built around ARM’s chip technology and IBM’s IoT services for predictive maintenance, better asset performance, operational risk management and managed continuous engineering, can help provide organizations with enterprise-grade tools designed to help them build value from their Iot installations.

 

david manners

ARM, IBM expand IoT collaboration

imageIBM today announced an expansion of its IoT platform – called IBM IoT Foundation – through a collaboration with ARM mbed-enabled devices connecting to analytics services.

This fusion will allow data from devices such as industrial appliances, weather sensors and wearable monitoring devices to be gathered, analyzed and acted upon.

IBM also announced the first in a series of IBM Cloud-based, industry-specific IoT services with IoT for Electronics. The service will enable electronics manufacturers to gather data from individual sensors that can be combined with other data for real-time analysis.

The IBM IoT Foundation is a platform upon which a family of fully managed, cloud-hosted offerings on the SoftLayer Infrastructure is built. IoT Foundation makes it simple to derive value from Internet of Things (IoT) devices, IBM says. It includes:

  • “Analytics tools capable of dealing with large quantities of fast-moving data”,
  • “Access to IBM Bluemix, IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service, that is capable of handling the immense flow of data and provide anytime access for decision makers”
  • “Security systems capable of helping organizations protect IoT data as rigorously as they do their own confidential financial, IP and strategy information”.
Internet of Things - IoT

Internet of Things – IoT

The integration between IBM and ARM will allow products powered by ARM mbed-enabled chips to automatically register with the IBM IoT Foundation, and connect with IBM analytics services. This unifies the ARM mbed IoT Device Platform and the IBM IoT Foundation at the point where information gathered from deployed sensors in any connected device is delivered to the cloud for analysis, says IBM.

The IoT connection also enables delivery of actionable events to control equipment or provide users with alerts or other information. For example, the triggering of an alarm message on a washing machine to ask the owner to confirm a breakdown engineer appointment if a fault is detected.

According to the company:

This integration can help clients improve engagement, accelerate innovation and enhance operations through connected devices and analysis of the data. Custom hardware built around ARM’s chip technology and IBM’s IoT services for predictive maintenance, better asset performance, operational risk management and managed continuous engineering, can help provide organizations with enterprise-grade tools designed to help them build value from their Iot installations.

 

david manners