Cisco today announced the appointment of Dr. Lisa T. Su, AMD president and CEO, to its board of directors effective today. "Lisa is an accomplished business leader with deep expertise in the semiconductor industry," said Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO, Cisco. "We look forward to her contributions to Cisco's board and our business as we continue to develop ground breaking technologies, and a new internet for the 5G era that will help our customers innovate faster than ever before."

Dr. Su, 50, joined AMD in 2012 and has held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer since October 2014. She also serves on AMD's Board of Directors. Previously, Dr. Su served as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Networking and Multimedia at Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., and was responsible for global strategy, marketing and engineering for the company's embedded communications and applications processor business. Dr. Su joined Freescale in 2007 as Chief Technology Officer, where she led the company's technology roadmap and research and development efforts.

Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) will honor industry visionary and innovator Dr. Lisa Su, President and CEO, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), with the prestigious Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award at its highly-anticipated Annual Awards Dinner to be held in Santa Clara, California, on December 6, 2018.

Established in 1999, the Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award recognizes individuals for their exceptional contributions, exemplifying how their vision and global leadership have transformed and elevated the entire semiconductor industry. The selection of Dr. Su is based on her ongoing technological contributions, exceptional business acumen, status as a positive and inspiring role model, and wide ranging respect among the technology industry and business community.

Micron Technology, Inc., today announced XTRMFlash memory, a faster NOR flash solution designed to revolutionize the way the electronics industry develops systems to meet the demand for "instant-on" performance and fast system responsiveness in automotive, industrial and consumer applications. Utilizing its new, low pin count interface that uses as little as 11 active signals, Micron's XTRMFlash memory outperforms other industry NOR Flash while also significantly reducing pin counts by as much as 75 percent from those found in Parallel NOR flash available in the market today. XTRMFlash memory provides system designers the ideal and fastest possible direct code execution NOR flash memory solution available to enable high-performance, yet small form-factor designs.

"Micron is committed to continued innovation in NOR flash memory," said Richard De Caro, director of NOR Flash for Micron's Embedded Business Unit. "We worked closely with our ecosystem partners and customers to understand their next-generation requirements for high-performance memory, and we have developed XTRMFlash memory as a result. XTRMFlash memory and the XTRMFlash interface have the potential to dramatically change the paradigm of the existing memory landscape by enabling a new category of high-performance and low pin count memory devices that can also extend beyond NOR Flash."

Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH, the European subsidiary of Shuttle Inc., one of the leading developers and manufacturers of compact PC solutions such as the world-renowned XPC Mini-PC Barebones, now introduces robust, ARM-based Android PCs.

The DSA2LS is equipped with a Freescale i.MX 6DualLite (i.MX6DL) 1 GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of DDR3 memory. It comes with 4 GB Flash memory already fitted for apps, media and operating system which can be expanded up to 64 GB with a theft-protected SDHC card reader. Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) is pre-installed and prepared for new versions with an integrated update function (online or offline).

Rambus Inc., the innovative technology solutions company that brings invention to market, today announced it has signed an agreement with Freescale Semiconductor that expands the relationship between the companies. The agreement extends Freescale's access to Rambus' innovations for memory controllers and serial links. Additionally, the expanded agreement provides Freescale with the ability to collaborate on Rambus' resistive memory technology for embedded applications (eRRAM).

"We are pleased to expand our agreement with Freescale Semiconductor, a leader in embedded processing solutions," said Kevin Donnelly, senior vice president and general manager of the Memory and Interface Division at Rambus. "This agreement and our collaboration with Freescale exemplify our ability to provide additional value to Freescale with our eRRAM technology, and we look forward to our broadening relationship with the Freescale team."

AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced today that Bernd Lienhard, 48, has joined the company as corporate vice president and general manager of its Client Business Unit, reporting to Dr. Lisa Su, senior vice president and general manager, Global Business Units. In his role, Lienhard will apply his 22 years of experience in the semiconductor industry to lead AMD's client business as it expands its product lineup to include differentiated system-on-chip (SoC) solutions targeted at high-growth mobility and traditional client markets.

"A pivotal part of AMD's ability to win in high-growth markets is having the right leadership team in place with a diversity of semiconductor industry knowledge. Bernd's track record and experience translating business strategy into operational execution across large teams makes him the ideal leader for our client business," said Dr. Su. "Bernd's deep background of growth across a wide range of markets will accelerate our client business as we bring our strongest-ever line-up of APUs and first SoCs to market in 2013 and continue our expansion into ultraportable and ultra low-power form factors."

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient computing platforms, today announced the VIA ARMTiGO A800, the world's smallest ARM system for embedded applications, including hotel automation, digital signage and, surveillance as well as for medical and healthcare applications.

Combining an 800MHz Freescale ARM Cortex-A8 SoC with two integrated GPUs, the VIA ARMTiGO A800 delivers robust performance and unbelievable power efficiency, maintaining an average power consumption of a mere 3.14W TDP. With a fanless, ultra-low-profile dustproof design measuring a mere 12.0cm x 12.5cm x 3.0 cm (W x D x H), the VIA ARMTiGO A800 can fit easily into any environment, whether it is behind a monitor or on the wall with a 7.5cm x 7.5cm VESA mount or placed alongside other devices.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient computing platforms, today announced the VIA ARMOS-800, an ultra-compact, fanless system designed around the tiny VIA VAB-800 Pico-ITX board. The VIA ARMOS-800 provides embedded customers with a ruggedized system that delivers advanced multimedia features in an extremely power efficient design for a diversified range of embedded applications.

Featuring an 800MHz Freescale ARM Cortex-A8 SoC with two integrated GPUs for dual display support, the VIA ARMOS-800 is optimized for both performance and power to meet the high-end demands of advanced industrial and in-vehicle applications. Boasting a ruggedized, fanless system design with a wide operating temperature range from -40°C up to 80°C, the VIA ARMOS-800 delivers a typical power consumption of a mere 3.14W TDP.

Rambus Inc. (RMBS), one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, today announced that the International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued its notice of final determination in the action brought by Rambus against LSI Logic, ST Microelectronics and other Respondents. In its notice, the ITC affirmed the initial determination of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Theodore R. Essex that there was no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to the asserted patents. The Commission also reversed the ALJ's determinations that Rambus demonstrated the existence of a domestic industry, that certain asserted Dally claims were invalid, and that those claims were infringed. The action is Investigation Number 337-TA-753.

Rambus has not yet received the full opinion by the Commission. A copy of today's summary is available here.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient computing platforms, today announced the VIA VAB-800 Pico-ITX embedded ARM board. Featuring a choice of an 800MHz or a 1GHz Freescale ARM Cortex-A8 processor, the VIA VAB-800 combines a wide operating temperature range with extremely low power consumption to meet the demands of high-end industrial and in-vehicle fanless embedded applications.

Based on the industry standard 10 cm x 7.2 cm Pico-ITX form factor created by VIA, the VIA VAB-800 Pico-ITX board combines a rich I/O set with superb multimedia performance, supporting playback of the most demanding video formats in resolutions up to 1080p. Leveraging VIA's hardware design expertise, the VIA VAB-800 delivers the highest I/O integration on the Pico-ITX form factor for an ultra compact yet highly flexible platform for the latest embedded devices.

Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, today announced it received notice that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for its U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) action against LSI Logic, MediaTek, ST Microelectronics and other Respondents has issued an Initial Determination. According to the notice, ALJ Theodore R. Essex found there to be no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for the patents in question. The action is Investigation Number 337-TA-753.

Rambus may request a full Commission review of the ALJ's Initial Determination. If the Commission grants a petition for review, it may affirm, modify, reverse, set aside, or remand all or part of the ALJ's decision in developing the ITC's final determination.

Investment firm Barclays Capital lowered its ratings on semiconductor majors Intel, Applied Materials Inc, Freescale Semiconductor Holdings Ltd, Microchip Technology Inc., and Spansion Inc., from "equal weight" from "overweight", meaning that these companies are no longer outperforming, and are doing average, with negligible growth. Towards the end of 2011, Intel adjusted its Q4 forecast, lowering it by $1 billion, blaming factors beyond its control such as HDD supply problems. Weakened PC sales growth is another major factor. On the other hand, DRAM and NAND flash memory maker Micron Technology got its rating upgraded to "overweight", as Barclays notes that the industries Micron is in, are on the verge of a boom. Reacting to this, Micron's shares shot up by 11 percent during trading early this week, sending its shares' valuation from $6.2 billion, up 9 percent to $6.88 billion.

Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, announced today it has signed a patent license agreement with Freescale Semiconductor. This agreement covers the use of Rambus patented innovations for memory controllers and serial links in a broad range of logic integrated circuit (IC) products offered by Freescale. In addition, the two companies have settled all claims between them including resolution of past use of Rambus' patented innovations. The term of the patent license agreement is five years. Other terms of the agreement are confidential.

"Freescale is the global leader in embedded processing solutions, and this agreement demonstrates the strength of our patented innovations for both memory controllers as well as serial links," said Sharon Holt, senior vice president and general manager of the Semiconductor Business Group at Rambus. "With our commitment to innovation, we will continue to develop breakthrough technology which helps our licensees make great electronic products that deliver the richest consumer experience."

MOSAID Technologies Inc. (TSX:MSD) today announced that it has initiated patent infringement litigation against NVIDIA Corporation, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. and Interphase Corporation. The suit was filed on April 7, 2011 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division.

In its complaint, MOSAID asserts that NVIDIA, Freescale and Interphase have infringed, and continue to infringe certain patents related primarily to power management techniques, and microprocessor architecture. The accused devices include graphics processors, application processors, microcontrollers, and system-on-chip devices. These microcomponents products are used in mobile, automotive, consumer and communications applications.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced it has appointed Mike Wolfe, age 52, as the company's chief information officer. He brings more than 30 years of engineering and information technology experience, most recently as vice president of IT for product development and engineering at HP for the last five years. Wolfe will be responsible for managing AMD's global technology infrastructure and will report to Thomas Seifert, senior vice president and chief financial officer and interim CEO.

"Mike has effectively led IT transformations, constantly focusing on reducing operating costs and significantly improving business innovation," said Seifert. "His considerable talent and experience will help AMD to continue strengthening our IT infrastructure and streamline our business based on our own products and platforms."

Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies, today announced it has filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) requesting the commencement of an investigation pertaining to products from Broadcom Corporation, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., LSI Corporation, MediaTek Inc., NVIDIA Corporation and STMicroelectronics N. V. The complaint seeks an exclusion order barring the importation, sale for importation, or sale after importation of products from Broadcom, Freescale, LSI, NVIDIA and STMicroelectronics that infringe certain patents from the Dally1 family of patents, and of products from Broadcom, Freescale, LSI, MediaTek and STMicroelectronics that infringe certain patents from the Barth family of patents. In an earlier investigation requested by Rambus, the ITC found that these same Barth patents were valid and infringed by NVIDIA products, and issued an exclusion order in July of this year.

"We have been attempting to license these companies for some time to no avail. One of the respondents frankly told us that the only way they would get serious is if we sued them. Others pursued a strategy of delay rather than negotiate a reasonable resolution," said Harold Hughes, president and chief executive officer at Rambus. "Rambus has invested hundreds of millions of dollars developing a portfolio of technologies that are foundational for many digital electronics. There is widespread knowledge within the industry about our patents including their use in standards-compatible products accused in these actions. In fairness to our shareholders and to our paying licensees, we take these steps to protect our patented innovations and pursue fair compensation for their use."

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced the appointment of Ron Dickinson as vice president of enterprise quality. The appointment marks the completion of the senior management team, cementing a strong leadership base to support the long-term growth and success of GLOBALFOUNDRIES as it aims to reshape the foundry landscape. In his role, Dickinson will enhance the customer experience by driving maximum levels of quality assurance and reliability for internal and external areas across the business.

"To become the industry's premier global foundry company, we need to execute on an uncompromised standard of excellence when it comes to quality management," said GLOBALFOUNDRIES CEO Doug Grose. "Ron brings nearly three decades of world-class experience to help us achieve this goal by implementing a program that consistently meets and exceeds industry-leading benchmarks in efficiency, yields, quality, and cost."

Intel's Atom series of processors gets credit for reinvigorating the ULPC and SFF PC segments that had been niche markets run by smaller players such as VIA, Freescale, and ARM. The Atom Z500 series single-core chips operate at speeds ranging from 1.1 to 1.86 GHz, with phenomenally low energy footprints - under 2.2 Watts.

One of the company's newest additions to the range, the Z550, could hit the 2.00 GHz mark, while consuming less than 2.4 Watts. Another chip in the making, Z515, will have dynamic clock-speed between 800 MHz and 1.33 GHz depending on the processing load. The Z515 could end up being an MID maker's favourite, not that Z550 won't be used in devices that small. Sony just might pack the 2.00 GHz chip on an upcoming variant of the VAIO P.

Standing up against an almost unassailable domination of x86 machine architecture, even in the ULPC segment, ARM showcased netbooks based on processors such as Freescale iMX515 and Qualcomm Snapdragon. The processors, ARM claims, are capable to run 720p HD video, and operate at speeds of up to 1 GHz. The best way ARM sees to compete with x86, is to support operating systems that run on it, such as Linux.

The growth and propagation of Ubuntu seems to be a good opportunity to cash on. ARM is reportedly working with Canonical to devise a full-featured ARM-supportive variant of Ubuntu. Meanwhile, Adobe has announced that it is working on an ARM-supportive Flash 10 plugin. Ubuntu's ARM edition should be out by April, by when we can get realistic figures about ARM netbooks' performance. The netbooks will be priced in the US $250 range and are expected to start selling from June. A video covering the presentation can be viewed here.

Freescale Semiconductor has collaborated with an impressive lineup of companies to enable 3G connectivity and additional operating system options for netbooks based on its new i.MX515 processor. For OEMs, the expanded ecosystem means faster time to market, greater differentiation and more compelling end devices.
Freescale entered the netbook market in January 2009 with the introduction of the i.MX515 processor and a comprehensive netbook reference design. The solution is designed to enable consumer products that deliver gigahertz performance, eye-popping graphics and eight hours of battery life between charges at extremely aggressive price points.

Even though almost all of the netbooks as we call them today are using Intel Atom processors as their main processor and if not they use VIA CPUs, Freescale, a third company, is moving in on this fastest-growing segment of the PC market. The company said on Monday it is planning on introducing a new chip for netbooks that are priced below $200. Freescale's i.MX515 processor will run on super low-cost netbooks only, that are created mainly to perform basic tasks such as accessing the Internet and running office applications, with no gaming or performance CAD involved. Moreover, the i.MX515 won't support any Microsoft Windows OS at all, which leaves the door open only for Linux. The main strength of i.MX515 based on the Cortex-A8 core from ARM is its low power usage, which suggests extra long battery life of the machines equipped with this CPU. According to the company, the chip would allow a netbook with an 8.9-inch display to receive eight hours of battery life. Again, expect more information at CES 2009. There Freescale will showcase a working i.MX515-based netbook prototype made by Pegatron (ASUS spin-off company).

Freescale Semiconductor and Samsung Electronics, a world leader in display technology, have announced their collaboration to address the burgeoning market for energy-saving and environmentally friendly light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
"Freescale's LED backlight driver technology is the industry's most compact and integrated solution," said Arman Naghavi, vice president and general manager of Freescale's Analog, Mixed-Signal and Power Division. "Our collaboration with Samsung on LED backlighting - clearly a disruptive technology - will help spur further innovation and growth in the LCD market."

IBM and its chip development partners announced today that they've developed the first functional 22nm silicon fabricated SRAM cell. This puts them ahead of Intel, which had announced its technological entry into the 32 nm domain in September, 2007. SRAM is usually the first semiconductor device a chip-maker tests a new fabrication-process on, before working on microprocessors. These devices were developed and manufactured by AMD, Freescale, IBM STMicroelectronics, Toshiba and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE). They were built in the conventional 6-transistor design and on a 300 mm wafer. This level of miniaturization made the SRAM cell shrink to a mere 0.1 sq. μm, compare this to the SRAM cells that go into making caches on the 45 nm Intel processors, 0.346 sq. μm.

A relatively unknown brand, Cherrypal introduced a PC module dubbed 'cloud computer'. It carries a price tag of US $250. Sure you do find pre-owned full-size PCs for that price, but just think of it: this PC consumes a mere 2W of power when idle (excludes the consumption of monitor and other peripherals).

On the features front, there's enough computing power to get you onto the internet, it is driven by a 400 MHz Freescale MPC5121e mobileGT triple-core processor, 256 MB DDR2 memory and 4 GB of NAND flash memory to store the OS, a Debian-derived Linux OS, Mozilla Firefox as the core internet application (supports all add-ons and Linux media plugins). 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, two USB ports, an Ethernet port, VGA out, and stereo audio out. It beats the $929 VidaBox PC convincingly at its price-point. Sure, such devices are mere toys for average users like us sitting cozy with powerful gaming PCs, but such devices are a step in the right direction, towards Cloud Computing.

Cloud computing, a new buzzword in the computing industry, is the computing methodology where software is thin and light, and streamed onto a computer. A user accesses software either freely or on a subscription basis. All you need is a standards compiant web-browser, OS isn't a factor. This has gotten players such as Microsoft, Google, Adobe and others looking up to it as the next big thing. You don't need to buy those installation discs and throw gigabytes of hard-drive space at applications anymore.

AMD today announced it will license unique 2D and 3D graphics technology to Freescale Semiconductor, a global leader in mobile and multimedia platform solutions. Freescale will incorporate AMD's best-in-class, industry-standard OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG 1.0 graphics core technologies in its i.MX applications processors. AMD's graphics technology is optimized to deliver superior battery life and visually stunning performance for key mobile applications such as gaming, navigation and user interfaces. i.MX processors with this graphics technology will be available for portable media players, portable navigation, home electronics and automotive infotainment applications.