Comments on: Chips Work Hard for the Money, Just Like Everyone Else

By: Icera Raises $70M, Cuts Staff

Icera Raises $70M, Cuts Staff — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:18:17 +0000

[...] in other wireless standards without a huge redesign of its silicon. That keeps the potential markets wide open and the costs lower, which makes investors happy enough to put more skin in the game — although perhaps not as [...]

By: Microstaq Raises $12.5M and the Profile for MEMS - GigaOM

Microstaq Raises $12.5M and the Profile for MEMS - GigaOM — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:15:14 +0000

[...] Texas-based company both proves that investment in clean energy startups is still going strong and further proves that semiconductor investments are still attractive to investors. Booth helped create for Microstaq a type of semiconductor that adds computer intelligence to the [...]

By: Paul Slaby

Paul Slaby — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:36:52 +0000

I would like to add that multi-mode radio ICs is an area that Kaben Wireless Silicon has pursued in close cooperation with customers for years without burning tons of VC dollars.

Kaben’s unique radio architecture enables reconfigurable transceiver front ends that can support multiple standards. This innovative technology occurs in the Intermediate Frequency (IF) range between the RF and the digital.

The Reconfigurable IF is built around three novel circuit cores; a Sampling IF Filter which down-converts an IF directly to digital, a Digital-to-IF up-converter which converts a digital baseband directly to IF, and an ultra-low phase noise and spur level synthesizer that is used in the receive and transmit paths.

The field programmable flexibility of the Reconfigurable IF provides a multi-standard transceiver capability while relaxing the associated component specifications in the up- and down-converters, LNA, and external PA. The Reconfigurable IF also removes the need for external SAW filters in the receive path, while providing all the strengths of a classic super heterodyne architecture. When using a super heterodyne approach, the Reconfigurable IF eliminates the analog baseband normally required by converting directly between IF and digital. For the receiver, this avoids DC offset and IP2 problems, and removes the need for compensation loops in the digital back-end. The elimination of the analog baseband also removes issues associated with 1/f noise.

The combination of field programmable flexibility and lower component count, results in a quick time-to-market, smaller die size and a reduced BOM.

Paul

http://www.kabenwireless.com

By: Nag

Nag — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:22:47 +0000

Nice article..

It is very surprising to see none of the startups you mentioned are in the Silicon Valley,…

Cheers, Nag