The world’s top semiconductor companies continue to make news as we approach end of 2020. This week, we report on a possible Marvell’s Inphi acquisition, AMD’s likely move to fourth place on the top IC company list, Raspberry Pi’s new “desktop PC,” and more. 
 

Another Semiconductor Shakeup: Marvell’s Inphi Acquisition

Hey, engineers and start-ups! Cloud and 5G technologies continue to drive innovation — along with mergers and acquisitions — in the semiconductor sector. Just a few days ago, Marvell Technology Group, which develops infrastructure semiconductor solutions, announced it will acquire Inphi Corp, which provides high-speed analog and mixed signal semiconductor solutions. "Combining Marvell’s storage, networking, processor, and security portfolio, with Inphi’s leading electro-optics interconnect platform, will position the combined company for end-to-end technology leadership in data infrastructure," Marvell announced. Marvell’s Inphi acquisition is another indicator that cloud and 5G solutions are an exciting area on which innovators should focus.

AMD to Become #4 in the IC Design Game?

We've been following the news of the AMD-Xilinx deal for several days. We're now learning about some of the possible effects of the acquisition. Trendforce is reporting that the acquisition would make AMD the fourth largest IC design company — right behind Nvidia. "On the whole, AMD lags behind Intel and Nvidia with regards to product breadth, product adoption, technology, and revenue," Trendforce reports. "By acquiring Xilinx, AMD hopes to close the gap by leveraging the programming flexibility and parallel computing advantages of Xilinx’s FPGA products." What do you think? Connect with Elektor on social media and share your thoughts. 

Loon Logs 312-Day Stratospheric Flight

If you’re interested in science, engineering, and communications, you’ll want to follow the work of Loon LLC, which is a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet. Last week, Loon announced that one of its Loon balloons has set a record with a 312-day stratospheric flight. The company's aim is to use Loon balloons to deliver Internet to remote locations throughout the world. That means brining the power of the Internet to curious minds in the toughest-to-reach communities. Wonder what a Loon balloon can do floating around for nearly a year? "We use them primarily for connectivity, but we’re beginning to understand that this is just scratching the surface of the opportunity presented by the stratosphere," Loon CTO Salvatore Candido wrote on the company's blog. Leave it to Alphabet engineers to think of dozens of exciting ways to apply the technology.

The Raspberry Pi 400 (“Desktop PC”)  

"Raspberry Pi has always been a PC company," Raspberry Pi Founder Eben Upton writes in a post about the new Raspberry Pi 400. Billed as a “$70 desktop PC,” the Raspberry Pi 400 is a personal computer built right into a compact, well-designed keyboard. Simply connect it to a monitor and off you go. Learn more

Updates on Marvell’s Inphi acquisition, Raspberry Pi 400, and More

Read Elektor’s weekly Electronics News Byte for news about the Marvell’s Inphi acquisition, the new Raspberry Pi 400, and the other topics mentioned in this post. And don’t forget to sign up for Elektor’s E-Zine to receive new electronics projects and engineering tutorials each week.