Sydney, Australia, May 12, 2020 – Perceptia Devices, a provider of digital PLL IP cores, announced today that it has strengthened its offering for non-commercial customers by offering a low cost research license across all IP cores.
Responding to demand from universities, Perceptia now offers the new research license for all available IP, across its portfolio. This includes upcoming IP on advanced technology nodes at 12nm and below. This will enable research projects, that do not generate revenue, to leverage Perceptia’s innovative IP solutions.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity to open up another avenue to work with Universities, in addition to our existing research collaborations” said Julian Jenkins, Perceptia’s CTO. “Universities have different needs and support requirements to commercial entities, and I believe this new license allows us to support those needs”.
About Perceptia Devices
Perceptia Devices is an IP and design services provider, based in Sydney, Australia and Silicon Valley. It is focused on high-speed and ultra-low-power mixed-signal semiconductor designs. Its specialization and innovation in all-digital PLLs, a distinction from its competitors, allows it to steadily build a portfolio of proprietary and patented architectures and circuits that bring value to demanding applications. Perceptia is privately owned and self-funded. For more information, visit www.perceptia.com.
Perceptia Devices, Inc. and GLOBALFOUNDRIES have agreed that Perceptia will join GLOBALFOUNDRIES in Santa Clara, California, on September 24, 2019, and in Munich, Germany, on October 11, 2019. GLOBALFOUNDRIES will hold its Technology Conference (GTC) in these locations, and Perceptia will be pleased to present its first three IPs available in the 22FDX process: pPLL02F for logic clocking; pPLL02LV for low-voltage logic clocking; and pPLL03F for low-jitter clocking. All three PLLs provide fractional-N operation and feature the tiniest footprint in the industry – just 60 x 90 microns.
If you plan a product in 22FDX and you don’t have a PLL yet, then please stop by either in Santa Clara or in Munich. If you can’t come, then contact us (contact info on this website).
Digital PLLs outperform analog PLLs in jitter, phase noise, power, and die area. They also reduce migration risk and cost. They make integration and production test easy. Yet, they have not been widely available. This will change. Perceptia’s newly introduced pPLL08 second-generation digital PLL IP shows that the highest performance requirements can be met. A first version of the IP is optimized for 5G base station operation. It can be paired with the highest performing ADCs and DACs. Yet, its size and power are modest. The IP is expected to change the way that radio designers approach their project.
This article compares analog, first-generation digital, and second-generation digital PLLs. It evaluates which type of PLL may be best in which situation. It further discloses a roadmap into other application areas, including general purpose / logic clocking, and regular low-jitter PLLs.
Download the article: Achieving Groundbreaking Performance with a Digital PLL 20190129
Morgan Hill, California—Perceptia Devices, Inc., a developer of innovative PLL and timing technology, today announced that its flagship high-end second-generation digital PLL has entered mass production in UMC’s 40LP foundry process. The IP, dubbed pPLL08-5G, targets a performance point not achieved in conventional analog PLL, or even a first-generation digital PLL. At a modest power level of 70mW it supports rms jitter of 300 femtoseconds, measured over a band from 6kHz to 700MHz. This performance makes it suitable for the most critical applications, including 5G base stations. The lead customer for the IP plans actual shipments early 2019.
Perceptia started designing first-generation all-digital PLLs 10 years ago. It has delivered numerous custom projects bringing the technology to a range of applications, many of which targeted higher performance and/or lower power. Perceptia has incorporated a series of innovations to achieve higher performance and lower power into its second-generation digital PLL architecture. As a result, most of the signal loop is now implemented with synthesized synchronous logic. Only the digitally-controlled oscillator (DCO) and a time-to-digital (TDC) circuit in the feedback block remain mixed-signal. The architecture is configurable and programmable. This allows migration efforts to be fully focused on optimization of the DCO for an application, or range of applications.
Generally, pPLL08 is focused on wireless, wired, and optical communication. It can be optimized for digital radio (such as 5G, Bluetooth LE, narrowband IoT, etc.), SerDes, photonics, and other applications with very stringent performance requirements.
In a next step, Perceptia plans to update its logic clocking PLL pPLL02 and its low-jitter PLL pPLL03 to the new architecture. Those PLLs use ring oscillators, and because no analog circuits are needed, they can be roughly 10X smaller than conventional PLLs, depending on the process node.
Perceptia protects its unique second-generation digital PLL technology with a fast expanding portfolio of patents.
About Perceptia Devices
Perceptia Devices, Inc. is a Silicon Valley-based IP and design services provider, with a design center in Sydney, Australia. It is focused on high-speed and ultra-low-power mixed-signal semiconductor designs. Its specialization and innovation in all-digital PLLs, a distinction from its competitors, allows it to steadily build a portfolio of proprietary and patented architectures and circuits that bring value to demanding applications. Perceptia is privately owned and self-funded. For more information, visit www.perceptia.com.
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Morgan Hill, CA, October 1, 2018 – Perceptia Devices, Inc., a Silicon Valley provider of PLL and RFID IP cores, announced today that it has strengthened its European sales network with Blu Business Development (a.k.a BluBiz, www.blubiz.de) in central and western Europe, and EquipIC (www.equipic.com) in the Netherlands and western Europe. Both BluBiz and EquipIC will promote the full lines of IP and Perceptia’s design services to the European market.
The two partners have different business backgrounds, both complementary to Perceptia. While BluBiz represents EDA companies and in general companies providing design enablement, EquipIC specializes in supply chain management. Both have extensive and long-standing contacts with European-based semiconductor companies. While their geographies have some overlap, their market reach is different.
“I’m very pleased to have both companies working with us and our customers” said Andy Grouwstra, Perceptia’s CEO. “Semiconductor companies require local understanding of their needs, and local interaction to keep communication at the best level. I am certain that with both BluBiz and EquipIC we bring in senior expertise that will make this happen”.
About Perceptia Devices
Perceptia Devices, Inc. is a Silicon Valley-based IP and design services provider, with a design center in Sydney, Australia. It is focused on high-speed and ultra-low-power mixed-signal semiconductor designs. Its specialization and innovation in all-digital PLLs, a distinction from its competitors, allows it to steadily build a portfolio of proprietary and patented architectures and circuits that bring value to demanding applications. Perceptia is privately owned and self-funded. For more information, visit www.perceptia.com.
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Scotts Valley, CA, June 29, 2017 – Perceptia Devices, Inc., a Silicon Valley provider of PLL and RFID IP cores, announced today that it has appointed Vector Co., of Dae-Jeon, and SMC Co., of Seoul, as its representatives for Korea. Both Vector and SMC will promote the full lines of IP and Perceptia’s IC design services to the Korean market.
To prevent customer confusion, SMC and Vector have agreed to a customer assignment procedure that is based on personal relationships rather than on geography. Both companies are active and have satisfied customers in all parts of the country. “I am very pleased with the level of professionalism that I see with them, and their enthusiasm to make our technology easily available for customers within their portfolios” said Andy Grouwstra, CEO of Perceptia. “In this business, success doesn’t only depend on the technical quality of a product, but also on the efforts of all those involved to make sure that the path towards integration, verification, and volume production is as smooth as possible. Even with the best prepared IP, you cannot just ‘throw it over the wall’ and assume that the receiving team will know precisely how to avoid issues. As the person who owns the customer relationship, a knowledgeable and personable representative is key to success.”
Perceptia has offices in Scotts Valley, California, and Sydney, Australia. Perceptia is the only IP provider offering digital PLLs and is a leading innovator in this field. Where analog PLLs have run out of steam on advanced semiconductor process nodes, and are increasingly sensitive to variations in the process, voltage, and temperature, digital PLLs are an order of magnitude smaller, and show rock-solid performance. Perceptia’s ULP expertise from designing RFID and pacemaker chips further helps to make its PLLs stand out. Its UHF RFID tag IC, thanks to its extreme power-saving features, has a sensitivity that allows it to be read at almost 10 meters distance, without requiring a battery.
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Scotts Valley, California – May 25, 2017 – Perceptia Devices, Inc., a developer of innovative phase-locked loop (PLL) and timing technology, today announced that it has joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator™ Partner Program, an expanding FD-SOI ecosystem to enable faster, broader deployment of the foundry’s 22FDX® and 12 FDX™ FD-SOI processes that support IoT, mobile, and wireless applications.
Most SoCs require several stable, reliable clock frequencies to time and sync the different blocks in the system. Perceptia’s innovative all-digital PLL technology offers precise, cost-effective solutions for generating the clocks in today’s electronic systems. As a member of the Partner Program, Perceptia will provide PLL IP and complementary design solutions for GF’s 22FDX® process technology designed to meet customer needs for tighter design and layout rules for high speed clock generation and support applications.
“Perceptia has PLLs ranging from basic logic clocking circuits to ultra-low-jitter circuits, and we are excited to bring this technology to GF’s 22FDX™ FD-SOI, the most promising foundry technology for various applications,” said Andy Grouwstra, Perceptia’s CEO and president. “Perceptia’s PLL IP and design solutions complement GF’s 22FDX™ FD-SOI capabilities, enabling customers to leverage ultra low-power, low-cost designs for IoT and connected applications. We expect exceptional results from combining what we believe to be the best technology from both companies.”
“22FDX is gaining momentum as the platform of choice for IoT, mobile, and wireless applications, and with more than 20 partners in our FDXcelerator program, we now have the largest FD-SOI IP and services community that is committed to deliver FDX technology,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of Product Management at GF. “By partnering with innovative companies such as Perceptia, we are providing greater choice and flexibility for IP and design services that best match the customer needs and go-to-market approaches.”
GF’s FDXcelerator Program brings together selected partners to integrate their products or services into validated, plug-and-play design solutions, giving customers access to a broad set of quality offerings specific to 22FDX technology. The program’s open framework enables members to minimize development time and cost while simultaneously leveraging the inherent power and performance advantages of FDX technology.
About Perceptia Devices
Perceptia Devices, Inc. is a Silicon Valley-based IP and design services provider, focused on high-speed and ultra-low-power mixed-signal semiconductor designs. Its specialization and innovation in all-digital PLLs, a distinction from its competitors, allows it to steadily build a portfolio of proprietary and patented architectures and circuits that bring value to demanding applications. Perceptia is privately owned and self-funded. For more information, visit www.perceptia.com.
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