Mobile devices will become extremely successful because many industries - communications, IT, IC and hardware manufacturers, software developers and others - are investing capital, time, and effort into making them successful. Here's the latest example of how chip designers work to reduce power consumption and performance of mobile ICs.

Jan 5, 2012. VBeat -- SuVolta, a chip startup that says it can cut power consumption by 50 to 90 percent when coupled with other techniques for lowering voltage said today it has raises $17.6 million in a new round of funding.

“Power is now the biggest design constraint for electronic products,” he[Bruce McWilliams, president and chief executive at SuVolta] said. “This funding demonstrates the excitement surrounding our technology which dramatically reduces power consumption in ICs.”

Intel announced Tri-Gate earlier this year and said it will use 3D structures to pack more (FinFET) transistors into a given space, cutting power consumption by 50 percent and improving performance by 37 percent.

Two additional points from the article:
- the startup's business model is IP licensing;
- VC investment in semiconductors is down dramatically since 1999.

tags: technology, s-curve, innovation, investment, licensing, energy, mobile