SuVolta Licenses Low-Power Chip Technology to Fujitsu

Silicon Valley startup SuVolta has announced that it has technology that will reduce the amount of power consumed by semiconductor chips by 50% or more without sacrificing performance. SuVolta's PowerShrink platform minimizes the electrical variation in each of the millions of transistors on a chip. This new technology could help improve battery life in portable devices such as smartphones and tablets, as well as offering an alternative to Intel's INTC new technology known as Tri-Gate. Intel announced Tri-Gate a few weeks ago and said it will allow more transistors to be packed into a given space, cutting power consumption by 50% and improving performance by 37%. Key to SuVolta's approach is that the platform can be implemented with existing, standard processor technology and chipmaking gear. It is compatible with all the things that chipmakers have been doing, so they won't have to invest time and resources figuring out how to take the next step. SuVolta said it expects to see PowerShrink in production in 2012. But rather than develop processors on its own, the company says that it will license the technology to semiconductor companies. Fujitsu has already signed on, making it the first to publicly confirm support for the offering. If other companies follow suit, SuVolta could have a broad impact on the industry. SuVolta was founded in 2005. In May 2010, the company secured $22 million in a round of funding led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. To date, the company has raised $58.6 million.