There is a progression of trends toward a world where everything is connected, as sensors become pervasive and technology virtually ‘disappears,’‛ said Ullal. The ubiquity of smartphones and cheap wireless networks enables a myriad of new applications. In the home, lighting, heat and air, security, and safety monitoring systems will become accessible and manageable via a cell phone. Clean, conscious and connected automobiles will save many of the more than two million lives lost each year due to traffic accidents and outdoor air pollution. In healthcare, portable diagnostic and imaging devices will enable in-home monitoring, thus enhancing patient care. In our communities, the measurement of energy creation, distribution, and usage will be available via highly integrated metering systems-on-chips (SoCs).
Maxim is a leader in analog innovation and integration, unique among semiconductor companies in the range of disparate analog functions that it can combine onto a single chip. The company’s highly integrated solutions help customers get to market faster with systems that are smaller and consume less power. In July 2011, Maxim acquired SensorDynamics, a privately held semiconductor company that develops proprietary sensor and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).