February 12, 2018

Power Down Semiconductor Joins Silicon Catalyst to Power Down Next Generation of Electronics

Silicon Valley, CA, Silicon Catalyst, the global incubator focused exclusively on solutions in silicon announces the admittance of Power Down Semiconductor. Power Down provides the technology that bridges the gap between the great demand on smarter next generation electronics and the greater energy demands of that intelligence.

From Smart Homes to Autonomous Vehicles, the electronic revolution is demanding smarter and smarter electronics, placing a huge burden on the ability to power these devices. The smarter electronics become, the more power they require. Power has become a dominant constraint on modern electronics, and left unresolved will curtail the pace of advancement of electronics. Power Down’s Founder and CEO, David Huffman has been addressing this issue for three decades, and is now commercializing the unique technique that he has developed.

Huffman said, “I’ve dedicated my professional life to the issue of lowering the power requirements of electronic systems. Power Down Semiconductor is providing the solution that will empower the next generation of electronics by reducing power needs by up to 90% without sacrificing performance.  PD Semi’s “Low Power Processing” (or LPP) technology leverages a novel multi-level charge recycling technique which actually raises the supply rail in order to maximize the speed of the devices.  Other competing low power IC companies are reducing power by crushing the supply rail to a few hundreds of millivolts, but that power reduction comes with a big performance hit along with reduced noise margin and soft errors. Our silicon-proven solution will find its way into battery-less IoT products as well as LCD and OLED display panels.  Silicon Catalyst provides exactly the support needed to commercialize Power Down’s technology. I am confident that Silicon Catalyst was the right choice for my company and the technology we're trying to introduce to the world.!”

“The next generation of electronic systems simply will not happen without aggressive techniques to harness the coming out-of-control power demands”, said Rick Lazansky, CEO of Silicon Catalyst. “Power Down Semiconductor is an excellent example of today’s semiconductor-focused startups providing the innovation that the electronics ecosystem thrives on.” 

In the past 30 months, Silicon Catalyst has reviewed over 200 start-ups from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The 14 startups admitted to the incubator are developing innovative solutions in a variety of areas including in energy harvesting, wearables, silicon photonics, memory technology, IoT, high performance computing, machine learning, wireless communications, and biomedical devices. 

About Power Down Semiconductor

Power Down Semiconductor was founded with a very simple goal in mind: Reduce integrated circuit power consumption.  We strive to squeeze every picowatt from your chip's transistors while maintaining the performance that you require.

Visit Power Down Semiconductor at www.powerdownsemi.com

About Silicon Catalyst

It’s About What’s Next® - Silicon Catalyst is the world’s only incubator focused exclusively on accelerating solutions in silicon, building a coalition of in-kind and strategic partners to dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of development. Close to 300 startup companies have engaged with Silicon Catalyst since April 2015, with a total of 21 startup and early-stage companies admitted to the incubator. With a world-class network of mentors to advise startups, Silicon Catalyst is helping new semiconductor companies address the challenges in moving from idea to realization. The incubator/accelerator supplies startups with a path to design tools, silicon devices, networking, access to funding, banking and marketing acumen to successfully launch and grow their companies’ novel technology solutions.