Torex Semiconductor Expands its Silicon Valley R&D

March 10, 2017

Silicon Valley is maintaining its image as the center of the semiconductor universe.

Silicon Valley is maintaining its image as the center of the semiconductor universe. The latest example is Torex Semiconductor moving its R&D Center from Sunnyvale to larger headquarters in San Jose, Calif.

Torex opened its R&D Center in Silicon Valley in April 2016. Now, within a year it is expanding its total floor area roughly three times its previous location. Arrangements are being made to support a personnel increase in association with a growing number of research and development projects. Its goal is to move even further forward with its development of high value‐added ICs for analog and power management.

The goal of Torex relocation and expansion is to strengthen its development environment by extending and enhancing its evaluation facilities and analysis equipment essential for research and development, along with an increasing number of development projects.

Director of the R&D Center is Koji Ichiba, who has over 20 years semiconductor development experience. His staff now consists of four engineers, with three or four engineers expected to be added within three years.

Besides the San Jose location, the company has technology centers in Sapporo, Tokyo, and Kansai, Japan. Manufacturing facilities are in Viet Nam as well as Okayama and Kagoshima, Japan.

The company was founded in Okayama, Japan, in 1995. Corporate headquarters are now in Tokyo. Its president is Koji Shibamiya.

It produces CMOS power management ICs targeted toward battery-powered and energy-efficient applications. The company specializes in CMOS analog technology, with LDO voltage regulators, voltage detectors, and dc/dc converters.

Among its recent introductions were:

XC9273 series of 5.5V synchronous step-down dc/dc converters.
XCL219 series, a synchronous step-down micro dc/dc converter that integrates an inductor and a control IC in one tiny package.
XD6130/XD6131 series of automotive-grade voltage detectors with watchdog function.
XD9242/43 series, an automotive-grade synchronous PWM step-down dc/dc converter with integral P-channel and synchronous N-channel switching transistors.
XD9260/61 series, an automotive-grade high-speed transient response 1.5A synchronous step-down dc/dc converter.

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About the Author

Sam Davis

Sam Davis was the editor-in-chief of Power Electronics Technology magazine and website that is now part of Electronic Design. He has 18 years experience in electronic engineering design and management, six years in public relations and 25 years as a trade press editor. He holds a BSEE from Case-Western Reserve University, and did graduate work at the same school and UCLA. Sam was the editor for PCIM, the predecessor to Power Electronics Technology, from 1984 to 2004. His engineering experience includes circuit and system design for Litton Systems, Bunker-Ramo, Rocketdyne, and Clevite Corporation.. Design tasks included analog circuits, display systems, power supplies, underwater ordnance systems, and test systems. He also served as a program manager for a Litton Systems Navy program.

Sam is the author of Computer Data Displays, a book published by Prentice-Hall in the U.S. and Japan in 1969. He is also a recipient of the Jesse Neal Award for trade press editorial excellence, and has one patent for naval ship construction that simplifies electronic system integration.

You can also check out his Power Electronics blog.