News Briefs

Semiconductor developer TechnoConcepts Inc. of Van Nuys, Calif., announced that its subsidiary, Techno (Hong Kong) Ltd. has opened its new headquarters at the Hong Kong Science & Technology Park (HKSTP). Techno provides the company with production design and engineering support for its True Software Radio products and also serves as TechnoConcepts' center for product innovation and commercialization in Asia. The HKSTP provides electronic design automation (EDA) tools and platforms, as well as automated test equipment supporting analog, mixed signal, RF and digital product testing, and product reliability and analysis labs. Other tenants include Royal Philips Electronics and Motorola subsidiary Freescale Semiconductor. . . . San Jose, Calif.-based Tessera Technologies Inc., a maker of miniaturization technologies with applications in the consumer, computing, communications, medical and defense markets, has completed its purchase of Shellcase Ltd. assets, including all of Shellcase's wafer-level image sensor packaging technology. Tessera said the transaction solidifies its commitment to the wafer-level packaging market for image sensors and MEMS (microelectromechanical systems). Tessera paid approximately $33 million in cash for the assets, hired the majority of Shellcase's employees and created a wafer-level packaging center. . . . LED and fiber-optic lighting system manufacturer Super Vision International Inc. of Orlando, Fla., announced that it was issued a patent for a nicheless LED pool light. The patent covers an LED light assembly and control circuit that produces many colors for swimming pools where a niche does not need to be installed to house an underwater pool light.