Freescale Semiconductor
20 of its employees were passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 A division of Motorola, which became Freescale Semiconductor, supplied thousands of semiconductor devices, ground-based tracking and checkout equipment, and 12 on-board tracking and communications units. An "up-data link" in the Apollo's command module received signals from Earth to relay to other on-board systems. A transponder received and transmitted voice and television signals and scientific data It has also been mentioned in a statement by a company spokesperson that the employees who were aboard MH370, were extremely talented and valuable in the technological field. Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. is primarily owned by the Blackstone Group, i.e. Lord Jacob Rothschild, the same group responsible for spraying the highly-toxic Corexit 500A into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the months following the BP oil spill as reported early on by Intelihub News. Shockingly, we also see the Carlyle Group listed as a secondary investor adding another layer of suspicion for investigators. The official entry listed under Freescale Semiconductor’s “financials” section on Wikipedia states: On September 15, 2006, Freescale agreed to a $17.6 billion buyout by a consortium led by Blackstone Group and its co-investors, Carlyle Group, TPG Capital, and Permira. The buyout offer was accepted on November 13, 2006 following a vote by company shareholders. The purchase, which closed on December 1, 2006, was the largest private buyout of a technology company until the Dell buyout of 2013 and is one of the ten largest buyouts of all time. As a journalist, I have to point out the vast amount of monies invested into this technology firm. It’s not like $17.9B is a drop in the bucket by any means, likely signifying the true importance of this corporation. I also have to question why so many Freescale employees were on the same flight at the same time, as four of them were reported by several sources to have been U.S. patent holders of a new technology. This would likely have been a breach of protocol, but at the least a costly oversight. In fact it’s been reported that Peid Ong Wang, Suzhou, Zhijun Chen, Suzhou, Zhihong Cheng, Suzhou and Li Ying, Suzhou, Freescale employees from China who were said to have been onboard flight 370, were each 20% holders of U.S. Patent #US008671381B1. Shockingly, the remaining 20% has been reported to be held by Freescale Semiconductor Ltd., which now after the disappearance of flight 370 becomes the sole patent holder. In laymen’s terms, Lord Jacob Rothschild is now the patent holder by virtue of invested interest into Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. To bring things further into perspective, putting the icing on the cake, the Rothschild dynasty owns the Malaysian Central Bank which in-turn is heavily invested into the Malaysian government and Malaysian Airlines ~ INTELLIHUB ............................................................................................................. about Freescale
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. is an American company that produces and designs embedded hardware, with 17 billion semiconductor chips in use around the world. The company focuses on the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets with its product portfolio including microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, digital signal controllers, sensors, RF power ICs and power management ICs. In addition, the company offers software and development tools to support product development. The company also holds an extensive patent portfolio, including approximately 6,100 patent families. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas with design, research and development, manufacturing and sales operations in more than 20 countries.
Freescale is currently ranked 7th among the semiconductor sales leaders in the United States and is ranked 16th worldwide.
Freescale was one of the first semiconductor companies in the world, having started as a division ofMotorola in Phoenix, Arizona in 1948 and then becoming autonomous by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. In 1955, a Motorola transistor for car radios was the world’s first commercial high-power transistor. It was also Motorola’s first mass-produced semiconductor device.
In the 1960s, one of the U. S. space program‘s goals was to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth. In 1968, NASA began manned Apollo flights that led to the first lunar landing in July 1969.Apollo 11 was particularly significant for hundreds of employees involved in designing, testing and producing its electronics. A division of Motorola, which became Freescale Semiconductor, supplied thousands of semiconductor devices, ground-based tracking and checkout equipment, and 12 on-board tracking and communications units. An “up-data link” in the Apollo’s command module received signals from Earth to relay to other on-board systems. A transponder received and transmitted voice and television signals and scientific data.[3]
Also that year, Motorola’s technologies were used to introduce the first two-way mobile radio with a fully transistorized power supply and receiver for cars.[4]
Motorola has continued its growth in the networking and communications sector in later years, providing the tools behind the radio transponder that delivered the first words from the moon in 1969, and going on to develop the first prototype of the first analog mobile phone in 1973.[5]
The company’s first microprocessor (MC6800 8-bit) was introduced in 1974, and was used in automotive, computing and video game applications.[6]
Motorola’s next generation 32-bit microprocessor, the MC68000, led the wave of technologies that spurred the computing revolution in 1984, powering devices from companies such as Apple, Commodore, Atari, Sun, and Hewlett Packard.[7]
In the 1990s, Motorola’s technology was the driving force behind intelligent power switches for anti-lock brake systems, one of the firstmicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) inertial sensor for automotive airbags, and Motorola’s MPC5200 microprocessor deployed telematicsystems for General Motors’ OnStar systems.[8]
Since then, Freescale has continued to provide the technology behind consumer, medical, networking and automotive products from microprocessors for the world’s first tubing-free wireless insulin pump,[9] to and automotive microcontrollers for efficient engine design. Freescale’s motion-sensing accelerometer powers the interactivity of the Guitar Hero video games.[10] The number one provider of eReader processors worldwide is Freescale.[11]
In 2011, the company launched the industry’s first multimode wireless base station processor family that scales from small to large cells – integrating DSP and communications processor technologies to realize a true “base station-on-chip”.[12] In addition, a recent ABI Research market study report states that Freescale owns 60% share of the radio frequency (RF) semiconductor device market.
Also in 2011, Freescale announced the company’s first magnetometer for location tracking in smart mobile devices.[13] With the partnership ofMcLaren Electronic Systems, they helped the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series vehicles convert from carburetors to fuel injection starting in 2012.[14][15][16]
On March 8, 2014, Freescale announced that 20 of its employees were passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. That plane, carrying the Freescale employees, is currently missing.[17]
Kinetis
On 26 February 2013, Freescale Semiconductor announced the creation of the world’s smallest (by size) ARM-powered chip. The Kinetis KL02 measures 1.9 by 2 millimeters and is a full microcontroller unit (MCU), meaning the chip sports a processor, RAM, ROM, clock and I/O control unit. The chip competes with the Atmel M0+ offerings, which are the low-power leaders in the industry [18] One application that Freescale says the chips could be used for is swallowable computers. Freescale already works with a variety of health and wellness customers. Both the Fitbit and OmniPod insulin pump use Freescale chips. The new chip was on display at ‘Embedded World’ in Nuernberg, Germany, from February 26–28, 2013.[
Financials
Motorola announced that their semiconductor division would be divested on October 6, 2003 to create Freescale. Freescale completed its IPO on July 16, 2004.
On September 15, 2006, Freescale agreed to a $17.6 billion buyout by a consortium led by Blackstone Group and its co-investors, Carlyle Group,TPG Capital, and Permira.[20] The buyout offer was accepted on November 13, 2006 following a vote by company shareholders. The purchase, which closed on December 1, 2006, was the largest private buyout of a technology company until the Dell buyout of 2013 and is one of the tenlargest buyouts of all time.[21]
Freescale filed to go public on February 11, 2011 and completed its IPO on May 26, 2011. Freescale is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FSL. At the time of the IPO, the company had $7.6 billion in outstanding debt on its books,[22] and the company is being investigated for misconduct related to this IPO.[23]
Litigations
Freescale is being sued by Marvell Semiconductor for infringing seven patents held by Marvell. The case is being litigated in the US District Court for the West District of Texas.[24] Freescale recently lost a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Tessera Corporation and was forced to pay an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement.[25] Freescale is also being sued by Vantage Point Technology, Inc. for patent infringement in Texas Eastern District.[26]
Freescale has also been served by Computer Sciences Corp. This is a breach of contract case and it is being litigated in the Texas Western District under Sam Sparks.[27]
Competitors
Freescale competes with a host of other silicon vendors, including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Intel, AMD, Toshiba, ST Microelectronics,Infineon, NEC Corporation, Nvidia, NXP Semiconductors, Renesas, VIA Technologies, and Samsung Electronics.[28]
Zune bug
Clock driver software written by Freescale was responsible for the 2008 Zune leap year bug.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freescale_Semiconductor
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BBC NEWS
The co-workers
Also on the plane were 20 staff members from a US technology company, Freescale Semiconductor, which makes powerful microchips for industries, including defence.
Twelve employees were from Malaysia and eight were from China. The company said it was “deeply saddened” by the news, in
See more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26503469
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News Release on its website
| Freescale Semiconductor Employees Confirmed Passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 |
| AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mar. 8, 2014– Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) has confirmed that 20 of its employees were confirmed passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Twelve are from Malaysia and eight are from China. The entire Freescale Semiconductor community is deeply saddened by this news. The company is continuing to monitor the situation and will provide more information as it becomes available.“At present, we are solely focused on our employees and their families,” said Gregg Lowe, president and CEO, Freescale. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragic event.”The company has assembled counselors and other professionals through Freescale’s Employee Assistance Program, with around-the-clock support for those impacted by this tragedy.About Freescale SemiconductorFreescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) is a global leader in embedded processing solutions, providing industry leading products that are advancing the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. From microprocessors and microcontrollers to sensors, analog integrated circuits and connectivity – our technologies are the foundation for the innovations that make our world greener, safer, healthier and more connected. Some of our key applications and end-markets include automotive safety, hybrid and all-electric vehicles, next generation wireless infrastructure, smart energy management, portable medical devices, consumer appliances and smart mobile devices. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing and sales operations around the world. www.freescale.comFreescale and the Freescale logo are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm Off. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © 2014 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
Sources; http://media.freescale.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=196520&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1907348&highlight=
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Freescale mum on new Malaysia Airlines reports
By Brian Gaar American-Statesman Staff |
JAN ZAN SHAH 
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