News: Microelectronics
3 January 2020
pSemi’s former CEO Jim Cable retires as chairman & chief technology officer
pSemi Corp of San Diego, CA, USA – a fabless provider of radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) – says that, after more than 20 years with the firm, Jim Cable is retiring from his position as chairman & chief technology officer of pSemi and as global semiconductor R&D director for parent company Murata Manufacturing.
Picture: pSemi’s Jim Cable.
Cable joined pSemi (formerly Peregrine Semiconductor Corp) in October 1996 and held positions as chief operating officer and VP of technology and engineering before becoming CEO in 2002. From 2002 to 2017, he served as CEO, leading the team through a period of high growth, funding rounds, an IPO and the 2014 acquisition by Murata.
“Jim has been instrumental to our semiconductor growth strategy at Murata,” comments Norio Nakajima, senior executive VP, Module business unit and board member at Murata Manufacturing. “It has now been five years since the closing of the pSemi acquisition, and it has proven to be hugely successful — in large part due to Jim’s leadership, his passion for this industry and his dedication to his team.”
An early pioneer of SOI technology, Cable believed SOI would ultimately replace gallium arsenide (GaAs) and other technologies in the RF front end, and he encouraged his team to innovate in silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) and SOI. Under his engineering leadership, pSemi pioneered stacked CMOS RF switch integration, solved circuit linearity problems and ultimately manufactured high-performance, multi-throw-count CMOS RF switches that already support more than 40 communications bands and will become even more mission-critical in 5G. Cable is a co-inventor on more than 70 semiconductor and technology patents, including breakthroughs that are now used by most modern cellphones. In September, Cable was recognized by the SOI Industry Consortium for his role in the advancement of RF SOI globally, where he received an award for the contribution he made to the development of RF switches and SOI technology.
“For the last two decades, Jim has embodied and shaped the pSemi entrepreneurial and innovative culture,” comments pSemi’s CEO Sumit Tomar. “Every department of our business has greatly benefited from Jim’s technical expertise, tenacity and leadership,” he adds.
