JULY 11--Agilent Technologies (Milpitas, CA; www.agilent.com) has agreed to extensively license to Fairchild Imaging (www.fairchildimaging.com) the technology, designs, manufacturing rights, test equipment, and residual inventory of devices and cameras that were developed by Pixel Devices International (PDI). The agreement concerns Agilent's ultralow-noise CMOS image-sensor technology for industrial, biomedical, research, and government systems. Agilent's "active reset" technology, which can reduce noise by one or two orders of magnitude compared to traditional CMOS pixel technologies, enables low light imaging in high-speed industrial or research applications. Agilent acquired PDI in February 2003. Fairchild Imaging also agreed to support PDI's former customers and to continue PDI product lines.
Charles Arduini, president of Fairchild Imaging, said, "The technology and products license that we acquired from Agilent will be complementary to Fairchild Imaging's existing line of large-area, high-performance charge-coupled-device sensors and cameras. We will now offer our customers a broader array of technology choices for their specific market requirements and applications. The many performance advantages that the active reset technology brings to CMOS sensors fits well with the industrial, biomedical, research, and government customers that we serve."
