Samsung Foundry will present 8LPU+, the second generation of its 8LPU platform, at IEDM 2026 on December 14, and Nintendo Patents Watch has already pegged it as a possible fit for a Switch 2 Lite. It's speculation for now. Nintendo hasn't announced a Switch 2 Lite, and Samsung's material doesn't mention Nintendo or NVIDIA. The link exists because the Switch 2's NVIDIA T239 SoC is built on Samsung's 8 nm node, so a refined version of that process is an obvious candidate for a cheaper handheld-only model.

Samsung's IEDM abstract lists 12% higher performance, 15% lower power, and an 8% area shrink over 8LPU, along with roughly 10% smaller I/O area and lower standby leakage. It's a DUV-only node, and Samsung pitches it at automotive, robotics and edge AI chips. Korea's Electronic Times reports the platform should arrive before year's end, and quoted an industry official who named existing 8 nm customers as likely candidates. Of course, these are process-level figures, so they don't directly translate into a future Switch 2 Lite that runs 12% faster or lasts 15% longer per charge. We also don't know how closely NVIDIA's custom 8N variant maps onto 8LPU+.

Sony is seemingly pulling away from its XR ambitions, as the company has reportedly transferred 43 patents it holds in the United States to none other than Meta. In a large transfer between June and September this year, Sony's patents revolving around virtual, augmented, and mixed reality headsets have been transferred to Meta to strengthen its internal hardware team. These patents reportedly include things like head-mount displays, XR glass types, and much more that Sony has been working on since 2010 up until 2022.

However, not only patents in the United States are at stake here, as there are a total of 419 global patents that Sony will transfer to Meta. Around 180 patents out of these 419 will be those held in the United States, while the remaining 239 were filed in different countries where Sony has research and development teams like in Japan, China, Korea, Europe, and other regions.

Sony has filed a patent for a PlayStation controller that can read payment details from a nearby credit card or phone, letting players pay for games without typing in card information. The filing, titled "Video Game Controller-Driven Information Transfer," was submitted in March 2025 and published on September 17, 2026. The controller acts as a go-between for a payment method and the console. When the system asks for payment, the player brings a phone, credit card, or gift card close to the controller, which picks it up via NFC, Bluetooth, or direct contact, then confirms the read with a light, sound, or vibration before passing the details along. One diagram shows a gift card being swiped to add funds to an account, skipping the usual back-and-forth of typing in codes.

Potentially, the same link could also transfer player IDs, let guests join multiplayer sessions, or send screenshots and clips to a phone. Another scenario describes trying a demo at a store or expo, then tapping a phone to the controller to add the full game to your library for later. This is just a patent, though, and Sony files plenty of these that never turn into actual products. The controller in the diagrams looks like a regular DualSense, with no mention of a new device specifically built for this purpose. Sony has filed several unusual controller patents in the past, including AI that fills in controller inputs and a fully touchscreen design, so this is another example of exploring ambitious ideas, even though they may never ship. There's no confirmation that this is headed for the PS5 or PS6.

Sony has a new patent that describes an AI model designed to help gamers with mobility issues. Spotted by Insider Gaming, the patent was published on September 17, 2026. The idea is that the system tracks how a player actually operates the controls, then generates the output needed to complete the action they were going for. The AI model looks at the timing and duration of inputs, movement patterns, and even the game context. It is pre-trained on control actuation and accessibility data, and the patent says the amount of compensation can depend on the user, the controller, and the game being played.

The abstract gives an example of an injury to the left hand causing less than 50% actuation on the left controls. It also seems like the system could run locally or in the cloud. In multiplayer games, the AI can be switched off automatically or by the player, and other players can apparently see an indicator when it is active. The patent also doesn't seem to tie the system to a PlayStation controller, and describes it as controller-agnostic. Sony already sells the PS5 Access Controller for players with limited mobility, and it also patented a buttonless controller earlier this year. As always, a patent is not a finished product, so this concept might never see the light of day.

Xbox made waves not too long ago with the hyper-customizable Adaptive Controller that features remappable physical buttons, 19 3.5 mm jacks for additional accessories, and switchable profiles for different games and use cases. With its latest patent, Sony looks to at least be considering going in a different direction with its adaptive controller design. A new patent, spotted by Insider Gaming, details a controller design with virtually no physical inputs, where players can configure their own layouts—no more arguments about offset vs in-line thumb sticks—and the layouts could potentially adapt to the user's needs.

The prospective controller's main objective would be to replace physical buttons with touch surfaces and optical sensors, which would be able to sense when the player interacts with the controller, but also when the player's hand, thumb, or finger approaches the controller. The controller would use user-defined profiles dictating the layout of the face buttons, D-Pad, and even virtual analog sticks—there is even mention of automatic user identity detection to access those profiles. Sony also explains that you could combine multiple control schemes on the same side of the controller and even adjust the size of each of the button groups to better suit different hand sizes, shapes, and levels of dexterity. Owing to the touch-sensitive control surfaces, the controller would also be able to recognize gestures like swipes, pinches, and slides. It's unclear whether this controller design will make it into a future PlayStation controller design, although given many gamers' aversion to non-tactile inputs in video games, interest is likely to be low aside from the obvious accessibility benefits.

To maximize its CPU performance, Intel has filed a patent that describes a new way to boost single-thread performance by letting several smaller cores work together as if they were one larger core. Instead of chasing higher clock speeds or building ever-bigger cores, the idea is to dynamically fuse two or more physical cores so they cooperatively execute a single thread, while appearing to the operating system as a single logical core. The patent refers to this approach as Software Defined Super Cores, or SDC. The technique would split an instruction stream into chunks and hand those chunks to the fused cooperating cores. Those cores would coordinate closely, utilizing special buffers and fast communication paths to ensure correct memory ordering and data transfers. In heavier single-threaded cases, the processor can enter a fused mode, forming a "super core" that aggregates instructions per cycle without requiring higher voltage or frequency, which can improve performance per watt.

Keeping instructions in strict program order across multiple physical cores requires very low-latency inter-core messaging and careful synchronization, as well as scheduling the fused cores so they actually benefit real applications, which is a challenging software problem. Presumably, compiler magic would be needed to extract maximum bandwidth from this approach, which is something that made Intel's Itanium fail. If the approach can be made practical, it would give chip designers another way to scale single-thread performance beyond process shrinks and larger core designs. Whether we ever see an SDC design in shipping silicon will depend on the results of prototypes and how well operating systems and compilers can leverage the mode. Intel is constantly experimenting with new core architectures, but not everything makes it to volume production due to low feasibility.

According to a new patent filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. at the World Intellectual Patent Organization, the console maker may be moving to a simpler model for game development by putting the necessary hardware for game development into a host PC or server. Patent W02025170845 details a design that effectively puts "compute resources substantially similar to compute resources of a retail game console" onto a PCIe card and allows communication and translation between the host system and the on-board APU, storage, and other console hardware via a specialized management engine.

The patent details that this idea was partially inspired by the difficulties developing games for proprietary console hardware, but it also references cloud gaming, suggesting these slot-in cards may also come in handy as cloud compute modules that can be used in servers to support game developers who don't have access to dev kit hardware. A slot-in solution like this could also theoretically allow developers more freedom when it comes to testing and diagnosis, since they would be able to use hardware and software testing tools connected to the host system, instead of having to rely on built-in diagnostics and hardware support. The patent also specifically mentions being able to capture video from the host system, which could also help diagnostics and game optimization.

Last September, AMD leadership publicly revealed UDNA—an "unforking" of previously separate enterprise and commercial GPU branches. Not long after this announcement, TechPowerUp's resident Serbian correspondent—AleksandarK—sat down with Team Red's Andrej Zdravkovic. The Chief Software Officer (and SVP) stated that a fair chunk of UDNA-related development work would be done by local engineers. Zdravkovic discussed this technology's eventual deployment in futuristic "AI PCs," but gamers have been salivating at the prospect of a proper successor to RDNA 4. A next-gen graphics architecture seeker—MrMPFR—has combed through official documents for any sign of UDNA preview material. The noted /Hardware subreddit member managed to distill their initial (very long) set of findings into an "easily digestible overview." They stated that this was just a small case of: "reporting and a little analysis on AMD's publicly available US patents filings," and other public-facing resources/archives.

Gleaned information included: "finalized architectural characteristics in future RDNA generations, AMD DXR IHV stacks (driver agnostic), and AMD sponsored titles. But please take everything with a grain of salt given my lack of professional expertise and experience with Real-time ray tracing (RTRT)". MrMPFR believes that Team Red started picking up former NVIDIA and Intel engineering talent, back in 2022/2023. In addition, a lot of new hires were apparently sourced from academic institutions. In theory, these newer team members have not had the time to make major inroads—in terms of getting finalized products out into the wild. MrMPFR reckons that noticeable contributions will accelerate AMD's making of "RDNA 6+/UDNA 2+," and beyond. Early 2025 leaks have pointed to the company collaborating with Sony; their "PlayStation 6" console is tipped to be powered by some fork of Team Red's "UDNA" graphics technology.

The Register reports that a federal judge has rejected Western Digital's attempt to delay payment of a $553 million patent infringement penalty, giving the storage giant just seven days to secure a bond or pay up. The ruling, issued February 11, comes as Western Digital faces mounting pressure over intellectual property disputes. To be more specific it's about SPEX Technologies' Patent No. 6,088,802, which protects security features in peripheral devices. In October 2023, a California jury ruled that several WD products, including Ultrastar and My Book drives infringed on this 1997 patent. Judge James Selna later expanded the initial $316 million verdict to include $237 million in interest charges.

Western Digital's upcoming corporate restructuring complicates the situation. The company plans to split into two separate entities by February 21—one to focus on NAND flash memory under the SanDisk brand and another to maintain the traditional hard drive business. This pending division has raised questions about how to enforce the damages, with Judge Selna mentioning his "concerns about potential corporate restructuring" because the judgment targets Western Digital Technologies Inc. SPEX has voiced concerns about the company split pointing out in legal papers their lack of insight into which new entity would pay the penalty or if either would have enough money to cover the owed amount.

Netlist, Inc. today announced that it won a $118 million damages award against Samsung Electronics Co., LTD., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., and Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. (together "Samsung") in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The award resulted from a jury trial which involved three Netlist patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 7,619,912, 11,093,417 and 10,268,608. The infringing products were all Samsung DDR4 RDIMMs and DDR4 LRDIMMs. Netlist filed the complaint against Samsung in August 2022.

The federal jury's unanimous verdict confirmed that all three Netlist patents had been infringed by Samsung, that none of the patents were invalid, that Samsung willfully infringed those patents, and that money damages were owed to Netlist for the infringement of all three patents.

After nearly 15 years of legal disputes, Infineon Technologies and Qimonda's insolvency administrator have reached a final settlement, with Infineon agreeing to pay €800 million. The conflict centered on the valuation of memory business assets that Infineon spun off in 2006 to create Qimonda, once a global leader in memory chip manufacturing with 13,500 employees worldwide.

Qimonda's journey was short-lived. It debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2006 but filed for insolvency by January 2009. Legal proceedings initiated in 2010 focused on claims that Qimonda's balance sheet was underfunded during the spin-off. The insolvency administrator alleged that the transferred memory business was undervalued, leading to a lawsuit for reimbursement of the share value discrepancy.

Chinese memory manufacturer YMTC has filed a lawsuit against U.S.-based Micron in California, alleging infringement of 11 patents related to 3D NAND Flash and DRAM products. YMTC seeks to halt Micron's sales of the allegedly infringing products in the U.S. and demands royalty payments. Founded in Wuhan, China, in 2016, YMTC is a key player in China's efforts to develop a domestic chip industry. However, in October 2022, the U.S. government placed YMTC on its Entity List, restricting its access to advanced U.S. manufacturing equipment for 3D NAND chips with 128 layers or more.

Before these restrictions, YMTC had obtained certification from Apple for its 128-layer 3D NAND chips, with the US tech giant considering using YMTC chips to reduce costs and diversify its supply chain beyond Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. The lawsuit specifically targets Micron's 3D NAND Flash products with 96, 128, 176, and 232 layers, as well as certain DDR5 SDRAM products. This legal action follows a similar suit filed by YMTC against Micron in November, alleging infringement of eight U.S. patents related to 3D NAND Flash. With government backing, Chinese firms are increasingly engaging in patent litigation both domestically and internationally. Last year alone, Chinese courts handled over 5,000 technical intellectual property and monopoly cases.

The Financial Times this weekend has published details about an interesting development project that is currently in-the-works at British semiconductor specialist firm Arm Ltd. The article states that several executives in the industry have divulged (anonymously) that Arm's engineering team is designing a proprietary chip - these insider sources opine that this new creation could be one of the company's most advanced undertakings. The SoftBank-owned chipmaker is having a bumper year in terms of financial success and has invested in its future - it is speculated that their own semiconductor design will be showcased as a prototype product to potential new clients - with the main goal being to drum up more business and growth. Parent group SoftBank is likely pushing for maximum profit margins as it prepares Arm for an initial public offering (IPO) this year.

Arm's modus operandi involves partnering up with other chip manufacturers in order to license out its semiconductor intellectual properties. In turn these partners are expected to deal with the overall design and manufacturing processes of chips (plus sales of). Arm has teamed up with foundries TSMC and Samsung in the past to create prototypes for software testing purposes, but not much has been heard about those proofing projects in the following years. In an unusual turn (from certain industry perspectives) from its traditional working methodologies, it seems that Arm is embracing a different approach by producing its own compelling designs, with the hope of demonstrating greater potential to customers. FT's sources have provided evidence that Arm has expanded its operations and that a newly formed "solutions engineering" team is focused on prototyping new silicon for usage in mobile hardware and related devices.

AMD on April 1st published a new patent application that seems to show the way its chiplet GPU design is moving towards. Before you say it, it's a patent application; there's no possibility for an April Fool's joke on this sort of move. The new patent develops on AMD's previous one, which only featured a passive bridge connecting the different GPU chiplets and their processing resources. If you want to read a slightly deeper dive of sorts on what chiplets are and why they are important for the future of graphics (and computing in general), look to this article here on TPU.

The new design interprets the active bridge connecting the chiplets as a last-level cache - think of it as L3, a unifying highway of data that is readily exposed to all the chiplets (in this patent, a three-chiplet design). It's essentially AMD's RDNA 2 Infinity Cache, though it's not only used as a cache here (and for good effect, if the Infinity Cache design on RDNA 2 and its performance uplift is anything to go by); it also serves as an active interconnect between the GPU chiplets that allow for the exchange and synchronization of information, whenever and however required. This also allows for the registry and cache to be exposed as a unified block for developers, abstracting them from having to program towards a system with a tri-way cache design. There are also of course yield benefits to be taken here, as there are with AMD's Zen chiplet designs, and the ability to scale up performance without any monolithic designs that are heavy in power requirements. The integrated, active cache bridge would also certainly help in reducing latency and maintaining chiplet processing coherency.

Today we are finding out that Intel has allegedly infringed FinFET patents of Microelectronics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. On July 28th, the patent review committee has heard an application that accuses Intel of violating a patent 201110240931.5 commonly referred to as FinFET patent. The patent dates back to 2011, and it comes from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, mainly Microelectronics Institute. The Chinese patent holders are asking for as much as 200 million yuan, which roughly translates to 28,664,380 US dollars. Given that this patent infringement is a major one for Intel, it is sure that a company will be pursued extensively in court. All of the Intel's semiconductors use FinFET technology, and if this is true, the violation is rather big. For more in detail reading, please refer to the source which goes through the history of Intel and Microelectronics Institute patent violation filing.

TSMC, the world's leading global innovator in semiconductor manufacturing, filed multiple lawsuits on September 30, 2019 against GlobalFoundries in the United States, Germany and Singapore for its ongoing infringement of 25 TSMC patents by at least its 40nm, 28nm, 22nm, 14nm, and 12nm node processes. In the complaints, TSMC demands injunctions to stop GlobalFoundries' manufacture and sale of infringing semiconductor products. TSMC also seeks substantial monetary damages from GlobalFoundries for its sale of infringing semiconductor products and unlawful use of TSMC's patented semiconductor technologies.

The 25 TSMC patents in the complaints relate to a diverse set of technologies, including FinFET designs, shallow trench isolation techniques, double patterning methods, advanced seal rings and gate structures, and innovative contact etch stop layer designs. These specific technologies cover the core features of mature and advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes. The patents at issue comprise just a small portion of TSMC's extensive portfolio that numbers more than 37,000 granted patents worldwide. TSMC was ranked one of the top 10 companies for U.S. patent grants last year, for the third consecutive year.

AMD won back ownership of three graphics patents that had earlier been struck down on a complaint by LG Electronics. A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overruled a ruling of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) which observed that AMD subsidiary ATI Technologies ULC (now reorganized as RTG), has a claim to U.S. patents numbered 7,742,053, 6,897,871, and 7,327,369. The three patents deal with critical technology related to Unified Shaders.

The PTAB had earlier dismissed ATI's ownership of the patents on grounds that the IP claimed was "too obvious in light of prior art." A bench of three Judges in a unanimous decision ruled that ATI had "had conceived of their inventions before the prior art." Put simply, the court was satisfied that the technologies protected by these patents were invented by ATI before the "prior art," and were not "obvious next steps" to it.

Steve Ballmer once said 'Linux is a cancer'. Times have changed a lot, and since Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft, Linux and Open Source have become really important for Redmond's company. Azure is based on Linux, for example, and this OS dominates the cloud platform with about half of Azure VMs being Linux ones). Running Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, SuSE or Fedora is also possible natively under Windows 10 through Windows Subsystem for Linux.

The company has made big strategic acquisitions, and Microsoft recently acquired Github, but that approach to Linux and Open Source goes further with the new announcement. Microsoft has joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), a consortium that defines itself as a "shared defensive patent pool with the mission to protect Linux". With that move, Microsoft is bringing 60,000 patents to OIN that will be available royalty-free to anyone who joins the OIN community.