Last month we highlighted some work by SuVolta, a startup in tech that is not involved with the web or social media, but rather is taking aim at the foundational technologies of computing. The small team has reportedly put together a new process for manufacturing transistors that reduces their power requirements dramatically, making the resultant chips especially good for devices like handsets and tablets.

They caught the eye of Fujitsu, which has helped them execute the technology, and now they’ve drawn a hefty second funding round, raising $17.6 million from new and old investors.

Their original funding was $22 million in 2010, and they came out of stealth mode in June of that year. The original investors were Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, August Capital and NEA; Bright Capital, Northgate Capital, DAG Ventures, and some others not mentioned have been added to the list.

Presumably the original investment funded the primary R&D, and this new cash will enable a bit more work in the production and promotion of the Powershrink technology. While they have a friend in Fujitsu, maintaining financial independence ensures they won’t be preyed upon later on in the process when, inevitably, various semiconductor companies begin to sniff about Suvolta with money in their eyes.

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San Jose-based Cypress Semiconductor announced Wednesday that it has launched a new subsidiary that hopes to radically transform the way that tiny chips — critical components of the booming smart phone and tablet market — are packaged.

Deca Technologies, a start-up that has labored in “stealth” mode for two years, operates as an independent entitity within Cypress, which has invested about $35 million in the company. Cypress CEO T.J. Rodgers, a legendary personality in the semiconductor industry and Silicon Valley, is the chair of Deca’s board of directors.

Deca’s founder Tim Olson, a veteran of Motorola and Amkor Technologies, served on Cypress’s technical advisory board for over a decade. Packaging is an often overlooked but key part of the semiconductor business that involves encapsulating chips in plastic or metal so they can be attached to circuit boards. Deca — the word is Greek for “ten” — plans to focus on packaging at the wafer level.

“I’m going to talk about why I let Tim con me out of $35 million,” said Rodgers, who hosted a party celebrating Deca’s long-awaited debut at his Woodside home and vineyard Tuesday evening. “Chip scale packaging is a billion dollar industry, and Deca can make it cheaper than competitors.”

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