Qualcomm Inc., the developer of chips and other technology for cell phones, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy chip maker Atheros Communications Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash. It is the latest in a recent spree of acquisitions in the tech sector as companies look to broaden the types of software and equipment they offer.

(Read about the deal here.

Late Tuesday, Dell announced it would acquire Atlanta-based SecureWorks.

(Read about the deal here.

Here is a look at some of the acquisitions over the past several months.

  • July 1, 2010: Hewlett-Packard Co. completes its $1.2 billion acquisition of smart phone maker Palm Inc.
  • July 8: Dell Inc. agrees to buy Scalent, a privately held maker of software for managing data-center infrastructure, for an undisclosed amount.
  • July 16: Cisco Systems Inc. buys privately held CoreOptics Inc., which makes technology for helping Internet service providers handle the growing traffic on their networks, for $99 million.
  • July 19: Dell announces it will buy privately held Ocarina Networks, which makes technology to compress data and remove duplicate information, for an undisclosed amount.
  • July 20: IBM Corp. buys BigFix Inc., a privately held business security and compliance software company, for an undisclosed amount.
  • Aug. 2: IBM buys privately held Web analytics software company Coremetrics for an undisclosed amount.
  • Aug. 10: IBM buys privately held business management software company Datacap Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
  • Aug. 13: IBM agrees to buy marketing software company Unica Corp. for $480 million.
  • Aug. 16: Intel Corp. agrees to buy the cable modem chip-making business from Texas Instruments Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
  • Aug. 17: HP agrees to buy privately held computer-security software maker Fortify Software Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
  • Aug. 19: Intel Corp. agrees to buy computer-security software maker McAfee Inc. for $7.68 billion.
  • Aug. 26: HP buys privately held database and application automation company Stratavia Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
  • Aug. 27: IBM buys Sterling Commerce, which makes software that helps businesses buy and sell to each other, from AT&T Inc. for $1.4 billion.
  • Sept. 2: Intel Corp. agrees to buy the wireless-chip division of Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG for $1.4 billion.
  • Sept. 2: HP agrees to buy data-storage maker 3Par Inc. for $2.07 billion, ending a bidding contest with rival Dell.
  • Sept. 13: HP agrees to buy security-software provider ArcSight Inc. for about $1.5 billion.
  • Sept. 15: IBM says it has acquired OpenPages, a privately held software company that develops risk and compliance management systems, for undisclosed terms.
  • Sept. 20: IBM agrees to pay $1.7 billion for Netezza Corp., a company that helps businesses sort through data on corporate servers.
  • Sept. 27: IBM agrees to buy privately held Blade Network Technologies, a maker of software and technologies that route data to and from servers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
  • Nov. 2: Dell agrees to buy Boomi, whose AtomSphere software makes it easy for businesses to send data back and forth between Web-based applications and computer programs that run on PCs. Terms were not disclosed.
  • Nov. 3: Oracle Corp. agrees to buy e-commerce software maker Art Technology Group Inc. for $1 billion, to help businesses better understand people who shop with them online.
  • Nov. 15: EMC says it has reached a deal to buy Isilon Systems Inc. for $2.25 billion in cash to give EMC customers options for storing large amounts of data.
  • Nov. 30: Red Hat acquires high-profile ‘cloud’ application developer Makara
  • Dec. 13: Dell says it has agreed to acquire Compellent Technologies Inc. for $884 million, adding to its data-storage product portfolio after losing 3Par to HP in September.
  • Jan. 4, 2011: Dell says it will acquire Atlanta-based SecureWorks for an undisclosed sum as part of its strategy to offer security services and to add to its cloud computing produch portfolio.
  • Jan. 5, 2011: Qualcomm Inc. says it has agreed to buy chip-maker Atheros Communications Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash, giving it technology important for Wi-Fi connected gadgets such as tablet computers.

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