Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Operations - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		Sep. 26, 2015	Sep. 27, 2014	Sep. 26, 2015	Sep. 27, 2014
Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Operations [Abstract]
Net revenues		$ 133,574	$ 135,462	$ 391,412	$ 388,752
Cost of revenues (excluding amortization of purchased intangible assets below)		37,999	40,306	116,413	114,694
Gross profit		95,575	95,156	274,999	274,058
Research and development, net		47,277	48,441	151,976	147,977
Selling, general and administrative		28,050	29,265	88,589	87,596
Amortization of purchased intangible assets		9,172	9,948	27,758	32,225
Income from operations		11,076	7,502	6,676	6,260
Other income (expense):
Foreign exchange gain		2,412	899	4,058	642
Interest and other financial income, net		108	198	589	321
Gain on investment securities and other investments		70	12	127	87
Amortization of debt issuance costs		(51)	(51)	(153)	(153)
Accretion of discount on short-term and long-term obligation		(170)		(560)
Income before income taxes		13,445	8,560	10,737	7,157
Provision for income taxes		(6,727)	(3,087)	(7,943)	(9,405)
Net income (loss)		$ 6,718	$ 5,473	$ 2,794	$ (2,248)
Net income (loss) per common share - basic and diluted		$ 0.03	$ 0.03	$ 0.01	$ (0.01)
Shares used in per share calculation - basic		194,562	197,613	196,848	196,305
Shares used in per share calculation - diluted	[1]	196,865	200,744	201,018	196,305

[1] PMC-Sierra Ltd. special shares are included in the calculation of basic and diluted weighted average common shares outstanding.