CEVA to acquire chip design specialist

CEVA, a licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies, has agreed to acquire Massachusetts-based Intrinsix, a chip design specialist, for $33 million.

Intrinsix’s broad chip design capabilities and IP, when combined with CEVA’s wireless connectivity and smart sensing IP, will provide a unique full turnkey IP platform that will help to lower entry barriers for OEMs, IT companies and Tier 1s considering the development of their own advanced chips in market verticals such as 5G infrastructure, automotive, aerospace & defense, medical, robotics and Industrial IoT (IIOT).

Intrinsix provides complex System-on-Chip (SoC) design expertise in the areas of RF, mixed signal, digital, software, secure processors and interface IP for Heterogenous SoCs (HSoCs), otherwise referred to as chiplets. With more than 1,500 successful designs with a customer base that includes blue chip names such as Intel, IBM, Leidos and Lockheed Martin, Intrinsix has established a strong foothold in aerospace & defence, a market that is estimated to reach $6 billion in Semiconductor spending in 2022. Intrinsix is also involved in the development of chiplets and secure processors for DARPA projects.

Commenting on the move, Gideon Wertheizer, CEO of CEVA, said, “The acquisition will provide us with new growth vectors and a larger market reach. We will be able to offer our key customers a comprehensive portfolio of turnkey IP solutions that will capitalize on our off-the-shelf IP and Intrinsix’s reputable design capabilities in RF, mixed-signal, security and more.

“Furthermore, Intrinsix’s experience and customer base in the growing chip development programs with the U.S. Department of Defense and DARPA and its IP offerings for processor security and chiplets will extend CEVA’s serviceable market and revenue based.”

Jim Gobes, CEO of Intrinsix, added,“This is an exciting time for the semiconductor industry, with many system companies intending to develop chips and to use IP to build a sustainable, competitive edge and to achieve differentiation. We are thrilled to be joining our development solutions with the wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies of CEVA. This combination creates a powerful entity with a strong IP portfolio and advanced chip design capabilities to address and accelerate the strategic need of system companies for custom semiconductors.”