Icera

Last updated
Icera Inc.
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Semiconductors
Founded2002
Headquarters,
Key people
Stan Boland
(President and CEO)
Parent Nvidia Corporation
Website http://www.icerasemi.com

Icera Inc. is a British multinational fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Nvidia Corporation. It has developed soft modem chipsets for the mobile devices market, including mobile broadband datacards, USB sticks, and embedded modems for smartphones, laptops, netbooks, tablets, e-books and other mobile broadband devices.

Contents

Icera has research and development sites in China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States and customer engineering and sales offices in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the United States and Europe. [1]

On 9 May 2011 it was announced that Nvidia Corporation had agreed to acquire Icera for US$367 million in cash from its venture capital owners, which included Accel Partners, Amadeus Capital Partners, Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital and DFJ Esprit. [2] [3]

On 5 May 2015 Nvidia Corporation announced that Icera would wind down its operations. [4]

History

Icera was founded in April 2002 by Stan Boland, Steve Allpress, Simon Knowles and Nigel Toon. The company is staffed by a team employed in custom processor design, wireless algorithm development, CMOS RF design, customer support and wireless handset platform integration. In January 2003, Icera completed a $10M Series A round from a major investor. Later in the year, Icera inaugurated two offices in Bristol, United Kingdom and in Japan. In July 2004, Icera completed another $32.5M Series B funding round and, later that year, licensed TTPCom's 2G/3G protocol stack. In January 2005, the Sophia Antipolis offices in France were opened. In September 2005, Icera's first 90 nm Livanto ICE8020 chips were sampled to Seiko Instruments Inc, for a first product development for Vodafone KK. In March 2006, the company completed its third financing round raising $60M Series C funds. Icera launched its Espresso 200 platform in 2006, and two new offices were opened in Austin, Texas, and in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Icera acquired Sirific Wireless in May 2008, adding CMOS RF to its portfolio. [5] In the same month, the company began to ship its 65 nm Livanto ICE8040 baseband chips and the associated Espresso 300 reference design was launched. At the end of that year, the company inaugurated its Chinese office in Shanghai and announced a total of $70M of Series CC financing, including venture debt.

In June 2009, Icera announced that its platform is supported by Nvidia Tegra-based MIDs. [6] In late June 2009, Option launched a new iCON 505 HSPA USB modem with TeliaSonera in Sweden, which is powered by the Icera Livanto baseband chipset. [7] In December 2009, Icera announced that its Livanto chipset is powering the Sierra Wireless AirCard USB 305. [8] In April 2010, Icera announced that its Livanto chipset is powering the USB modem from LG Mobile Phones which launched with AT&T in the United States: the AT&T USBConnect Turbo. In May 2010, it was announced that Icera's Livanto chipset and IceClear interference-aware technology were being used in Vodafone's K3805-Z USB stick, boosting mobile broadband reliability and connection speeds for Vodafone customers. The Vodafone K3805-Z is the world's first USB modem to incorporate Icera's IceClear interference-aware technology. In May 2010, Icera secured a further $45M in Series DD financing, which will accelerate its growth. To date, Icera has raised $258M in venture investments. In August 2010, Icera announced that it had opened its second customer support center in Xi'an, China. [9]

On 9 May 2011 it was announced that Nvidia Corporation had agreed to acquire Icera for $435.7M in cash. [10] [2] [3]

On 5 May 2015 Nvidia Corporation announced that Icera would wind down operations. [4]

Products

Related Research Articles

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP, UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunication Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for networks based on the competing cdmaOne technology. UMTS uses wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technology to offer greater spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network operators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3G</span> Third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology

3G is the third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology. It is the upgrade to 2G, 2.5G, GPRS and 2.75G Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution networks, offering faster data transfer, and better voice quality. This network was superseded by 4G, and later by 5G. This network is based on a set of standards used for mobile devices and mobile telecommunications services and networks that comply with the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications set by the International Telecommunication Union. 3G is used in wireless voice telephony, mobile Internet access, fixed wireless Internet access, video calls and mobile TV.

4G is the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology, succeeding 3G and preceding 5G. A 4G system must provide capabilities defined by ITU in IMT Advanced. Potential and current applications include amended mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing, and 3D television.

Xfera Móviles, S.A.U., d/b/a Yoigo, is the fourth-largest mobile network operator in Spain and a subsidiary of the Spanish telecommunications company Grupo MásMóvil, a subsidiary of MásOrange. Yoigo has a licence and its own cellular network for GSM/2G, UMTS/3G and LTE/4G technologies, and a national roaming agreement for usage of the 2G, 3G and 4G networks of Orange and Movistar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SiRF</span>

SiRF Technology, Inc. was a pioneer in the commercial use of GPS technology for consumer applications. The company was founded in 1995 and was headquartered in San Jose, California. Notable and founding members included Sanjai Kohli, Dado Banatao, and Kanwar Chadha. The company was acquired by British firm CSR plc in 2009, who were in turn subsequently acquired by American company Qualcomm on 13 August 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem</span> Wi-Fi modem

Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem branded as Vodem is a product of Vodafone that connects to the broadband internet. It is connected to the computer via USB which makes the product usable to virtually any computer, desktop or laptop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Speed Packet Access</span> Communications protocols

High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunication networks using the WCDMA protocols. A further-improved 3GPP standard called Evolved High Speed Packet Access was released late in 2008, with subsequent worldwide adoption beginning in 2010. The newer standard allows bit rates to reach as high as 337 Mbit/s in the downlink and 34 Mbit/s in the uplink; however, these speeds are rarely achieved in practice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile broadband</span> Marketing term

Mobile broadband is the marketing term for wireless Internet access via mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a tablet/smartphone or other mobile device. The first wireless Internet access became available in 1991 as part of the second generation (2G) of mobile phone technology. Higher speeds became available in 2001 and 2006 as part of the third (3G) and fourth (4G) generations. In 2011, 90% of the world's population lived in areas with 2G coverage, while 45% lived in areas with 2G and 3G coverage. Mobile broadband uses the spectrum of 225 MHz to 3700 MHz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huawei E220</span> Modem developed by Huawei

The Huawei E220 is a Huawei HSDPA access device (modem) manufactured by Huawei and notable for using the USB interface.

UNISOC, formerly Spreadtrum Communications, Inc., is a Chinese fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Shanghai which produces chipsets for mobile phones. UNISOC develops its business in two major fields - consumer electronics and industrial electronics. Consumer electronics includes smartphones, feature phones, smart audio systems, smart wearables and other related devices. Industrial electronics cover fields such as LAN IoT, WAN IoT and smart displays.

In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals, based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA standards. It improves on those standards' capacity and speed by using a different radio interface and core network improvements. LTE is the upgrade path for carriers with both GSM/UMTS networks and CDMA2000 networks. Because LTE frequencies and bands differ from country to country, only multi-band phones can use LTE in all countries where it is supported.

ST-Ericsson was a multinational manufacturer of wireless products and semiconductors, supplying to mobile device manufacturers. ST-Ericsson was a 50/50 joint venture of Ericsson and STMicroelectronics established on 3 February 2009 and dissolved 2 August 2013. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it was a fabless company, outsourcing semiconductor manufacturing to foundry companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobilicity</span>

Data and Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless, d/b/a Mobilicity, was a Canadian mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) owned by Rogers Communications. Its name was a portmanteau of the words "mobility" and "simplicity". Mobilicity was one of several new mobile network operators, along with Public Mobile and Wind Mobile, which launched in Canada after a government initiative to encourage competition in the wireless sector. The carrier had over 250,000 Mobilicity subscriptions on May 16, 2013, the day in which Telus announced its failed attempt to acquire Mobilicity. The subscription count decreased to 157,000 by April 2015 according to court documents filed by Mobilicity's Chief Restructuring Officer in that month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile broadband modem</span> Modem providing Internet access via a wireless connection

A mobile broadband modem, also known as wireless modem or cellular modem, is a type of modem that allows a personal computer or a router to receive wireless Internet access via a mobile broadband connection instead of using telephone or cable television lines. A mobile Internet user can connect using a wireless modem to a wireless Internet Service Provider (ISP) to get Internet access.

Sony Semiconductor Israel Ltd., formerly known as Altair Semiconductor, is an Israeli developer of high performance single-mode Long Term Evolution (LTE) chipsets. The company's product portfolio includes baseband processors, RF transceivers and a range of reference hardware products. Founded in 2005, Altair employs 190 employees in its Hod Hasharon, Israel headquarters and R&D center, and has regional offices in the United States, Japan, China, India, Finland, and France. Altair Semiconductor was the first chipset vendor to receive certification from Verizon Wireless to run on its 4G LTE network. Altair has also powered several devices launched on Verizon's network including the Ellipsis 7 tablet and HP Chromebook 11.6"LTE. In January 2016, it was announced that Sony was acquiring Altair for $212 Million. Altair was renamed Sony Semiconductor Israel on March 29, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qualcomm Gobi</span> Family of embedded mobile broadband modems

Qualcomm Gobi is a family of embedded mobile broadband modem products by Qualcomm. Gobi technology 2 was designed to allow for any product with the embedded solution to connect to the internet anywhere a wireless carrier provides data coverage. One of the more notable products that contain a Gobi modem is the iPhone 4 for Verizon, which contains a MDM6600, however it does not take advantage of the support for HSPA+.

Intel Mobile Communications (IMC), is the mobile research and development division of Intel. It was formed when Intel completed the acquisition of the Wireless Solutions (WLS) division of Infineon early in 2011 for US$1.4 billion. The Infineon subsidiary Comneon was also acquired by Intel and integrated into Intel Mobile Communications. IMC maintained offices in Munich from the Comneon deal under Intel Mobile Communications GmbH. Some other offices in Germany were closed in 2015.

The E5 is a mobile Wi-Fi device produced by Huawei Technologies, and is part of the company's mobile Wi-Fi series that includes the E5830s, E585, E583c and E586. The E5 series connect to other devices using a wireless interface. The devices are pocket size and allow users to access the Internet through any Wi-Fi device, mobile phone, game console, digital camera, notebook and personal digital assistant (PDA).

3G mobile telephony was relatively slow to be adopted globally. In some instances, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies, especially so to achieve high data transmission rates. Other delays were due to the expenses of upgrading transmission hardware, especially for UMTS, whose deployment required the replacement of most broadcast towers. Due to these issues and difficulties with deployment, many carriers delayed acquisition of these updated capabilities.

References

  1. "Icera Locations". Archived from the original on 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  2. 1 2 "Cambridge coup as Icera goes to NVIDIA for £225m". Business Weekly. 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  3. 1 2 "NVIDIA to acquire Baseband and RF technology leader Icera". Icera. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  4. 1 2 "NVIDIA to Wind Down Icera Modem Operations". Nvidia. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  5. "Icera acquires Sirific Wireless". EE Times. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  6. Icera platform supported by NVIDIA Tegra-Based MIDs
  7. Option launches new new iCON 505 HSPA USB modem with TeliaSonera in Sweden Archived 2009-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Icera Powers the Sierra Wireless Aircard 305 HSPA Modem". Archived from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  9. "Icera in China expansion". Business Weekly. 16 August 2010. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  10. "The Shining Star Which Crashed". 15 July 2016.
  11. "Livanto Chipsets". Archived from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2010-05-03.