India's Ittiam Systems forms chip subsidiary

With OEMs increasingly demanding SoCs rather than systems with multiple chips, Srini Rajam, Ittiam Systems' chairman and chief executive, said said the new company, based here, would develop new products through an alliance with Silicon Laboratories, Inc. (Austin, Texas).

Ittiam's own software and system skills will be combined with Silicon Laboraties' mixed-signal design capabilities to develop new wireline IC solutions, Rajam said.

A revenue-sharing agreement between Ittiam and Silicon Laboratories was approved but details were not disclosed. Silicon Laboratories is a fabless semiconductor company developing wireless, wireline and optical IC products. It claims a substantial share of the GSM handset, PC modem and set-top box markets.

"We have identified Ittiam Systems as a key strategic partner for Silicon Laboratories for signal processing intellectual property. We believe this relationship will extend our competency in SoC designs for the wireline market," said Daniel Artusi, president and chief operating officer of Silicon Laboratories.

The partners plan to build a team specializing in mixed-signal SoC designs for wireline communications with capabilities in digital and analog IC design. They intend to take designs from specification to complete product.

A joint roadmap suggests the partners would deliver several designs in a year. While the products will be developed by Ittiam Semiconductor, manufacturing would be handled by Silicon Laboratories.