News

14 September 2010

 

Microsemi acquires VT Silicon

Microsemi Corp of Irvine, CA, USA (which designs and makes analog/mixed-signal ICs, high-reliability semiconductors and RF subsystems) has acquired the assets of VT Silicon of Atlanta, GA, a fabless designer and supplier of multi-band RFIC solutions for the mobile wireless broadband market.  VT Silicon's products leverage linearization and efficiency-enhancement technologies to enable efficient, low-cost and small-footprint intelligent front-end RFIC solutions.

The acquisition extends Microsemi‘s RF product portfolio to next-generation WLAN and WiMax markets, says president & CEO James J. Peterson. “As the first supplier in the world to develop a monolithic front-end RFIC in silicon germanium (SiGe), VT‘s technology caliber is designed to enable Microsemi to deliver innovative, highly integrated front-end modules,“ he adds. 

According to a recent report from Strategy Analytics, the worldwide installed base of consumer wireless devices will exceed 2.6 billion by 2014. This high-volume global growth market, which necessitates technology differentiation, typifies the kind of commercial business Microsemi is targeting. Microsemi says that its balanced business model blends high-volume commercial market opportunities with the growth and content opportunities of its aerospace, defense and security end-markets.  

Microsemi currently uses gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon and silicon carbide (SiC) to make devices that manage and control or regulate power, protect against transient voltage spikes and transmit, receive and amplify signals. Products include individual components as well as ICs that enhance customer designs by improving performance and reliability, battery optimization, reducing size or protecting circuits.  Principal markets include implanted medical, defense/aerospace and satellite, notebook computers, monitors and LCD TVs, automotive and mobile connectivity applications. 

Microsemi will discuss the acquisition during its fiscal year-end earnings conference call in November.

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