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Product category: Communications ICs (Wireless)
News Release from: Cambridge Silicon Radio
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 1 August 2005

CSR to acquire
UbiNetics software business

CSR has entered into an agreement with UbiNetics Holdings to acquire UbiNetics' software business for a cash consideration of $48 million

UbiNetics is based in Cambridge UK and specialises in communication protocol software for mobile phone manufacturers. The acquisition will be financed entirely from CSR's existing cash resources. The acquisition will provide CSR with a strong R and D team to accelerate its existing software developments in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and UWB (ultrawideband).

UbiNetics' team will also give CSR the capacity to extend its software offering to mobile handset customers.

UbiNetics has 170 engineers located in Bangalore India and Shenzhen China, in addition to its Cambridge UK headquarters.

UbiNetics has been developing protocol stacks for GSM, GPRS, Edge, WCDMA (UMTS) and HSDPA since 1999 and this valuable expertise will help to reinforce CSR's offering to cellular handset customers.

CSR plans to use this existing intellectual property to provide multimode software to handset makers and to 'bundle' UbiNetics' cellular multimode and HSDPA stacks with CSR's existing wireless protocol and DSP software.

CSR will support UbiNetics' existing customers for its cellular multimode software, and will seek new business in this area, licensing its software to mobile phone companies.

UbiNetics' R and D team will also help CSR to develop UMA (Unlicenced Mobile Access) voice and data software for fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) handsets.

UMA makes FMC a reality since it enables mobile networks to seamlessly extend across Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

CSR expects UMA to extend the potential market for its UniFi, BlueCore and in future, UWB integrated circuits.

Examples of FMC networks already in development today include BT's Fusion and Korea Telecom's OnePhone.

The combination of the HSDPA protocol stack and Wi-Fi with their well-matched datarates will allow UMA to be extended from today's voice-centric solutions to high-speed wireless data applications.

The strength of CSR's software development team has increasingly proven to be a key differentiator between CSR and its competitors, and with today's acquisition, CSR will move closer to its target of 60% of its headcount being involved in software.

CSR's stated aim has been to continue investing in R and D to preserve the long-term future of the business.

Completion of the acquisition is conditional inter alia on an agreed pre-sale reorganisation taking place within the UbiNetics group.

James Collier, Technical Director and cofounder of CSR commented: 'CSR continues to grow its software development activities'.

'In the mobile phone market we see both call hand-off between cellular and local area networks and high speed data handling as key drivers for the widespread deployment of PAN and LAN'.

'Together with UbiNetics, we will have all the experience, skills, track record and staff required to design the software for Universal Mobile Access and fixed-mobile converged phones'.

'Looking ahead, we plan to extend the range of our products in order to simplify the complex integration task of the mixed hardware/software and multi-standard system that a cellular phone has become'.

John Hodgson, CEO of CSR added: 'In acquiring UbiNetics, we are exploiting our distinctive capabilities by extending CSR's capacity for sustainable innovation and by improving our ability to be flexible to market needs'.

Hodgson continued: 'There is great synergy here, the UbiNetics team will join CSR to give us a world leading wireless software capability that will help sustain our clear competitive advantage'.

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