Icera

Icera, by contrast, designed more general-purpose processors that use software to handle different wireless standards.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

But he believes Icera has struggled to get accepted by cellphone makers, because of concerns about its size and staying power.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

Icera was advised on the deal by Evercore Partners; Nvidia relied on its in-house investment team.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

Icera, founded in 2002, raised some $250 million in venture capital over the years.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

Mike Thelander , an analyst with Signals Research Group, said his firm recently conducted tests that found Icera's technology was within "spitting distance" of market leader Qualcomm's.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

Each piece of silicon also tends to be smaller, a savings in space and manufacturing cost, Icera says.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

The Silicon Valley chip maker on Monday struck an all-cash deal for Icera Inc., a start-up in Bristol, England that has spent nine years pursuing an unusual programmable technology for what the industry calls baseband communication functions.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

As a result of the deal, Mr. Thelander said, Icera has the backing of a big-name company and Nvidia gets the baseband capability it needs to offer customers a more complete bundle of technology.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

He said Icera is just starting to deliver samples of its chips aimed at cellular handsets.

Nvidia Buys Phone-Chip Firm Don Clark 2011

The probe is based on a complaint from U.K. wireless chip maker Icera, which mainly manufactures chip sets for mobile-broadband devices, such as dongles.

Qualcomm Faces Fresh EU Antitrust Probe 2010