Alphamosaic Ltd was a
fabless semiconductor company specialising in low power mobile multimedia processors, based on their
VideoCore architecture.
Alphamosaic was founded in
Cambridge, UK by Robert Swann and Steve Barlow in October 2000, as a spin out from
Cambridge Consultants supported by venture capital from Prelude Trust, ACT and TTP Ventures.
Developed at a time when video and multimedia processing was challenging on mobile devices, the technology centered round a novel 2D
digital signal processor
A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor chip, with its architecture optimized for the operational needs of digital signal processing. DSPs are fabricated on MOS integrated circuit chips. They are widely used in audio si ...
(DSP) architecture called
VideoCore for low-power processing of video and images. It was used in consumer devices including phones from
Samsung and the first
Apple video iPod to handle video record and playback, image capture and processing, audio capture and processing, graphics, games and ringtones.
In September 2004, Alphamosaic was acquired by
Broadcom for $123 million,
Broadcom Acquires Alphamosaic Limited, a Leading Developer of Mobile Multimedia Processors for Cellular Phones
accessed on 29 March 2008. forming its Mobile Multimedia group on the Cambridge Science Park site.
Initial products VC01 and VC02 were multimedia coprocessors, later products were application processors. For a list of products, see VideoCore.
See also
* VideoCore
References
Broadcom
Companies based in Cambridge
2004 mergers and acquisitions
Defunct computer companies of the United Kingdom
Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom
{{manufacturing-company-stub