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Icera Inc. is a British multinational fabless semiconductor company headquartered in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
,
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, and a wholly owned subsidiary of
Nvidia Corporation Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
. It has developed soft modem chipsets for the mobile devices market, including mobile broadband datacards,
USB sticks A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since first ...
, and embedded modems for
smartphones A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...
,
laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...
s,
netbook Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...
s, tablets,
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s and other mobile broadband devices. Icera has research and development sites in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the
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and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and customer engineering and sales offices in China,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, the United States and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. On 9 May 2011 it was announced that Nvidia Corporation had agreed to acquire Icera for US$367 million in cash from its venture capital owners, which included Accel Partners,
Amadeus Capital Partners Amadeus Capital Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in European high-technology companies, founded by Anne Glover and Hermann Hauser in 1997. It is a member of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association and is approved ...
, Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital and
DFJ Esprit Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) is an American venture capital firm focused on investments in enterprise, consumer and disruptive technologies. In January 2019, DFJ Venture, the early-stage team, spun out and formed Threshold Ventures. DFJ Growth ...
. On 5 May 2015 Nvidia Corporation announced that Icera would wind down its operations.


History

Icera was founded in April 2002 by Stan Boland, Steve Allpress, Simon Knowles and Nigel Toon. The company is staffed by a team employed in custom processor design, wireless algorithm development,
CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...
RF design, customer support and wireless handset platform integration. In January 2003, Icera completed a $10M Series A round from a major investor. Later in the year, Icera inaugurated two offices in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. In July 2004, Icera completed another $32.5M Series B funding round and, later that year, licensed TTPCom's 2G/3G protocol stack. In January 2005, the Sophia Antipolis offices in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
were opened. In September 2005, Icera's first 90 nm Livanto ICE8020 chips were sampled to Seiko Instruments Inc, for a first product development for Vodafone KK. In March 2006, the company completed its third financing round raising $60M Series C funds. Icera launched its Espresso 200 platform in 2006, and two new offices were opened in
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, and in
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. In June 2007, Icera announced that its Livanto chipset powers the SoftBank Mobile HSDPA data card, making its Adaptive Wireless™ solution the one that delivers Japan's highest performance cellular broadband system. Icera acquired Sirific Wireless in May 2008, adding CMOS RF to its portfolio. In the same month, the company began to ship its 65 nm Livanto ICE8040 baseband chips and the associated Espresso 300
reference design Reference design refers to a technical blueprint of a system that is intended for others to copy. It contains the essential elements of the system; however, third parties may enhance or modify the design as required. When discussing computer desi ...
was launched. At the end of that year, the company inaugurated its Chinese office in Shanghai and announced a total of $70M of Series CC financing, including
venture debt Venture debt or venture lending (related: "venture leasing") is a type of debt financing provided to venture-backed companies by specialized banks or non-bank lenders to fund working capital or capital expenses, such as purchasing equipment. Venture ...
. In June 2009, Icera announced that its platform is supported by Nvidia Tegra-based MIDs. In late June 2009, Option launched a new iCON 505 HSPA USB modem with
TeliaSonera Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in Fi ...
in Sweden, which is powered by the Icera Livanto baseband chipset. In December 2009, Icera announced that its Livanto chipset is powering the Sierra Wireless AirCard USB 305. In April 2010, Icera announced that its Livanto chipset is powering the USB modem from LG Mobile Phones which launched with
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
in the United States: the AT&T USBConnect Turbo. In May 2010, it was announced that Icera's Livanto chipset and IceClear interference-aware technology were being used in Vodafone's K3805-Z USB stick, boosting mobile broadband reliability and connection speeds for
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
customers. The Vodafone K3805-Z is the world's first USB modem to incorporate Icera's IceClear interference-aware technology. In May 2010, Icera secured a further $45M in Series DD financing, which will accelerate its growth. To date, Icera has raised $258M in venture investments. In August 2010, Icera announced that it had opened its second customer support center in Xi'an, China. On 9 May 2011 it was announced that
Nvidia Corporation Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
had agreed to acquire Icera for $435.7M in cash. On 5 May 2015 Nvidia Corporation announced that Icera would wind down operations.


Products

* Livanto Chipsets Chipsets for
mobile broadband Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartphone (possibly Tetherin ...
cellular modem A mobile broadband modem, also known as wireless modem or cellular modem, is a type of modem that allows a personal computer or a router to receive wireless Internet access via a mobile broadband connection instead of using telephone or cable t ...
devices. Livanto is the world's first wireless soft modem. * Baseband chips ** ICE8060 (sampling in H2 2010) ** ICE8042 (up to 21 Mbit/s) ** ICE8040 (up to 21 Mbit/s) ** ICE8020 (up to 3.6 Mbit/s) * Radio chips ** ICE9225 (sampling in H2 2010) ** ICE8260 (2G/3G/4G) ** ICE8215 (2G/3G) * Power Management chips ** ICE8145 (BGA or wafer-level CSP package) * Espresso Reference Platforms reference platforms for
mobile broadband Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartphone (possibly Tetherin ...
data devices and next generation
smartphones A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...
** Espresso 400 Data Platform (sampling in H2 2010) ** Espresso 302 Data Platform ** Espresso 300 Data Platform ** Espresso 200 Data Platform


Technologies

* Adaptive Wireless Adaptive Wireless runs with Icera's Livanto soft baseband. The Adaptive Wireless technology results in a significant throughput advantage for
HSPA HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Aff ...
data communication, and allows device manufacturers to develop multiple products with different performance levels, all from a common platform. * DXP (Deep eXecution Processor) DXP is a new class of processor that works at the ultra-low power consumption levels necessary in mobile applications. * Advanced CMOS RF Icera launched the world's first single chip HEDGE
CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...
RF Transceiver with Rx Diversity. This technology optimizes performance and resolves design issues associated with direct-conversion CMOS architecture. * IceClear IceClear was launched by Icera in January 2010 and is the world's first interference-aware technology delivering up to triple the previous user data rate and cell site network efficiency. IceClear was shortlisted for a GSM Association 2010 Global Mobile Award in the Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough category. Nvidia's Tegra 4i SoC integrates an Icera i500 LTE/HSPA+ baseband processor.


Awards

According to various sources and Icera's website, the company has received various awards in several categories throughout the years, recognizing its capabilities and technological innovations. World Economic Forum selects 36 technology-innovating companies
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References


External links



{{Nvidia Semiconductor companies of the United Kingdom Nvidia Fabless semiconductor companies Electronics companies disestablished in 2015