Intel has acquired NetSpeed Systems for an undisclosed price. The chip founder indicated that this acquisition will allow Intel to improve the design of its chips.
Because of technical difficulties in the transition to 10 nm engraving, Intel decided to strengthen its Silicon Engineering Group (SEG) division through the acquisition of NetSpeed Systems, an enterprise in which Intel had already invested through its Intel Capital Investment Fund. NetSpeed Systems was founded in 2011 and will help Intel design, develop and test its next SoC chips or all-in-one chips, capable of building a complete functional system on a single piece of silicon more quickly and cost-effectively. Sundari Mitra, co-founder, and CEO of NetSpeed Systems will continue as Vice President of Intel under the leadership of Jim Keller, Senior Vice President at Intel, who leads the Silicon Engineering Group team.
To SoC designers, including Intel, that was one of its customers, NetSpeed Systems offers a scalable, consistent and Network on a Chip (NoC) solution. NetSpeed’s NoC tool automates the design of SoC interfaces and generates programmable, high-performance interconnect fabrics. “Intel is developing more products with more specialized features than ever before, which is incredibly exciting for Intel architects and our customers,” said Jim Keller in a statement. “The challenge is to synthesize a larger set of IP blocks for optimal performance while limiting design time and cost. NetSpeed’s proven network chip technology meets this challenge, and we are pleased to have their IP and expertise in-house now. “Intel was a major NetSpeed customer and I am excited to be joining the company again,” said Sundari Mitra, who started his career at Intel as a chip designer.