Dallas, TX - September 4, 2001 - Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN) today added a new category to its high-performance analog and mixed signal portfolio with the purchase of Graychip, the technology leader in re-configurable digital down converters (DDC) and digital up converters (DUC) for high-speed communications. Graychip's programmable digital converters provide the highest speed and flexibility as well as the industry's lowest power consumption.
Digital converters provide the link between the digital signal processor (DSP) and data converters inside digital communications equipment. By shaping and filtering signals, they reduce noise and interference, thereby increasing the efficiency and bandwidth of the system.
Digital systems developed using digital up and down converters offer more precision than those using pure analog techniques. In addition, by combining the capabilities of ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) and FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays), digital converters reduce the time required for ASIC design, providing shorter time to market, and they are lower cost than FPGAs. Graychip's DDC and DUC chips are used in a variety of high-speed signal processing applications, including digital radio, wireless basestations, point-to-point microwave communications, broadband wireless access, cable modem head-ends, digital video and digital video distribution systems. Graychip's products also support multi-cellular standards, including the industry's only 3G W-CDMA solution.
"This adds another link in the total signal processing chain that TI offers to customers. Graychip's in-depth systems knowledge in the high-speed signal processing domain, coupled with their strong portfolio of digital converters, provides complementary capabilities to TI's data converters and DSPs," said Gregg Lowe, TI vice president, High-Performance Analog Communications Products.
Graychip President and CEO Joe Gray said, "I am very excited about the synergies of the two companies. Graychip currently has over 100 customers worldwide, and combining our products with TI's strengths in high-performance analog, DSP and their global support infrastructure will provide customers with an unmatched level of support."
Graychip Products
Graychip's products provide the optimal combination of programmability, dynamic range, speed and processing power required for today's signal processing systems. Specializing in high-speed CMOS signal processing chips for telecommunications, Graychip's product portfolio includes six digital down converters, five digital up converters and a three-chip QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) Modem chipset. The latest additions to the company's portfolio include the GC4016 digital receiver and the GC4116 digital transmitter chips, which are ideally suited for multi-standard software-defined radio.
The GC4016 is the first commercially available four-channel digital down-converter chip that offers the true 5 MHz output bandwidth mode required for 3G W-CDMA systems. Clocking at up to 100 MHz, the multi-standard GC4016 receiver chip can support all cellular formats including GSM, EDGE, IS-136, IS-95, CDMA2000-1x, UMTS, and CDMA2000-3x.
The GC4116 is Graychip's latest four-channel digital-up converter chip. It is the first commercially available digital transmitter chip that provides two independent 3G W-CDMA channels. The transmitter chip clocks at up to 106 MHz and is the ideal counterpart to the GC4016 as it handles the same cellular standards.
Transaction information
Graychip is a privately held company based in Palo Alto, Calif., with 14 employees. The company will become part of TI's High-Performance Analog organization and continue to operate from Palo Alto. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.