May 12, 2004 Ottawa, Ontario -- Gennum Corp. has purchased intellectual property and product-related assets associated with SiGe Semiconductor Inc.'s LightCharger portfolio of optical networking ICs. The acquisition has been funded from cash on hand.
The product portfolio includes trans-impedance amplifiers (TIA) and limiting amplifiers operating at 1.25 Gbits/sec, 2.5 Gbits/sec, 4 Gbits/sec, and 10 Gbits/sec. As part of the transaction, Gennum Corp. is also acquiring the development team--largely based in the UK--that developed these products as well as certain product-related test equipment. The UK design team represents Gennum's third datacom design center; the company also has datacom design centers in Burlington and Ottawa, Canada.
"The acquisition of 10-Gbit/sec TIA products strategically complements our CDR products for the 10-Gbit/sec XFP optical transceiver market," reports Gary Beauchamp, vice president and general manager, Data Communications Products. "This acquisition also provides Gennum immediate entry into all other 10-Gbit/sec optical transceiver markets, the new 4-Gbit/sec Fibre Channel (storage) optical transceiver market, and the established 1.25-Gbit/sec and 2.5-Gbit/sec optical transceiver markets."
For its part, SiGe Semiconductor will now concentrate on the growth opportunities in the wireless market, says Jim Derbyshire, president and CEO, SiGe Semiconductor. "We will work closely with Gennum to ensure a seamless transition for our optical customers, who will benefit from Gennum's broader range of products for data communications," he asserts.