Silicon Labs
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | NASDAQ: SLAB |
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Founded | 1996[1] |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas, United States |
Key people | Tyson Tuttle (CEO), Bill Bock (President), Nav Sooch (Chairman) |
| Products |
Mixed-signal integrated circuits Microcontrollers Sensors |
| Revenue |
 US$ 580.1 million (2013)[2] |
|
US$ 64.31 million (2013)[2] | |
|
US$ 49.82 million (2013)[2] | |
| Total assets |
US$ 991.15 million (2013)[2] |
| Total equity |
US$ 738.56 million (2013)[2] |
Number of employees | 1,060(2014)[1] |
| Website |
www |
Silicon Laboratories, Inc. (Silicon Labs) (NASDAQ: SLAB) is a fabless semiconductor company founded in 1991 that specializes in high- performance mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) that incorporate both analog and digital circuitry. Silicon Labs’ mixed-signal IC and software solutions address three industry trends: the proliferation of connected devices for the Internet of Things (IoT), new avenues for Industrial Automation, and the need for high-performance Internet network infrastructure to meet the growing bandwidth demands of cloud computing and big data.
A high level of single-chip integration enables engineers to simplify their product designs and reduce system cost and complexity. Silicon Labs has over 1,300 patents in mixed-signal IC design issued or pending.
Silicon Labs’ IC portfolio ranges from microcontrollers (MCUs), wireless ICs, timing devices and digital isolators to broadcast audio and video solutions to access products such as analog modems, subscriber line interface circuits and Power over Ethernet devices. These patented mixed-signal ICs serve a broad range of markets including consumer electronics, networking and communications, industrial control, medical and automotive.
Silicon Labs also provides software stack solutions such as firmware libraries, protocol-based software, and more, along with development platforms like Simplicity Studio.
Based in Austin, Texas, Silicon Labs had slightly over 1,000 employees worldwide in the last quarter of 2014 and sales, research and development offices located throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Silicon Labs’ customers include Samsung, Huawei, LG, Cisco, Alcatel, Harman Becker, and Technicolor.
Company History
| Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 1996 | Company founded by three veterans from Crystal Semiconductor—Nav Sooch, Dave Welland and Jeff Scott |
| 2000 | Silicon labs becomes a publicly traded company |
| 2001 | Debuted timing devices with the introduction of a family of clock generators designed for high-speed communication systems |
| 2003 | Entered the mixed-signal MCU market with analog-intensive, high-speed 8-bit MCUs |
| 2004 | First crystal oscillator family leveraging DSPLL technology to eliminate numerous complex manufacturing steps |
| 2005 | Introduced single-chip FM receiver with a small footprint and high performance, reducing component count and board space |
| 2007 | Sold cellular communications business to NXP |
| 2008 | Expanded mixed-signal IC offerings by acquiring Integration Associates |
| 2009 | Introduced the single-chip hybrid TV tuner (Si2170) that eliminated many discrete components |
| 2012 | Entered the ARM-based 32-bit MCU market with the Precision32™ line of mixed-signal MCUs with USB and non-USB options. Expanded wireless solutions with the acquisition of Ember Corporation, a leading provider of ZigBee system-on-a-chip (SoC) devices and software |
| 2013 | Acquired Oslo-based Energy Micro, provider of the EFM32 Gecko MCU family of low-energy devices |
| 2014 | Purchased full product portfolio of Touchstone Semiconductor, Inc. including a portfolio of low-power, high-performance analog IC devices |
| 2015 | Acquired Finland-based Bluegiga, a provider of Bluetooth Low Energy solutions for a wide variety of applications |
Current Leadership
- CEO: Tyson Tuttle
- President: Bill Bock
- Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer: Geir Førre
- John Hollister: Chief Financial Officer
- Michele Grieshaber: Chief Marketing Officer
- Everett Plante: Chief Information Officer
- James Stansberry: Senior Vice President and General Manager, Internet of Things Products
- Mark Thompson: Senior Vice President
- Sandeep Kumar: Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations and Central Engineering
- Kurt Hoff: Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales
- Alessandro Piovaccari: Vice President of Engineering and Chief Technical Officer
- Lyn Herr: Vice President of Human Resources
Acquisitions
| Year | Company | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Cygnal Integrated Products | Austin-based innovator of analog-intensive, 8-bit MCUs |
| 2005 | Silicon Magike | Austin-based developer of high-voltage, high-performance, mixed-signal ICs, including Power over Ethernet (PoE) |
| 2006 | Silembia | Rennes, France-based company offering semiconductor intellectual property for digital demodulation and channel decoding |
| 2007 | NXP Semiconductors | NXP acquired Silicon Labs’ cellular communications business, freeing Silicon Labs to focus on its core mixed-signal products and technologies |
| 2008 | Integration Associates | Silicon Valley-based provider of mixed-signal wireless, audio, and power management ICs |
| 2010 | Silicon Clocks | California-based provider of timing solutions |
| 2010 | ChipSensors | Limerick, Ireland-based provider of sensor solutions |
| 2011 | SpectraLinear | Silicon Valley-based supplier of clock ICs designed for high-volume consumer, enterprise, communications and embedded applications |
| 2012 | Ember Corporation | Boston-based supplier of ZigBee system-on-chip devices, software and development tools |
| 2013 | Energy Micro | Oslo-based company providing ultra-low power 32-bit MCUs |
| 2014 | Touchstone | California-based provider of low-power, high performance analog IC products. |
| 2015 | Bluegiga | Finland-based company providing a wide variety of Bluetooth Low Energy solutions |
Products
Silicon Labs provides solutions and software for use in a variety of electronic products in a broad range of applications including portable devices, AM/FM radios and other consumer electronics, networking equipment, test and measurement equipment, industrial monitoring and control, home automation and customer premises equipment. These products integrate complex mixed-signal functions that are frequently performed by numerous discrete components in competing products into a single chip or chipset.
Silicon Labs’ portfolio is organized around three primary businesses:
- Broad-based - which includes 8-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), timing ICs (clock generators and oscillators), digital isolators, wireless ICs (2.4 GHz ZigBee SoCs and sub-GHz transmitters, receivers and transceivers), environmental sensors such as relative humidity and temperature sensors, and human interface solutions such as capacitive touch controllers and proximity/ambient light sensors
- Broadcast - which includes single-chip AM/FM radios for consumer radio, automotive infotainment and professional audio applications and silicon TV tuners and demodulators for flat-screen TVs and set-top boxes
- Access - which includes analog modems for set-top boxes, point of sale terminals and multi-function printers, SLICs for VoIP gateways, and PoE devices for networking gear
Product Families
Silicon Labs groups products into a number of solution groups, or product families.
| Product Family | Description |
|---|---|
| MCUs | Microcontrollers include 8-bit MCUs and ultra-low power 32-bit wireless MCUs based on the ARM Cortex-M0/M3/M4 cores. This product family also includes peripheral devices such as EZRadio fully integrated, low-power transceivers. |
| Wireless | Silicon Labs offers wireless and RF IC solutions. Products include ISM band receiver ICs, wireless MCUs, FM and multi-band radio ICs, Ember ZigBee and Thread 802.15.4 wireless networking solutions, and Wireless M-Bus. |
| Sensors | Sensor products include optical, proximity, ambient light, relative humidity/temperature, heart rate, and blood oxygen level options that leverage mixed-signal capabilities. |
| Isolation & Power | Products include multi-channel isolators and isolated drivers that simplify design, minimize noise, and reduce system cost. |
| Timing | Silicon Labs’ timing devices leverage their DSPLL and MultiSynth technologies. The Timing family also encompasses a full line of PCIe and LVCMOS clock generators, clock buffers, jitter attenuating clocks, crystal and crystal-less oscillators and CDR/PHYs. |
| Broadcast Audio | Silicon Labs’ AM and FM receivers deliver the entire tuner from antenna input to audio output in a single chip. |
| Broadcast Video | Silicon Labs offers hybrid TV tuners with analog TV demodulator in a single CMOS IC that leverage (iDTV) digital low-IF architecture. |
| Analog | Silicon Labs’s low-power analog products include op-amps, low-power analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), comparators, power management ICs, timers, and voltage detectors and references. |
| Interface | Silicon Labs leverages mixed-signal design to provide a family of interface devices that enable designers to differentiate their products and speed time-to-market. |
| Modems & DAA | ISOmodem embedded modems leverage silicon direct access arrangement (DAA) technology and a digital signal function printers processor to deliver a globally compliant, very small analog modem for embedded applications. |
| Software Stacks & Development Tools | Silicon Labs offers a range of software packages, development kits, evaluation boards, and reference designs to assist developers in completing design projects. |
| Voice | Offerings include short-haul applications suitable for the customer premises as well as long-haul applications suitable for the traditional telephone access systems company central office. |
Participation in ZigBee, Wi-Fi, Thread and Bluetooth Governing Bodies
Silicon Labs is heavily involved in the development of both the ZigBee and Thread wireless protocol standards for Internet of Things devices. Silicon Labs was a founding member of both the ZigBee Board and the Thread Group, and is an associate member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group along with being part of the Wi-Fi Alliance.