EigenCOMM

EigenCOMM, formally Shanghai Yixin Communication Technology Co., Ltd., is a fabless semiconductor company established in February 2017 in Shanghai's Zhangjiang High-tech Park. The firm was co-founded by Bin Xia and Liu Shi, who serves as CEO. Liu Shi, formerly the Senior Director of algorithm, protocol stack, and system architecture for Marvell's mobile chip team, launched EigenCOMM after his previous team was disbanded, leveraging extensive experience in the cellular communications sector to target the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) market.

The company specializes in the research, development, and sale of cellular communication chips and software for the IoT market. Its business model revolves around designing and selling these highly integrated, low-power chipsets to manufacturers of IoT modules and devices. EigenCOMM asserts that all its core technologies, from algorithms and radio frequency to baseband and software protocol stacks, are developed in-house. The company has successfully secured significant funding across several rounds, culminating in a Series C round in January 2022 that raised approximately $157 million, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, bringing total funding to over $171 million.

EigenCOMM has launched multiple mass-produced chips, including the NB-IoT series (EC616, EC616S) and the Cat.1bis series (EC618). The NB-IoT chips are noted for their low cost, low power consumption, and high reliability, and have been adopted by over 1,000 end customers. These chips are integrated into a wide array of applications such as smart meters, asset tracking, smart logistics, wearable devices, and smart home appliances. The company is actively developing a broader range of products, including highly competitive 5G RedCap/eMBB chips, to address various communication standards and transmission rates within the cellular IoT landscape.

Keywords: cellular IoT, fabless semiconductor, NB-IoT, Cat.1, 5G RedCap, chip design, system-on-chip (SoC), low-power wide-area (LPWA), asset tracking, smart metering