Mirics Semiconductor

About Mirics Semiconductor

Mirics Semiconductor, established in April 2004, operated as a fabless semiconductor company from its base in Hampshire, UK. The company focused on creating radio frequency (RF) silicon and software solutions for the mobile broadcast receiver market. Its stated mission was to enable nomadic global broadcast reception on portable and PC platforms. The leadership included CEO Simon Atkinson, a semiconductor industry veteran who previously co-founded RFIC specialist Mosaic Microsystems, which was later acquired by Analog Devices.

The company's business model centered on the design and development of these advanced RF chips, operating without its own fabrication plant, a common model in the semiconductor industry to reduce capital expenditure. Mirics provided its technology to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) for integration into consumer electronic devices. Its target market included manufacturers of notebook PCs, portable media players (PMPs), cellular handsets, and USB TV dongles. Revenue generation was based on the sale of its semiconductor chips and associated software platforms.

Mirics' core product line was built around its reconfigurable RF tuner architecture, branded as FlexiRF™ and FlexiMode. This technology was designed to allow a single chip to receive a multitude of global broadcast standards—both digital and analog—such as DVB-H, T-DMB, FM, DAB, and DRM. A key product, the MSi001, was a universal broadcast tuner that offered a single RF solution for various mobile broadcast standards worldwide. Another product, the MSi002, was a poly-band tuner IC that supported legacy demodulators through a standard I2C control interface. This approach aimed to reduce cost, size, and power consumption compared to multi-chip solutions for device manufacturers. The company also developed software-defined radio (SDR) platforms, like the MSi3101 chipset (comprising the MSi001 tuner and MSi2500 ADC/USB bridge), which found a niche in the Ham Radio market.

Throughout its history, Mirics secured significant venture capital funding to fuel its growth and product development. After an initial Series A round from Pond Venture Partners in 2005, the company raised a $12 million Series B round in 2007, with investors including Intel Capital, Acacia Capital Partners, and Pond Venture Partners. This was followed by a $7 million expansion of its Series B round in 2009 to accelerate commercial activities. More recently, it has been suggested that Mirics is a sister company to SDRplay, which uses Mirics' chipset in its products.