Nujira

About Nujira

Nujira Ltd. was a fabless semiconductor company established in 2002, with its headquarters in Cambridge, UK. The company was founded by Tim Haynes, who also served as its Chief Executive Officer. Nujira positioned itself as a specialist in power efficiency for the mobile communications industry, focusing on the development of technology for 3G and 4G devices.

The core of Nujira's business was its pioneering work in Envelope Tracking (ET) technology. This technology addresses the significant energy waste in a smartphone's radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs). Conventional PAs in 3G and 4G devices operate inefficiently to handle the high peak-to-average power ratios of modern wireless signals, losing a substantial amount of energy as heat. Nujira's solution dynamically adjusts the power supplied to the PA to match the immediate needs of the signal being transmitted, significantly boosting energy efficiency. This resulted in tangible benefits for mobile devices, such as longer battery life, cooler operation, and better signal coverage.

Nujira's flagship product line was the Coolteq® family of ET power supply chips. These chips, like the NCT-L1300, were designed to be integrated into the RF front-end of smartphones and other wireless devices. The company operated on a fabless model, meaning it designed the chips but outsourced the manufacturing process. Its business strategy involved selling these chips and licensing its extensive patent portfolio to major smartphone chipset vendors and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Nujira held a significant intellectual property advantage, with over 240 patents filed or granted related to Envelope Tracking. Over its lifetime, the company secured substantial venture capital funding from European institutions to fuel its research, development, and production ramp-up. In July 2015, after more than a decade of operation and establishing itself as a key player in ET technology, Nujira was acquired by Qualcomm for approximately $50 million.