TelASIC Communications

About TelASIC Communications

TelASIC Communications Inc. was a semiconductor company established in 2001 as a spin-off from the defense contractor Raytheon. Headquartered in El Segundo, California, the firm specialized in the design and development of integrated circuits (ICs) and chipsets for wireless communications base stations. The company's primary clients were base station Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

The company's product portfolio centered on creating more programmable and flexible base stations capable of handling multiple wireless standards. TelASIC's technology supported a wide array of protocols, including W-CDMA, CDMA2000, WiMAX, and WiBRO, on a single platform. A key area of development for the company was Remote Radio Head (RRH) products designed for HSDPA/WCDMA and later WiMAX/LTE infrastructure applications. These products addressed the market's shift towards a distributed RF architecture, which was necessary to handle the higher power requirements of 3G data services compared to traditional voice applications. The technology was designed to be power-efficient and cost-effective for next-generation wireless infrastructure.

Throughout its operation, TelASIC secured significant venture capital funding to support its research, development, and marketing efforts. Notable funding rounds included a $22.5 million Series B in January 2002, which saw IBM take an equity stake. This was followed by a $35 million Series C round in October 2003 led by Raytheon, bringing the company's total funding to $57.5 million at the time. In March 2005, the company raised an additional $26 million in a Series D round. A further $12.5 million was raised in September 2007 to expand manufacturing and customer support for its RRH products. In May 2009, Taiwan-based Microelectronics Technology (MTI) acquired substantially all assets related to TelASIC's RRH product lines, including its research and development team of approximately 30 designers and key intellectual properties.