DUBLIN-BASED semiconductor company DecaWave has signed a module and sales agreement with LG Innotek, the technology components business of the Korean electronics giant LG.
Under the terms of the deal, LG Innotek will develop a module based on DecaWave’s ScenSor, which is said to be the world’s first low-power ultra-wideband chip based on the IEEE802.15.4a standard.
The chip can be used for highly accurate real-time indoor location or in wireless sensors in a range of sectors such as health, retail, manufacturing and security.
DecaWave will work with LG Innotek on developing the module and will license its antenna design to LG Innotek for use on the module. LG Innotek will have exclusive rights for the module in the Asian market, while DecaWave will market and sell it elsewhere.
LG Innotek is making an advance order and advance payment for 125,000 chips, which DecaWave chief executive Ciarán Connell said was very unusual in the semiconductor industry. He described it as “a huge endorsement” of DecaWave’s technology.
LG’s payment of about €250,000 is based on the large size of the order and the fact that it is in the early stage of its development. As part of the agreement, LG Innotek will brand its module as “driven by ScenSor”.
A fabless semiconductor firm, DecaWave designs silicon chips which are subsequently manufactured in the Far East. DecaWave employs 18 people between offices in Ireland, France, the US and Asia. The company is filing three patents for its technology and is also finalising a €10 million investment round.
ScenSor is due to be ready for manufacture next February and the first samples will be available in April 2010, reaching volume production the following year.
“We’ll reach mass production in the first quarter of 2011 and we’ll be at about 50 people in Dublin next year – all highly qualified engineers,” said Mr Connell. “Our goal is to be at about €100 million in revenue in four years’ time and this deal with LG will help get us there.”
