Alphamosaic, the mobile multimedia processor developer, has been acquired by US communications chip giant Broadcom in a deal worth approximately $123m.

The Cambridge firm’s VC01 VideoCore multimedia co-processor is used in mobile devices to support features such as MP3 players, video-on-demand, and digital still cameras and camcorders.

It is currently being used in products from manufacturers such as Samsung.

“Broadcom currently provides cellular OEMs with EDGE/GPRS/GSM baseband processors as well as single-chip Bluetooth and 802.11 solutions, and we are now sampling W-CDMA baseband processors as well,” said Robert A Rango, group v-p of Broadcom's Mobile & Wireless Group.

“Alphamosaic adds best-in-class multimedia capabilities to our product portfolio.”

Alphamosaic’s devices will also be integrated into Broadcom's roadmaps for cellular baseband and application processors, as well as being offered as discrete co-processor chips.

The company, which employs 57 people, is now sampling the VC02 device, which can display video on 3.5” colour LCDs and capture 8 megapixel images.

“We have added another world class engineering team in Cambridge, with deep expertise in still image, video, graphics, audio, and related multimedia and processor technologies,” added Rango.

www.alphamosaic.com

www.broadcom.com