Bosch has agreed to acquire US-based MEMS microphone technology firm Akustica.
Akustica has developed a range of digital and analogue micro electromechanical microphones featuring CMOS MEMS (micro electro-mechanical systems) technology.
See: Akustica unveils MEMS microphone for VoIP
The attraction of the CMOS-based micro mechanical technology is that it allows for the integration of transducer elements and associated integrated circuits in a single chip.
Bosch has its own MEMS sensor products which are used in the automotive market and Akustica has sold over five million MEMS microphones.
“The strategic acquisition of Akustica with their outstanding application of sophisticated MEMS technology complements our growing semiconductor business and ideally complements our ongoing MEMS activities,” said Dr. Stefan Kampmann, executive v-p, Bosch Automotive Electronics.
Akustica has worked with German mixed-signal foundry X-Fab Semiconductor to produce the CMOS microphone design based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology which can offer noise cancellation.