Silicon Hive has seen an injection of $7m in venture funding from a group of investors led by Intel Capital.
Eindhoven-based Silicon Hive has also signed a technology agreement with Intel for potential product opportunities using its programmble processor technology in the mobile market.
“During the past year, Silicon Hive experienced significant growth worldwide gaining several tier one semiconductor vendors as customers,” said Atul Sinha, founder and CEO of Silicon Hive.
Silicon Hive is developing semiconductor IP for a new type of low power programmable device for imaging, video and wireless communication applications.
Its programmable technology has already been used in a digital camera image processor, a Full HD picture processor, Wimax baseband chip, and a multi-standard digital TV receiver.
Intel's interest in the technology reflects the growing trend for programmable elements to processor-based system-on-chip devices.
"Silicon Hive's technologies strike a balance across the vectors of low power consumption, high processing power, and programmability," said Ashish Patel, managing director of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Intel Capital. “Silicon Hive is well positioned to capitalize on this trend for next-generation mobile devices."
Last year, Silicon Hive introduced a video processor for designing into full high definition (1080p) video codecs. Significantly, the device is programmable to achieve different video standards and performance levels.
The VSP 2500 device scales by adding or removing tiles. For example, a two-tile system can be programmed in software to support 1080p 30frames/s H.264 baseline Level 4 decoding using a 225MHz clock.
The company said the new funds will be used to expand its sales and support operation in Eindhoven, Bangalore, Tokyo, Seoul and Silicon Valley.
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