NXP acquires OmniPHY

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI), the world’s largest supplier of automotive semiconductors, has acquired OmniPHY, a provider of automotive Ethernet subsystem technology. The company’s expertise includes automotive Ethernet, a technology that enables the rapid data transfer required for autonomous driving. OmniPHY’s advanced high-speed technology, combined with NXP’s leading portfolio and heritage in vehicle networks, uniquely positions NXP to deliver the next-generation of data transfer solutions to carmakers. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

An automotive networking revolution is underway, driven by the need for higher data capacity and speed to meet the requirements of increasingly autonomous and connected vehicles. New advanced autonomous driving systems will require gigabit data speeds and beyond. Current plans for next-generation vehicles call for eight or more cameras, high definition radar, lidar and V2X capability, all of which generate steep data challenges for current car networks. These requirements, combined with the modern vehicle’s need to offload data to enable the new business opportunities of the connected car, will soon make terabyte levels of data processing commonplace.

“One of the vexing questions of the Autonomous Age is how to move data around the car as fast as possible,” said Ian Riches, executive director in the Strategy Analytics Global Automotive Practice. “Cameras and displays will ramp the number of high-speed links in the car to 150 million by 2020 and by 2030 autonomous car systems will aggressively drive that number to 1.1 billion high-speed links.”

As the self-driving ecosystem works to deliver on emerging automotive data requirements, many have turned to enterprise networking solutions as a stopgap measure for testing. Yet long-term solutions will need to be automotive grade and of a size and weight that make their implementation feasible. NXP’s acquisition of OmniPHY, which has already begun to translate 1000BASE-T1 Ethernet for the automotive space, will give NXP a significant position in this rapidly evolving area.

“Our heritage in vehicle networks is rich and with our leadership positions in CAN, LIN, and FlexRay, we hold a unique viewpoint on automotive networks,” said Alexander E. Tan, vice president and general manager of Automotive Ethernet Solutions, NXP. “The team and technology from OmniPHY give us the missing piece in an extensive high-bandwidth networking portfolio.”

OmniPHY is a pioneer in high-speed automotive Ethernet IP and automotive qualified IP for 100BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 standards. Over its six-year history, it has worked with some of the largest consumer companies in the world and has developed competitive 1st-silicon-right solutions for emerging markets like automotive and industrial Ethernet. OmniPHY interface IP and communication technology along with NXP’s automotive portfolio will form a “one-stop shop” for automotive Ethernet. The companies’ technology synergies will center on 1.25-28Gbps PHY designs and 10-, 100- and 1000BASE-T1 Ethernet in advanced processes.

“We are very excited to join NXP – a leader in automotive electronics, for a front-row seat to the autonomous driving revolution, one that will deliver profound change to the way people live,” said Ritesh Saraf, CEO of OmniPHY. “The combination of our teams and technology will accelerate and advance the delivery of automotive Ethernet solutions providing our customers with high quality and world-class automotive Ethernet innovation.”