Huawei closes RF IC design center in Ireland

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., a telecom equipment manufacturer, recently announced the closure of its RF IC design center in Cork, Ireland.

 

This 10-member RF design team was part of Huawei's 2010 acquisition of M4S, a subsidiary of Option NV (located in Leuven, Belgium), marking Huawei's acquisition of CMOS multimode software-defined radio technology based on the 40nm process. An informed source said the RF IC design team is currently seeking other opportunities.

 

Jim Connelly, head of Huawei Cork, confirmed the closure but also stated that it would not affect Huawei's other engineering activities in the country.

 

In 2006, the M4S separated from IMEC, commercializing the Scaldio scalable radio transceiver used in software-defined radio. Subsequently, M4S tried to increase venture capital to become an independent company, but under difficult financing conditions, it ultimately became a subsidiary of Option NV, a supplier of USB dongles and data cards.

 

In December 2010, Huawei fully acquired M4S to develop mobile broadband technology in Europe. The acquisition price was 8 million euros (approximately 10.5 million US dollars).