Huawei closes RF IC design center in Ireland

National telecommunications equipment manufacturerHuaweiTechnology Ltd. has announced the closure of Cork, IrelandRF ICDesign Center.

 

The 10-person RF design team is part of Huawei's 2010 acquisition of M4S, a subsidiary of Option NV in Leuven, Belgium, which marked Huawei's ownership of CMOS multimode software-defined radio technology based on 40nm process CMOS. An informed person said the RF IC design group is currently pursuing other opportunities.

 

Jim Connelly, the head of Huawei Cork, confirmed the closure but said it would not affect the continuation of Huawei's other engineering activities on the ground.

 

In 2006, M4S was spun off from IMEC to commercialize the Scaldio retractable radio transceiver used in software-defined radio. M4S then tried to raise venture capital in order to become an independent company, but in a difficult funding environment, eventually became an affiliate of USB dongle and data card supplier Option NV.

 

In December 2010, Huawei acquired M4S to develop mobile broadband technology in Europe. The purchase price is EUR 8 million (approximately USD 10.5 million).