[Updated Mar. 15, 2006] — A fabless semiconductor company in Belgium has acquired a Belgian embedded Linux, eCos, and DSP software development house. Essensium says it acquired Mind because of the “ever-growing need for embedded software in the development of advanced and complex SoC systems.”

Who is Essensium?

Essensium designs SoC/SIP ASICs (system-on-chip and system-in-package application specific integrated circuits) for original equipment manufacturers, application-specific standard-products (ASSP) suppliers, and other fabless semiconductor companies, it says. It specializes in low-volume designs requiring low power, analog and/or digital I/O, and RF (radio frequency) capabilities.

Essensium's chip services offerings

Essensium was spun off about a year ago by IMEC, a large European microelectronics and nanotechnology design center that continues to invest in Essensium. Another investor is Silterra, a foundry partner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Why would a chip house acquire a software house?

Essensium says that the integration of Mind will strengthen its service portfolio, by offering a “truly software-hardware co-design capability.” It calls embedded software know-how “key to the success of complex SoC development.”

Mind is a well established embedded company with extensive experience porting Linux and eCos to SoC's based on ARM, XScale, PowerPC, and MIPS, Essensium says. Mind also has experience developing complex software stacks for networking, multi-media, industrial automation, “domotics” (domestic robotics), and medical applications.

Additionally, Mind is noted for having built a successful business model around free embedded software as early as 2002. It has long worked with Linux, and with eCos, a free OS for more deeply embedded systems.

Essensium CEO Johan Danneels stated, “Early involvement at system definition stage by both hardware and software experts is crucial for optimal system partitioning. The acquisition reinforces Essensium as the 'One-Stop-SoC Aggregator.'”

Mind CEO Peter Vandenabeele stated, “With Essensium and Silterra, we now have the unique opportunity to deliver the entire process for architecting, designing, manufacturing, packaging, testing, and integrating SoCs as a 'One-Stop-SoC' vendor.”

“We will continue to serve our current customers,” Vandenabeele adds.

 
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