| Goodbye, Chips By Aware |
| Written by Dave Burstein |
Since 1993 – almost the beginning – Aware in Bedford, Massachusetts has been a key stop for anyone designing DSL chips. They were a contract shop that jumped into DSL and soon developed a chip with Analog Devices that sold in the millions. They built a strong relationship with Infineon as well. Intel invested $millions in developing DSL chips working with Aware but never brought them to market, and half a dozen other companies licensed Aware designs. They were the model “intellectual property” shop, IPO'd very successfully, and were briefly a stock market darling when “DSL was the next big thing.” Loaded with PhD's, they played a crucial role in both the industry and standards. Peter LeBlanc was a leader in the DSL Forum and ubiquitous at industry events and Marcos Tzannes helped drive multiple generations of DSL standards in the ITU. Both are staying with Aware. With the industry down to four suppliers – Broadcom, Ikanos/Conexant, Infineon/Lantiq, and Trendchip – there was no place for an independent design house. So they've sold the division for $6.75M to their primary customer, Infineon/Lantiq, who is setting up a design facility in Mass that will employee many of the Aware engineering team. Aware as a company continues, with Dr DSL hardware and software test and diagnostics products as well as unrelated image compression products. 10/29. Revised to credit Marcos and make clear DR DSL test products continue |
