Intel acquires NetSpeed Systems for interconnect fabric expertise

Intel has acquired NetSpeed Systems, a start-up based in San Jose, California, for its system-on-chip (SoC) design tools and interconnect fabric intellectual property (IP). Financial terms were not disclosed.

Intel said NetSpeed’s highly configurable and synthesizable offerings will help it more quickly and cost-effectively design, develop and test new SoCs with an ever-increasing set of IP.

NetSpeed provides scalable, coherent, network-on-chip (NoC) IP to SoC designers. NetSpeed’s NoC tool automates SoC front-end design and generates programmable, synthesizable high-performance and efficient interconnect fabrics. The company was founded in 2011.

The NetSpeed team is joining Intel’s Silicon Engineering Group (SEG) led by Jim Keller. NetSpeed co-founder and CEO, Sundari Mitra, will continue to lead her team as an Intel vice president reporting to Keller.

“Intel is designing more products with more specialized features than ever before, which is incredibly exciting for Intel architects and for our customers. The challenge is synthesizing a broader set of IP blocks for optimal performance while reining in design time and cost. NetSpeed’s proven network-on-chip technology addresses this challenge, and we’re excited to now have their IP and expertise in-house,” stated Jim Keller, senior vice president and general manager of the Silicon Engineering Group at Intel.