Silicon Labs has bought Zigbee specialist Ember Corp for$72m.
Ember is a late-stage private company focussed on 2.4 GHz wireless mesh networking in smart energy,connected home,security,lighting,and many other monitoring and control applications.
This acquisition gives Silicon Labs low-power,small-footprint wireless technology.
The ten year-old Ember is a pioneer in 802.15.4 ZigBee chips,developing mesh networking technology and has shipped 25m units.Its products address a market estimated to increase from$100m in 2012 to$600m by 2016.
The company's'products combine MCUs,power and isolation technology,sensors,and both sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz wireless radios.
Silicon Labs intends to apply the underlying technology platform and expertise to enable low-power mesh networking in not only home but also industrial and commercial applications.
Ember is expected to contribute approximately$10-$12m in revenue in the second half of 2012.
