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Silicon Labs Opens Austin Wireless Chip R&D Lab With $23 Million Texas Grant

BySendTech Times Chips & Compute DeskNewsroom-edited, source-reviewed coverage
Newsroom brief

Interesting Engineering reported that Silicon Labs opened an Austin wireless-chip R&D lab with support from a $23 million Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund grant.

Verified against source materialEdited by SendTech Times Chips & Compute DeskSource: Interesting Engineering
Silicon Labs Opens Austin Wireless Chip R&D Lab With $23 Million Texas Grant
Image source: Interesting Engineering

A $23 million Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund grant is helping fund Silicon Labs’ new Austin research and development lab for wireless chip design and testing, according to Interesting Engineering.

The new Austin Innovation Center gives the company more room and equipment for advanced semiconductor research, validation and engineering work.

For Silicon Labs, the practical target is not a consumer device launch; it is a deeper test bench for the wireless chips and embedded connectivity technology that sit inside Internet of Things products.

The funding comes from a state program created under the Texas CHIPS Act.

That makes the lab part of a broader state effort to support semiconductor research and development, reduce barriers for chip innovation and answer global competition in a supply chain that still depends heavily on design, validation and process-node progress.

Inside the facility, Silicon Labs is adding research, testing and validation equipment alongside engineering workspace.

According to Silicon Labs, the upgraded equipment is intended to support more advanced wafer process technology nodes and help engineers validate new technologies more efficiently.

The center also supports the company’s wireless portfolio, including its Series 3 platform.

That platform combines security, artificial intelligence capabilities and wireless connectivity for smart homes, industrial systems, healthcare, commercial buildings and smart-city deployments.

Its wireless technologies are designed to make connected products smarter, more secure and more energy-efficient.

The opening was presented as a partnership with Texas.

Chief executive Matt Johnson called the center a milestone for semiconductor innovation in the state and said the added space expands the company’s ability to build next-generation wireless technologies.

According to the company, it focuses exclusively on wireless IoT connectivity and operates in more than 16 countries, serving smart-home, industrial IoT and smart-city markets.

Keeping more design and validation capacity at its Austin headquarters gives Silicon Labs a local base for work that still has global endpoints.

The ribbon-cutting included company leaders, employees and state representatives.

The lab is intended to accelerate validation and product development while supporting advanced semiconductor research and development in Texas.

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