Intel Corp continued its aggressive investment strategy yesterday by taking an undisclosed stake in privately held LogicVision Inc, a chip testing company based in Palo Alto, California. Established in 1992, LogicVision produces embedded ATE automated test equipment and BIST built-in self testing software for the rapid testing and diagnostics of digital and mixed-signal ASICs and systems-on-a-chip. Intel director James Guzy, also the CEO of the late Seymour Cray’s SRC Computers Inc, will join the LogicVision board.
Many industry observers believe that such tools are essential if the chip industry expects to keep pace with Moore’s Law. LogicVision’s customers include Hewlett-Packard Co, Hughes Space and Communications Co, NCR Corp, Cisco Systems Inc, Lucent Technologies Inc and Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. Last year, the company signed a partnership with ATE systems maker Credence Systems Inc.
Intel has appeared to have been slower than some of its competitors – National Semiconductor Corp, for instance, to take a serious interest in the system-on-a-chip market, which could pose a threat to its own peripherals chip businesses.
