Marvell Enters Powerline Technology through DS2 Acquisition

Marvell Semiconductor Inc. has acquired the intellectual property and assets of Diseno de Sistemas en Silicio S.A. (DS2), a supplier of high speed semiconductor solutions for powerline communications. Powerline technology converts any existing electrical power wiring into an intelligent, high-speed networking medium, enabling consumers to quickly and affordably create a "connected home" that can stream virtually any personal or subscription-based digital content to and from any room at high speeds.

An increasing number of homes today are using multiple networks – including simultaneous wired and wireless networks – to support everything from backbone data transmission and entertainment sharing, to on-demand video and home automation. This trend is driving the need for ever greater bandwidth requirements in the home, as people and families expect to seamlessly share content and information across a growing number of connected digital and energy management devices. Powerline technology represents one of the easiest and most reliable ways to meet this growing market demand by offering a ubiquitous broadband solution that optimizes networking over existing power, coaxial cable, phone lines and other wiring. Powerline's advantages become even more clear and compelling when compared to the alternative of spending time and money wiring a home for Ethernet or deploying a wireless network that cannot provide the transmission speeds necessary for streaming digital video and other multimedia content.

"With the industry ready to standardize on Powerline technology and consumer demand for new home networking options rising fast, now is the time to drive innovation in this space," said Gani Jusuf, Vice President of Product Development, Communications and Consumer Business Group of Marvell. "Powerline technology makes sense for many reasons, even for consumers who already have existing wired or wireless networks. By enabling any wall outlet in your home to serve as a broadband network connection that can send and receive data at high speeds, consumers can extend the capabilities of their existing networks or construct a totally new stand alone network optimized for streaming media. Our newly integrated engineering teams will focus on raising the bar for Powerline's performance, availability and ease-of-use for consumers everywhere."

DS2 was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Valencia, Spain. DS2 was a leading technology innovator in next-generation wireline technology based on the G.hn standard, which aims to combine, powerline, coaxial, and phoneline wiring within a single wired home network. DS2 was also a global supplier of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solutions and Universal Powerline Association (UPA) compatible circuits for Digital Home, Smart Grid and Ethernet over Coax applications.

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