ARM Acquires Two Bluetooth Firms, Bolsters IoT Business

British chip designer ARM is set to make two new acquisitions to bolster its Internet of Things armoury.

The first buyup will be that of Bluetooth Smart stack provider Wicentric, a firm that supplies Bluetooth software that enables the development of low-power wireless products.

The second acquisition will be of Sunrise Micro Devices (SMD), which provides sub-one volt Bluetooth radio intellectual property (IP).

Wicentric, founded in 2009 and based in San Diego, USA, partnered with Sunrise Micro Devices earlier this month, presumably in preparation for ARM’s acquisition. Sunrise Micro Devices is based in Deerfield Beach, Florida. A landing page on both Wicentric’s and SMD’s websites notify visitors that they are now part of ARM.

SMD has been, until now, receiving strategic investments from ARM, as well as support from ARM employees.

ARM Cordio portfolio

The IP of both companies will be integrated to form the ARM Cordio portfolio. This portfolio will boost ARM’s existing processor and physical IP targeting end markets requiring low-power wireless communications, ie, the Internet of Things.

In February, ARM teamed up with IBM to launch a ‘starter kit’ for developers looking to launch apps and services on the IoT.

The company says it expects the kits to make it easier to test smart home, smart city and other “internet of things” prototypes.

“Securely embedding intelligence and connectivity into devices from the outset will create cloud-connected products that are far more capable than today,” said Krisztian Flautner, general manager, IoT business, ARM.

Take our IoT quiz here!