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Insight Bite
CLEAR, EXPERT, INFORMED SECTOR FOCUSED NEWS.

MATTHEW BYATT
Managing Partner
To better support next generation applications like AI and machine learning, data centres are increasingly shifting to disaggregated architecture; separating resources such as CPUs, memory, and storage into distinct areas to accelerate performance.
Rambus is now running headlong into this growing market with two acquisitions. The American firm which develops and licenses chip connection technologies, has two pending purchases of companies providing vital products for disaggregated server architectures.
The first target – PLDA – develops and licenses Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP), specializing in high-speed Compute Express Link™ (CXL) tech and PCIe. These interfaces are critical to disaggregated architectures, removing communication bottlenecks between CPUs and other components such as GPUs, memory and FPGAs to boost performance.
At the same time, Rambus is also acquiring AnalogX. This Toronto-based IP vendor is a leading provider of ultra-low power multi-standard connectivity solutions, using SerDes interfaces that have very low latency to support high-performance computing and highly-demanding data centre applications.
The intellectual property acquired from these acquisitions could help make Rambus an interface IP powerhouse, giving the firm a critical share of the high-speed connectivity technologies that promise to be the backbone of the increasingly important data centre industry.
Though Rambus is one of the first semiconductor outfits to seek control over IP in this particular segment, we could expect more deals like this to come to fruition as firms focus on securing IP across a range of rapidly heating up markets, including 5G, edge computing, and the automotive chip sector.,
This deal making would be supported not only by cheap capital, but government investment, as individual countries and regions seek to secure supply chains and establish digital sovereignty following disruption caused by the pandemic.
Matthew Byatt | Partner
Acuity Advisors