Novelics Inc., an Aliso Viejo company started by a trio of former Broadcom Corp. engineers, is looking to sell big chipmakers on its design to handle memory in chips that do everything in a phone, set-top box or other device.
The company already has landed its designs in chips from other local startups. They include Irvine’s Quartics Inc., a maker of chips that help share files between computers and TVs; Irvine-based U-Nav Microelectronics Inc., a maker of GPS chips and software that was bought last month by Santa Clara-based Atheros Communications Inc. for $54 million; and Lake Forest’s Newport Media Inc., a maker of chips for digital audio and mobile TV.
Now Novelics wants to go after the big fish.
Cyrus Afghahi, chief executive and cofounder, said his company is targeting Irvine’s Broadcom among other big chipmakers as clients. It also hopes to land deals with Texas Instruments Inc. and Qualcomm Inc., he said.
Novelics sells a design for what’s called embedded memory.
Unlike computers, which have memory chips that are separate from the main processor and other chips, embedded memory is part of a single chip that handles all the functions of a cell phone or other device where space is scarce.
Memory allows a phone and other gadgets to more effectively run software and process information.
The company says its design allows a single chip to better handle memory, allowing more functions to be crammed into smaller devices.
Entreprenuerial Spirit
Afghahi, a native of Iran, said he holds more than 60 patents and has logged more than two decades in the chip industry.
“I came to the U.S. to be an entrepreneur,” he said.
As a technical director under Broadcom cofounder Henry Samueli, Afghahi said he found a weak spot in memory chips.
“People look at memory as a small black box,” he said. “They don’t pay attention to it. But this is something that can change the product design, affect the cost of production and benefit the customer. The return is huge.”
To start Novelics, Afghahi hooked up with two other Broadcom alums,Esin Terzioglu, who held technical positions at Broadcom for six years, and Gil Winograd, a principal scientist there.
Terzioglu is chief technology officer for Novelics. Winograd is chief operating officer.
Memory Compilers
So far, Novelics sells a half dozen memory compilers that work with different types of memory, including static random access memory, or SRAM, and flash. The compilers go into chips that end up in cell phones, PCs, personal digital assistants, digital TVs, set-top boxes and GPS systems, among other devices.
The company plans to appeal to chipmakers looking to build chips that pack more functions into smaller pieces.
“The trend in the industry is such that they are integrating more and more functions into the same chip,” Afghahi said. “The wave has been to integrate more memory for video processing, photos, voice recognition and other operations.”
The company offers chip designers a Web site with proprietary software that allows them to customize their own memory to their exact specifications.
Novelics has about 30 patents filed on its technology, according to Eric Collins, vice president of business development.
It’s backed by an undisclosed investor, who Afghahi declined to name.
Novelics doesn’t have plans to raise venture funding, he said. It expects to turn a profit by the end of the year, according to Afghahi.
The company recently moved to bigger offices within Aliso Viejo, where it has about 30 workers.
The move more than doubled its space to about 8,000 square feet.
Novelics is looking to add about 10 engineers this year, Afghahi said.
