Agilent Technologies' Venture Unit Invests in Tropian's Series ``D'' Round of Funding.Business Editors PALO ALTO Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2001 Agilent Technologies This article needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :A) today announced that Agilent Ventures (AV) has invested in Tropian Inc., a privately held fabless semiconductor company A fabless semiconductor company specializes in the design and sale of hardware devices implemented on semiconductor chips. It achieves an advantage by outsourcing the fabrication of the devices to a specialized semiconductor manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry or "fab. that designs and manufactures advanced radio frequency (RF) products for the wireless communications wireless communications System using radio-frequency, infrared, microwave, or other types of electromagnetic or acoustic waves in place of wires, cables, or fibre optics to transmit signals or data. industry. The amount of the Agilent investment was not disclosed. The AV investment was part of a Series "D" preferred round of funding led by Merrill Lynch Ventures LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control that raised US $45 million in equity. This was the largest of the four funding rounds for Tropian, a Cupertino, Calif.-based company that was founded in 1996 and today has 90 employees. Using the company's patented polar modulation technology, Tropian RF transmitter solutions enable universal interoperability and improved system performance in both cell phones and base stations. Tropian chipsets enable wireless transmission of multiple voice and high-speed data standards, including the leading wireless standards (UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) The GSM implementation of the 3G wireless phone system. Part of IMT-2000, UMTS provides service in the 2 GHz band and offers global roaming and personalized features. , EDGE, GSM, TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) A satellite and cellular phone technology that interleaves multiple digital signals onto a single high-speed channel. For cellular, TDMA triples the capacity of the original analog method (FDMA). and AMPS). "This is another Agilent Ventures investment aimed at providing Agilent early access to technological innovations through key alliances with start-up companies," said Maximilian Schroeck, managing director for AV. "Despite the current economic downturn, Agilent Ventures will continue to invest in innovative early-stage technology companies in the optical and wireless communication fields, as well as in the life sciences area." "We invested in Tropian because we believe that they have developed an innovative technology for the multi-mode, multi-band world of wireless communications," said Dave Allen, general manager of Agilent's Wireless Semiconductor Division. "We see synergies between Tropian's efforts and the direction Agilent is taking in its wireless business." About Tropian, Inc. Tropian is a privately held fabless semiconductor company offering advanced radio frequency products to the wireless communications industry. In a single integrated circuit platform, Tropian has incorporated the world's leading cellular standards, enabling wireless handset and base station equipment suppliers to deliver economical multi-mode solutions for 1G, 2G, 2.5G and 3G voice and data applications. Tropian's patented Polar Impact(TM) technology is a non-linear, polar modulation implementation that offers dramatic improvements in system performance, manufacturability, and reliability. More information about Tropian can be found at www.tropian.com. About Agilent Technologies Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics and life sciences. The company's 43,000 employees serve customers in more than 120 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $9.4 billion in fiscal year 2000, as restated to reflect the sale of its healthcare business. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com. |
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