CELENO

Renesas Completed the Acquisition of Celeno Communications

Posted on by Techtime

Above: Gilad Rozen, President & CEO of Celeno. Photo: Techtime

Renesas Electronics Corporation has announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Celeno for approximately US$315 million. Headquartered in Israel, Celeno offers a wide range of wireless communication solutions, including advanced Wi-Fi chipsets and software solutions. Among them the industry’s most compact chipset for Wi-Fi 6 and 6E. The deal will significantly enhance the connectivity portfolio of Renesas.

The company explained that Celeno’s technologies, combined with Renesas’ offering of MCU/MPU/SoC processors, wireless ICs, sensors and power management technologies, creates a comprehensive, end-to-end connectivity solutions for IoT, infrastructure, industrial and automotive applications.

Hidetoshi Shibata, President and CEO of Renesas, said: “Building on our recently-expanded connectivity portfolio following the Dialog acquisition, the addition of Celeno provides us with more advanced Wi-Fi connectivity capabilities. Renesas is now strongly positioned to capitalize on the growing opportunities from the massive rise in connectivity and requirements created by increasingly connected world.”

Techtime has learned that the new Celeno-centered design center will develop connectivity solutions for the Automotive industry, including V2X chips. Celeno was established in 2005 by the President & CEO Gilad Rozen. It received US$140 Million investments from high profile bodies such as Cisco, Samsung and major VCs. Its main competitors are Qualcomm, Broadcom and Mediatek. Most of its 170 employees are located in Israel. During 2020 Celeno shipped 15 million chips to costumers, for total sales of US$37 Million.

Renesas to Acquire Celeno for $315 Million

Posted on by Techtime

Above:President & CEO Gilad Rozen. Photo: Techtime

Renesas Electronics announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Celeno Communications from Raanana (near Tel aviv) for an amount of US$315 million. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close by the end of 2021. The acquisition significantly enhances Renesas’ connectivity portfolio with the addition of Celeno’s Wi-Fi technologies and software expertise.

Celeno offers advanced Wi-Fi chipsets and software solutions, including the most compact chipset for Wi-Fi 6 and 6E. Celeno has developed a unique Wi-Fi Doppler Imaging technology, that provided local radar functionality using its Wi-Fi connectivity chip. The deal is a part in Renesas’ new connectivity strategy which was also culminated with the US$5.9 Billion merger with Dialog in February 2021.

“Renesas is now strongly positioned to capitalize on the growing opportunities from the massive rise in connectivity and requirements created by today’s increasingly connected world,” said Hidetoshi Shibata, President and CEO of Renesas. In addition to expanding the solution offering, the acquisition also increases Renesas’ engineering and design scale with Celeno’s design center in Israel. Techtime has learned that the new center will develop connectivity solutions for the Automotive industry, including V2X chips.

Celeno was established in 2005 by the President & CEO Gilad Rozen. It received US$140 Million investments from high profile bodies such as Cisco, Samsung and major VCs. Its main competitors are Qualcomm, Broadcom and Mediatek. Most of its 170 employees are located in Israel. During 2020 Celeno shipped 15 million chips to costumers, for total sales of US$37 Million.

“Our depth and strength in connectivity combined with Renesas’ industry leading portfolio of embedded solutions will allow us, together, to open up new growth areas we can target,” said Gilad Rozen.” Renesas will also provide us with the go-to-market capabilities to bring Celeno to a broader range of customers.”

Celeno launches the world’s first connectivity client chip combining Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Doppler Radar

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Above: A Doppler spectrogram produced by Wi-Fi signals

Ra’anana, Israel based Celeno Communications, announced the launching of the world’s first single chip solution for client devices combining Wi-Fi 6/6E, BT/BLE (Bluetooth/Bluetooth Low Energy) 5.2 and Celeno’s novel Wi-Fi Doppler Radar. The CL6000 “Denali” product family Doppler Radar is a Wi-Fi based sensing technology, that employs the Doppler effect and standard Wi-Fi packets.

It can track an object’s location or sense its presence or motion characteristics by using a single Wi-Fi device. The solution leverages standard Wi-Fi and operates in the 5GHz and 6GHz bands, to “see” through walls without requiring line of sight and/or dependence on light conditions.

Wi-Fi Doppler Imaging technology uses the Wi-Fi signal to generate imaging data that can be interpreted into insight about the movements of people and objects within a given environment. The Doppler effect (Doppler shift) is the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source.

The Doppler signature produced by the moving objects is analyzed by machine learning classifiers, which locate, monitor, and assess the behavior of such objects and the situation itself. The technology enhances the contextual interpretation of the event, enabling an endless variety of applications.

A group photo of Celeno's team near the company's HQ in Ra'anana, Israel
A group photo of Celeno’s team near the company’s HQ in Ra’anana, Israel

A Doppler spectrogram is a representation of the of doppler frequencies generated by a moving object over time. They are highly correlative to common human motions such as falling, walking, bending over, sitting down, standing up, etc.

This “Doppler signature” is analyzed by machine learning classifiers, which locate, monitor, and assess the behavior of such objects and the situation itself. “We are excited to bring this disruptive solution to the Wi-Fi industry,” said Gilad Rozen, CEO of Celeno. The CL6000 product family will start sampling with customers in the first quarter of 2022.

Celeno raised $10 Million for Wi-Fi Innovation

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The European venture capital firm Iris Capital has led a strategic investment of US$10 million in the Wi-Fi solutions innovator Celeno from Ra’anan, Israel. The investment, joined by Celeno’s existing shareholders, will support Celeno’s product development and expansion in Europe. Celeno’s Wi-Fi chipsets are used by OEM customers such as ARRIS, Compal and Samsung in home gateways, routers, set-top boxes, Wi-Fi access points and extenders. The smart Wi-Fi technologies provided by Celeno include advanced Quality of Service management, multi-AP mesh management and smart antenna technology to intelligently connect each device in the home to the others, in order to achieve true Gigabit speeds.

The growing reliance on Wi-Fi as infrastructure and subscribers viewing Wi-Fi more as a utility than an add-on are causing the demand for Gigabit Wi-Fi to skyrocket, challenging standard equipment that was not designed for this. Early 2019, Celeno will unveil its next generation Wi-Fi 6 chipset which will include industry-first innovations, including Elastic MIMO, a world-first capability set to revolutionize access-point equipment design by cutting costs and size while doubling the performance.

“Iris Capital is a leading European VC that will help expand our market leadership by leveraging their connections, expertise, and influence,” said Gilad Rozen, Founder and CEO of Celeno. Iris Capital is a European VC specialized in the digital economy. It provides active support to its portfolio companies, through its offices in Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Dubai.

Celeno’s Technology is based on hardware ans software: Its Argus RF and DSP-based spectrum analyzer and intelligence engine is embedded in the silicon as are Smart Antenna Steering (SAS) algorithms that enhance the performance and coverage in different environments, ranges and interferences. The OptimizAIR Software defined Wi-Fi Virtualization enables prioritized airtime management via dynamic allocation of Wi-Fi resources, while ControlAIR Smart Multi-AP Wi-Fi Controller enables multiple smart Wi-Fi access points to work better together.illion