221:
249:
324:
559:
420:
In 2013, Sterling
Partners and MOSAID established Longitude Licensing in Dublin, Ireland to hold and manage newly acquired patent portfolios. MOSAID subsequently provided resources to assist in the licensing of these portfolios. One such portfolio included thousands of memory related patents acquired
296:
employed in the core of their ATM switch product. Accelerix, a joint venture with UK-based
Symbionics was formed to develop a fully integrated 2D graphics accelerator and frame buffer in a merged DRAM-logic process. The Accelerix chip failed to gain market traction as 3D graphics accelerators were
256:
During the early years MOSAID was perhaps best known for its reverse engineering reports focused mainly on semiconductor memory devices. These reports included complete circuit schematics, floorplans, simulations, extracted device parameters and sometimes critique of the techniques employed. The
236:
process technology, MOSAID started the design of a 1Mb CMOS DRAM employing a regulated high voltage pumped supply and static wordline driver to replace the conventional NMOS boosted wordline approach. This work resulted in the Foss and Lines patents which laid the foundations for MOSAID's patent
240:
EDA tools were developed for internal use and for external sales. The MOSAID 1000 circuit simulator ran on a PDP-11 minicomputer and could handle circuits having as many as 1000 nodes. MOSFIT, an efficient MOS transistor modelling program addressing short channel effects was developed and
58:
276:. Ease of use was a key selling point with test setup controlled by a point and click graphical interface without the need to write test programs. The free-standing MS3400 series was introduced in 1991 to address emerging memory products such as flash and
602:
1146:
257:
reports found wide use in competitive analysis, patent licensing negotiations, and outright copying of industry leading devices. The reverse engineering business was spun off in 1989 as
Semiconductor Insights, now TechInsights.
212:
Soon after the company was launched, Robert
Harland invented the folded bitline DRAM architecture, a technique eventually adopted by the entire DRAM industry. The patent was sold to Standard Microsystems, whose head of R&D
46:
and the company was acquired by
Sterling Partners, a US-based private equity firm. MOSAID was renamed Conversant Intellectual Property Management in 2013. In 2021, the company announced it was changing its name back to MOSAID.
377:
After the fabless component supply business shut down was completed in 2003, MOSAID entered the SIP (Semiconductor IP) market to provide silicon-proven macrocell blocks to system-on-chip developers. The first product was a
268:
screen. Test patterns were set up with front panel switches and timing parameters adjusted with potentiometers. Absolutely no software was required. A California subsidiary was subsequently formed for sales and marketing.
412:, the company acquired a large portfolio of wireless patents from Nokia through its Core Wireless subsidiary. Shortly thereafter, the business was taken private by Sterling Partners, a US-based private equity firm.
621:
320:), and developed a 72Mb SLDRAM prototype for the members of the Consortium. Although SLDRAM did not enter high-volume production, many of the features were incorporated later into JEDEC DDR standards.
358:. Within a few years all the major Japanese DRAM manufacturers had licensed the MOSAID portfolio. The largest DRAM players would need litigation to encourage them to take a license, beginning with
401:. Support and maintenance of the installed base of MOSAID testers was taken on by a startup company EPM Test. The company retained a small R&D group which developed a high performance
557:, "Mos one transistor cell ram having divided and balanced bit lines, coupled by regenerative flip-flop sense amplifiers, and balanced access circuitry", issued 1977-08-30
1194:
1170:
1087:
1063:
1039:
1015:
991:
966:
942:
451:
753:
408:
With the aging of MOSAID's home-grown patent portfolio, patent acquisitions were seen as the key to future growth. In 2011, in the midst of a hostile takeover bid from
205:, they found that they were no longer employed due to the company's bankruptcy proceedings. Their first project was a design for an improved 4kb DRAM which was sold to
428:
MOSAID was renamed
Conversant Intellectual Property Management in 2013. In 2015, the R&D team along with the HLNAND technology was divested to Novachips, a Korean
1250:
1281:
1295:
393:
Following a shareholder proxy battle in 2007, the memory tester and SIP businesses were divested to focus on patent licensing. The SIP business was sold to
872:
Paris, L.; Benzreba, J.; Mone, P. De; Dunn, M.; Falkenhagen, L.; Gillingham, P.; Harrison, I.; He, W.; MacDonald, D.; MacIntosh, M.; Millar, B. (1999).
288:
Following the IPO in 1994 MOSAID began development of custom embedded memory such as HDRAM, a high-density RAM for logic processes that was used by
34:
design company, and later branched out into other areas including EDA software, semiconductor reverse engineering, test equipment manufacturing and
1147:"WiLAN Announces Intention to Make an All-Cash Takeover Offer for MOSAID Technologies and C$ 200 Million Extendible Convertible Debenture Offering"
100:
Taken private by
Sterling Partners in 2011, renamed Conversant Intellectual Property Management in 2013, changed its name back to MOSAID in 2021
198:
1338:
802:
Gillingham, P.; Hold, B.; Mes, I.; O'Connell, C.; Schofield, P.; Skjaveland, K.; Torrance, R.; Wojcicki, T.; Chow, H. (February 1996).
1125:
347:(CAM) for fast routing table lookup, and a multiprocessor cryptographic accelerator developed in partnership with Chrysalis-ITS. The
847:
432:
controller company. The company enjoyed some modest success licensing the Core
Wireless portfolio culminating in a transaction with
436:
in 2020. In 2021, the company changed its name back to MOSAID while continuing with the intellectual property management business.
313:
305:
277:
1333:
293:
573:
300:
MOSAID continued designing industry standard DRAM components for semiconductor manufacturers. As a contributing member of the
878:
1999 IEEE International Solid-State
Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers. ISSCC. First Edition (Cat. No.99CH36278)
217:
was a member of MOSAID's board of directors. The sale generated more than $ 1M which was used to fund the company's growth.
1246:
781:
533:
501:. 1975 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers. Vol. XVIII. pp. 102â103.
272:
In 1985 the MS2000 series of testers was launched. These were also benchtop units but were now controlled by a PC running
1232:
683:
917:
893:
823:
136:
Semiconductor design services, Semiconductor
Components, Reverse Engineering services, Test Systems, Patent Licensing
1218:
202:
31:
1171:"MOSAID Acquires 1,200 Nokia Standards-Essential Wireless Patents and 800 Wireless Implementation Patents"
600:, "High voltage boosted word line supply charge pump and regulator for dram", issued 1997-12-16
344:
194:
405:
memory interface called HLNAND, which employed a synchronous point-to-point DDR ring architecture.
280:. In 1997 the higher performance MS4100 series providing full speed testing of SDRAM was launched.
1309:
1282:"JUDGE GILSTRAP AWARDS CORE WIRELESS $ 456,000 IN ENHANCED DAMAGES FOR LG'S WILLFUL INFRINGEMENT"
304:
standards organization, MOSAID helped define and develop some of the earliest Synchronous DRAM (
39:
1264:
363:
332:
35:
1296:"RPX CORPORATION AND CONVERSANT WIRELESS LICENSING S.Ã R.L. ANNOUNCE LICENSING TRANSACTION"
260:
In 1982 the SRT-1 (Simple Memory Tester) was introduced. This was a benchtop unit within a
242:
808:
1996 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of TEchnical Papers, ISSCC
8:
851:
359:
339:
switch on a chip with integrated DRAM switching fabric developed as a joint venture with
193:
MOSAID was launched in 1975 by Richard Foss and Robert Harland, who had been employed at
684:"MOSFET Characterization and its Application to Process Control and VLSI Circuit Design"
899:
829:
664:
382:
interface and controller. California-based Virtual Silicon was acquired in 2005 to add
289:
331:
1999 saw the development of several networking products to establish a MOSAID-branded
889:
819:
656:
429:
387:
371:
273:
903:
833:
668:
425:. Longitude Licensing was acquired in 2016 by Vector Capital, the owner of IPValue.
881:
811:
648:
502:
265:
848:"MOSAID ANNOUNCES ACCELERIX INVESTMENT AND RECEIPT OF $ 4 MILLION DESIGN CONTRACT"
704:
616:
597:
554:
433:
374:
in later years. Patent licensing became MOSAID's most profitable revenue stream.
777:
636:
529:
506:
496:
348:
885:
873:
815:
803:
652:
1327:
660:
641:
IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems
475:
422:
383:
351:
in 2000 laid low MOSAID's plans to become a merchant semiconductor supplier.
220:
1310:"Mosaid Technologies Returns to its Roots - Conversant is once again Mosaid"
1195:"Sterling Partners Agrees to Acquire MOSAID Technologies for $ 46 per Share"
804:"A 768 k embedded DRAM for 1.244 Gb/S ATM switch in a 0.8 Ξm logic process"
402:
214:
921:
209:. MOSAID went on to develop every generation of DRAM up to 256Mb in 1998.
316:) Consortium, an open-standards based alternative to Direct RAMBUS DRAM (
42:
under ticker symbol "MSD". By 2011 the business was based exclusively on
354:
Also in 1999 the first broad patent licensing agreement was signed with
327:
MOSAID 2Mb ternary dynamic CAM manufactured in TSMC 0.25um eDRAM process
248:
1111:
379:
229:
150:
728:
992:"MOSAID Initiates Litigation Against Samsung for Patent Infringement"
619:, "Dynamic memory word line driver scheme", issued 1993-05-25
415:
309:
261:
312:
SDRAM as well. MOSAID was also active in the Synchronous Link DRAM (
398:
394:
367:
336:
778:"MOSAID 1995 Annual Report: Report on the Semiconductor Division"
355:
340:
323:
283:
43:
574:"History of Standard Microsystems Corporation â FundingUniverse"
498:
Simplified peripheral circuits for a marginally testable 4K RAM
27:
23:
801:
252:
MOSAID reverse engineering report on the Toshiba 1Mb CMOS DRAM
57:
943:"MOSAID 1999 Annual Report: New Chips Help Optimize Networks"
637:"An Efficient MOS Transistor Model for Computer-Aided Design"
409:
317:
301:
38:
licensing. MOSAID went public in 1994 with a listing on the
233:
1126:"HLNAND: A New Standard for High Performance Flash Memory"
206:
201:
conference where they had presented a paper on MIL's 4kb
175:
874:"A 800 MB/S 72 Mb SLDRAM with digitally-calibrated DLL"
22:
is a semiconductor technology company incorporated in
871:
188:
1302:
1265:"Novachips Acquires HLNAND Flash Memory Technology"
635:Silburt, A. L.; Foss, R. C.; Petrie, W. F. (1984).
416:A Privately Held Company Once Again (2011-present)
1247:"MOSAID DOUBLES IN SIZE â AND BECOMES CONVERSANT"
1064:"MOSAID to Sell Semiconductor Assets to Synopsys"
634:
335:component supply business. These included a Gbit
1325:
245:for use with their parameter analyzer products.
228:In 1988, as the DRAM industry transitioned from
1088:"MOSAID to Sell Memory Test Assets to Teradyne"
530:"MOSAID 1994 Annual Report: Introducing MOSAID"
284:Years as a Publicly Traded Company (1994-2011)
264:TM504 enclosure which displayed a bitmap on a
1233:"Vector Capital Acquires Longitude Licensing"
967:"MOSAID Licenses Patent Portfolio to Fujitsu"
754:"MOSAID 1997 Annual Report: Systems Division"
308:) devices and progressed to Double Date Rate
421:from the leading Japanese DRAM manufacturer
1040:"MOSAID Rejects Activist Hedge Fund Demand"
494:
56:
16:Canadian semiconductor technology company
322:
247:
219:
681:
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397:and the tester business was sold to
124:Boris Teksler, President & CEO
13:
189:Early Years before IPO (1975-1994)
14:
1350:
1339:Semiconductor companies of Canada
1112:"EPM Test Incorporated Home Page"
1016:"MOSAID Acquires Virtual Silicon"
513:
390:macrocells to the SIP offerings.
1253:from the original on 2016-07-30.
224:1Mb CMOS DRAM designed by MOSAID
197:. On their return from the 1975
128:Pam Yeh, Chief Financial Officer
51:MOSAID Technologies Incorporated
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536:from the original on 1996-11-11
126:Jamie McDole, General Counsel
1334:1975 establishments in Ontario
628:
609:
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495:Foss, R.; Harland, R. (1975).
488:
468:
444:
30:. It was founded in 1975 as a
1:
920:. 1998-12-02. Archived from
850:. 1996-11-11. Archived from
7:
452:"MOSAID 2001 Annual Report"
10:
1355:
507:10.1109/ISSCC.1975.1155354
345:content addressable memory
195:Microsystems International
886:10.1109/ISSCC.1999.759329
816:10.1109/ISSCC.1996.488615
705:"About Us | TechInsights"
682:Gribben, Anthony (1988).
653:10.1109/TCAD.1984.1270063
241:subsequently licensed to
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578:www.fundinguniverse.com
476:"History | Conversant"
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253:
225:
92:Dick Foss, Bob Harland
40:Toronto Stock Exchange
1219:"LONGITUDE LICENSING"
326:
251:
223:
144:CA$ 82,926,000 (2001)
36:intellectual property
880:. pp. 414â415.
810:. pp. 262â263.
709:www.techinsights.com
362:in 2001 followed by
243:Keithley Instruments
237:licensing business.
156:CA$ 7,002,000 (2001)
1133:Flash Memory Summit
162:Number of employees
52:
1314:Design & Reuse
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290:Newbridge Networks
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973:. 14 January 1999
274:Microsoft Windows
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68:Private Company
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780:. 1996-11-11.
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729:"MOSAID SRT-1"
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647:(1): 104â111.
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532:. 1996-11-11.
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924:on 1998-12-02
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918:"SLDRAM, Inc"
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105:Headquarters
65:Company type
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1328:Categories
1204:2020-11-01
1180:2020-11-01
1156:2020-11-01
1097:2020-11-01
1073:2020-11-01
1049:2020-11-01
1025:2020-11-01
1001:2020-11-01
977:2020-11-01
952:2020-11-01
928:2020-11-14
858:2020-11-12
788:2020-11-01
763:2020-11-01
738:31 October
714:2020-11-01
689:31 October
583:2020-10-31
540:2020-10-31
481:2020-10-31
461:2020-11-13
403:NAND flash
380:DDR3 SDRAM
166:233 (2001)
151:Net income
120:Key people
661:1937-4151
262:Tektronix
1251:Archived
904:24621965
834:36066722
782:Archived
669:16106485
534:Archived
399:Teradyne
395:Synopsys
364:Infineon
337:Ethernet
133:Products
73:Industry
1135:. 2008.
733:TekWiki
360:Samsung
356:Fujitsu
341:Toshiba
333:fabless
178:.mosaid
171:Website
141:Revenue
89:Founder
81:Founded
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423:Elpida
372:Micron
370:, and
318:DRDRAM
314:SLDRAM
113:Canada
109:Ottawa
28:Canada
24:Ottawa
20:MOSAID
1268:(PDF)
1129:(PDF)
900:S2CID
830:S2CID
665:S2CID
410:WiLAN
368:Hynix
310:(DDR)
306:SDRAM
302:JEDEC
278:SDRAM
199:ISSCC
890:ISBN
820:ISBN
740:2020
691:2020
657:ISSN
294:ASIC
234:CMOS
230:NMOS
203:DRAM
180:.com
97:Fate
84:1975
32:DRAM
882:doi
812:doi
649:doi
503:doi
434:RPX
430:SSD
388:PLL
266:CRT
232:to
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