News: Microelectronics
15 November 2024
Wise-integration expands in North America with Ottawa Design Center
Fabless company Wise-integration of Hyeres, France — which was spun off from CEA-Leti in 2020 and designs and develops digital-control of gallium nitride (GaN) and GaN integrated circuits for power conversion — has opened its North American Design & Development Center in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Led by Christian Cojocaru and staffed by experts in analog and digital technology design, the center will drive development of the firm’s design portfolio for the next generations of WiseGan.
“The Canadian team will be instrumental in advancing our cutting-edge digital WiseGan series, which is specifically designed to facilitate seamless integration of GaN technology for our customers, and to be fully compatible with and optimized to facilitate MCU control,” says CEO Thierry Bouchet. “By maximizing the high-frequency capabilities of GaN without added power losses, the next generations of the two product lines will enable significant reductions in system size and cost, while boosting overall conversion efficiency,” he adds. “These innovations will directly address the challenges faced by designers of server power supplies, motor control and other power-converter systems, who are under increasing pressure to optimize power consumption and energy efficiency.”
Since its launch in 2020, Wise-integration has established a portfolio of more than 20 patent families for its two core product lines for power electronics applications. WiseGan includes GaN power integrated circuits designed for high-frequency operation in the MHz range, integrating features that streamline implementation with digital control. WiseWare is a 32-bit, MCU-based AC-DC digital controller optimized for GaN-based power supply architectures. It offers simplified system design, a reduced bill of materials, and improved power density and efficiency.
“Our next-generation products will be a perfect vehicle to accelerate GaN adoption across power conversion markets in industrial, data-center, AI and automotive applications, where digital control is essential for managing complex systems,” says Bouchet.
In August, in an earlier step of global expansion, the firm announced the launch of Hong Kong-based subsidiary Wise-integration Ltd to support its growing business in China. That was followed in September by the announcement that the investment fund Applied Ventures-ITIC Innovation Fund (AVITIC) had joined its €15m Series B funding round, which was launched in February.
Applied Ventures and ITIC-Taiwan join Wise-integration’s Series B funding round
Wise-integration forms Hong Kong-based subsidiary to manage Asian business development
