Innovision and NXP announce joint NFC marketing and licensing agreement

-- Innovision Research and Technology plc and NXP Semiconductors, the independent company founded by Philips, today announced a joint marketing and licensing agreement related to the Near Field Communication technology.
The deal brings together advanced Innovision IP and proven NXP expertise in firmware, software and secure elements, such as the SmartMX. With this combination both companies target to win NFC integration deals into deep sub micron based connectivity solutions. The agreement comes at a key point in the technology’s development.

"As co-inventor of the NFC technology and a leader in secure elements, we are pleased to work with Innovision and its advanced IP for NFC. With standardization in place, we expect a major push for the adoption of NFC this year and we are fully prepared to meet the demand from handset manufacturers, operators and other stakeholders in the NFC industry" said Chris Feige, General Manager, NFC, NXP Semiconductors.
 
This agreement builds on an established relationship between the two companies and is aimed at bringing both partners’ complementary NFC capabilities to other companies actively involved in the NFC value chain.

"The ability to offer NXP's proven firmware and software stack and secure elements already deployed in handsets along with Innovision's SoC IP for connectivity solutions provides a very attractive offering.  This applies not only to handset manufacturers but also to the whole NFC value chain and should help to expedite the adoption of NFC" added David Wollen, CEO of Innovision R&T.

NXP’s endorsement and licensing of Innovision’s advanced NFC IP, known as Gem, is expected to expand Innovision’s addressable market to include NFC applications such as payments.

"This is great news for our existing and expanding client base within top tier silicon organisations as they can now also offer reference designs with the market leading NFC secure element from NXP in addition to accessing our leading edge IP " said Rob Kitchen, VP Business Development for Innovision.
 
Recent announcements related to SIM-based mobile handset NFC implementations have stimulated an encouraging response from operators and the GSMA regarding their commitment to launching new NFC services in future.

About NXP Semiconductors
 
NXP is a leading semiconductor company founded by Philips more than 50 years ago. Headquartered in Europe, the company has about 28,000 employees working in more than 30 countries and posted sales of USD 5.4 billion (including the Mobile & Personal business) in 2008. NXP creates semiconductors, system solutions and software that deliver better sensory experiences in TVs, set-top boxes, identification applications, mobile phones, cars and a wide range of other electronic devices. News from NXP is located at www.nxp.com.
 
About Innovision Research & Technology plc

Innovision Research & Technology plc, is leading the next generation of NFC/RFID solutions. As the leading fabless developer of Short-Range Data Communication semiconductor and system solutions, with particular focus on NFC/RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and ultra low-cost Integrated Circuit (IC) and RF electronic design, IRT is pushing cost performance to enable clients to get maximum utility for minimum cost.
The company develops innovative semiconductor technologies, ICs, RF systems (HF/UHF) and complete end product applications for mass volume commercialisation and then licenses customers for its incorporation into their own products.
At the heart of the emerging Near Field Communication (NFC) market, Innovision R&T designs and develops NFC/RFID IC solutions for the global mobile handset and consumer device sectors.
Products include Topaz, mandated by the NFC Forum as the NFC number one tag type format, Jewel for mass transit ticketing applications, and io, the world's smallest standards compatible Near-Field RFID reader.
Headquartered in the UK, Innovision R&T was listed in 2001 on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol:INN).