Oxford Semiconductor

Established in 1992, Oxford Semiconductor was a fabless semiconductor company that specialized in high-performance connectivity controllers for a variety of sectors, including storage, multimedia, communication, and computing. The company provided system-on-a-chip (SoC) products, complete with chips, drivers, firmware, and development kits, that enabled electronic devices to exchange or back up data and share resources. Its product portfolio was broad, featuring solutions for PCIe, USB, FireWire, Ethernet, SATA, and eSATA interconnects. The primary markets for Oxford Semiconductor were the consumer and small office/home office (SOHO) external storage sectors, providing SoCs for both direct-attached storage (DAS) and network-attached storage (NAS) drives.

The company's operations were global, with a design center in Abingdon, UK, and corporate headquarters in Milpitas, California. Over its history, Oxford Semiconductor raised a total of $33 million in venture capital funding from investors including GKM Ventures, Shelter Capital Partners, VantagePoint Capital Partners, and iSherpa Capital. One of the co-founders was Nicholas Cross, a serial entrepreneur who also co-founded companies like Adaptimmune and Oxford Asymmetry Ltd.

On January 2, 2009, Oxford Semiconductor was acquired by PLX Technology, a supplier of PCI Express switch and bridge silicon, in a deal valued at approximately $14.2 million plus shares. At the time of the acquisition, Oxford Semiconductor's unaudited revenues for the first nine months of 2008 were reported at $29 million. The acquisition was a strategic move to blend PLX's expertise in system interconnects with Oxford's strength in storage interconnects for consumer and SOHO markets. Subsequently, PLX Technology, including the former Oxford Semiconductor assets, was acquired by Avago Technologies (now Broadcom Inc.) on August 12, 2014.

Keywords: connectivity controllers, system-on-a-chip, SoC, fabless semiconductor, storage interconnects, consumer storage, SOHO storage, direct-attached storage, network-attached storage, PCIe, USB, FireWire, SATA, eSATA, PLX Technology, Broadcom, data transfer, data backup, interconnect solutions, semiconductor design, Nicholas Cross, Abingdon, Milpitas