About QuickLogic
QuickLogic Corporation operates as a fabless semiconductor company. The company develops a full stack platform for artificial intelligence or AI, voice and sensor processing. The platform is based on the company’s embedded FPGA (eFPGA) intellectual property (IP), low power, multi-core semiconductor system-on-chips (SoCs), discrete FPGAs, and AI software. The company’s customers can use its eFPGA IP for hardware acceleration and pre-processing in their own custom semiconductor hardware products, its SoCs to run its customer’s software and build their hardware around, and its discrete FPGAs to implement their custom functionality. The Analytics Toolkit from SensiML Corporation (SensiML), the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, provides an end-to-end Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning solution with accurate sensor algorithms using AI technology. The full range of platforms, software tools and eFPGA IP enables the practical and efficient adoption of AI, voice and sensor processing across Consumer/Industrial IoT, Consumer Electronics, Military, Aerospace and Defense markets. The company’s new products include its ArcticPro, EOS, QuickAI, SensiML Analytics Toolkit, ArcticLink III, PolarPro3, PolarPro II, PolarPro, and Eclipse II products. In addition to delivering its own semiconductor solutions, its new products category includes its IP business that licenses its eFPGA technology for use in other semiconductor companies SoCs and provides professional services, consisting of development and integration of eFPGA technology into bespoke semiconductor solutions. SensiML provides an AI software platform for products which include Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) subscriptions for development, per unit license fees when deployed in production, and proof-of-concept services, all of which are also included in the new products revenue category. The company’s mature products include primarily FPGA families named pASIC3 and QuickRAM, as well as programming hardware and design software. The company’s solutions typically fall into one of four categories: Hardware products consisting of Sensor Processing, Display Smart Connectivity, and eFPGA intellectual property and its associated Tools. The company’s solutions include a unique combination of its silicon platforms, IP cores, software drivers, and in some cases, firmware and application software. All of the company’s silicon platforms are standard hardware products and must be programmed to be effective in a system. Through the acquisition of SensiML the company’s core IP also expanded to include the SensiML Analytics Toolkit that enables Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to develop AI software for a broad array of resource-constrained time-series sensor endpoint applications. These include a wide range of consumer and industrial sensing applications. The company collaborates with multiple partners on reference designs, and in some cases, co-marketing and/or co-selling initiatives. The company also works with processor manufacturers, sensor manufacturers, and voice recognition, sensor fusion and context awareness algorithm developers, and embedded systems companies in the development of reference designs. SensiML collaborates with several microcontroller and sensors manufacturers to integrate the microcontroller and/or sensor manufacturers’ development kits with SensiML’s Analytics Toolkit in order to showcase combined solutions for AI/ML applications. These collaborations include Infineon Technologies, On Semiconductor Corp., Microchip Technology Inc., Silicon Laboratories, Inc., STMicroelectronics N.V., Arduino, NXP Semiconductors N.V., Raspberry Pi, and Nordic Semiconductor. The company’s eFPGA IP are developed on 250nm, 130nm, 90nm, 65nm, 40nm, 28nm and 22nm process nodes. The licensable IP is generated by an automated compiler tool, called Australis that enables the company’s engineers to create an eFPGA IP for its licensees that they can then integrate into their SoC without significant involvement by the company. For its eFPGA strategy, the company typically works with semiconductor manufacturing partners prior to this IP being licensed to a SoC company. Markets and Product Technology The company markets its solutions primarily to IoT device OEMs and ODMs, defense contractors, and U.S. Government entities. The company has complete solutions incorporating its silicon platforms, IPs, software drivers, SensiML Analytics Toolkit and its system architecture expertise. The company is capable of providing complete solutions because of its investment in developing the low power IP and software required to implement specific functions, along with sensor software algorithms optimized for its architecture. In some cases, the company develops the IPs and either software or firmware ourselves and, in other cases, it utilizes third parties to develop the mixed signal physical layers, logic and/or software. The company markets its solutions to OEMs and ODMs offering differentiated IoT products, to processor vendors wishing to expand their served available market, and to sensor manufacturers and sensor processing software companies wishing to expand their ecosystems. The company’s target markets include Consumer/Industrial IoT, Consumer Electronics, Military, Aerospace and Defense. The company’s solutions typically fall into one of four categories: Sensor Processing, eFPGA IP and its associated Tools, Display or Smart Connectivity. By using its silicon platforms, its IPs, the company’s software, and it in-depth architecture knowledge, it can deliver energy efficient custom solutions that blend the benefits of traditional ASSPs with the flexibility, product proliferation, differentiation and low total cost of ownership advantages of programmable logic. The company’s product technology consists of five major elements: First, the company’s programmable logic allows it to hardware customize its platforms. The company has two distinct types of programmable logic. The company has an SRAM-reprogrammable logic architecture that utilizes a standard CMOS-logic process to meet the specific needs of the sensor and I/O subsystems of IoT hardware products: very low standby power, low dynamic power, and in-system reprogrammable technology. The company’s SRAM-reprogrammable logic is the basis of its eFPGA IP License initiative, and is the logic used in its EOS S3, EOS S3 LV, and EOS S3AI products. The company also has its ViaLink programmable logic that uses proprietary and patented technology to meet the specific smart connectivity needs when the characteristics of non-volatility and instant-on, very low standby power, low dynamic power, small form factor, single chip solutions that power cycle easily and quickly are required. Hardware customization gives its hardware products the ability to execute key actions faster than software implementations, and at lower power. Second, the company’s ArcticLink and EOS S3, EOS S3 LV, and EOS S3AI platforms combine mixed signal physical functions, hard-wired logic and programmable logic on one device. Mixed signal capability supports the trend toward serial connectivity in IoT applications, where designers benefit from lower pin counts, simplified printed circuit board, or PCB, layouts, simplified PCB interconnect and reduced signal noise. Third, the company develops and integrates innovative IP cores, intelligent data processing IP cores, or standard interfaces used in IoT products. In addition to standards-based IP, the company offers proprietary IP such as Sensor Processing IPs such as Flexible Fusion Engine, or FFE, Sensor Manager, or Communications Manager; Hardware Acceleration / Processor Offloading IPs such as various digital filter and matrix multiplication functions. Fourth, the company develops and optimizes a software framework for use in conjunction with its sensor processing silicon platforms. Fifth, through SensiML, the company develops and optimizes an end-to-end software suite that provides developers a practical means for developing IoT sensor algorithms using AI. Each component of the software suite handles specific steps to progress from initial raw sensor data collection using prototype hardware to optimized firmware code generation, validation and testing, and post-ship algorithm updates and continuous learning enhancements. SensiML Data Capture Lab is a full-featured client tool that enables rapid, efficient, and collaborative multi-user data collection, cleansing, labeling, and metadata annotation of custom application datasets. SensiML Analytics Studio is a cloud service component that uses labeled datasets to deliver device-optimized firmware for a chosen endpoint product. SensiML Test App is used to quickly and efficiently validate final device firmware and test for the proper behavior, accuracy, and performance of the algorithm empirically on actual endpoint hardware. Lastly, the SensiML Application Programmer’s Interface (API) is a simplified interface to extend the SensiML algorithms and manage advanced features like edge model tuning and continuous learning updates to the cloud. Research and Development The company’s R&D expenses were $5.0 million for the year ended January 1, 2023. Marketing, Sales and Customers The company monetizes its technology through hardware product sales, and eFPGA IP licenses, with any necessary corresponding work delivered via professional engineering services, and SensiML Analytics Toolkit subscriptions and per unit royalties. The company specializes in enhancing the user experience in leading edge IoT hardware products. For its customers, the company enables hardware and sensor algorithmic differentiation quickly, and at low power. For its partners, the company expands their reach into new segments and new use cases thereby expanding the served available market for their existing hardware products. The company develops low power SoCs, FPGAs, embedded FPGA intellectual property and the SensiML Analytics Toolkit for AI Software. The company’s products enable Consumer/Industrial IoT, Consumer Electronics, Military, and Aerospace and Defense customers. to deliver highly differentiated products with longer battery life. The company’s multi-core sensor processing products, such as ArcticLink 3 S1, ArcticLink 3 S2, EOS 3, EOS S3 LV, and EOS S3AI accomplish this result with general purpose and targeted cores, which provide an extremely power-efficient approach for real-time multi-modal (vision, motion, voice, location, biometric and environmental) sensor processing independently of the cloud. The company’s embedded FPGA technology gives SoC developers targeting IoT endpoint applications the flexibility to make design changes post-production while keeping power consumption low. The company’s SensiML Analytics Toolkit is cutting-edge software that enables ultra-low power IoT endpoints that implement AI to transform raw sensor data into meaningful insight at the device itself. The Toolkit also provides an end-to-end development platform spanning data collection, labeling, algorithm and firmware auto generation, and testing. The company recognizes that its markets require a range of solutions, and it intends to work with market leading companies to combine silicon solution platforms, packaging technology, sensor software algorithms, software drivers and firmware, to meet the product proliferation, high bandwidth, time-to-market, time-in-market and form factor requirements of IoT device manufacturers. The company’s business model is targeted on ensuring its products are easy-to-use for the broad electronics market, particularly ones that are focused on enabling their products with AI solutions. This go-to-market strategy focuses on a broader sales and marketing approach. The company sells its products through a network of sales managers in North America, Europe and Asia. In addition to its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California, the company has international sales operations in China, Japan, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. The company’s sales personnel and independent sales representatives are responsible for sales and application support for a given region, focusing on major strategic accounts, and managing its channel sales partners, such as distributors. Customers typically order the company’s products through its distributors. The company has seven distributors in North America and a network of twenty-three distributors and sales representative throughout Europe and Asia to support its international business. eFPGA IP customers and SensiML SaaS subscribers typically enter into licensing agreements directly with the company and SensiML, respectively. The company also has a military, industrial and IoT product customer base that purchases its mature silicon products. Three customers represented approximately 20%, 16% and 12% of the company’s total revenue for the year ended January 1, 2023. Competition The company’s semiconductor competitors include suppliers of ASSPs such as Synaptics; suppliers of application processors; suppliers of ASICs; suppliers of low density FPGAs, such as Lattice Semiconductor Corp. and Microsemi Corp. (a subsidiary of Microchip Technology Inc.); and suppliers of low power microcontrollers, such as STMicroelectronics N.V. and NXP Semiconductors N.V. The company’s existing competitors for conventional FPGAs include suppliers of low power complex programmable logic devices (CPLD) and FPGAs such as Lattice Semiconductor Corp., Xilinx Inc. (a subsidiary of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.), Intel Corp., and Microsemi Corp. Manufacturing In connection with commercial customers, the company outsources commercial products wafer manufacturing, primarily to GlobalFoundries and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC). The company outsources its commercial product packaging primarily to Amkor Technology, Inc. Integra Specialty Products, JCET Group Co. Ltd., and Golden Altos Corp. GlobalFoundries manufactures the company’s EOS S3, EOS S3 LV, and EOS S3AI Sensor Platform in a 40 nm CMOS process, and PolarPro 3E, ArcticLink III VX and BX, and ArcticLink 3 S2 Sensor Hub, in a 65 nm CMOS process. TSMC manufactures the company’s pASIC 3, QuickRAM and certain QuickPCI products, using a 0.35 micron complementary metal oxide semiconductor, (CMOS), process. TSMC also manufactures the company’s Eclipse products on 0.25 micron CMOS process, and other mature products using a 65nm CMOS process on twelve-inch wafers. The company purchases products from GlobalFoundries, and TSMC on a purchase order basis. Intellectual Property The company holds eighteen active U.S. patents and has five pending applications for an additional U.S. patent. The company’s patents contain claims covering various aspects of programmable integrated circuits, programmable interconnect structures and programmable metal hardware products. In Europe and Asia, the company holds three patents and have two pending applications. The company’s issued patents expire between 2033 and 2039. The company has five registered trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. History QuickLogic Corporation was founded in 1988. The company was incorporated in 1997 and reincorporated in Delaware in 1999.
