CEVA, Inc. (Ceva) provides innovative silicon and software intellectual property (IP) solutions that enable smart edge products to connect, sense, and infer data more reliably and efficiently.
The company has the industry’s broadest portfolio of comprehensive wireless communications and processor IP platforms, and embedded software solutions for the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and models directly onto local edge devices (Edge AI). It powers the connectivity, sensing, a...
CEVA, Inc. (Ceva) provides innovative silicon and software intellectual property (IP) solutions that enable smart edge products to connect, sense, and infer data more reliably and efficiently.
The company has the industry’s broadest portfolio of comprehensive wireless communications and processor IP platforms, and embedded software solutions for the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and models directly onto local edge devices (Edge AI). It powers the connectivity, sensing, and inference capabilities in today’s most advanced smart edge products across four large, diversified markets with significant opportunity for long-term growth: consumer Internet-of-Things (IoT), automotive, industrial and infrastructure, as well as in the mobile and personal computing (PC) markets. More than 19 billion of the world’s most innovative smart edge products, from AI-infused smartwatches, IoT devices, and wearables to autonomous vehicles, 5G mobile networks, and more, have been shipped with Ceva IP, with approximately 2 billion shipped in 2024 alone.
The company has been a trusted partner to hundreds of leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies servicing not just its largest target growth and incumbent markets, but also a wide variety of other end markets and applications, such as smart-home, surveillance, robotics, and medical. The company’s transformative semiconductor IP and embedded software offerings are incorporated by customers into application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs) to enable power-efficient, intelligent, secure, and connected devices that connect, sense, and infer—the three critical pillars of the rapidly evolving era of AI-enabled smart edge.
The company has established leadership positions in key technology areas, including reliable and secure wireless connectivity for use in both infrastructure and endpoints across multiple end markets, low-power and highly efficient audio and video/vision sensing and interface solutions, and scalable neural-network-based AI processing.
The company’s revenue mix primarily comprises IP licensing fees and related revenues, and royalties generated from its customers’ shipments of smart edge products deploying its IP. Related revenues include revenues from post-contract support, training, and sale of development systems and chips.
Business
The company addresses the requirements of the consumer, industrial, infrastructure, automotive, mobile, and PC markets by designing and licensing a broad range of robust processors, platforms, software, and solutions that streamline the design of products for developing a wide variety of application-specific solutions that address the connect, sense, and infer use cases of smart edge devices.
Given the ‘design gap,’ as well as the increasing complexity and the unique skill set required to develop a smart edge SoC, many semiconductor design and manufacturing companies increasingly choose to license proven IP, such as processor cores (e.g., DSP, CPU, GPU, and NPU), connectivity platforms (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB, 5G), and embedded software algorithms (e.g., sensor fusion, sound, spatial audio), and memory and physical IP from silicon IP companies like Ceva to complement their in-house development or to replace their internal development efforts for these technologies. With increasingly complex designs and shorter time-to-market demands, it is becoming progressively more challenging and less cost-efficient for most semiconductor companies to develop the full range of wireless standards in-house alongside maintaining DSP and NPU platforms for their sensing and AI needs. As a result, companies increasingly seek to license this IP from a third-party developer, such as Ceva.
Business Model
The company’s platforms for connect, sense, and infer use cases in smart edge devices enable it to address the high-volume markets of consumer IoT, automotive, industrial, infrastructure, mobile, and PC. It licenses its technologies on a worldwide basis to semiconductor and OEM companies that design and manufacture products that combine Ceva-based solutions with their own proprietary technology.
The company’s business model offers it some key advantages. By choosing to license the company’s IP, manufacturers have the advantage of being able to solely focus on creating their own differentiated solutions and developing their own unique product roadmaps. Through the company’s licensing efforts, it has established a worldwide community developing Ceva-based solutions, and therefore it can leverage their strengths, customer relationships, proprietary technology advantages, and existing sales and marketing infrastructure. In addition, as the company’s IP is widely licensed and deployed, system OEM companies can obtain Ceva-based chipsets from a wide range of suppliers.
The company operates a licensing and royalty business model. It typically charges a license fee for access to its hardware technology and a royalty fee for each unit of silicon that incorporates its hardware or software technology.
Strategy
The company has strategically aligned its IP portfolio to allow it to exploit the most lucrative ‘design gaps’ in the demand for smart edge devices, which, based on its research, it has identified. It offers expertise in developing complete solutions in a number of key growth end markets, including consumer IoT, automotive, industrial, infrastructure, mobile, and PC. For these markets, it offers IP solutions that include various types of specialized platforms for 5G-Advanced, satellite communications, multi-standard wireless connectivity (incorporating Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, 802.15.4), wireless RF, cellular IoT, sensor fusion, and spatial audio.
The company’s strategies are to develop and enhance its NPU product lines for Edge AI to meet its customers’ evolving requirements; develop and enhance its DSP platforms with additional features, performance, and capabilities; develop and expand its short-range wireless IP and customer base, providing the newest standards, new IP blocks like RF, and multi-protocol solutions to streamline its customers’ deployments; continue to develop new generations of high-performance platforms incorporating processors, NPUs, wireless connectivity standards, and embedded application software to pursue opportunities and grow the company’s footprint in the smart edge markets; go up the ‘value chain’ by adding and charging for software for the company’s wireless, AI, voice, spatial audio, and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) products; continue to prudentially invest in strategic technologies that enable it to strengthen the company’s presence in existing markets or enter new addressable markets; capitalize on the company’s relationships and leadership position within its worldwide community of semiconductor and OEM licensees who are developing Ceva-based solutions; capitalize on the company’s technology leadership in the development of advanced processor technologies, connectivity IP, and sensor fusion software to create and develop new, strategic relationships with OEMs and semiconductor companies to replace their internal solutions with Ceva-based solutions; and capitalize on the company’s IP licensing and royalty business model, which is the best vehicle for a pervasive adoption of its technology and allows it to focus its resources on research and development of new licensable technologies and applications.
Products
The company is the leading licensor of wireless interface silicon and software IP that enables smart edge devices to connect, sense, and infer data more reliably and efficiently. The company’s wireless communications, sensing, and Edge AI technologies are at the heart of some of today’s most advanced smart edge products. From Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, UWB, and 5G platform IP for ubiquitous, robust communications, to scalable Edge AI NPU IP, sensor fusion processors, and embedded application software that make devices smarter, it has the broadest portfolio of IP to connect, sense, and infer data more reliably and efficiently.
The company’s categories of products include the following:
Connect
5G/5G-A Baseband Platform – PentaG2 – a complete IP platform for implementing a wide range of user-equipment and IoT cellular modems;
OpenRAN Platform – PentaG-RAN – a modular, optimized hardware and software IP for implementing L1 PHY baseband processing in 5G and 5G-A base stations and other cellular infrastructure SoCs;
Communication Vector DSPs – Ceva-XC20 vector DSPs for 5G-A handsets, 5G-A RAN, and general-purpose baseband processing;
Baseband Processor – the Ceva-BX2 baseband processor IP handles both signal-processing and control workloads with up to 16 GMACs per second performance and high-level-language programming;
Bluetooth Platform – Ceva-Waves Bluetooth – a comprehensive set of hardware IP, software modules, and radios addressing a broad choice of processes and nodes, to implement highly efficient Bluetooth and 802.15.4 connectivity in SoCs based on the latest standards;
Wi-Fi Platform – Ceva-Waves Wi-Fi – a comprehensive selection of hardware IP and CPU-agnostic host software for energy-efficient SoC implementation of any of a wide range of Wi-Fi subsystems, from Wi-Fi 4 to Wi-Fi 7, for both client devices and access points;
Ultra-Wideband Platform – Ceva-Waves UWB – optimized MAC and PHY hardware IPs and supporting software for secure and accurate ranging, and Doppler Radar presence detection applications;
Multi-protocol Solutions – Ceva-Waves Links – provides preconfigured, optimized solutions for SoCs requiring multiple connectivity standards. All Ceva-Waves Links configurations are based on field-proven Ceva-Waves hardware IP and software stacks. Unique Ceva coexistence algorithms ensure efficient and interference-free operation of multiple connections while sharing one radio;
Cellular IoT – Ceva-Waves DragonFly – turnkey platform with optimized, low-power hardware IP and protocol software for implementing NB-IoT cellular modem SoCs. Extensions provide support for GNSS, such as GPS and BeiDou, and for sensor-fusion applications;
Sense
Vision / AI DSP – Ceva-SensPro is a family of DSP cores architected to combine vision, Radar, and AI processing in a single architecture;
Audio and Control DSP – the Ceva-BX1 audio digital signal controller IP handles both modest signal-processing and control workloads with up to 8 GMACs per second performance and high-level-language programming;
Neural-network-based noise cancellation – Ceva-ClearVox ENC software features a neural-network-based ENC algorithm with small memory and processing requirements to embed ENC into even tiny systems;
Spatial Audio & Head Tracking – Ceva-RealSpace is a complete Spatial Audio software solution combining precise 3D rendering and accurate, low-latency head tracking;
High-accuracy Sensor Fusion – Ceva-MotionEngine software combines high-accuracy 6 and 9 axis IMU sensor fusion algorithms, dynamic sensor calibration, and many applications-specific features, such as cursor control, gesture recognition, activity tracking, context awareness, and AR/VR stabilization;
Infer
NPU IP for Generative AI – Ceva-NeuPro-M – a scalable NPU architecture, ideal for transformers, Vision Transformers (ViT), and generative AI applications, with exceptional power efficiency;
NPU IP for Embedded AI – Ceva-NeuPro-Nano is a highly efficient and self-sufficient edge NPU designed for Embedded ML applications, delivering the optimal balance of ultra-low power and high performance in a small area to efficiently execute Embedded ML workloads across AIoT product categories, including Hearables, Wearables, Home Audio, Smart Home, Smart Factory, and more; and
AI SDK – Ceva-NeuPro Studio – a comprehensive software development environment designed to streamline the development and deployment of AI models on the Ceva-NeuPro NPUs. It offers a suite of tools optimized for the Ceva NPU architectures, providing network optimization, graph compilation, simulation, and emulation, ensuring that developers can train, import, optimize, and deploy AI models with the highest efficiency and precision.
The company delivers its platforms, AI and sensor fusion DSPs, and NPUs in the form of a hardware description language definition (known as a soft core or a synthesizable core). All the company’s hardware IP can be manufactured on any process using any physical library and comes with a complete set of tools and an integrated development environment. An extensive third-party network supports Ceva platforms, AI DSPs, and NPUs with a wide range of complementing software and platforms. In addition, it provides development platforms, software development kits, and software debug tools, which facilitate system design, debug, and software development.
To reduce the complexity and risk in bringing products to market, the company has developed a suite of system platforms and solutions. These platforms and solutions combine the hardware and software elements that are essential for designers deploying Ceva’s state-of-the-art platforms, AI DSP cores, and NPUs. The company’s family of platforms is targeted for baseband processing within mobile, cellular IoT devices and base station RAN, satellite communications, advanced imaging, computer vision, radar applications, and deep neural networks, as well as audio, voice, sensing, and Internet-of-Things related applications.
Customers
The company has licensed its platforms, AI DSPs, NPUs, and wireless connectivity IP to leading semiconductor and OEM companies throughout the world, including seven of the world’s top 10 MCU players. These customers incorporate the company’s IP into application-specific chipsets or custom-designed chipsets that they manufacture, market, and sell to consumer electronics companies. It also licenses its technologies to OEMs directly. Included among its licensees are the following customers: Actions, Ambiq, AIC Semi, Alif, ASPEED, ASR Micro, Atmosic, Autotalks, Beken, Bestechnic, boAt, Broadcom, Ceragon, Cirrus Logic, Espressif, ESWIN, FujiFilm, Goodix, iCatch, ICOM, InPlay, Intel, iRobot, Itron, LG Electronics, LifeSignals, Mediatek, Microchip, MorningCore, Nations, Nextchip, Nokia, Nordic Semi, Novatek, NXP, onsemi, Synaptics, Oticon, Panasonic, Renesas, Rockchip, Rohm, Samsung, SatixFy, Sharp, SiFlower, SigmaStar, Socionext, Sony, Sonova, STMicroelectronics, THX, Toshiba, Unisoc, Vatics, Winner Micro, and Yamaha.
International Sales and Operations
Customers based in Europe and the Middle East (EME) and Asia Pacific (APAC) accounted for 81% of the company’s total revenues for 2024, with customers in China accounting for 49% of total revenues for 2024.
Sales and Marketing
The company licenses its technology through a direct sales force. As of December 31, 2024, it had 34 employees in sales and marketing. It has sales offices and representation in the APAC region, Sweden, France, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Maintaining close relationships with the company’s customers and strengthening these relationships are central to its strategy. From time to time, it develops new signal processors, platforms, software solutions, or connectivity products in close alignment with several tier-one industry players, which signifies to the market that it is focused on viable applications that meet broad industry needs, or tries to get similar inputs and insights for its new developments from its marketing team.
The company uses a variety of marketing initiatives to stimulate demand and brand awareness in its target markets. These marketing efforts include contacts with industry analysts, presenting at key industry trade shows and conferences, and a comprehensive digital marketing program aimed at developing and nurturing relationships with potential customers.
Research and Development
The company’s research and development expenses were approximately $71.6 million for 2024.
Competition
The company competes directly in the signal processing cores space with Verisilicon, Cadence, and Synopsys;
The company competes with CPU IP or configurable CPU IP (offering DSP configured CPU and/or DSP acceleration and/or connectivity capabilities to their IP) providers, such as Arm, Synopsys, Cadence, and the RISC-V open source;
The company competes with custom ASIC providers and internal engineering teams at companies, such as Marvell, Broadcom, ST, and NXP that may design programmable DSP core products and signal processing cores in-house and therefore not license its technologies;
The company competes in the short-range wireless markets with Mindtree and internal engineering teams at companies, such as Infineon, Silicon Labs, and NXP;
The company competes in the embedded imaging and vision market with Cadence, Synopsys, Videantis, Arm, and Verisilicon;
It competes in the AI processor market with AI processor and accelerator providers, including Arm, Cadence, Synopsys, Cambricon, Digital Media Professionals (DMP), Expedera, Imagination Technologies, Nvidia open source NVDLA, and Verisilicon;
The company competes in the audio and voice applications market with Arm, Cadence, Synopsys, and Verisilicon; and
The company competes in the embedded 3D spatial audio and Motion Sensing software market with Waves, Dolby, and CyweeMotion.
Proprietary Rights
As of December 31, 2024, the company held 50 patents in the United States, eight patents in Canada, 90 patents in the Europe and Middle East (EME) region, and 10 patents in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, totaling 158 patents, with expiration dates between 2025 and 2041. In addition, as of December 31, 2024, it had six patent applications pending in the United States, nine pending patent applications in the EME region, three pending global Patent Corporation Treaty (PCT) patent applications, and eight pending patent applications in the APAC region, totaling 26 pending patent applications.
History
The company was founded in 1999. It was incorporated in Delaware in 1999 under the name DSP Cores, Inc. and changed its name to ParthusCeva, Inc. in 2002. Further, the company changed its name to CEVA, Inc. in 2003.
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