The company was founded in 1998 and split away from
Cambridge Consultants as
Cambridge Silicon Radio or CSR in 1999. The founding directors, who were all at Cambridge Consultants at the time were
Phil O'Donovan,
James Collier and Glenn Collinson. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2004. In 2005 the company acquired Clarity Technologies, a leading clear voice capture (CVC) business and UbiNetics, a 3G wireless (
WCDMA/
UMTS/
HSDPA) technology company. In 2007, CSR acquired Nordnav, a Swedish-based
GPS software company, and CPS, a Cambridge-based GPS software company producing
Enhanced GPS in partnership with Motorola. In February 2009, CSR announced it was merging with
SiRF, the biggest global supplier of GPS chips, in a share deal worth $136 million; in July 2010, CSR announced the acquisition of Belfast-based APT Licensing Ltd. (APT) and its
aptX audio technology and in February 2011, CSR announced it was merging with
Zoran, a video and imaging technology company. In May 2012, CSR acquired Direct Digital Feedback Amplifier (DDFA) technology, a proprietary, highly scalable digital Class-D audio amplifier technology; in June 2012, CSR announced that it had acquired the MAPX (formerly MAP-X) audio product line from
Trident Microsystems, Inc and in July 2012,
Samsung Electronics agreed to acquire CSR's mobile phone connectivity (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) and location (GPS/GNSS) businesses and associated IP for US$310 million (£198 million). As part of the deal Samsung acquired a stake of 4.9% in CSR. and in October 2014, the acquisition of CSR by
Qualcomm for $2.5 billion was agreed. The transaction was completed in August 2015. ==Products==