Silicon Labs has opened a research and development (R&D) laboratory for chip design and testing in Austin, Texas.

The R&D laboratory, made possible in part through a $23m grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF), was opened during a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Silicon Labs senior leaders and employees alongside representatives from the state of Texas.

The laboratory is at the company’s Austin headquarters, featuring research, testing and validation equipment and engineering workspace for chip design and testing. The facility expands Silicon Labs’ R&D capabilities, accelerating wireless semiconductor innovation and supporting the development of IoT technologies.

“Our new Austin Innovation Center represents an important milestone in the partnership between the state of Texas and Silicon Labs to advance semiconductor innovation and reinforce Texas as the most attractive destination for semiconductor research, design and development,” said Matt Johnson, CEO of Silicon Labs. “This new space expands our ability to develop the next generation of wireless technologies that will further extend our leadership and the great impact this technology brings to the way we live and work.”

The laboratory expands Silicon Labs’ ability to develop, test and validate secure, intelligent wireless technologies that power the IoT. The facility supports continued innovation across the firm’s wireless portfolio, including its Series 3 platform, which delivers security, AI capabilities and wireless connectivity for smart home, industrial, healthcare, commercial and smart city applications.

The TSIF funding allowed Silicon Labs to upgrade its equipment to work with more advanced wafer process technology nodes, and the expanded lab will help engineers accelerate product development, validate technologies more efficiently and collaborate across disciplines to bring innovations to market faster.

The TSIF (gov.texas.gov/business/page/tsif) was established to strengthen domestic semiconductor leadership by supporting research and development investments, reducing barriers to innovation, and addressing increasing global competition in the semiconductor industry.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Silicon Labs (www.silabs.com) has operations in over 16 countries and produces products for smart home, industrial IoT and smart cities markets.