Siemens to acquire Sarokal to strengthen product lifecycle management business

Siemens has agreed to acquire Sarokal Test Systems, a provider of test solutions for electronics components, such as integrated circuits. 

Sarokal’s test solutions cover fronthaul networks that are comprised of links between the centralized radio controllers and the radio heads, or masts, at the “edge” of a cellular network.

Sarokal products are used by chipset vendors, fronthaul equipment manufacturers, and telecom operators to develop, test and verify their 4G and 5G network devices from the early design stages through implementation and field-testing.

Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens PLM Software, says: “The planned acquisition of Sarokal reinforces our ongoing commitment to EDA [electronic design automation] and the IC [integration circuit] industry. 

“Building on our acquisition of Mentor Graphics, we continue to make strategic investments which leverage Mentor’s existing strengths and enable Siemens to expand its offerings to the IC industry.”

Sarokal’s products are used to test transmission specifications across multiple domains. Its tester product family addresses the entire development and maintenance flow for cellular and wired transmission system testing.

The technology is specially designed to detect radio frequency (RF) problems.

Sarokal says its foresight into the requirements of 5G testing enabled it to create testing models from the beginning for both the virtual, or digitalization, environment as well as the physical testing environment.

Harri Valasma, CEO at Sarokal, says: “Sarokal has been on the forefront of the development of the 5G specification and its requirements for fronthaul networks since its inception.

“The 5G specification aims to greatly enhance performance for mobile broadband, network operation and Internet of Things (IoT) communication, and this requires new test methodologies.

“Becoming part of Siemens and integrating our technology into the Veloce emulation platform will give us greater visibility into early customer adoption of 5G, which can help us maintain our leadership as this segment is forecasted to grow rapidly.”

Eric Selosse, vice president and general manager, Mentor emulation division, a Siemens business, says: “The addition of Sarokal’s one-of-a-kind fronthaul testing expertise is expected to provide our Veloce emulator customers with a unique advantage.

“Sarokal’s tester technology in conjunction with Mentor’s Veloce emulation platform will enable customers to ‘shift left’ the validation of 4G and 5G designs for accurate and timely pre- and post-silicon testing.”

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of calendar 2018, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Digital Factory Division, is headquartered in Plano, Texas, and claims to have more than 140,000 customers worldwide.