Intel announces the acquisition of Rivet Networks, the company behind the Killer-branded NICs (network interface cards) found in laptops from popular brands such as Dell, Alienware and HP.
The financial details of the deal are not available, but Intel plans to use the acquisition to "develop new solutions for broader PC connectivity enhancement." Key Rivet Networks products, including the Killer brand, will make part of the broader Chipzilla wifi portfolio, while the software will remain available for 3rd party licensing. In addition, Intel will fold the Rivet Networks team into the Intel Wireless Solution Group within the Client Computing Group.
Originally founded as Bigfoot Networks, Rivet Networks first hit the scene in 2006 with the Killer NIC. It was acquired by the Qualcomm Atheros division on September 2011, but following years of little to no product development or generational iteration the original founders and engineers left Qualcomm to form Rivet Networks. The products released under the Rivet-owned Killer brand came as a result of partnerships with Intel and Realtek, and were favoured by a number of big-name OEMs, including Dell, MSI, Gigabyte and ASRock, among others.
The Intel-owned Rivet will surely be part of a broader Chipzilla effort to push Wifi 6 connectivity. After all, the Killer AX1650 NIC is based on Intel silicon.
