Patni Computer Systems, an India-based outsourcing firm, said Thursday it has acquired ZAiQ Technologies of Woburn, Mass, in a move by Patni to boost its semiconductor business.

Patni noted ZAiQ's strengths in ASIC design and IP in addition to ZAiQ's expertise in FPGA and SoC technologies.

"The addition of (ZAiQ's) expertise and customer base will enable us to meet the growing demand we have been experiencing for ASIC-based services in vertical markets such as consumer electronics, telecom, computing and wireless," said Ajay Chamania, Patni's head of product engineering services, in a statement.

Patni's founders pioneered the offshore outsourcing phenomenon and initially focused the efforts of the firm on IT services particularly in insurance and financial services segments. The ZAiQ acquisition will beef up its effort in the development of complex, high-performance systems and integrated circuits.

Jim Pena, ZAiQ vice president, said his firm has nearly 500 design and verification projects underway.

Panti said that Indian IT export revenues from engineering, R&D, and offshore product development have jumped ten times from $300 million in 2001-2002 to a projected $3.9 billion by the end of fiscal year 2005-2006. The company said its product engineering unit accounted for 7.5 percent of its 2005 revenue.