Staccato Communications has introduced a high-speed wireless USB development platform using ultrawideband (UWB) wireless technology. The SC1030D platform allows advanced development by PC and peripheral manufacturers, as well as developers of high-speed wireless personal area network (WPAN) devices and systems.

Staccato Communications had announced an agreement with NEC Electronics in February to jointly bring 480 Mbps wireless USB silicon products to market. The products are based on ultrawideband (UWB) standards being developed by the MultiBand OFDM Alliance (MBOA) and the emerging wireless USB protocol announced by Intel at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) held in February in San Francisco.

“Intel's recent wireless USB announcement ushers in an exciting new era for PC and peripheral consumers because it means that the last cable tethering PCs with other devices can soon be cut,” said Roberto Aiello, founder and CEO of Staccato Communications. “Staccato demonstrated real high-speed wireless USB functionality for the first time during IDF. The release of Staccato's wireless USB Development Platform will vastly accelerate the development process of end products and help speed time to market.”

The SC1030D wireless USB development platform includes integrated PHY and MAC functionality, which is based on the MultiBand OFDM Alliance (MBOA) standard specification. The PHY chassis connects to the MAC PCI board via an interface based on the MBOA MAC-PHY interface specification. The MAC board in turn is connected to a PC via the PCI slot; this PC then serves as a software development platform for wireless USB applications.