FOCUS Enhancements, Inc. has announced the taping-out of its first high-performance, 880 Mbps wireless ultra-wideband (UWB) chip. The initial tape-out of its analog/RF chip is the first of its two-part chipset solution. Tape-out of the second chip (digital baseband plus media access controller or MAC) in the chipset is currently expected in September 2005, according to FOCUS.

"Taping-out the first of our two UWB chips is an important milestone in our strategy to bring wireless video to the home," said Brett Moyer, FOCUS Enhancements' president and chief executive officer. "We have consistently demonstrated the best UWB performance in the industry and are maintaining a unique leadership position in the race to deliver UWB. Through joint efforts with our design partner Cadence Design, FOCUS Enhancements is quickly progressing toward silicon that will ultimately provide a new generation of wireless-enabled, video-based consumer electronics."

The FOCUS Enhancements' UWB chipset will contain a fully compliant and interoperable WiMedia-MBOA UWB radio, plus an extended mode that will produce much higher data rates, which are more suitable for wireless video distribution and fast data transfers. Cadence Design Systems is performing design services for the FOCUS Enhancements' UWB chipset. Jazz Semiconductor is engaged to manufacture the high-performance RF analog IC portion of the chipset. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation will produce the digital baseband/MAC application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

The supplier expects to receive the first silicon and begin testing in September 2005. In addition, evaluation kits containing both UWB chips are expected to be available for shipment by the end of the fourth quarter of 2005.

The FOCUS Enhancements analog chip will operate between 3.2 GHz and 7.2 GHz and is expected to provide transmission rates up to 880 Mbps at ranges up to 8 meters and 37 Mbps at a range of 40 meters--both specifications exceed existing published competitive capabilities. The extended-mode solution uses a direct sequence-OFDM modulation scheme (DS-OFDMTM) to achieve industry-leading data rates and ranges. Other selectable rate settings include: 110 Mbps at 30 meters and 440 Mbps at 14 meters. The analog chip will use 0.18-micron silicon germanium (SiGe) process technology to achieve the higher signal-to-noise ratios required to supply reliable, consumer-friendly video distribution.

RSS    Save to Del.icio.us  Digg This