Alereon announcec new wireless USB chip
Alereon Inc, the chip designer company announced today the release of the first chip that uses a frequency band that is legal all over the world for wireless USB, a technology with the potential to cut the tangle of cables surrounding computers.
The technology of the new chip, will allow to make an important step in persuading computer makers to incorporate the technology.
USB, or Universal Serial Bus, cables connect computers to mice, keyboards, printers, cameras and external hard drives. Alereon spokesman Mike Krell believes the new chip, the AL5100, will show up in external hard drives and cameras this year. They'll connect to computers with optional wireless add-in cards, or dongles that go into USB ports.
"Assuming that they do it right and it works, it's going to be a pretty powerful technology for interconnecting devices," said analyst Steve Wilson at ABI Research.
The new chip or UWB (called ultra-wideband) can reach speeds of up to 480 megabits per second, equivalent to USB 2.0 cables, at distances up to 10 feet, but Alereon spokesman Mike Krell said first-generation devices were not that fast.
The 8,000-strong trade association behind Bluetooth, the short-range wireless technology that connects cell phones and headsets, has said it will incorporate WiMedia's UWB flavor in its own standard, creating a high-speed version of Bluetooth.
"Availability of WiMedia hardware this early in the market supports the planned introduction of High Speed Bluetooth technology in 2008 that operates in the unlicensed spectrum above 6 GHz," said Mike Foley, director of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, in a statement.
Alereon was spun off from Huntsville, Ala.-based Time Domain Corp. in 2003 and is privately held. Its investors include Austin Ventures and Samsung Ventures. Time Domain focuses on using UWB technology for radar-like sensors that can see through walls.
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