Plans to spin out a fabless semiconductor company to commercialise NICTA’s 60GHz chip, which can transmit data at up to 5 gigabits per second, are being thwarted by the lack of a lead venture capital partner.

“We have demonstrated our first generation prototype which was a single chip transceiver running at 60 GHz on standard CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor – a common and inexpensive form of semiconductor). We have 40 chips available and are doing a dog and pony show,” he said.

“A lot of people have expressed that they are willing to be part of syndicate but we need to find a lead,” according to Professor Skafidas.

In the meantime the NICTA development team is edging toward the release of its new generation chipset in October.

Applications for the technology are diverse, as the chips allow high speed close-range wireless networking, with fewer synchronisation problems than would be expected if cables were used.

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