New Sibeam chips boost wireless LANs for HD video

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 06 October 2009 08:00

IT Industry - Strategy

US based chipmaker, Sibeam, has unveiled the second generation of its 60GHz wireless networking chipsets, claimed to the only product on the market to support wireless delivery of lossless 1080p HD video.

As HD video gains popularity among consumers so too will the demand for home networks able to carry the multigigabit data streams associated with HD. Trouble is, running cables around homes can be a bit problematic and most wireless technologies are not up to delivering the throughputs necessary.

Wireless LANs operating at 60GHz with throughputs of 4Gbps and above are seen as the way to go and there is something of a battle underway between different standards and chipmakers.

Australia's NICTA claimed to have developed the world's first CMOS WLAN chip operating at 60GHz, but is having trouble finding the venture capital needed to commercialise the product. Meanwhile US company SiBeam claims to be the only company producing 60GHz chips able to deliver "high quality lossless 1080p full HD video." These operate on the WirelessHD standard developed by the WirlessHD consortium set up in 2006 and of which Sibeam is a founding member.

Sibeam has just unveiled its second generation 60GHz chipset, claiming that "Major technical breakthroughs in the new chipsets...serve to boost and simplify customer equipment manufacturer accessibility and WirelessHD product development."

According to Sibeam "the second generation consists of low cost, low power transmitter and receiver chipsets, each including an RF IC and network processor...[These] may be designed into devices such as A/V receivers, home theatre-in-a-box systems, Blu-ray players, set-top-boxes and media centre PCs....[and] used in digital televisions, monitors and front projectors."

It cites key features of the new chips as being: prices low enough to allow inclusion in mass market products, low power consumption, 3D video support and a small form factor "suitable for inclusion in super slim DTV panels and smaller profile devices, such as Blu-ray players and notebook PCs."

Sibeam claims that its chipsets "offer data rates 20 times faster than other available options and remain the only wireless technology that can achieve 4Gbps over the air."