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Home > Plugged In > Archives > 2007 > October > 22 > Entry
Here comes wireless video — fast
IBM Corp. plans to announce Monday it is teaming up with a Taiwanese company to develop and sell ultra-fast microprocessor chipsets that can wirelessly transmit high-definition video between computers, televisions and other devices in a fraction of the time it takes today.
Based on IBM’s technology, the tiny chipsets made by partner MediaTek Inc. can transfer up to 10 gigabytes of video or other media between devices in about five seconds, versus 10 minutes using current wireless technology, according to the companies.
As consumers increasingly turn to the Internet as a source for movies and television shows, and wireless networks become more prevalent in homes, finding a way to move large video files around the home wirelessly is one of the biggest problems facing tech and entertainment companies.
“The idea is to replace those bulky cables in the house,” said Mehmet Soyuer, a lead researcher in IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., which developed the technology.
IBM solution to replace all those cables used to connect computers, high-definition TV sets and cable set-top boxes comes in a very tiny package. Using a technology called silicon germanium, IBM expects to be able to mass-produce chips smaller than a dime that can be integrated into those devices.
IBM announced it had developed the technology behind the chips in February 2006. But it still needed a chipmaker to build and mass-produce the rest of the system-on-a-chip. That’s the role of MediaTek, which makes and sells TVs and DVD players and supplies parts to other electronics companies worldwide.
According to Soyuer, chips developed through the partnership could hit the market within three years. They’ll likely add $50 to $100 to the price of a device such as a television set or computer, he said.
IBM isn’t the only company working on ways to move video faster around the home. Intel Corp., Texas Instruments Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., as well as other semiconductor makers, also are working on wireless chip solutions aimed at the home entertainment market.
IBM claims its new “millimeter wave” radio technology is the best for moving data quickly, however.
With IBM’s technology, data is transferred at super-high portions of the radio frequency — 60 gigahertz instead of the typical 2.4 gigahertz used by wireless home networks or cordless phones today, Soyuer explained.
By using the highest frequency portion of the unlicensed radio spectrum that can be used for data transfer, IBM’s chipsets can move data at rates 100 times faster than current Wi-Fi standards, comparable to transfers over wires or cables, he said.
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