IBM and MediaTek launch joint wireless initiative

mmWave technology to free your home from cables

23 October 2007 16:07 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

IBM and MediaTek have launched a joint initiative to develop ultra fast chipsets that can wirelessly transmit a full-length high definition movie to and from a home PC, hand-held device, retail kiosk or television set "nearly as fast as a viewer can push their remote control".

A sort of competitor to the WirelessHD standard, the new technology will allow consumers to rid their homes of the wires needed to connect their HD-TVs to set top boxes and allow devices to be placed anywhere that's convenient.

Both companies will combine their expertise in millimeter wave (mmWave) radio technology - the highest frequency portion of the radio spectrum where massive amounts of information can be sent quickly - and digital chipsets to create revolutionary multimedia wireless products.

The large bandwidth for data transmission available at the mmWave frequency band enables at least 100 times higher data rates than current Wi-Fi standards.

For example, you could upload a 10 gigabyte file in five seconds with the new technology versus 10 minutes using current Wi-Fi technology.

mmWave wireless technology can be widely used at home and office for applications such as multimedia content downloads or uncompressed HDTV streaming from your DVD player. You could wirelessly download and synchronize iPod-like devices with music and videos in seconds.

"This collaborative effort will enable consumers to wirelessly transfer large multimedia data files around their home and/or offices in seconds", said Dr. T.C. Chen, vice president, science and technology, IBM Research.

"This will enable a world where you can have your entertainment when you want and where you want it."