Wilocity
Wilocity was a fabless semiconductor company based in California founded in 2007 developing 60 GHz multi-gigabit wireless chipsets for both the mobile computing platform and peripheral markets. Wilocity was founded in March 2007 by executives and engineers from Intel's Wi-Fi Centrino group. While Wilocity is based in California, most of its employees are in Israel. Based on the WiGig specification, Wilocity's Wireless PCI Express (wPCIe) technology enables multi-gigabit wireless for applications including I/O, networking and video.
Type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Founded | 2007 |
Parent | Qualcomm/Qualcomm Atheros |
Website | www.wilocity.com |
The company is involved in 60 GHz multi-gigabit wireless industry organizations. Wilocity was a founding member of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) and serves on its board of directors and chairs the Marketing Work Group.[1] Wilocity initiated the creation of the IEEE 802.11 ad Task Group, which enhances the 802.11n wireless LAN standard to multi-gigabit-per-second speeds in the 60 GHz band. In addition, Wilocity led the creation of the Wi-Fi Alliance 60 GHz Gigabit Wireless Marketing Task Group and serves as its Chair.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
On July 14, 2010 Wilocity and Atheros, a developer of semiconductors for network communications, announced a technology partnership to build a “tri-band wireless solution.” Tri-band devices will leverage the 2.4, 5 and 60 GHz bands, delivering multi-gigabit data transfer speeds while maintaining compatibility with legacy Wi-Fi products.[8]
On May 12, 2014, ZDNet reported that Qualcomm was on the brink of acquiring Wilocity. According to financial website TheMarker, Qualcomm's potential acquisition could cost the company up to $400 million.[9]
On 3 July 2014 the successful purchase was announced, Wilocity now being part of Qualcomm Atheros. The triple-band-WLAN-chip Snapdragon 810 was also announced.[10]
References
- "WiGig Homepage". WiGig.org.
- WiGig Alliance completes multi-gigabit 60GHz wireless specification: let the streaming begin. Engadget, December 10, 2010
- WiGig group finalizes new wireless standard. CNET News, December 11, 2010
- WiGig Fast Wireless Group Finishes Standard. PC World, December 10, 2009
- WiGig Alliance Finalizes Spec, Tri-Band Wi-Fi in 2010?. PC Mag, December 10, 2009
- WiGig group gives first peak at 60 GHz spec. EE Times, December 10, 2009
- WiGig Completes Wireless Specification. Information Week, December 10, 2009
- Atheros and Wilocity Partner to Build Tri-Band Wireless Solutions that Combine Wi-Fi and WiGig Technologies. Business Wire, July 14, 2010
- Qualcomm to acquire high-speed chipmaker Wilocity: report. ZDNet, May 12, 2014
- "Qualcomm kauft Wilocity für Triple-Band-WLAN-Lösungen" (in German). 2014-07-03.