Pulse~Link secures $30m UWB funding

WLAN, cable and power line initiatives

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Wireless, 4th May 2004 14:41 GMT

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Pulse~Link, the San Diego UltraWideBand outfit pioneering UWB implementation across WLANs and via cable TV networks and power lines, has secured $30m to continue work on this "Software Defined Cognitive Radio Ultra Wideband solution".

The company raised the funds through an institutional private placement led by Mobile Telecommunications Company, and will now pursue its longer-range UWB communications development designed to push the technology beyond the 10-metre, single-room strategies of its competitors.

Pulse~Link's initial goal is home networking for CE devices using UWB's high-speed, low power consumption for wired/wireless transmission of data, audio and video - including multiple High Definition TV streams.

UWB has faced some troublesome impediments to adoption, not least the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) restrictions on the power and the spectrum adopted for fear its modulated pulses of energy would interfere with other existing waveforms such as satellite, radio and Wi-Fi.

However, last October Pulse~Link demonstrated a UWB wireless transceiver showing an unprecedented 125 Megabits per second data rate at 20 meters while remaining compliant with FCC power and spectrum regulations.

Pulse~Link has also had success in transmitting UWB via co-axial cable. Its "over-wire" technology is claimed to provide "up to 1.2 Gigabits downstream and up to 480 Megabits upstream of additional bandwidth".

It expects delivery of its first test chips in May and commercial roll-out by mid-2005. ®