WiQuest adds video support to Wireless USB
By Maury Wright, Editor in Chief -- EDN, December 19, 2006
For months now, rarely a week has passed when one Wireless USB player or another hasn't touted a chip compatible with the specifications that WiMedia Alliance has shepherded. Based on UWB (ultrawideband) technology, broadly shipping Wireless USB products should hit the shelves in the first quarter of this year. After what seems like years waiting for the technology, you should expect a number of product announcements at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show), which will take place on Jan 8 to 11 in Las Vegas. Most of the recent buzz has been posturing about compliance with WiMedia standards. WiQuest, however, appears to be moving ahead with real products. The company has been on the forefront of FCC certification with its silicon. It recently received the alliance's certification for a Wireless USB-hub reference design. Although the end-product maker must ultimately earn certification, having the chip company go through the process with a reference design greatly eases the burden on the end-product manufacturer. Moreover, in mid-December, the company announced a video-enabled addition to its chip family.
The new chip set, WiDV (wireless digital video), enables in-room distribution of video, along with general Wireless USB capabilities. WiQuest's ICs support 1-Gbps data rates, which exceed the 480-Mbps rates that the Wireless USB standard specifies. Further, the company has added a proprietary video-compression capability to the latest WQUST100 chip set. Those features combine to enable transmission of HDTV-quality video over a range of 2 to 3m. The company foresees both PC and living-room applications for the new chip. WiQuest has demonstrated a prototype dock that links to a notebook PC through wireless USB and that also allows remote connection of a monitor. WiQuest does not discuss how the compression scheme works, and, until it ships the product, you might question how they magically added what is admittedly mild four- to eight-times compression at little added cost. The company claims that the bill-of-materials cost for a host-PC implementation will be approximately $30 (10,000).
Meanwhile, other UWB-chip players to watch include Alereon, Tzero Technologies, Staccato Communications, Realtek, and Wisair. All have recently boasted about passing recent WiMedia-certification tests. Wisair ICs enable the first shipping UWB product in what audio and video-accessory supplier Belkin labels a cable-free USB hub. The product is incompatible with the WiMedia-defined Wireless USB standard, however, and at least one early review from Endgadget indicates performance issues, as well.
