Atheros teams with Wilocity; leading $20m round

The two companies will develop the next generation of wireless communications solutions.

15 July 10 09:57, Shmulik Shelah

Israeli company Wilocity, which develops 60 GHz multi-gigabit wireless chipsets for the mobile computing, consumer electronics and peripheral markets, is to collaborate with Atheros Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHR). The companies say that they will build tri-band wireless solutions that combine the ubiquity and coverage of Wi-Fi with the multi-gigabit performance of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance’s 60 GHz technology. According to the two companies. such “tri-band” capabilities will enhance the performance and functionality of wireless devices to enable a variety of new computing and entertainment applications.

Sources inform "Globes" that Atheros is also leading a $20 million investment round in Wilocity. This is Wilocity's third round of fund raising. Wilocity's existing investors, Sequoia, Benchmark, and Tallwood, are also participating in the round. Including the current round, the company has raised some $47 million. As far as is known, this is the first investment by Atheros in an Israeli company.

Atheros and Wilocity are jointly developing tri-band solutions based on both the IEEE 802.11n standard and the new WiGig multi-gigabit wireless specification. By integrating and optimizing Wi-Fi and WiGig solutions, the two companies aim to accelerate the design of tri-band wireless products and enable the next-generation wireless ecosystem.

“Wilocity is taking its breakthrough 60 GHz technology and combining it with the industry’s most widely adopted Wi-Fi technology,” said Wilocity CEO and co-founder Tal Tamir, CEO. “Atheros is the leading innovator in Wi-Fi technology. As fellow visionaries in the future of Wi-Fi technology, our partnership will make tri-band wireless networking a reality for consumers.”

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 15, 2010

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