XtremeSpectrum Inc. used ultra wideband (UWB) technology today to demonstrate the “video quality” of its new Trinity chipset. The Trinity chipset is a wireless semiconductor solution designed specifically for consumer applications. The company stated that it broadcast six video streams in MPEG2 format to six separate flat panel displays simultaneously across a room using a single ultra-wideband connection. The company did not supply data regarding the transmission distance achieved in the test. XtremeSpectrum also reported that conditions for the test included the simultaneous operation of an 802.11b system, a microwave oven, a cellular/PCS phone and a cordless phone.
“Since our announcement of the industry’s first ultra-wideband product last month, the response to Trinity has been tremendous,” said Martin Rofheart, CEO of XtremeSpectrum. “With six simultaneous streams of video, this demonstration is intended to showcase not only the high performance capabilities of our ultra-wideband product, but Trinity’s ability to co-exist with systems and products in the popular 2.4 GHz and PCS/cellular ranges found in most homes today. And, not only does Trinity co-exist with these various technologies, but the video remains unperturbed despite moving people, furniture and walls, all of which are factors in a typical residential scenario. Based on this demonstration, we believe ultra-wideband will become the pervasive wireless technology for consumer connectivity applications.”
Held at the Argent Hotel in San Francisco, the company said the demo represents the first time a UWB chipset has been shown in a commercial communications application. The Trinity chipset was introduced in June. It is XtremeSpectrum’s first UWB product and, according to the company, the industry’s first commercial unlicensed UWB silicon solution. The Trinity chipset solution provided an aggregate data rate of 100 Mbps, the company said – with each MPEG-2 stream running at up to 12 Mbps.
“Our goal with Trinity has been to achieve wire-like viewing quality, while still meeting the extremely low power consumption specifications of the consumer electronics manufacturers,” said John McCorkle, chief technology officer at XtremeSpectrum. “We are very pleased with the performance of the Trinity chipset and, as important, we are proud of our engineering team for executing on XtremeSpectrum’s vision to create a high speed, low power, low cost wireless solution for multimedia-centric applications.”
Digital video transmissions use MPEG-2 for encoding and require up to 12 Mbps to broadcast the video. In addition, higher rate encoding standards such as HDTV and MPEG-2HD (High Definition) use higher rate transmissions in excess of 20 Mbps per video stream. Leading DVD companies have stated that they are moving to MPEG-2HD, underscoring the need for a wireless home technology that can deliver extremely high bandwidth for multiple channels of digital video transmission.
According to the Consumer Electronics Association of America, DVD equipment sales for North America are forecasted to reach approximately 17 million units in 2003, representing a significant market opportunity for wireless connectivity solutions.
XtremeSpectrum stated that it is demonstrating its product to show that its Trinity chipset is uniquely suited to deliver the high data rates and wire-like video/audio quality that the home market demands for wireless connectivity solutions. XtremeSpectrum has stated it will deliver its Trinity chipset as a physical layer evaluation kit to OEMs of consumer electronics, display, computer, and peripheral products beginning this quarter. Commercial production is scheduled for mid 2003, and, based on customer input, end user consumer electronics products leveraging Trinity are then expected as early as Christmas 2003. Pricing for the Trinity chipset is $19.95 each in quantities of 100,000+.