Toronto startup to enable wireless home gateways supporting multiple devices

Toronto-based startup is prepararing to unveil details of a new chip set that can turn digital set-top boxes into home gateways capable of wirelessly streaming broadcast-quality video to TVs, PCs and other wireless devices within the home. ViXS Systems Inc. has developed a chip set that helps create a wireless home-based Internet Protocol (IP) network, which promises to connect multiple devices using 802.11a and 802.11b wireless standards. Formed in January 2001 and with personnel formerly of Motorola Inc., Pixstream, Cisco Systems Inc. and Scientific Atlanta, among other technology companies, the firm is only now emerging from stealth mode to tout the benefits of its enabling technology. ViXS’ chip set is made up of an MPEG chip, a communications or radio chip and a software band allocator. ViXS showed the potential promise of its technology during a demonstration in Toronto for select analysts and media earlier this year. The company distributed broadcast-quality video over an 802.11b (Wi-Fi) network to a dozen web pads and PDAs at distances from the access point of up to 125 ft. Wi-Fi networks are growing in popularity as airports, hotels and other public spaces are racing to provide Internet access to the public. According to a recent In-Stat/MDR research report, shipments of chip sets for wireless local area networks, which includes the 802.11b standard, are expected to rise 75 per cent this year compared to last year’s shipments. ViXS is hoping to break into both the cable set-top box market and the consumer electronics market by signing integration agreements with the manufacturers. ViXS has already inked several deals in both spaces, but won’t make details of them public until next month when the company plans to announce chip set sampling. Roy Stewart, ViXS’ senior VP corporate development, says the problem with delivering broadcast-quality digital video over IP networks has been the inability to fit the video signal through available channels. The company’s software application can manage the delivery of content to more than one device by monitoring and managing the network, he explains. "We’ve been able to solve that problem for in-home or local area network distribution," he tells Report on Wireless. "The xcode IC (integrated circuit) we’ve created can actually rate groom the video to fit through whatever available channel there is in the home (network)." While the company hopes to get into both the set-top box and consumer electronics market, Stewart says the real goal of ViXS is to be in the digital TV game. "We think the real sweet spot for our technology is when everything goes digital," he explains. "As everything goes digital, we can then just take that digital signal coming into the home and re-distribute it from access point to multiple devices." With digital cable services still in their infancy, Stewart admits that the company will be in the consumer electronics space long before entering the cable and direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV markets. "We will be in commercial deployment much sooner in traditional commercial settings, office settings, well before I think we’re going to be in commercial deployment within cable and satellite," he says. But it seems as though the cable industry is already expressing some interest in ViXS’ technology. Last week, ViXS appointed Alek Krstajic, Rogers Cable Inc. senior VP of sales, marketing and product development, to its board of directors. The cable and DTH industry has long talked about offering a shared personal video recorder experience for its customers. ViXS denied any implication that Rogers was already on board with the technology. "(Krstajic) joining the board implies Rogers’ commitment to ViXS, but there are no public agreements," says ViXS’ public relations representative Ian Yellin. "But we hope to have that by the end of Q4 as well."

Toronto startup to enable wireless home gateways supporting multiple devices

News | 09/03/2002 4:00 am EDT

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