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CamilleK
I agree with phoenixdave, HD WiFi will be huge. I might add it will allow ...
phoenixdave
I think the availability of HD WiFi would be a huge market. Transmission of HD ...
HD-over-Wi-Fi startup raises $21 million
Peter Clarke
9/27/2010 5:01 AM EDT
LONDON – Quantenna Communications Inc., a developer of silicon for wireless networking that adds beamforming to the 802.11n wireless standard to deliver guaranteed bandwidth, has raised $21 million in a Series E round of financing just six months after the company closed a $15 million D round.
The latest round was led by new investor DAG Ventures, with participation from the existing investors Sequoia Capital, Sigma Partners, Southern Cross Venture Partners, and Venrock Associates.
The money will be used to accelerate the deployment of 4 x 4 MIMO 802.11n Wi-Fi chipsets through carriers and retail channels worldwide, Quantenna (Fremont, Calif.) said.
In addition to incorporating all specifications of the IEEE802.11n standard including 4 x 4 MIMO, the chipset incorporates extensions to the IEEE802.11n standard including dynamic digital beamforming, wireless channel monitoring and optimization. These features enable Wi-Fi home networks to deliver the same quality as wired Ethernet while guaranteeing compatibility with existing and future IEEE 802.11n-compliant products.
The company's Full-11n chipsets allow the distribution of multiple high-definition (HD) video streams throughout the home at full, 1080p resolution.
"Quantenna's unique video-over-Wi-Fi value proposition has broad and growing appeal, and the company is poised to scale revenue as leading service providers launch advanced video offerings, worldwide," said Nicholas Pianim, managing director with DAG Ventures, who joins Quantenna's board of directors.
"802.11n technology will play a critical role in the broad adoption of Internet-enabled living room devices that we forecast to grow at a 34.1 percent CAGR to 430 million units in 2014; up from 99.3 million in 2009," said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for consumer platforms, with market research firm iSuppli Corp. (El Segundo, Calif.) "Successful deployment of Internet-enabled TVs, video game consoles and set-top boxes requires a network capable of reaching any point in the home with ultra-high reliability, performance and low latency, with bandwidth and levels of Quality of Service sufficient for high-definition video. Advancements in 802.11n technology will position this approach to become a leader in home multimedia networks."
Related links and articles:
News articles:
Beamforming Wi-Fi startup raises $15 million
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elctrnx_lyf
9/27/2010 9:35 AM EDT
There is still a lot of market for the in house wireless video trasmission which require high bandwidth for the HD. I wish the chipset with MIMO capability will be soon relased and can be integrated into the consumer devices such as laptops and high end smart phones.
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bobbytsai
9/27/2010 11:49 AM EDT
ViXS Systems had stuff 6-7 years back, Amimon has a solution. for products, look for Monsoon Multimedia on Amazon. Friend has one loves it.
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selinz
9/27/2010 12:05 PM EDT
What I don't understand is why something that seems to be a relatively modest improvement on already available technology is enough to convince investers in a startup. The in-home market is highly price sensitive and thus, will require significant market share. Perhaps there's something there that is not being made public that the investment community is aware of... or perhaps the plan is to feed their technology into the Linksys', Dlinks, and Netgears...
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Tunrayo
9/27/2010 3:51 PM EDT
It really tickles me too, Selinz - I was actually thinking the same thing.
Now Quantenna starts us up on 4x4, then they increase the number of antenna array say every half year, just to get us doling out the money for their products.
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chanj
9/27/2010 12:30 PM EDT
Both VIXS Systems and Amimon are making video transcoding engine; whilst Quantenna Communications is developing beamforming technology for home use. Beamforning has been widely applied in cellular tower and satellite industry. It is highly sophisticated and the solution is typical expensive. I am looking forward to the cost of the solution provided by Quantenna Communications.
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eewiz
9/27/2010 4:38 PM EDT
Honestly, Am a bit skeptical about the commercial success. There is atleast 5 chip companies I can think of who developed wireless HD video streaming chipsets and never succeeded(Not including all the failed WiMedia UWB companies). Ofcourse this one has a better chance, since they use existing WiFi n/ws. But then I suspect the HD streaming can be done only over the same company chipset, ie no interoperability with other company wifi chipsets.
IMO WiGig Alliance chipsets will be the ones to look for.
Btw I am surprised to see a top VC like Sequoia investing in a semi startup. Somehow these days most of the top VCs are after internet businesses only.
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Frank Eory
9/27/2010 7:35 PM EDT
I share your skepticism, considering that 802.11n routers go for about $50. High volume, low-margin consumer is a tough business to be in for a startup.
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phoenixdave
9/28/2010 12:03 AM EDT
I think the availability of HD WiFi would be a huge market. Transmission of HD video via wireless has been pretty much impossible due to the huge bandwidth required. If that can be solved, you can transmit an HD video signal from a single source to multiple tv receivers, eliminating the need for any internal cabling within the home. It would provide the same flexibility to HD video that is currently present with computer WiFi networks.
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CamilleK
9/29/2010 11:37 PM EDT
I agree with phoenixdave, HD WiFi will be huge. I might add it will allow multiple sources to multiple receivers. I will finally be able to watch simultaneously all NFL games streaming on multiple displays with no wires. High volume low margin is still good money. Now how do we fix the attention deficit that comes with that..??
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