Startup upgrades 4x4 Wi-Fi chips

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Quantenna Communications has doubled throughput and shrunk to two chips its high-end 802.11n chip set amid increasing competition. The QHS710 supports 4x4 MIMO signaling at 5 GHz to deliver a 600 Mbits/second at the physical layer.

The startup has gained design wins at a time when existing players are both playing catch up and planning leapfrog moves. In June, Atheros Communications rolled out a single-chip supporting 3x3 MIMO claiming 450 Mbits/s throughput. Meanwhile 802.11ac and WiGig Alliance members are planning Gbit/s level products.

The QHS700 family is aimed at wired products such as set-tops and routers. It maintains the same power consumption levels as the startup's previous products which are being used by NetGear and others.

Motorola will use the new chip in its VAP2400 Video Access Bridge for sending high and standard definition video throughout a home. The QHS710 uses 20 and 40 MHz channels compared to products expected late this year or early in 2012 based on the .11ac standard which can use up to 80 MHz channels.

"The 80 MHz bandwidth reduces the number of available Wi-Fi channels, so you may run into more interference issues," said Sam Heidari, chief executive of Quantenna.

The 60 GHz technology of the WiGig Alliance typically will be confined to use within a single room. Heidari said the QHS710 delivers more than 200 Mbit/s data rates at distances greater than 200 feet.

Quantenna has raised $90 million in venture funds to date, $25 million of it in a recent Series E round. It expects to hit its breakeven point in 2012.