Motorola buys mega-fast wireless chip firm

Motorola has bought wireless chipmaker XtremeSpectrum, a move that could let it jump to market with superfast wireless broadband technology - but could also give it a standards headache.

The mobile handset manufacturer said on Monday that it had purchased XtremeSpectrum, but did not disclose financial details of the deal.

Motorola has for some time supported XtremeSpectrum's ultrawideband (UWB) technology, a rival to Bluetooth that is capable of creating wireless connections that transfer data at rates as high as 100MB per second. That's enough to carry bandwidth-hogging video and audio, a characteristic that has led backers to see a future for UWB in stereos, televisions and - ultimately - in handsets, as well as in computers.

Allied Business Intelligence expects the technology that wins the race to be the basis of the UWB standard, which will ultimately generate about $1.39bn in revenue by 2007.

XtremeSpectrum has submitted its technology as a proposed UWB standard to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), but it faces an uphill battle.

The company's sole competition is the MultiBand OFDM Alliance, a group of 34 technology heavyweights that includes newly ensconced member Nokia. The Alliance's proposal won a majority of the votes cast during a recent IEEE UWB task group meeting. The vote, while telling, was inconclusive, since it fell short of the 75 per cent majority required for approval.

The IEEE task group began meeting Monday in New Mexico, and a second vote from its members is expected soon.

Motorola Vice President Omid Tahernia said XtremeSpectrum's chips, the first such silicon to be shipped to manufacturers, will be in products that are scheduled to debut at least two years before those of competitors.

"We have products, we have customer engagement," Tahernia said. "Customers will ultimately vote with their choices, as technology becomes available."

Ben Charny writes for News.com