Xintronix, the UK start-up specialising in ultra-high-speed equalising receivers, is initially going for USB 3.0, but then sees PCI Express as the next market.
So the company's first product is targeted at 5Gbit/sec which meets the USB 3.0 spec, and the second product is targeted sat 8Gbit/sec which is the PCI Express specification.
The USB 3.0 speed is a massive jump from the 480Mbit/sec spec of USB 2.0. However Xintronix reckons it will have the best performing IC on the market at 5Gbits/sec.
"We're working on the architecture, and the algorithms, and it will be the best performing product in the industry," Nick Weiner, founder of Xintronix and vice president of engineering, told Electronics Weekly.
"You measure performance by two things: how much noise and cross-talk are interfering with the signal, and how bad can the channel be?"
The better the performance of the IC, the cheaper and lower quality the cables and connectors can be, so Weiner's two measures are the keys to the Xintronix product's market acceptability.
He is confident he can produce a significantly better product than anyone else. How can he be so certain? "Because we are recruiting the best RF team in this area on the planet", said Weiner.
Xintronix has got four out of the seven people it needs for its design team and is "recruiting across the planet", to get the other three, according to Weiner, using recruitment agencies and word of mouth.
Xintronix reckons it will take nine to ten months to get to tape-out and that will cost £2m, and they'll need £3m to get working parts.
When asked how they could produce a chip so relatively inexpensively, Xintronix CEO Steve Cliffe replied: "It's not a huge amount of digital, it's a lot of analogue." Nonetheless, Xintronix will be making the chip in an advanced 65nm process to keep the power down.
"We're talking to customers", said Cliffe, "we're talking to about six USB customers about the product, and we're also in discussion with them about raising money."
Xintronix is also in discussions with venture capitalists and angel investors.
See also: Mannerisms, the blog of David Manners. Updated twice daily, it's the distinctive, entertaining, authoritative and never dull commentary on the semiconductor industry, from someone who knows. Sign up for the Mannerisms eNewsletter.