PulseLink, the Kuwaiti-backed wireless start-up which can run ultra-wideband (UWB) signals over coaxial cable, powerlines or wireless, is prepared to license its technology while the UWB chipset market takes time to develop.

“We’re prepared to license all our technology," Bruce Watkins, co-founder, president and chief operating officer of PulseLink, told Electronics Weekly.

“We may be first to market, and establish a lead [PulseLink’s first silicon is due this quarter] but, in the end, you have to be part of a market with competitors.

"We have to enable the competition. We don’t need to own it all. We’d be happy with five per cent of the market. Five per cent will make us a Wall Street darling," Watkins said.

Watkins acknowledged that there are “a number of gating factors” postponing take-off in the UWB market. He points to the need to establish protocols and standards and to the two to three years it will take to see 40Gbit/s in portable devices.

“There’s a grand future for UWB," said Watkins, “but those taking on the market need to find ways to make money before all these things get here.”

Joe Adams, vice-president for business development at SkyWorks Solutions, agreed with Watkins. “There are only a few places where people will make money," said Adams. “VCs will be expecting revenues from trade sales to large companies rather than IPOs.”

Agreeing with Adams, Richard Clemmer, CEO of Agere Systems, said: “We are uniquely positioned to act as an integrator”. Watkins responded: “We didn’t found this company to sell it.”

PulseLink has raised $47m in venture capital, all from Kuwaiti backers. Its first chipset, due out by the end of this month, will be manufactured by two foundries. The RF chip is being made by Jazz Semiconductor, the baseband by TSMC.

www.agere.com
www.pulselink.net
www.skyworksinc.com