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BitWave Semiconductor of Boston, which has developed a software reconfigurable front-end for mobile phones, MIDs and femtocells, has raised another $10m.

“It’s there to support our move into production,” Erik Org, business development manager at BitWave, told EW, “we hope to be in production by the end of the year. We have not announced any customers yet, but hope to do so by the end of the year.”

First customers are likely to be in the infrastructure end of the wireless industry rather than the handset end. The chip is made in 130nm digital CMOS.

"The funding will be used to realize commercialisation of BitWave's BW1102 Softransceive RFIC as the BW1102 moves into full volume production during Q4/2008 for fulfillment of initial supply contracts," said the company’s official announcement.

BitWave partnered with PicoChip of Bath to develop a software defined radio (SDR) board for performing both the RF front end and baseband processing functions for a femtocell. The board works with frequencies from 500MHz to 5GHz for any standard.

BitWave's own development work has focused on developing a universal programmable transceiver which can be software programmed to work at any frequency, any bandwidth and for any wireless protocol.

"This funding will enable BitWave to fulfil our initial supply agreements, and to add to our customer base and partner programs in the coming months," said Dr. Michael Farese, Bitwave CEO.

The financing was provided by BitWave's existing investors: Apex Venture Partners, TVM Capital, and ECentury Capital Partners.

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