BusinessWire
March 07, 2006 05:00 AM US Pacific Timezone

WiQuest Unveils New Wireless PCI Express Mini Card Based on Certified Wireless USB; New Reference Design Kit to Aid Designers in Building Complete DWA, HWA Solutions

ALLEN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2006--WiQuest Communications, Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company developing complete WiMedia-based Ultrawideband (UWB) solutions, today announced availability of its third reference design kit that provides breakthrough wireless performance with standard WiMedia data rates from 53 Mbps to 480 Mbps. The new reference design kit is the market's first wireless USB product based on Certified Wireless USB from the USB Implementers Forum in the form of a PCI Express mini card.

This new PCI Express mini card reference design incorporates WiQuest's WQST110/101 ultrawideband chipset which enables equipment manufacturers to build complete Device Wire Adapter (DWA) and/or Host Wire Adapter (HWA) solutions from a single chipset. WiQuest's USB PCI Express mini card reference design enables manufacturers to build more than just a standard Host Wired Adapter (HWA). When coupled with WiQuest's Wireless USB Adapter, Wireless USB Hub or another Wireless USB PCI Express mini card on the device side, the PCI Express mini card hardware and software provides a complete, highly-integrated, end-to-end solution. The PCI Express mini card based on Certified Wireless USB will be available from leading PC manufacturers in 2006.

"We are extremely pleased with the strong customer and industry response to our WQST110/101 chipset," commented Dr. Matthew Shoemake, WiQuest founder, CEO and president. "Due to its advanced architecture, capabilities and features, we are experiencing significant demand for our chipset in a wide variety of aftermarket and embedded applications. The PCI Express mini card form factor is especially suited for mobile platform applications where build-to-order flexibility is a requirement by manufacturers."

The reference design kit includes hardware and software including schematics, layout source files, a detailed bill-of-material, design manual, user's guide and a quick-start guide. Depending upon the particular configuration, the software package includes Host Wire Adapter (HWA) and Device Wire Adapter (DWA) driver/firmware. It also includes a Microsoft Windows-based utility which supports device discovery, field upgrade functionality, comprehensive diagnostics and the newly-defined wireless USB association models.

In the past three months, WiQuest has announced the availability of its WQST110/101 chipset, evaluation kit and three wireless USB reference design kits to enable rapid integration of UWB technology. WiQuest recently announced the availability of its WQST110 and WQST101 chipset, the industry's leading and most integrated high-performance UWB solution. The WQST110 includes a WiMedia-based UWB media access controller (MAC), physical layer (PHY) baseband processor and integrated USB 2.0 high-speed transceiver thereby making the solution cost-effective, compact and efficient. The WQST101 is a direct conversion UWB RF transceiver. In addition to the new chipset, WiQuest also announced the availability of the WQST100EVK system evaluation kit.

In January, WiQuest subsequently announced the availability of two additional reference design kits also based on the Certified Wireless USB technology. The 4-port wireless USB Hub and wireless USB Adapter reference design kits were the first in a series of reference design kits, including the new PCI Express mini card, that are planned for 2006.

About WiQuest Communications

WiQuest Communications, Inc. is a privately held fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and supplies complete ultrawideband solutions to PC, consumer electronics and mobile systems companies worldwide. The company builds leading-edge products for high-speed wireless communications using the WiMedia common radio platform.

Founded in September 2003, WiQuest continues to build on its strong team comprised of semiconductor and system design veterans from companies including Alantro Communications, Nokia, Qualcomm, IBM, Motorola, Freescale, Toshiba, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments and others. The background of this organization includes hundreds of years of collective industry semiconductor and system experience, resulting in dozens of successful high-volume product implementations from Ethernet switches to DSL chipsets and wireless LAN solutions. WiQuest employees are recognized not only from their industry backgrounds but also from their visibility and leadership in standards and regulatory work, including the IEEE, the Wi-Fi Alliance and the WiMedia Alliance