The companies plan to build tri-band wireless solutions that combine the ubiquity and coverage of Wi-Fi with the multi-gigabit performance of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance's 60 GHz technology.
According to the two companies, such tri-band capabilities will enhance the performance and functionality of wireless devices to enable a variety of new computing and entertainment applications.
Israel's financial daily Globes reported last month that Atheros is also leading a $20 million investment round in Wilocity, which is likely its first investment in an Israeli company.
This is Wilocity's third round of fund raising and its existing investors Sequoia, Benchmark and Tallwood, are also participating in the round. Including the current round, the company has raised some $47 million.
Atheros and Wilocity are jointly developing tri-band solutions based on both the IEEE 802.11n standard and the new WiGig multi-gigabit wireless specification. By integrating and optimizing Wi-Fi and WiGig solutions, the two companies aim to accelerate the design of tri-band wireless products and enable the next-generation wireless ecosystem." (source)
