Artimi Announces Development of Single-Chip UWB Solution with Dual-Mode Wireless and Powerline Capability

Demonstrates Patented Ultra Wideband Over Powerline Technology

6 Jan 2005

Santa Clara, Calif. and Cambridge, UK - January 6, 2005 - Artimi Inc., a fabless semiconductor company developing Ultra Wideband (UWB) silicon solutions, announced today that it is demonstrating its patented dual-mode UWB technology in a UWB over powerline demonstration during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week.

Artimi further announced that the patented dual-mode wireless and powerline capability will be delivered in the industry's first single monolithic chip UWB device, the RTMI-100, in 180nm SiGe BiCMOS. The digital portion of the device is implemented in CMOS and the high frequency section is implemented in SiGe. Samples of this product will be available Q2 2005.

The RTMI-100 can be used in either wireless or powerline systems. Artimi has developed low cost reference antennas for wireless applications. Artimi has also developed an innovative system whereby UWB pulses are coupled onto wiring such as mains power cables using a low cost patented coupling device.

Artimi's UWB over Powerline Demonstrator System shows the capabilities of this technology using a specially designed demonstrator platform. The digital sections of the RTMI 100 have been implemented in an FPGA on a PCI board. The high frequency section of Artimi’s RTMI-100 has been implemented using discrete components on a second PCI board. Both boards are mounted in a PC such that powerline communication can be established between two of these PCs using a pair of 4-way mains power cable blocks. Artimi has developed standard windows networking drivers for use with the RTMI-100 solution, and these are implemented on this demonstrator system without modification.

Gillian Ewers, Director Product Marketing, Artimi said, “Our demonstration system is a complete discrete implementation of the RTMI-100 chip. The RTMI-100 will be capable of transmission at up to 800Mb/s with complete conformance to the FCC emission regulations. We believe this will be the first single chip complete UWB solution, delivering unrivalled cost and performance. Our patented UWB over powerline technology allows access to places that other technologies can't reach, such as through foil lined walls. Applications include video and data transmission in the home, office and industrial applications.”

Artimi will be holding exclusive demonstrations of their UWB over Powerline Demonstrator System for select customers during CES this week in Las Vegas.

Filed: Jan 2005, Demos, Press, Co: Artimi, Tech: None