NEC Electronics has began sample shipment of the first system LSI chip compatible with the new Certified Wireless USB interface standard.

Certified Wireless USB is a wireless extension to USB that combines the speed and security of wired technology with the ease-of-use of wireless technology. It utilizes the common WiMedia MB-OFDM Ultra-wideband (UWB) radio platform developed by the WiMedia Alliance. Certified Wireless USB performance is designed to reach 480Mbps at 3 meters and 110Mbps at 10 meters.

NEC's μPD720170 host controller enables high-speed, wireless data transmission between PCs, peripheral devices such as printers and external storage, and consumer electronics such as digital cameras. The device offers data transfer rates as high as 480 megabits per second at a range of 3 meters, while eliminating the need for wires.

The μPD720170 host controller supports eight data tranfer rates from 53.3 to 480 Mbps, four data transfer types (control, bulk data, interrupt data, and isochronous transfer), and can connect up to 32 physical devices at a time. It is compliant with the WiMedia MAC and WiMedia MAC-PHY interface specifications, as well as the wireless host controller interface (WHCI) standard promoted by Intel. To facilitate development of Certified Wireless USB applications based on the μPD720170 host controller, NEC Electronics will also provide reference boards in collaboration with several ultra-wideband (UWB) PHY chip manufacturers in the second quarter of 2006.

The μPD720170 host controller will be on display January 5-8, 2006 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the NEC Electronics America exhibit.

Samples of the μPD720170 host controller are now available, and volume production is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2006.