Former Cubie in the news...
Prakash Bhalerao
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HiQ unlocks home-gateway IC
Mark LaPedus
12/13/1999
Electronic Buyers' News
Page 38
Copyright 1999 CMP Publications Inc.
Silicon Valley- As part of its informal "coming out party" at the HomeNet '99 conference in Miami two weeks ago, start-up HiQ Networks Inc. offered a sneak preview of what it says is the first chip designed specifically for the emerging residential-gateway market.
The RISC-based integrated chip will enable OEMs to develop residential-gateway products at prices below $100, according to Greg Gum, vice president of business development at Santa Clara, Calif.-based HiQ, in a presentation at the Miami conference.
"What we've developed is a gateway-on-a-chip to help propel [the residential-gateway market]," Gum said.
HiQ-a fabless IC-design house founded about 18 months ago by former executives of C - Cube , National Semiconductor, and other companies-is one of a number of chip makers and OEMs rushing to develop products for residential gateways, a market that is expected to hit sales of $7.5 billion by 2003, according to Gum.
A residential gateway, which resembles a hybrid set-top-box/modem/LAN system, is geared to connect a WAN to a LAN-based home network. In its basic form, a gateway combines a digital-modem card, home-networking chip, proc- essor, and other circuitry in the same box.
The gateway enables e-mail, the Internet, and other broadband services to be delivered to the home via a cable modem or digital subscriber line modem. The data is then distributed to two or more PCs, information appliances, or other household systems via a home network, which can be a LAN or wireless-based scheme.
Some gateway products are targeting home-automation applications. Add-on cards can be inserted in a gateway to monitor several functions in the home, such as security via a private company or electricity via a public utility.
But home automation has not yet proven to be a viable concept, and manufacturers and carriers are focusing more of their attention on residential-gateway products that can enable a new class of consumer broadband services.
Motorola Inc., for example, recently announced a deal with Proxim Inc., under which Motorola will install Proxim's wireless-LAN products in its cable modems.
Proxim's wireless-LAN devices are based on the HomeRF standard, which enables data to move across two or more PCs and other applications over a 2-Mbit/s home network.
Ericsson, Philips, 3Com, and other OEMs are also in various stages of developing home-gateway products. And carrier Sprint has developed a proprietary residential-gateway product to propel its broadband-service network to consumers.
Hoping to lower the cost of the residential gateway, HiQ has developed a chip that combines a RISC processor, DSP, and other functions on the same device.
"We're not using a general-purpose DSP,'' Gum said pointedly. "Instead, we're using a fixed-point DSP.''
The start-up's chip is the engine that translates signals from the WAN to the LAN. On the WAN side, HiQ's IC supports several broadband systems such as ATM, cable modem, and DSL. On the LAN side, the IC supports a variety of home-networking chips, USB, and other functions. It also supports IP routing, virtual private networks, and firewall security.
HiQ, which will begin sampling its gateway-on-a-chip early next year, will disclose more details about the product in the near future, Gum said.
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HiQ Networks At A Glance
Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.
Established: May 1998
President/CEO: Prakash Bhalerao
Employees: 100
Major product: Gateway-on-a-chip
December 13, 1999
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