Strategic corporate partnership aims to accelerate 5G roll-out
A collaboration between ARM and other strategic and private backers, have made a significant investment in Blu Wireless Technology, a supplier of semiconductor and system IP for millimetre wave (mmWave) and high bandwidth wireless communications markets.
This investment will allow the companies’ mutual customers to deploy high performance mmWave and software defined networks (SDN) demanded for the cost effective deployment of the forthcoming 5G standard.
10Gbps-class mmWave modems, based on the Blu Wireless HYDRA baseband technology, are already entering the market and Blu Wireless is a WiGig system IP provider in the semiconductor and systems sector. The funding will allow further development of the Blu Wireless technology for Fixed Wireless Access, 5G and high performance networking infrastructure. It will also align the Blu Wireless mmWave System IP roadmap with the ARM processor and system IP portfolio.
“We are extremely excited by ARM’s investment and our common vision around how next generation wireless networks will be built,” said Henry Nurser, CEO of Blu Wireless Technology. “Underpinned by the level of interest our customers are already experiencing, we anticipate a huge acceleration of deployments of low cost mmWave networks over the next 10 years as operators look to roll-out pre-5G and 5G networks. With ARM’s support, we will continue to develop our sophisticated IP solutions to allow our mutual customers to quickly and cost effectively meet these market needs.”
“The connected world will be made up of a huge diversity of devices and mmWave technology is perfect for those requiring greater bandwidth and faster throughput in environments such as smart cities,” said Noel Hurley, General Manager, business segments group, ARM. “Our investment in Blu Wireless is strategic and includes the tools and resources to enable their technology to be tested on the latest ARM IP. This will help our partners to get to market faster with mmWave-compliant products and help accelerate the roll-out of 5G networks.”