Ralink and Celeno team up on HD WiFi home networking wares

We've known for some while that Celeno had a thing for high-def over WiFi, and that favoritism has never been more clear. Today, the outfit is announcing a partnership with Ralink that will hopefully lead to an array of WiFi home networking designs that are optimized for HD video distribution. The first solution will combine the CL1300 and CLR230 802.11n chipsets along with Ralink's RT2880 and RT2850 chips. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if Celeno is announcing any set-top-boxes to contain said solution just yet, but hopefully that's just a few months away. Hey, CEDIA ain't too far off, is it? Full release is after the break.

Ralink and Celeno Partner to Address Growing Demand for Wireless High Definition Video Streaming

Combined solution delivers Service Providers and Consumer Electronics manufacturers with cost effective, high performance video-over-WiFi solutions

Ra'anana, Israel and Hsinchu, Taiwan – June 1, 2009 – Celeno Communications, a leading provider of semiconductors for multimedia Wi-Fi home networking applications, and Ralink Technology Corporation (TSE: 3534), a leading developer of 802.11x solutions, announced today a broad-based collaboration to provide best-in-class Wi-Fi home networking designs optimized for HD video distribution. The first product based on this partnership is the CLR230 802.11n chipset that will be sold by Celeno.
Synergistic Collaboration
As consumers increase their consumption of digital entertainment, the demand for high throughput, long range Wi-Fi solutions with robust connectivity is growing rapidly. By working together, the companies have developed optimized solutions that deliver high performance at compelling price points. Customer premise equipment (CPE) products and Consumer Electronics devices based on the joint solution are ideally suited for whole-home, HD wireless networking.
"Ralink's high-performance Wi-Fi solutions are optimized for integration into a variety of high-volume consumer electronics applications. Our Ralink Video Turbine technology delivers the speed, range, and reliability required by Service Providers who want to deploy wireless multimedia solutions in the home, and we look forward to working with Celeno on expanding our presence in this growing market segment," said Dr. Horen Chen, President of Ralink Technology Corporation.

High performance at low cost
The joint solution combines the Celeno CL1300 chipset and the new CLR230 chipset. The CLR230, based on Ralink's RT2880 and RT2850 chips, benefits the solution with Ralink's leading-edge radio and baseband technology, its high-volume production efficiencies, and its cost-optimized design methodologies. The CL1300 serves as an Access Point Wi-Fi chip and uses implicit transmit beam forming to stream wired-quality HD video streams concurrently to multiple CLR230 clients throughout the home, across multiple walls and floors with no packet loss.
"Combining our advanced video-streaming architecture with Ralink's high-performance, yet cost-effective 802.11n solutions has attracted significant attention from leading Service Providers across the globe," said Gilad Rozen, President & CEO of Celeno Communications, "We're pleased to partner with Ralink Technology to provide our customers with an end to end solution, and we expect to see explosive sales growth in the coming quarters for our joint solution."
Availability
The new CLR230 will be sold by Celeno, and will be available in July. The solution will be displayed in Ralink's suite at the Grand Hyatt Taipei (room 1005 – 1006) at the Computex Taipei 2009 show from June 2nd – 6th.
About Ralink
Ralink Technology Corporation is a leading innovator and developer of wireless LAN chipset solutions. Ralink 802.11x chipsets are recognized for superior throughput, extended range and the consistent reliability demanded by Wi-Fi, mobile and embedded applications. These feature-rich chipsets have a high level of chip integration for client and AP solutions for CB, miniPCI, PCIe and USB interfaces, enabling customers to build smaller and more sophisticated mobile wireless products cost-effectively. Ralink's patented MIMObility(TM) technology extends Wi-Fi applications from traditional PC networking to a range of digital multimedia and handheld devices including cell phones, PDAs, cameras, HDTV and video game consoles. Ralink Technology Corporation's headquarters are in Hsinchu, Taiwan, with an R&D center in Cupertino, California. For more information, visit Ralink at http://www.ralinktech.com or send email to info@ralinktech.com .
About Celeno
Celeno is a leading provider of high performance Wi-Fi chips for HD multimedia and entertainment home networking applications. Powered by Celeno's system-on-chip (SoC) and its OptimizAIR™ technology, home gateways, multi-room DVRs and media servers can distribute multiple and simultaneous HD video streams to standard set-top boxes, PCs, television sets and other Wi-Fi enabled consumer devices. Founded in 2005, the company has offices and representatives in EMEA, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific and is backed by blue chip investors including Cisco systems, Greylock Partners and Pitango Venture Capital. www.celeno.com