Sony backs wireless technology startup

Sony backs wireless technology startup
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Systemonic AG, a digital signal processing startup in Dresden, Germany, has snagged Sony as a backer of its technology, which Systemonic said can be used to build communications chips for 5-GHz wireless LANs.

Sony Venture Capital Europe (London), the venture capital arm of Sony Europe, has taken an equity position of undisclosed size and value in Systemonic, founded by professor Gerhard Fettweis of Dresden University. Under their investment arrangement, Systemonic will provide Sony with "enhanced" access to its technology and products, and Sony executives will investigate the use of Systemonic's technology to enable wireless communications in a variety of Sony product types, according to Systemonic.

Systemonic said its platform is the first to enable flexible multistandard, multimode solutions for the global marketplace. Although the company has released few details of its approach it has consistently said initial solutions would support the European HiperLAN 2 and the IEEE 802.11a wireless LAN standards, among other regional standards.

"The wireless broadband communications market has been estimated by analysts to be worth anything between $5 billion and $8 billion by 2005," said Ruediger Stroh, chief executive officer of Systemonic. "Sony provides an industry-leading partner to help us to secure a dominant position in this market. We look forward to working closely with them to develop a range of market-leading consumer products."