July 16, 2001
US Monolithics Delivers Consumer Ka-Band Equipment to WildBlue
US Monolithics ("USM") has successfully designed and delivered Ka-band transceiver equipment to WildBlue Communications, as part of an ongoing development partnership between the two companies. The transceiver, which is capable of transmitting and receiving a signal from a satellite, delivers three watts of 30 GHz transmit power, with a 1.5 dB noise figure on the 20 GHz receiver. USM’s transceiver is a key component of WildBlue’s customer premise equipment.
USM believes this product to be the most highly integrated Ka-band transceiver product in its class available on the market today. The transceiver utilizes a proprietary GaAs MMIC chipset developed by U. S. Monolithics, which includes an industry-leading four-watt Ka-band power amplifier MMIC. The transceiver also uses proprietary technologies to minimize parts, reduce size, and improve reliability, all of which should lead to significant cost reductions in the future.
“This hardware delivery represents a major milestone in our transceiver production roll-out plan. USM’s transceiver product line was designed from its inception with volume production in mind. It employs highly integrated MMIC functions, a low parts count, simplified packaging methods, mature MMIC and assembly processes, and a robust design that minimizes test and eliminates RF alignment. With these attributes, we are well on our way to producing these units using existing manufacturing infrastructure,” said Richard Torkington, Vice President of Product Development at U. S. Monolithics.
WildBlue plans to roll out affordable two-way broadband services via satellite direct to homes and small offices throughout the contiguous United States in 2002 and subsequently expand service to Canada and Latin America. WildBlue plans to be the first to launch the next-generation Ka-band spot beam satellite technology that is designed to lower the cost of providing high speed Internet access via satellite. This service is expected to be especially appealing to the millions of homes that do not have access to DSL or cable modem service.
WildBlue’s strategic investors include EchoStar (www.echostar.com); Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (www.kpcb.com); Telesat Canada (www.telesat.ca); Liberty Satellite & Technology, Inc. (www.libertysatellite.com); Gemstar - TV Guide (www.tvguide.com); Arianespace (www.arianespace.com); and TRW (www.trw.com).
“WildBlue’s partnership with U. S. Monolithics provides focused product development on transceivers for next generation Ka-band broadband systems,” said Erwin Hudson, President of WildBlue. “U. S. Monolithics’ highly integrated GaAs MMIC chip set is an elegant design that represents an important achievement for the deployment of high volume, affordable Ka-band broadband systems.”
About WildBlue (www.wildblue.com)
WildBlue plans to roll out affordable broadband services via satellite direct to homes and small offices throughout the contiguous U.S. The company plans to subsequently expand service to Canada and Latin America. WildBlue was founded to accelerate consumer broadband access to the Internet. WildBlue's solution intends to deliver on consumer desires for a fast, affordable, simple, reliable, always-on and two-way technology for wireless Internet access.
About US Monolithics
U.S. Monolithics, based in Chandler, Arizona, is a wholly owned subsidiary of ViaSat Inc., a producer of innovative satellite and other network communication products that enable fast, easy, secure, and efficient communications to any location. U.S. Monolithics focuses on providing superior, low-cost, MMIC-based products to the growing wireless telecommunications markets including satellite communications, point-to-point, and point-to-multipoint systems. U.S. Monolithics’ products include high-power Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) components and multi-chip modules, including power amplifiers, transceivers, and integrated block converters.