Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) just reported that it has acquired the intellectual property and the key engineering talent from Nitero.
What it gains from the acquisition?
Nitero specializes on making chips for wireless virtual reality as well as augmented reality systems. The acquisition terms were not disclosed. Nitero is famous for the phased array beamforming millimeter wave chip which is able to transmit multi-gigabit streams with low latency in a room sized VR environment.
The acquisition provides AMD with a wider portfolio of IP which is capable of providing VR headset and solution providers with crucial technology which is necessary The bean forming is very crucial in eliminating line of sight requirements which are related to the traditional high frequency mm-wave systems and are used in wire VR headsets.
ADM’s efforts in the AR and VR space have rotated around the CPU’s inside VR-enabled PCs. As a result of the acquisition, the company is developing a gateway towards the wireless VR space. This is a move that many consider as the end goal of virtual reality headsets.
Comments from the company representatives
Mark Papermaster the AMD chief technology officer and the senior vice president stated, “Unwieldly headset cables remain a significant barrier to drive widespread adoption of VR.” He added that the newly acquired wireless VR technology is aimed at solving such a challenge and it is also an example of AMD leading to a long term technology investments.
These are aimed at developing high performance computing as well as graphics technologies which can lead to creation of more immersive computing experiences.
Nitero remarks
The company’s engineering team is focused on solving the difficult issues encountered in developing the wireless VR technologies which can be integrated into the next generation headsets. Nitero is very excited to be part of the developing the AMD’s long term technology vision as reported by the co-founder and CEO Pat Kelly. Kelly has joined AMD as the corporate vice president, Wireless IP.
The company has developed a phased array beemforming millimeter wave chip used to address the challenges faced by wireless VR and AR. It uses high performance 60 GHz wireless which has the potential to allow multi-gigabit transmit performance having low latency.
