$1.4M boost from Commercialisation Australia for NICTA ‘GiFi’ technology
18/05/2011 13:55NICTA, Australia’s Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence, welcomes the announcement by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, that its high-speed gigabit wireless communications technology (‘GiFi’) is to be further developed with $1.43 million in funding from Commercialisation Australia.
The grant has been provided to Nitero, a company formed by NICTA researchers to take the next-generation wireless technology to market. Nitero will use the funds to dramatically reduce the size, power consumption and cost of the technology so that it can be used in a range of consumer devices such as personal computers, tablets, smart phones, mass storage devices and displays.
Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr said that Commercialisation Australia is about turning good ideas into successful products in the market place. “This is essential if Australia is to get full value from its scientific and research capabilities,” Senator Carr said. “Through Commercialisation Australia, the Government helps companies, entrepreneurs and inventors take up opportunities and create exciting and new products and industries. I congratulate Nitero on their success and look forward to following their progress.”
“We have seen significant interest from the global electronics industry in our 60GHz solution to date,” said Mr Patrick Kelly, CEO of Nitero. “This substantial support by the Australian Government will allow us to continue to develop our product and bring the benefits of 60GHz to consumers worldwide.”
Professor Stan Skafidas, the leader of NICTA’s gigabit wireless research, welcomed Senator Carr’s announcement. “I am very proud that this technology has been developed by NICTA. It has been an effort that has involved at least 10 PhD students over many years. NICTA had the foresight to see the importance of millimeter-wave gigabit wireless technology in 2004 and our success has put Australia on the global technology radar,” he said. “I am grateful for the support the project has received from key players in the global semiconductor industry, such as Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys, Anritsu and Agilent Technologies, and the support it received from the State Government of Victoria.”
“This funding from Commercialisation Australia brings NICTA’s vision of the wireless office and home of the future a step closer to reality,” said Hugh Durrant-Whyte, NICTA CEO. “NICTA has made a significant investment in developing this technology since 2004 and this additional financial support will make a real difference to its market potential.”
The NICTA technology is an integrated ultra-high-speed wireless transmission system, which is over ten times faster than existing Wi-Fi. It can send and receive large amounts of information in a very short space of time. A short-range communication technology, it could potentially replace HDMI cables in home entertainment areas and small offices. It supports very fast data synchronisation rates, so videos, for instance, could be downloaded to a range of devices in seconds. The technology was announced by NICTA in 2008.
Document: $1.4M boost from Commercialisation Australia for NICTA ‘GiFi’ technology
Contact: Dorothy Kennedy
Communications Specialist (Media), NICTA
9376 2098 or 0488229687
dorothy.kennedy@nicta.com.au
