Qualcomm reportedly close to acquiring WiGig chip-maker Wilocity

U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm is reportedly on the brink of acquiring 60 GHz WiGig chip-maker Wilocity. According to financial website TheMarker, Qualcomm’s potential acquisition could cost the company up to $300 million. Wilocity shipped its first chips commercially at the end of 2012, and announced its first smartphone-based chip offerings at this year’s Mobile World Congress. At the event, Wilocity showcased the Sparrow Wil6300 chipset and prototype smartphone, which uses 802.11ad network technology, also known as WiGig.

Rumors are swirling in the Israeli press that Qualcomm is set to buy Wilocity, an Israeli start-up that specializes in high-speed wireless networking, for approximately $300 million. The deal is likely to be announced in the coming days, but company would comment on the rumor. Qualcomm worked with Wilocity for several years to develop WiGig chipsets. WiGig is the brand name for the 802.11ad standard created by the WiFi Alliance. It’s another example of the industry’s rapid pace; products supporting 802.11ac are just hitting the market and the majority of devices are still using 802.11n. 802.11ad will offer data transfer speeds of up to 7 gigabits, quite the bump from the 1-1.5Gbps of 802.11ac standard, which transfers data at a speed of between 1 and 1.3 Gbps. Like 802.11ac, WiGig runs on the 5 GHz band instead of the 2.4 GHz band that 802.11n devices use.