ZeroG Wireless Announces Availability of the Industry's First 'Wi-Fi I/O' for Embedded Systems

ZeroG Wireless Announces Availability of the Industry's First 'Wi-Fi I/O' for Embedded Systems

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Feb. 17, 2009 -- ZeroG Wireless, Inc., an innovator in low-power embedded Wi-Fi design, today announced availability of the ZG2100M "Wi-Fi I/O," an easy-to-implement, low-power, low-system cost Wi-Fi solution. Providing Wi-Fi connectivity for nearly any electronic device, the industry's first Wi-Fi I/O consists of ZeroG's ZG2100 single-chip Wi-Fi, pre-certified modules, and the Easy-Fi(TM) software suite, enabling a new era in connectivity.

ZeroG technology has been developed specifically for integrating into the many microcontroller-based systems that have limited processing power, few memory resources, and minimal or no operating systems, while requiring modest resources from the host system. "The key to the 'Wi-Fi I/O' is how easily it can be added to microcontroller-based systems with minimum impact on system architecture. By focusing on tight integration with MCU providers, their existing IP stacks and ecosystems, ZeroG allows an extremely diverse set of customers, regardless of volume, to adopt Wi-Fi with very little effort," stated Tim Colleran, vice president of marketing at ZeroG Wireless.

The ZG2100M is a module based on ZeroG's single-chip Wi-Fi transceiver (ZG2100) supporting data rates up to 2 Mbits per second. The ZG2100 is optimized for low-duty cycle, low-power applications, featuring four different power modes, extremely low leakage, and a fast "wake-up" architecture. The device is also a true single-chip solution, with a complete on-chip MAC, power amplifier, baseband, and hardware acceleration for supporting WEP, WPA and WPA2. These features, coupled with a unique memory and system architecture, facilitate integration of the ZG2100 into nearly any system.

"ZeroG believes there are thousands of applications that will benefit from wireless Internet connectivity. Enabling objects to communicate seamlessly with each other and with people is as dramatic a move as the transition from broadcasting to cellular. This transformative shift is what we are calling the 4th Age of Wireless(TM) -- the Internet of Things," said Thomas Lee, Founder and CTO of ZeroG Wireless. "We leveraged our team's expertise in low-power, integrated design with a deep understanding of embedded systems, to develop a product that allows the embedded designer to add Wi-Fi connectivity to nearly any electronic device."

ZeroG sells the ZG2100 as part of the ZG2100M module combined with the Easy-Fi software. The ZG2100M is a module that is in the process of receiving certification from FCC, ETSI, Japan and Canadian regulatory bodies across a variety of antenna configurations. As a result, customers designing with ZeroG save significant time and money in their design process and reduce the risk of missing launch windows.

A key component of the Wi-Fi I/O is ZeroG's Easy-Fi software. The Easy-Fi suite includes a very small and easily ported driver with a footprint that uses as little as a few hundred bytes of RAM from a host microcontroller, and less than 10kB of ROM. The driver includes a comprehensive suite of commands that allow it to run easily in small or no-OS systems.

Availability

The ZG2100M module is sampling now and is priced at $16.00 for 10K unit quantities in 2009. Mass production will start at the end of the first quarter. Development kits featuring the ZG2100M are also available for Microchip-based systems today. (reference the other release) The ZG2100 single-chip transceiver will be available as a standalone product in mid-2009. It will be priced less than $5.0 in million-unit quantities.

The Modules and demos will be on display at ZeroG's Booth #541, at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, March 31-April 3.

About the "Internet of Things"

The "Internet of Things" is a network in which the Internet reaches out into the real world of physical objects. The phrase describes the technologies and research disciplines that make this network possible. With nearly every powered device capable of connecting to the Internet, the potential for commercial and personal use is unbounded. New products and new business models will flourish. ZeroG Wireless refers to this dramatic shift in communication, to "person to machine" and "machine to machine," as the 4th Age of Wireless(TM) -- the Internet of Things.

About ZeroG Wireless, Inc.

ZeroG Wireless is a fabless semiconductor company focused on creating a world of connected devices, the "Internet of Things." With ZeroG low-power Wi-Fi chips, there is no limit to the type of device that can now leverage the massive and rapidly growing Wi-Fi infrastructure. The Company's products are designed from the ground up to enable simple, low-cost connectivity for nearly any system, regardless of architecture. The result: faster time to market and significantly lower overall system cost.

Privately held, ZeroG Wireless is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. Investors are Battery Ventures, Greylock Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, and Miven. Additional information may be found at http://www.zerogwireless.com/