Motorola Invests in Video WLAN Startup

Venture divisions of Motorola and Deutsche Telekom are investing in a maker of wireless LAN gear for distributing video around a home.

In a deal set to be announced on Monday, the companies led a US$16 million round of investment in Ruckus Wireless, which designed its MediaFlex system to reliably deliver multimedia content across a Wi-Fi wireless LAN. It was the third round for the Sunnyvale, Calif., company, which has now raised a total of $30 million.

The investments don’t come with commitments to use or roll out the technology but could lead to closer cooperation, said Rob Mustarde, vice president of worldwide sales with Ruckus. Motorola might eventually integrate Ruckus technology in its set-top boxes for service providers that want it. Deutsche Telekom has tested Ruckus’s products, Mustarde said.

Also on Monday, Ruckus will announce MediaFlex NG, a new version of its product that is designed for remote management and easier deployment.

As the range of content available on PCs and over broadband grows to include multimedia, sharing that content over a wireless LAN creates new challenges. Even with emerging high-speed IEEE 802.11n technology, standard wireless LANs won’t be able to deliver streaming video from a broadband gateway to a TV, according to Ruckus. Its MediaFlex includes a router and an adapter that use multiple antennas and software to maintain a steady video stream. The system complies with IEEE 802.11b/g and can be used with conventional Wi-Fi gear, but it gives better results with Ruckus gear, according to the company.

About 40 service providers, including PCCW in Hong Kong and some rural carriers in the United States, have deployed the Ruckus system for their subscribers. The Ruckus router plugs into a service provider’s Internet gateway, and each Ruckus adapter attaches to a TV set-top box or other device.

Ruckus’s new products configure themselves automatically so subscribers don’t have to set up the network’s service set identifier (SSID) or security settings. Each time a new adapter is added, it automatically gets those settings. But service providers can also have the system set up to allow subscribers to create their own virtual network with its own SSID, Mustarde said. While the subscriber can control security, priority and other settings there, the carrier can manage the rest of the system remotely. MediaFlex NG is available now for list prices of $159 for a router and $99 for an adapter.

Motorola Ventures and T-Online Venture Fund joined with other venture investors in the latest round. Ruckus’s new money people are good friends to have, according to In-Stat analyst Mike Paxton. Motorola is the highest volume maker of set-top boxes for cable TV networks and among the biggest for boxes designed for the emerging telecommunications carrier TV market, he said. Cable operators as well as DSL providers are interested in helping their customers network their homes, and vendor Cisco Systems and operator Comcast also have made investments in new technologies in this area, he said.

“They’re spreading their manure around, hoping a few flowers will sprout,” Paxton said.

-Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)

Related Links:

• Motorola Has Big Plans for Symbol Technologies

• Motorola, Nokia Team to Boost Mobile TV Services

Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.