UWB wireless technology developer Staccato Communications has announced that its Ripcord product family has earned official WiMedia Platform Certification. By achieving WiMedia standards compliance for its single-chip, CMOS multi-protocol UWB solution, Staccato can ensure the seamless interoperability of its devices with multiple vendors, the manufacturer said.

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In addition, the company has also closed an additional $17.5 million in equity financing. The funding will be used to launch Staccato’s first-generation, 110 nm single-chip solution, and to continue development of the company’s second-generation 65 nm single-chip, Certified Wireless USB and Bluetooth v3.0 products. Investors included Allegis Capital, Bay Partners, Charles River Ventures, Formative Ventures, Interwest Partners, and Vision Capital among others.

“This certification will have a significant impact on the market as it ensures that Certified Wireless USB, Bluetooth v3.0 and other upper layer protocols can all coexist. Staccato’s ability to offer multiple protocols running simultaneously on the same single-chip solution will accelerate adoption in PC, CE, and mobile devices,” said Fiona Thomson, market analyst, IMS Research.

“Achieving WiMedia Platform Certification demonstrates Staccato’s commitment to delivering the best-in-class products to our PC, CE and mobile device customers in that we not only offer single-chip solutions, but also a solution capable of simultaneous support of multiple protocols including Certified Wireless USB and Bluetooth v3.0,” said Roberto Aiello, co-founder and CTO at Staccato Communications. “Our architecture and platform are now certified interoperable and compliant, which enables multi-vendor interoperability and promises lower customer risk.”

Staccato’s 110 nm highly-integrated digital CMOS silicon includes RF, digital baseband, media access controller (MAC), memory, 32-bit RISC processor, encryption engine and various I/O including USB 2.0 Host, USB 2.0 Device and SDIO 1.1 device.