Alereon's high-bandwidth won't slim your waist, but it will
streamline those multiple wires powering your electronic
gizmos. The fabless company designs semiconductors for
networking applications that connect a host of wireless
consumer electronics, mobile devices, and PCs. Alereon
targets the ultra-wideband (UWB) networking market. UWB, a
radio technology originally developed for the American
military, promises to be a faster, more powerful, and
versatile alternative to Wi-Fi networking tools. Commercial
development of UWB, however, was slowed by competing
industry interests and lobbying for wireless spectrum
frequency regulations, overseen by the FCC. Alereon started
in 2003 as a spin off from Time Domain.