Wireless Audio Solution Supports Lossless Formats

One of the biggest hurdles manufacturers and installers face when dealing with retrofit installations is signal transmission. This affects everything from computer networking and multiroom audio systems, to solutions as mainstream as home theaters.

Focus Enhancements, an Oregon-based semiconductor company, is targeting the retrofit market with the impending release of its Summit Wireless solution.

Anchored by its FS848 chip, the Summit Wireless solution offers easy setup, 7.1 channels of audio, sweet spot calibration and reliable performance, according to the company.

The chip took more than two years to develop and leverages a lot of the research the company did on the ultrawideband (UWB) transmission format, says Focus vice president Tony Parker.

Parker says the company is finalizing the prototype and preparing to enter the production stage. He says the solution will require support in specific areas to complete the wireless transmission process, but it will address most rooms in a modern American home.

"We're looking to support home installers and [we know] they look for price points like $1,500 and above [to sell above the mainstream market] and we can scale to affordable retail space," says Parker. "Above $1,500, [installers] are concerned with fidelity and [with the Focus solution] they can be in and out of a home without drilling holes in a day. For home theater it can fit roughly a 30-by-30 foot room and for multiroom audio it's up to 150 feet through walls."

Parker says Focus Enhancements is targeting the custom installation market, but it is dependent on any potential OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to help support the wireless category.

"From an in-wall standpoint, we fall under the low voltage, and that's what is nice about it," Parker says. "You don't need to be an electrician to wire it."