Lantiq Acquires Metalink for Further Development in Edge WLAN 11n Technologies

Lantiq, a company for next-generation access and home networks, announced its second acquisition after becoming a stand-alone company. Lantiq acquired WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) related assets and intellectual property (IP) from Israel-based Metalink, a provider of high performance wireless communication silicon solutions with the capability to deliver HD-video-streams over the 802.11n standard. The transaction was signed on Jan. 6 and closing is expected for the end of January.


"Metalink really has developed a multistream technology, which is very successful in today's video-bridging environment and has proven many times its performance capabilities," said Christian Wolff, CEO of Lantiq. "Shortly after our first acquisition in the home networking field, today we set another milestone for our company and further expand and complement our broadband product portfolio." 


The purchase price is about US$16.9 million; including an $8.9 million initial payment and an $8 million additional payment based on future performance.


Lantiq also announced the establishment of a technical competence center in Yakum, Israel, where a team of about 50 experienced engineers will drive innovation. The acquired 802.11n MIMO-technology (Multiple Input Multiple Output) features – in contrast to today's conventional WLAN solutions – flawless and unobstructed HD-video streaming over Wireless LAN without making any compromise to quality-of-service.


Lantiq will integrate the technology in its existing roadmap and future products. In addition to reference designs, first ICs produced in 65-nanometer process technology are already sampling and will be available for mass production in spring this year.