WCA: Chip vendor TeleCIS lands $10 million

SAN JOSE, CALIF.--TeleCIS Wireless, one of a handful of chipset developers clamoring for the attentions of WiMAX equipment manufacturers, announced the day before the WAC International Symposium and Business Expo here that the Santa Clara, Calif., company has secured $10 million in Series C funding.

The Series C round was co-led by ATA Ventures of Redwood City, Calif. and an undisclosed strategic corporate investor. The firm now claims total funding of $18.7 million, excluding product revenues from its existing Wi-Fi designs.

This round of funding will support the upcoming launch of the company’s WiMAX integrated fixed/portable subscriber device chip as well as the development of the second TeleCIS chip, a multi-protocol chipset combining 802.16e Mobile WiMAX and 802.11 Wi-Fi protocols in a single chip, the company said.

The company’s first chip, TCW 1620, is fully compliant with the 802.16-2004 Fixed WiMAX standard. The chip is designed for both fixed indoor consumer premises equipment, as well as portable subscriber devices such as PC Cards and small form factor portable access products for laptops and PDAs. The TCW 1620 delivers full nomadic portability within a Fixed WiMAX service area. The second chip on the TeleCIS roadmap be the TCW 2720, delivering WiMAX Mobile, Wi-Fi, Multiple Input/Multiple Output and smart antenna functionality in a single chip designed for handheld devices.