AMD buys Nitero's wireless virtual reality IP

AMD said Monday it has acquired the intellectual property and key engineering talent from Nitero, makers of chips used in wireless virtual reality and augmented reality systems. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Nitero is known for its phased-array beamforming millimeter wave chip that can transmit multi-gigabit streams with low latency in room-sized VR environments. The beamforming is key to eliminating line-of-sight requirements associated with traditional high-frequency mm-wave systems used in wired VR headsets.

Up to this point, AMD's efforts in the VR and AR space have revolved around its CPUs inside VR-ready PCs. With this acquisition, AMD is making a pivot toward the wireless VR space, which many consider to be the end-goal for virtual reality headsets.

"Unwieldly headset cables remain a significant barrier to drive widespread adoption of VR," said Mark Papermaster, AMD chief technology officer and senior vice president, in a statement. "Our newly acquired wireless VR technology is focused on solving this challenge, and is another example of AMD making long-term technology investments to develop high-performance computing and graphics technologies that can create more immersive computing experiences."

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