Qualcomm to acquire high-speed chipmaker Wilocity: report

US chipmaker Qualcomm is reportedly on the brink of acquiring 60 GHz WiGig chip-maker Wilocity.

According to financial website TheMarker, Qualcomm's potential acquisition could cost the company up to $300 million. Wilocity shipped its first chips commercially at the end of 2012, and announced its first smartphone-based chip offerings at this year's Mobile World Congress.

At the event, Wilocity showcased the Sparrow Wil6300 chipset and prototype smartphone, which uses 802.11ad network technology, also known as WiGig. The technology uses the 60GHz radio frequency band — far higher than today's 802.11g, 802.11n, and 802.11ac used in networking — and is able to transfer data at speeds of up to 7Gbps. However, this rapid transfer is at the expense of range, which is potentially limited to meters, and may not be able to do so much as penetrate walls.

Wilocity is also a chip maker present in the PC and tablet markets, and says it has shipped over a million chipsets to tech firms worldwide, counting Dell as a key customer.

The publication also says that Wilocity's staff, approximately 60 in number, will join Qualcomm if a deal is reached.

In April, Qualcomm announced new mobile processors, the Snapdragon 810 and 808. Touted as the chip maker's fastest silicon to date, the processors have improved power consumption rates for high-end smartphones and tablets, 64-bit support, and are LTE equipped.