TDK Ventures invests in XCOM Labs’ vision for a high-speed wireless future

TDK Ventures Inc., a subsidiary of TDK Corp., has invested in wireless communications disruptor XCOM Labs to expedite the development of its 5G and wireless communications solutions, which emphasize bandwidth capacity, latency reduction/elimination, and compute load balancing.

XCOM is working to apply its technology to the future of work and Industry 4.0, where wireless technologies could enable smart factories, automation, off-site training, and more immersive telework experiences. This extends further to telemedicine, entertainment, and even defense applications to help train and prepare military personnel.

Left to right: XCOM Labs CTO Matt Grob, CEO & Chairman Paul Jacobs and Executive Vice Chairman Derek Aberle

XCOM’s executive team – Dr. Paul Jacobs, Derek Aberle, and Matt Grob – was responsible for many of the breakthrough technologies seen in the 2G/3G/4G revolutions. 5G and wireless infrastructure are experiencing huge demand for greater expansion and rollout of enabling technologies, as current infrastructure can’t keep up.

At its core, each ‘G’ generation represents a push for greater wireless transmission speed, capacity, and overall value. To do this requires not just updates in hardware and software, but leveraging frequency spectra in either new and innovative waves, or utilizing new frequency bands entirely. One of many tradeoffs is in balancing energy, frequency, and transmission. Higher frequency – and thus energy signals – can carry more information in a shorter span of time, but decay more quickly over distance. From an infrastructure perspective, this means more transmitting ‘nodes’ in the network are necessary to carry higher frequency signals across a given area.

Push digital transformation to the next level

XCOM is designing technology to change the playing field. The firm’s solutions target increasing capacity and utility of spectrum over 10x, enabling the potential promised by 5G and next generation developers to become a reality. For example, XCOM is further innovating to push digital transformation to the next level through extended reality (XR). Using a globally available 60GHz millimeter wave band, they are developing a high throughput, low latency wireless system to deliver seamless virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences. What was previously limited by either bulky processing equipment needed nearby, or low throughput limited by smartphone processing, is becoming a comprehensive system that can immerse the user in a metaverse or digital world environment. This will be a  leap forward in the integration of edge computing processing to provide a natural user experience.

“We understand how important high throughput/low latency is for the future of compute-heavy applications and are working to deliver those capabilities to create real and positive change in our world and industry applications,” said XCOM’s Dr. Jacobs. “Our XR technologies are evidence of this progress and show that seamless processing through edge computing can deliver a truly immersive and agile VR/AR system fit for business, entertainment, and more.”