Renesas Electronics and 3db Access AG, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in secure ultra-wideband (UWB) low power chips, jointly announced that Renesas will license 3db UWB technology and will collaborate to bring best-in-class secure access solutions to the connected smart home, Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, mobile computing, and connected vehicle applications. The collaboration combines each company’s technical leadership in performance, size reduction, ultra-low power consumption, and security to deliver breakthrough multi-receiver UWB solutions to the global market.

Renesas is augmenting its microcontrollers (MCUs) and RF connectivity capabilities with 3db Access’ field proven secure ranging UWB chips, which are designed for use in smartphones, smart watches, automobiles, and other IoT applications. This will accelerate a roadmap of ICs and modules that leverage both companies’ strengths and product portfolios to bring best-in-class UWB solutions to market. The collaboration also gives Renesas customers access to advanced UWB solutions that are IEEE 802.15.4z dual HRP/LRP compliant and utilize an RF architecture that achieves 10x lower power consumption through the support of LRP-mode. 3db devices also provide the smallest UWB silicon area compared to competitive ICs.

“We are excited with the prospects of collaborating with 3db Access to provide our customers with the products and tools they need to quickly jumpstart their development for indoor positioning, mobile payments and asset tracking,” said Dr. Amit Bavisi, Vice President of Engineering, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit at Renesas. “We believe that our combined technical expertise, differentiated IP, and global operations will allow us to design the smallest and highest performance system solutions that provide secure distance ranging access to our customers’ next-generation products.”

“We are proud that this collaboration recognizes the 3db advances in UWB technology and will bring precise and secure location capabilities to the large ecosystem of battery-powered wireless devices. Furthermore, Renesas’ broad range of customers and partner ecosystem will benefit from our breakthrough UWB solutions,” said Dr. Boris Danev, CEO of 3db Access. “The combination of 3db Access’ UWB domain knowledge and positioning products fits perfectly with Renesas’ embedded system processing and global market expertise.”

Both companies are discussing terms of business engagement that will enable 3db Access to develop new UWB solutions for every market space, in addition to bringing existing UWB solutions to the Renesas portfolio.