BMW i Ventures announced an investment in GenXComm, a company with ground-breaking technology that improves the performance and capacity of communication networks, and aims to significantly increase the speed of global 5G deployment.
“GenXComm is ushering in the next revolution of computing and connectivity,” said Marcus Behrendt, partner, BMW i Ventures. “Autonomous systems, like self-driving cars, are essentially datacenters on wheels, and require fast, low latency connections. GenXComm’s technology will rapidly increase the speed of 5G penetration that is critical for the future of connected vehicles.”
Traditionally, it’s been impossible for electronic devices to transmit and receive data at the same time, on the same frequency, because the intensity of data transmissions drowns out the signal that’s being received. Therefore, electronic devices are extremely wasteful — they either have to transmit and receive on different frequencies (using twice the spectrum they should) or transmit and receive at different times (using twice the time that they should).
GenXComm has developed new technology that will allow cellular operators to roll out 5G using relays and integrated access that can backhaul their own wireless transmissions without waste. With the switch to 5G costing global carriers a 60% to 300% increase in infrastructure costs, GenXComm’s technology has the potential to save 5G providers billions of dollars, reducing the cost of implementing 5G by up to 80%.
“Our technology improves performance networks, meaning consumers will have supercharged mobile connections in addition to major cost savings,” said Dr. Sriram Vishwanath, Co-founder and CEO of GenXComm. “We’re looking to use technology to change the world, from cell phones to machine learning capabilities to WiFi, and infinite other use cases.”
5G has become a much-needed advancement in today’s world. The ability to significantly reduce costs and speed up the continued 5G rollout by introducing full duplex wireless networking capable of maximizing spectrum utilization across all bands will enable the future of telecommunications, including 5G, 6G, and Wi-Fi 6.
BMW i Ventures, BMW’s EUR 500 million venture capital fund, invests money and resources in startups in the fields of autonomous driving, digital car and automotive cloud, e-mobility, artificial Intelligence and data, industry 4.0, shared and on-demand mobility, customer digital life, and energy services.
BMW i Ventures has already entered into strategic partnerships with innovative providers such as Scoop, Zirx, RiceCell, Chargepoint, Life360, Moovit, JustPark, DSP Concepts, Chargemaster, Zendrive, Rever Moto, STRIVR, Desktop Metal, BUS.com, Proterra, Xometry, Caroobi, GaN Systems, Shift, May Mobility, Blackmore Sensors and Analytics, Vera, Mapillary, Claroty, Graphcore, Tekion, Yellowbrick Data, Recogni, Cartica AI, Trifacta and CelLink.
