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Cypress Semiconductor has announced a chipset that allows up to six input devices to be connected wirelessly to a PC. Unlike other wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Wireless USB has been designed specifically for low-power, low bandwidth input devices, making it a cheaper and higher-performance option.

Specifically it has such a low latency - the time lag between the user activating a device and the computer responding - that it claims to be the first wireless technology that can be used in gaming devices, such a gamepads and joysticks.

The inclusion of frequency-hopping spread-spectrum technology, mean that multiple devices can be used in, for example, an office without interference. Added security comes with support for 128-bit encryption.

However, with production quantities of the chips and development kits due for release in the first quarter of 2003, wireless USB devices are some way off yet.