Wireless Personal Area Networks Ready to Thrive Thanks to Efforts of WiMedia(TM) Alliance24 May 2006
Ubiquitous, reliable wireless personal area networking (WPAN) will become a reality later this year thanks to the WiMedia(TM) Alliance's ability to enable seamless connectivity among wireless consumer devices coming to market as early as this autumn.
Industry momentum behind the WiMedia Alliance continues to surge. Just a few weeks after the WiMedia Alliance announced a key endorsement of its ultra-wideband (UWB) common radio platform by members of the Bluetooth SIG, the Alliance's membership surpassed the 200-member company milestone. Leaders in all UWB-related industries continue to join and share their expertise. Together, these members are building the necessary infrastructure for a WPAN that offers flexibility to consumers managing and viewing multimedia content.
A month and a half ago, the Bluetooth SIG openly selected the WiMedia UWB common radio platform as its solution for high speed Bluetooth technology applications. The Bluetooth SIG is composed of more than 4,000 members who are leaders in the telecommunications, computing, automotive, music, apparel, industrial automation, and network industries, and a small group of dedicated staff in Hong Kong, Sweden, and the USA. SIG members drive the development of Bluetooth wireless technology, and implement and market the technology in their products varying from mobile phones to printers.
Coupling this decision by the Bluetooth SIG with the choice of the USB Implementers Forum to incorporate WiMedia UWB into its Certified Wireless USB specification last year, the WiMedia Alliance is now positioned to service the majority of wireless, consumer devices. The result is a reliable WPAN that supports multiple application protocols fairly and equally, enabling wireless USB, Bluetooth technology and other UWB-based product markets to thrive.
Making the WiMedia UWB WPAN a Reality
WiMedia's second formal interoperability testing event was held at Intel UWB Integration Lab in Hillsboro, Oregon, on March 28-31, where six of its PHY vendors -- Alereon, Inc., Realtek Semiconductor, Staccato Communications, WiQuest Communications, Wisair and TZero Technologies Inc. -- tested their chip-level implementations designed to the WiMedia Alliance's PHY specification. Chips designed to the WiMedia Alliance's PHY specification can offer transfer rates as high as 480 Mbps, low battery consumption and low cost, single chip implementation.
As important, testing for interoperability among vendors is critical to providing a wide variety of products to consumers that will all work together. Test equipment vendors Agilent, LeCroy and Tektronix performed analytical measurements of the PHYs including Error Vector Magnitude, Power Spectral Density, and signal quality measurements demonstrated compliance to the PHY specification.
"Interest in interop events is steadily increasing, and the key players, such as testing experts and chip manufacturers, are participating heavily," said Brad Hosler, chairman of the WiMedia Alliance Certification and Interoperability Committee. "Execution of these test processes lays the groundwork for the WiMedia Alliance Certification Program scheduled to roll out this year. There is terrific momentum behind this process."
The WiMedia Alliance's Certification Program is designed to ensure that WiMedia UWB implementations conform to the specifications, thereby allowing the best user experience possible. The Certification Program will launch with formal PHY implementation testing, followed by application building blocks and consumer product implementations.
"Market segments critical to the proliferation of seamless WPAN connectivity are blending now as typical personal computer, consumer electronics and mobile market capabilities cross," said Stephen R. Wood, president of the WiMedia Alliance. "It's important to ensure that the WiMedia UWB platform supports the needs of these collective markets. Incorporating our members' opinions and expertise is the only way to ensure success."
About The WiMedia Alliance
The WiMedia Alliance is a not-for-profit open industry association that promotes and enables the rapid adoption, regulation, standardization and multi-vendor interoperability of ultra-wideband (UWB) worldwide. The basis for the industry's first UWB standards (published by Ecma International), WiMediaUWB is optimized for wireless personal-area networks delivering high-speed (480Mbps and beyond), low-power multimedia capabilities for the PC, CE, mobile and automotive market segments. Emphasizing peaceful coexistence with other wireless services, the WiMedia UWB common radio platform is designed to operate with application stacks developed by the 1394 Trade Association Wireless Working Group, the Certified Wireless USB Promoter Group and the Bluetooth-SIG. WiMedia's board members include Alereon, HP, Intel, Kodak, Microsoft, Nokia, Philips, Samsung Electronics, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Staccato Communications, Texas Instruments and Wisair. For more information, please visit http://www.wimedia.org.
Source: prnewswire
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