WiMedia Alliance certifies six IC products for UWB interoperability

The six companies are: Alereon, Inc., Realtek Semiconductor, Staccato Communications, Tzero Technologies, Inc., WiQuest Communications, and Wisair

WiMedia's Certification Program is comprised of two parts. The first is a compliance and interoperability process that tests and "registers" Physical Layer implementations (PHYs) based on the WiMedia Alliance's PHY specification.

Once a PHY is registered, the program's second part, WiMedia Platform Certification, supports these eligible PHYs for use in a UWB platform that can be submitted for certification. This stage of the process is expected in early 2007.

"The deployment of UWB is happening, said Dr. Matthew B. Shoemake, founder, president and CEO of WiQuest Communications. "We will see major OEMs and manufacturers of PC's, peripheral systems and multimedia platforms introducing WiMedia-compliant products during the first half of 2007,"

The Alliance has held five PHY interoperability testing events over the past 11 months. During these testing events, the performance and radio functionality of the PHY products against the approved WiMedia Alliance PHY V1.1 specification were verified, and refinements to the testing specification were made as part of this process.

"Registration of Alereon's PHY chipset resulted from stringent interoperability tests," said Eric Broockman, CEO of Alereon. "Chip manufacturers are required to pass these tests in order to access the intellectual property needed to implement a WiMedia-compliant solution.

"Registration is also required to meet the wireless USB standard. Finally, achieving compliance ensures Alereon's chipset can interoperate harmoniously with those of other chip manufacturers, Broockman said."

WiMedia certified platforms are the foundation for other applications, such as Wireless USB. Products with a WiMedia Platform Certification will reassure users that they will be able to peacefully coexist with other nearby WiMedia-certified devices.

"With the WiMedia Certification Program now in place and the registration of initial PHYs, the key building blocks for the WiMedia UWB Common Radio Platform have been established for vendors to develop products that will eventually obtain WiMedia Platform Certification," said Stephen Wood, president of the WiMedia Alliance.

"Our certification program is designed to assure vendors and consumers alike that products certified by WiMedia will work properly in the close proximity to other WiMedia certified devices."

WiMedia will maintain a comprehensive list of registered PHYs and certified platforms for review by members and implementers to determine which PHYs are compliant and which platforms are certified to coexist.

"Certification is an important step toward the commercialization of WiMedia-based products and the interoperability between vendors," said David Yaish, Wisair CEO.

"We intend to continue with the CIP path toward WiMedia Common Radio Platform certification (PHY and MAC), as well as Certified Wireless USB, as these events become available in the coming months."

The WiMedia Certification Program will continue to be enhanced, with the inclusion of TCP/IP application testing by WiMedia when that specification has been completed.