Certified Wireless USB to Support Higher UWB Frequencies

BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The USB Implementers Forum today announced that it will add support for ultra-wideband frequencies above 6 GHz to the Wireless USB specification by the middle of 2007 as an addition to its existing support for frequencies below 5 GHz.

“Adding support for the upper UWB bands is a natural progression for Certified Wireless USB. We plan to have the specification extensions completed before the radios are ready, so that new products that require these frequencies can get to market as quickly as possible,” said Jeff Ravencraft, chairman and president of the USB Implementers Forum.

“Wireless USB support for frequencies above 6 GHz enables and accelerates market growth,” said Dave Fisher, CTO, Wireless, with Texas Instruments Residential Gateway and Embedded Systems Business Unit. “Upper band operation is a welcome development for the handset and consumer electronics industries as it provides flexibility for product implementations, and lets those products leverage existing USB infrastructure for added high-speed wireless connectivity.”

“Worldwide adoption for Ultra-wideband across diverse applications continues to be a top priority for both USB-IF and WiMedia Alliance. This advancement illustrates our successful efforts,” said Stephen Wood, president of the WiMedia Alliance. “The entire UWB ecosystem takes another step forward with the addition of these higher frequencies in the Wireless USB specification.”

The Wireless USB Promoter Group developed the Wireless USB 1.0 specification to provide the speed and ease-of-use of Hi-Speed USB without the wires. To help ensure interoperability between products, the USB-IF has developed a comprehensive compliance and logo program for Wireless USB products. The first Wireless USB products are expected to ship by the end of this year. The USB-IF will extend its compliance and logo program to cover the upper UWB bands as those products come to market, which is projected to be in 1H’08.

About Certified Wireless USB

Certified Wireless USB is the first high-speed wireless personal interconnect technology combining the speed and security of wired Hi-Speed USB with the ease-of-use-of wireless technology. It is backward compatible with wired USB, allows users to connect up to 127 devices and delivers a bandwidth of up to 480Mb/s at 3 meters and 110Mb/s at 10 meters. Certified Wireless USB is based on the WiMedia Alliance Ultra-wideband Common Radio Platform.

The Wireless USB Promoter Group, consisting of seven companies—Agere Systems, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, NXP Semiconductors and Samsung—defined the core Certified Wireless USB specification with the support of more than 100 contributor members. The group has now transitioned the specification’s management to the USB-IF, the supporting governing body of USB specifications. If a company intends to build and ship a product based on the Certified Wireless USB specification and wants to obtain a license, it should become an adopter member of the organization and license the logo. Download the adopter agreement and the license agreement by visiting: http://www.usb.org/wusb/.

About the USB-IF

The non-profit USB Implementers Forum, Inc. was formed to provide a support organization and forum for the advancement and adoption of USB technology. The USB-IF facilitates the development of high-quality compatible USB devices, through its logo and compliance program and promotes the benefits of USB and the quality of products that have passed compliance testing. Further information, including postings of the most recent product and technology announcements, is available by visiting the USB-IF Web site at www.usb.org.