Wireless Innovation Forum Adds 11 New Members in Last Half of 2010, Including Four TV White Space Companies

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Wireless Innovation Forum™ (www.WirelessInnovation.org), a non-profit international industry association dedicated to driving the future of radio communications and systems worldwide, today announced the addition of 11 new member organizations. These new members bring a broad base of experience in Software Defined Radio (SDR), Cognitive Radio(CR) and Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) technologies in diverse markets at levels of the wireless value chain spanning from research labs to telecommunications equipment manufacturers:

“The WInnForum is the ideal forum for the research areas of UMIC.”

Four organizations focused on the emerging TV White Space Communications Market joined:

Spectrum Bridge, Inc. (SBI) delivers software and services to wireless service providers and equipment manufacturers. SBI enables wireless networks to access and use all types of spectrum at any place or time via a database driven cognitive network architecture. The Company’s products are embedded in subscriber devices and network equipment to more efficiently allocate bandwidth throughout the entire wireless network. SBI’s technology provides customers greater capacity, coverage and utilization of scarce spectrum resources. SBI was named a top innovator in the area of technology for its TV White Spaces network by the Andrew Seybold 2010 Choice Awards. The company is privately held and headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida. For more information, contact SBI at [phone] or visit SpectrumBridge.com.

TV Band Service, LLC develops, integrates and provides wireless communication technologies for enterprise and government. The company employs next-generation wireless technology including Mobile DTV and TV White Spaces to reduce cost and improve performance for a range of applications including public safety, environmental monitoring, traffic management, energy conservation and wireless broadband internet. TV Band Service supports a cooperative test bed at its 50 acre headquarters, and site of the world’s first DTV market, in Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. Call 910-343-3737 or visit www.tvbandservice.com.

WSdb, LLC was founded to develop the fastest, most cost effective solution to provide a database service that will keep track of spectrum use by priority-devices and conversely spectrum availability to non-priority devices based on a device's current location. The company was founded in April 2009. http://whitespacedb.com/Default.aspx

xG Technology Inc. has developed xMax® the world’s first carrier-class cognitive radio network. Powered by adaptive-learning detect and avoid radio technology, the xMax platform lets mobile operators utilize free, unlicensed frequencies instead of purchasing scarce licensed spectrum costing millions of dollars. By leveraging these benefits, our customers can deploy advanced voice and data services that deliver excellent quality, reliability and scalability with significantly lower CAPEX compared to other carrier-class wireless technologies. http://www.xgtechnology.com/

One chip device producer joined:

Optimum Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. (OST) is a fabless semiconductor company, aiming to deliver ubiquitous wireless connectivity at the highest-integration level and lowest cost. OST's mission is to develop a radically innovative baseband processor that is a flexible alternative to dedicated hardware for next generation, multi-mode mobile handsets. Optimum Semiconductor’s unique solution will start a prolific new era of innovation benefiting the entire mobile ecosystem by delivering unprecedented compute performance that will accelerate the creation and distribution of pioneering mobile features and applications with low power consumption. http://optimumsemi-tech.com/index.html

Two Research/Academic Institutions joined:

Institute for Telecommunications Research (ITR) is an internationally recognised research organisation, specialising in research and technology development for wireless communications, including both fixed and mobile, satellite and terrestrial based applications. ITR conducts its research in three main areas: satellite communications, high speed data communications and flexible networks. http://www.itr.unisa.edu.au/

RWTH Aachen University is one of the leading German Universities with a strong focus on engineering. The University also hosts a research center for ultra high-speed mobile information and communication (UMIC) where more than 20 institutes from electrical engineering and computer science participate. The center’s research covers all aspects from mobile applications, networks and terminals down to design and implementation of radio frequency subsystems and multi-processor systems on chip. Cognitive radio and flexible transceivers are major focus areas of UMIC. http://www.rwth-aachen.de/go/id/bdz/

“Scientific exchange is an important factor for research,” says Ute Miller of RWTH Aachen University. “The WInnForum is the ideal forum for the research areas of UMIC.”

One defense consortium joined:

Alliance for ESSOR (a4ESSOR) is a French Société par Actions Simplifiée (SAS) set up by six EU leading TLC Companies (Elektrobit, Indra, Saab, Selex-Comms, Radmor and Thales), the Shareholders, in order to manage the ESSOR (European Secure SOftware defined Radio) Contract awarded by OCCAR-EA and to promote the ESSOR products in the SDR community. The main aims of the ESSOR Contract are the definition, implementation and common validation of an SDR Architecture in order to facilitate WF portability among the six Participating States National SDR platforms and the definition/simulation, development, porting/validation on the six PS National SDR platforms and common validation of a High Data Rate WF. a4ESSOR is executing the ESSOR Contract through sub-contracts awarded to the six Shareholders Companies. http://www.occar-ea.org/36

“Five out of six a4ESSOR Main Subcontractors were already members of the Forum. a4ESSOR’s main role/interest is therefore to coordinate their contributions to the Forum in relation to ESSOR products,” said Ugo Manetti, President of a4ESSOR. “We firmly in fact believe that the Forum can offer an extraordinary opportunity, worldwide, for technical exchange in the SDR field and related matters.”

One Subsystem Provider joined:

Ettus Research LLC specializes in low cost, high quality software defined radio (SDR) systems. Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) systems are in use all over the world, enabling users to address a broad range of research, academic, industrial, and defense applications. The USRP platform is designed to address applications from DC to 6GHz with wide bandwidths and MIMO capabilities. http://www.ettus.com

One Radio Manufacturer joined:

Sunair Electronics has been quietly serving the world of wireless communications since 1956. Today, Sunair designs, manufactures and sells state of the art High Frequency (HF) communications systems and peripherals utilized for long range voice and data communications. Every hour of every day Sunair products proudly serve those around the world who protect us on the sea, under the sea, in the air and on the land. In both the commercial world and the government / military world Sunair has provided strategic communications application solutions in over a 100 countries across the planet, including those of the NATO community. Cost-conscious and quality-conscious, Sunair remains dedicated to the development, design and production of equipment that is as advanced as it is reliable. http://www.sunairelectronics.com/

Two Consulting groups rejoined:

SAIC is a FORTUNE 500^® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world, in national security, energy and the environment, and critical infrastructure. http://www.saic.com/

Booz Allen Hamilton The Booz Allen Cyber and Communications Market Group is responsible for providing a broad array of engineering support services to Army CERDEC, JPEO JTRS, PEO C3T and PEO EIS organizations. In these roles Booz Allen provides systems engineering, R&D program support and life cycle acquisition services. Booz Allen capabilities include developing innovative solutions to improve the performance of the warfighter's tactical wireless communications. http://www.boozallen.com/

“We are very excited to have these recognized leaders in driving technology innovation in commercial, civil and defense communications join the Forum as member organizations, and are especially pleased to see the growing number of companies who are viewing the Wireless Innovation Forum as the preferred industry association for addressing their needs in the emerging TV White Space Market,” said Lee Pucker, CEO of The Wireless Innovation Forum. “Through their membership, these organizations illustrate the continuing value The Forum delivers in facilitating collaboration between technical, government, and business leaders at all levels of the wireless value chain to improve performance, reduce the total life cost of ownership and facilitate the rapid deployment of standardized families of products, technologies, and services.”

To learn more about membership benefits, and see a current listing of Forum members, visit http://www.WirelessInnovation.org.

About the Wireless Innovation Forum

Established in 1996, The Wireless Innovation Forum (SDR Forum Version 2.0) is a non-profit mutual benefit corporation dedicated to driving technology innovation in commercial, civil, and defense communications worldwide. Members bring a broad base of experience in Software Defined Radio (SDR), Cognitive Radio(CR) and Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) technologies in diverse markets and at all levels of the wireless value chain to address emerging wireless communications requirements. To learn more about The Wireless Innovation Forum, its meetings and membership benefits, visit www.WirelessInnovation.org.