UWB Alliance and FiRa Consortium Announce a Formal Liaison to Accelerate the Development and Adoption of UWB Technology

Complementary missions will support and strengthen global UWB industry growth

WASHINGTON & BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The UWB Alliance and the FiRa™ Consortium have established a joint liaison agreement to align their areas of focus and agree upon a way to work together on areas of common interest. Leadership notes that this liaison will provide the two organizations with guiding principles to ultimately achieve the common goal of creating a UWB-enabled ecosystem and supporting use of UWB technology.

As a part of the new liaison, the UWB Alliance will focus on matters arising from the promotion and safeguarding of UWB technology and advancing updates of the UWB rules in the United States and the EU. The FiRa Consortium will focus on UWB use cases specification, IEEE 802.15.4z interoperability and certification.

The UWB Alliance was established to foster the use of UWB technology solutions, promote industry growth and a favorable regulatory environment. In addition to promoting the visibility of UWB technology, the alliance has been working with law makers in Washington, DC and Brussels. It has already made progress on one of its key goals – ensuring effective interoperation and co-existence with other wireless standards. “This is a watershed moment for the UWB industry at large,” said Timothy Harrington, Chairman of the UWB Alliance. “Through our agreement with the FiRa Consortium, we can inspire an environment in which innovation for UWB products, applications and technologies flourishes, ultimately enlarging the total market.”

“By working in a collaborative manner with the UWB Alliance, the FiRa Consortium can continue to focus our efforts on the development and widespread adoption of seamless user experiences using the secured fine ranging and positioning capabilities of interoperable UWB technologies”, said Charlie Zhang, FiRa Consortium Board Chair and Senior Vice President Engineering, Samsung Research America. “The FiRa Consortium will promote UWB ecosystems, because technologies only endure when they’re backed by a robust, quality-driven infrastructure that enables rapid expansion.”

In order to promote greater efficiency and avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts, the UWB Alliance and the FiRa Consortium each believe that it will be mutually beneficial to coordinate regarding activities on new UWB matters as they arise, through liaison requests and liaison statements. This liaison also establishes a framework for sharing certain information within defined areas of mutual interest.

In the quest to increase the use of UWB technology, several companies have chosen to join both organizations, allowing them to take advantage of the strengths of each organization. Ultimately, the liaison agreement will leverage the best of both entities to the greatest benefit of the UWB industry, which is poised to become the next big wireless wave.

About UWB Alliance

UWB Alliance is an international nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington D.C. dedicated to the promotion and growth of the Ultra Wideband (UWB) industry. The UWB Alliance promotes large-scale deployments of UWB technology by fostering the protection and advancement of the regulatory environment for UWB technologies, providing a center of excellence for UWB education and coexistence, while endorsing cooperation with interoperable specifications and standards. For more information regarding the UWB Alliance, visit www.uwballiance.org

For more information, please contact:
Richard Foster
Vice President, Business Development
Telephone: [phone]
[e-mail]

About FiRa Consortium

Headquartered in Beaverton, OR, the FiRa Consortium is a member-driven organization dedicated to the development and widespread adoption of seamless user experiences using the secured fine ranging and positioning capabilities of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technologies. To learn more about the FiRa Consortium, visit www.firaconsortium.org.

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