Alliance announces release of UWB technology standard.
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Press Release Summary:
Titled High Rate Ultra-Wideband PHY and MAC Standard, ECMA-368 was approved as ISO/IEC 26907, which specifies distributed medium access control sublayer and physical layer for wireless networks. PHY and MAC are compatible to high data rate communications between diverse set of mobile and fixed electronic devices. In conjunction with standard, ECMA-369, titled MAC-PHY Interface for ECMA-368, was approved as ISO/IEC 26908 and specified MAC-PHY interface for ultra-wideband wireless transceiver.
Original Press Release:
Ultra-Wideband Platform Published as ISO and IEC Standard
Publication Enables Products Powered With UWB Technology to Exist and Operate Worldwide
SAN RAMON, Calif., March 19 - The WiMedia Alliance today announced that the Ecma International standard for ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, elaborated from the WiMedia UWB Common Radio Platform, has been approved for release as an ISO/IEC International Standard.
The ECMA-368 standard, titled 'High Rate Ultra-Wideband PHY and MAC Standard', was approved as ISO/IEC 26907, which specifies a distributed medium access control (MAC) sublayer and a physical layer (PHY) for wireless networks. The PHY and MAC specified in this Ecma standard are compatible to high data rate communications between a diverse set of mobile and fixed electronic devices.
In conjunction with this standard, the ECMA-369 standard, titled 'MAC-PHY Interface for ECMA-368', was approved as ISO/IEC 26908 and specified the MAC-PHY interface for a high rate, ultra-wideband wireless transceiver.
"ISO/IEC's approval of WiMedia-based ultra-wideband technology as an international standard, coupled with the recent UWB approval by the European Commission, enables consumers and business entities throughout Europe and other countries to benefit from the use of PC, CE and mobile devices powered with UWB technology," said Stephen Wood, president of the WiMedia Alliance. "We are very pleased with the overwhelming support these standards received across many regions, which indicates the importance of other governments to adopt technology that continues their efforts to increase higher proficient information societies and increase economic stability."
In early 2005, members of both the WiMedia Alliance and Ecma submitted the WiMedia UWB platform specifications to Ecma for standards development. Created by WiMedia members from leading PC, CE, mobile device and semiconductor companies, these specifications set the groundwork for enabling short range multimedia file transfers at data rates up to 480Mbps that operate in the UWB spectrum of 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. The Ecma standards were established in December 2005, after which Ecma submitted the standards to ISO/IEC JTC 1 for fast track approval.
During the ISO fast track process, these specifications were circulated to national administrations for review and voting process. With the publication of ISO/IEC 26907 and 26908 as international published standards, the UWB technology and specifications are then recognized and protected under international trade treaties, of which countries are required to allow products enabled with UWB technology to be sold within their borders.
Going forward, the WiMedia Alliance and its members will actively work with the ISO and Ecma to expand specifications as UWB technology continues to evolve through a diverse range of PC, CE and mobile devices dedicated to establishing and maintaining a robust and affordable wireless personal area network (WPAN) for business users and consumers worldwide.
The ISO/IEC and Ecma UWB standards are available at no cost from the following web sites: isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2489/Ittf_Home/ITTF.htm, www.ecma-international.org and www.wimedia.org.
About ISO
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer of standards. Although ISO's principal activity is the development of technical standards, ISO standards also have important economic and social repercussions. ISO standards make a positive difference, not just to engineers and manufacturers for whom they solve basic problems in production and distribution, but to society as a whole. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 157 countries, on the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.
About Ecma International
Since its inception in 1961, Ecma International (Ecma) has developed standards for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Consumer Electronics (CE). Ecma is a non-profit industry association of technology developers, vendors and users. Experts from industry and other organizations work together at Ecma to develop standards. Ecma submits its work for approval as ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC JTC 1 and ETSI standards and is the inventor and main practitioner of "fast tracking" of specifications through the standardisation process in International Standards Organisations (ISOs) such as the ISO and the ICE. Publications can be downloaded free of charge from www.ecma-international.org.
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), WiMedia UWB 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 www.wimedia.org.
CONTACT:
Tracee Larson or Rachel Shaver
WiMedia Alliance PR
+1-503-619-0505
pr@wimedia.org
for The WiMedia Alliance
Web site: www.wimedia.org/
http://www.ecma-international.org/
