Pulse~LINK DEVELOPS FIRST ULTRA WIDEBAND SOFTWARE DEFINED CHIPSET PLATFORM
UWB Wireless, UWB Cable, and UWB Power Line Technologies To Work Simultaneously on a Single Chip
Carlsbad, Calif., May 11, 2004 - Ultra Wideband (UWB) chipset developer, Pulse~LINK, Inc., has developed the first integrated circuit for a media-diverse UWB Software Defined Cognitive Radio (SDCR) solution. The test silicon unveils an architecture that supports Pulse~LINK's UWB wireless, UWB power line, and UWB cable communications technologies simultaneously on the same chipset. The Company will conduct private showings of the Pulse~LINK chip along with various demonstrations of its UWB technology at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Global Conference on Ultra Wideband scheduled this June 9-18, 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts.
In addition to developing longer-range UWB communications for Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN), Pulse~LINK is the first and presently only company to develop UWB for Cable Television Networks and recently demonstrated UWB across electric power lines. Combining these networking technologies on a single chipset allows consumer electronics and computing devices around the home to be seamlessly networked together wirelessly, through existing home electrical wiring, or across CATV cabling as conditions and usage warrants. For Cable Television customers, those home networks can then be networked to the rest of the world through a massive new two-way UWB data pipe enabled through the existing CATV infrastructure, all on the same chipset.
Pulse~LINK's target data rates for its chipset are up to 1 Gigabit for UWB wireless connectivity, up to 200 Mbps for UWB power line communications (electrical wiring in homes and small offices), and up to 1 Gigabit of new downstream bandwidth across existing cable television networks in addition to hundreds of megabits of new bandwidth per node upstream.
Evolving digital homes require connectivity of devices at ranges far beyond the sub-10 meter "single room" technology defined by other UWB approaches. Consumers are driving the demand for total home networking with a need for computer systems, hand held devices, High Definition Televisions, entertainment systems and other consumer electronics to communicate with each other, transferring high quality video, photos, text and audio to all parts of the home. Pulse~LINK's SDCR approach provides a single solution for total home networking with Wireless LAN capabilities that can be further enhanced through home electric power lines and cable technologies. Because the chipset automatically selects which networking solution to use, the consumer need not be concerned whether the networking is done over wires or wirelessly.
"The fundamental architecture of our integrated circuit, implemented on Jazz Semiconductor's SiGe 120 process, is that of a Software Defined Cognitive Radio," states John Santhoff, Chief Technology Officer. "The hardware platform we have defined represents a significant leap forward in communications. It reduces the complexity and implementation of wireless and wired physical layers to a software abstraction. We anticipate future evolutions implemented on this same chip to be able to support and deliver narrowband carrier signals such as WiFi, WiMax, or any flavor of IEEE 802.15.3a wireless UWB standard as well. Because it is driven by software, such evolution will not require any modifications to the chipset hardware architecture and will purely be a matter of software/firmware upgrades."
Software Defined Radio represents an evolution of networking technology achieved by defining a single hardware architecture that is capable of supporting multiple physical layers under software control. Cognitive Radio takes Software Defined Radio even further. In a product where multiple functions are possible - for instance, UWB wireless, cable and electrical communications - a combination of discernable traits can be defined and continuously evaluated to automatically determine which networking medium (wireless, cable, or electrical) is appropriate or optimal in a given situation. The most appropriate transmission medium is selected automatically and dynamically switched as network conditions and requirements warrant.
"The combination of all three forms of UWB communications on a common platform obviously represents a significant departure from the currently popularized pursuit of UWB as a means to replace USB2.0 cables. That is a good application of UWB with obvious market potential, but it isn't the only application for UWB," states Bruce Watkins, Pulse~LINK President/COO. "What we are doing is not an alternative to the wireless USB applications pursued by other UWB companies but an entirely different application and market. Just as Bluetooth and WiFi are two entirely different narrowband technologies that use the same 2.4Ghz frequency - what we are introducing is a uniquely differentiated application of UWB."
Following demonstrations in June 2004, Pulse~LINK will invite open collaborative industry partnerships and standardization initiatives with companies and organizations interested in exploring and defining new UWB SDCR applications.
About Pulse~LINK, Inc.
Pulse~LINK, Inc. is a privately held Delaware Corporation
headquartered in Carlsbad, California, with nearly 300 issued and
pending patents pertaining to UWB wired and wireless
communications technology. Pulse~LINK's CWave® solution provides
up to Gigabit data rates over coax and wireless networks from the
same chipset, enabling consumers the unprecedented ability to
stream and distribute high quality multimedia content throughout
the home. CWave® solutions have the ability to support both 1394
and Gigabit Ethernet over coax as well as wireless HDMI. For
additional information about Pulse~LINK, Inc., please visit: http://www.pulselink.net.
Forward Looking Statements
Any statements contained in this release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking
statements rely on assumptions and are subject to various risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from expectations.
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For More Information:
Pulse~LINK, Inc.
Laurie Watkins
Tel: (858) 794-9414
Mobile: (858) 349-1989
Email: lwatkins@pulselink.net