Semiconductor IP supplier agreement October 1, 2003
Wi-LAN to Co-Develop Semiconductor Intellectual Property Cores with Leading
Semiconductor IP Supplier
CALGARY, CANADA--
Agreements Enable Wi-LAN to Produce and License Semiconductor IP Cores for IEEE
WirelessMAN Standard System-on-Chips
Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX: WIN), a global provider of broadband wireless communications
products and technologies, announced today it has agreed to co-develop
semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) cores for IEEE WirelessMAN(a)
Standard broadband wireless systems-on-chips (SoCs) with a leading SIP
provider.
"These agreements are intended to allow us to accelerate the development work
for our WirelessMAN Standard SoC's and broadband wireless systems and to
broaden the market for our intellectual property," said Dr. Sayed-Amr
El-Hamamsy, Wi-LAN's president and chief operating officer. "We intend to
develop SIP cores, based on our patented W-OFDM technology, incorporating the
physical layer of the WirelessMAN standard. Wi-LAN expects to license the SIP
cores to semiconductor companies, and to incorporate resulting SoC's into our
LIBRA products to produce the first WirelessMAN compliant systems. This is a
key component in our ongoing strategy of licensing our intellectual property,
developing the first WirelessMAN Standard system and reducing the cost of our
broadband wireless products."
Wi-LAN and the SIP provider have entered into two agreements: a consulting
agreement and a licensing agreement. The combined agreements require periodic
payments from Wi-LAN to the SIP supplier of approximately $0.8 million in total
over the initial eight-month period, as well as warrants for Wi-LAN common
shares with a total strike price of $75,000 (subject to regulatory approvals).
Also, the SIP supplier will be entitled to a portion of all future related SIP
Core license fees collected by Wi-LAN.
WirelessMAN's wireless metropolitan area network technology will connect 802.11
hot spots to the Internet, provide a wireless extension to cable and DSL for
last mile broadband access, provide an inexpensive infrastructure for internet
protocol based telephony systems and provide backhaul for cellular base
stations. It provides up to 50-kilometers of range and allows users to receive
broadband connectivity without requiring a direct line of sight with the base
station. The wireless broadband technology also provides shared data rates up
to 70 Mbps, which is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support more than 60
businesses with T1-type connectivity and hundreds of homes with DSL-type
connectivity with a single base station.
Wi-LAN is a member of the WiMAX(TM) Forum, a non-profit corporation formed to
help promote and certify the compatibility and interoperability of broadband
wireless access (BWA) equipment. Other WiMAX Forum members include Fujitsu,
Intel, Nokia and other BWA equipment providers. The group's efforts will help
accelerate the introduction of WirelessMAN Standard wireless broadband
equipment into the marketplace, speeding up last-mile broadband deployment
worldwide.
Comparison of IEEE WirelessMAN Standard to other OFDM based standards
The IEEE Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WirelessMAN) Standard, announced
on January 30, 2003, defines a standard for BWA systems operating in radio
frequencies from 2 to 11 GHz. The emerging European equivalent to the
WirelessMAN Standard, the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards
Institute) HiperMAN standard, will incorporate the same OFDM technology used in
WirelessMAN, making OFDM the worldwide standard for BWA systems.
/T/
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
IEEE (North ETSI Global Applicable Intended Range
American) (European) Compatibility Radio
Standard Standard Between IEEE Frequencies
and ETSI
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WirelessMAN HiperMAN(1) Yes 2 to 11 GHz Up to 50 km
802.11a HiperLAN2 No 5.x GHz Up to 30 meters
802.11g NA NA 2.4 GHz Up to 100 meters
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Under development
/T/
The W-OFDM Advantage
Wi-LAN's patented Wide-Band Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (W-OFDM)
technology is a variation of OFDM that further improves its characteristics.
The signal reception is corrected for distortions, allowing greater
transmission speeds, and the signal is processed to maximize the range and
multipath resistance. W-OFDM allows spectrally efficient, non-line-of-sight,
point-to-multipoint wireless networks to be implemented while minimizing
interference with adjacent networks.
About Wi-LAN Inc.
Wi-LAN is a global provider of broadband wireless communications products and
technologies, offering businesses, including telecom service providers, and
government enterprises effective, economic and secure wireless high-speed
communications solutions. Wi-LAN specializes in high-speed Internet access,
data network extension, and wireless data and telephony backhaul, utilizing its
high quality products and industry-leading technologies. Wi-LAN believes its
W-OFDM patents are necessary for the implementation of devices using the IEEE
standards WirelessMAN, 802.11a or 802.11g, the ETSI BRAN HiperLAN/2 standard or
the current draft of the proposed ETSI BRAN HiperMAN standard. Wi-LAN licenses
its W-OFDM technology and has executed non-exclusive W-OFDM license agreements
with semiconductor companies. Wi-LAN is the Chair Company of the OFDM Forum
(www.ofdm-forum.com) and an active member of the WiMAX Forum
(www.wimaxforum.org). Wi-LAN's common shares trade on The Toronto Stock
Exchange under the symbol "WIN." Detailed information on Wi-LAN can be found at
www.wi-lan.com.