Wisair Gets FCC Approval

Last week, ultrawideband (UWB) solutions developer Wisair announced that its UWB chipset development system had received certification approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). While a number of other UWB developers have already received similar approval for their technology, this announcement makes Wisair the first MultiBand OFDM-based member of the WiMedia Alliance to receive FCC certification. “It’s a key milestone for WiMedia,” says Serdar Yurdakul, Wisair’s director of Business Development and Marketing.


The FCC’s certification was achieved through a partnership with Austin, Texas-based TDK Test Services, a division of TDK Corp. with whom Wisair had previously collaborated for initial FCC Part 15 compliance tests in 2003.


“We used them because they understand the specification and the requirements,” Yurdakul says. “They have the capability, knowledge, and equipment to do ultrawideband tests that are specifically MultiBand OFDM-oriented – so this was a fairly straightforward task for them.”


In March of this year, the FCC granted a waiver which allowed the WiMedia Alliance’s version of UWB to apply for certification. “There was quite a bit of confusion started by certain organizations in the last couple of years, but our position has always been that MultiBand OFDM does not cause any more interference than was intended by the ultrawideband rules of the FCC,” Yurdakul says. “What the FCC waiver and the FCC tests proved is that we do not cause any more interference than any other ultrawideband systems out there.”


This announcement, Yurdakul suggests, finally put any remaining concerns about WiMedia’s MultiBand OFDM technology to rest.


“The waiver eliminated 99 percent of the market confusion, and getting approved within that waiver eliminates that last one percent,” Yurdakul says. “So right now, there should be absolutely no doubt in the marketplace that there is any regulatory issue with our technology – this eliminates that once and for all for WiMedia and, of course, for Wisair.”


For companies using Wisair’s development system to create end user products, Yurdakul says, that provides some crucial reassurance about the technology. “What this means is that our customers who are utilizing our chipsets to create their products know that they will be able to get FCC certification,” he says. “So this is a very important step – but for us, we will continue to do what we’ve been doing for the past couple of years: developing our chips, and working with our OEM partners and customers to productize the technology.”


Yurdakul says further announcements will be coming from Wisair within the next few weeks, with the expectation that the first releases of ultrawideband and Wireless USB products based on the company’s technology will be made in 2006.


“We’re working with numerous OEMs right now – in various different consumer electronics, PC and PC peripherals areas, and also several vertical markets – toward productization next year,” he says.

Jeff Goldman
Jeff Goldman
Jeff Goldman has been a technology journalist for more than 20 years and a contributor to TechnologyAdvice websites since 1999. He's covered security, networking, storage, mobile technologies and more during his time with TechnologyAdvice.

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