Alantro Communications Leads New IEEE 802.11 Higher Rate Extension Study Group; Key Designer for 22Mbps Alantro Solution, Dr. Matthew Shoemake, Appointed to Head Study Group

Business Wire, March 15, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA ROSA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 2000

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) international standards committee, responsible for developing wireless local area network (WLAN) specifications (IEEE 802.11), has approved the formation of a new study group prompted by the activities of Alantro Communications.

The mission of the study group is to explore a double data rate (22Mbps), interoperable extension to the IEEE 802.11b standard for WLAN in the 2.4GHz ISM band. Interest in this activity is a result of the recent acknowledgement that Alantro has developed such technology.

The committee appointed Dr. Matthew Shoemake, one of the key designers for Alantro Communication's 22Mbps wireless LAN solution, to head the new study group for high rate extensions to the IEEE 802.11b standard.

Dr. Shoemake has been an active member of the IEEE 802.11 Working Group for over two years and has contributed to the development and standardization of the IEEE 802.11b wireless LAN standard. Dr. Shoemake made key contributions to the high performance modulation mode of the IEEE 802.11b standard, Packet Binary Convolutional Codes (PBCC(TM)).

"The establishment of a Study Group for Enhancements to the IEEE 802.11b standard is the first step in allowing standardization of high speed and highly reliable wireless LAN technologies that significantly increase the performance of the current standard," stated Dr. Shoemake.

"Given the popularity and market acceptance of the IEEE 802.11b standard, the enhancements that result from this new effort are sure to be a consumer favorite."

Since the adoption of the first IEEE 802.11 standard in 1997, major corporations such as 3COM, Aironet, Apple, Cabletron, Cisco, Compaq, Dell, Intel, Lucent, Nokia, Samsung, and Symbol have adopted the standard.

Dr. Shoemake went on to say, "Alantro Communications will offer its 22Mbps, seamless extension of the IEEE 802.11b standard to the new Study Group. This is the same extension that is currently incorporated into Alantro's soon to be announced ACX100TM series of 802.11 compliant wireless LAN chips.

"Alantro believes that a quick adoption of a high rate standard will allow the IEEE 802.11 Working Group to continue to be the forerunner in the definition of wireless LAN standards."

Alantro Communications' technology was adopted as part of the IEEE 802.11b 11Mbps standard, which was approved in September of 1999. Dr. Chris Heegard, CEO of Alantro Communications, and Dr. Shoemake contributed the high performance modulation of the IEEE 802.11b standard known as Packet Binary Convolutional Coding (PBCC(TM)).

PBCC(TM) modulation allows for greater range and reliability than the alternative modulation, CCK, defined in the standard.

The Study Group for Enhancements to the IEEE 802.11b standard will present

findings to the IEEE 802.11 general assembly at the May 2000 conference in Seattle.

About the IEEE 802.11 Working Group

The IEEE 802.11 Working Group is a standards working group on WLAN and is part of the IEEE 802 LMSC. The IEEE 802 LMSC is sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society and submits standards through the IEEE Standards Association.

The IEEE Computer Society is the oldest and largest association of computer professionals in the world. It offers its 100,000 members comprehensive program of publications, meetings, and technical and educational activities, encouraging an active exchange of information, ideas, and innovation. The society is the world's leading publisher of technical material in the computing field.

The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. The members and volunteers of the IEEE are the technical and scientific professionals making the revolutionary engineering advances that are reshaping our world today. This includes the development of leading-edge electro- and information technology standards used throughout the industry.

About Alantro Communications

Alantro Communications, a fabless semiconductor company founded in Santa Rosa, California in 1997, is currently developing extremely efficient, IEEE 802.11 compliant, wireless LAN technology with advanced performance and high-speed capabilities.

Alantro Communications has unique expertise in existing and emerging forward error control (FEC) and modulation/demodulation technology. Alantro also specializes in Turbo Coding, a next generation, very high performance FEC methodology. Additional information can be found on the web at http://www.alantro.com.