Wi-LAN Offers to License W-OFDM and MC-DSSS Technology For Wireless Data Networks in Europe

Business Wire, March 6, 2000

Business Editors

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2000

Wi-LAN Believes Its Patents May be Essential

to Emerging ETSI Standards

Wi-LAN Inc. (TSE: WIN.), an innovator in the field of high-speed wireless data communications, announced today that it submitted an Intellectual Property statement offering to license both its Wideband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (W-OFDM) and Multicode Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (MC-DSSS) patented technology (US patent number 5,282,222 & 5,555,268, respectively) with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The statement asserts that Wi-LAN believes its patents may be considered essential to some emerging ETSI standards.

The W-OFDM technology is the technology of choice for ETSI's Broadband Radio Access Networks project that seeks to develop new standards for networks providing broadband radio access. Specifically, W-OFDM will be used in the development of the HiperLAN/2 standard. This standard is a flexible platform providing high-speed access (up to 54 Mbps) to a variety of networks including public ATM and IP-based applications as well as for private use as a wireless LAN system.

The MC-DSSS technology meets the needs of ETSI's 3rd Generation (3G) Partnership Project (3GPP). 3G systems are intended to offer users access to multimedia services while roaming anywhere in the world. Wi-LAN's MC-DSSS enables several Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) codes to be assigned to a single user in a CDMA network, thus increasing throughput. Commonly known as cellular telephony technology, basic CDMA only assigns a single code to each user in the network. "We have long believed that our patented technologies will play an important role in the development of wireless data networks. It's exciting that W-OFDM and MC-DSSS are taking their place at the heart of proposed 3G and HiperLAN/2 standards," said Dr. Hatim Zaghloul, Wi-LAN chairman, CEO and co-inventor of the two technologies.

About Wi-LAN

Wi-LAN delivers high-speed wireless data/Internet communications products that provide infrastructure and high-speed networking equipment for public and private wireless data networks. Wi-LAN is the 1999 recipient of the CATA Alliance Award of Distinction for Emerging Technology. Wi-LAN shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WIN. Detailed information on Wi-LAN can be found at http://www.wi-lan.com.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein.