Azimuth Systems Selected as Advisory Board Member of Worcester Polytechnic Institute Research Lab; Prestigious WPI Wireless LAN Research Laboratory Teams with Azimuth for Advanced Research

Business Wire, April 26, 2005

ACTON, Mass. -- Azimuth Systems, Inc., innovators in scalable, automated wireless network test systems, today announced that it would become a member of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Wireless LAN Research Laboratory (WLRL). The WLRL, headed by Dr. Kaveh Pahlavan, professor of ECE and CS at WPI, operates within the Center for Wireless Information Network Studies (CWINS) and has long been recognized as a center of excellence in wireless education and research. As part of the cooperation between the two organizations, Azimuth will become a member of the Advisory Board, chaired by Craig J. Mathias, a Principal with the wireless advisory firm Farpoint Group. Both Pahlavan and Mathias are internationally known authorities on WLAN technology, and are committed to excellence in the work the research lab will undertake.

"Azimuth has taken a leading role in defining 802.11 test metrics, participating in the IEEE, Wi-Fi Alliance and many other forums of thought," said Fanny Mlinarsky, founder and CTO of Azimuth Systems. "We are happy to join such a prominent team of wireless experts in an effort to help further define research that will benefit the industry."

The WPI WLRL lab is equipped with the Azimuth W-Series wireless test platform, which has been used in research for graduate student thesis work.

"The objective of the WLRL is to provide a common, instrumented facility for students and members to analyze both the theoretical and real-world performance of products to provide an instrumented, controlled environment for analysis, and conduct comparative studies as desired," explained Professor Pahlavan. "The Azimuth system is a key component of our lab's capabilities, and we are extremely happy to work with them as board members."

The Azimuth W-Series is the industry's first standardized test platform for system level testing of 802.11 wireless access points, clients and other devices. Designed from the ground up as an off-the-shelf, wireless LAN test platform, W-Series systems provide the ability to configure an entire WLAN network in a bench top chassis designed for complete Radio Frequency (RF) isolation and control. The flexibility and programmability of the W-Series allows for the thorough evaluation of wireless LAN equipment under varying mobility conditions and traffic patterns, as well as precise analysis of the results. The system offers an ideal environment to perform software design validation and to test advanced wireless functionality and performance including the latest IEEE standards.

Craig Mathias, Chair of the Advisory board stated, "The board will review the results of research with respect to commercial needs and technical directions of the wireless LAN industry, and evaluate the execution of its research plan during the year." Mathias continues, "As an experienced industry leader in wireless test, Azimuth's membership will be very beneficial to the WLRL advisory board."

About Azimuth:

Azimuth Systems, Inc. (www.azimuthsystems.com) is an innovator in wireless data communications test solutions. Azimuth's W-Series, the industry's first 802.11 test platform, sets the standard for wireless data test solutions by allowing system and semiconductor vendors to provide their customers with higher quality products in a shorter time-to-market. Based in Acton, Massachusetts, Azimuth is a leader in defining widely accepted wireless data communications performance metrics and test environments. Founded in 2002, Azimuth is backed by prestigious investors, including Kodiak Venture Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute Wireless LAN Research Laboratory:

The Wireless LAN Research Laboratory is, first and foremost, a vendor-neutral environment performing basic research primarily in the area of wireless-LAN performance analysis. With wireless LANs being called on to perform increasingly performance-intensive applications, including voice and support for ever-larger data objects and user data loads, the Wireless LAN Research Lab provides guidance in the planning, deployment, and management of wireless LANs.

Most importantly, the laboratory and campus-wire testbeds will be available to members for their own verification and analysis work, with access to academic and graduate student resources as well.