Motorola FLEX paging protocols boosted

Electronic News, Oct 14, 1996

San Francisco--Further validating Motorola's FLEX family of paging protocols as an emerging de facto standard for voice messaging systems, Wireless Access has licensed ReFLEX two-way messaging technology for use in commercially available chipsets. The company concurrently introduced its Series 6000 ReFLEX chipset for Narrowband Personal Communications Services (NPCS) systems including pagers and wireless modems.

Separately, Wireless Access announced a cooperative effort with Hitachi America Ltd. to provide a hardware and software platform to enable OEMs to create two-way messaging devices for NPCS networks. Hitachi plans to provide applications and design support for its H8/3048 embedded controller, while Wireless Access will provide similar support for its Series 6000 ReFLEX chipset.

The Series 6000 ReFLEX chipset provides an antenna-to-user interface said to simplify 900MHz radio frequency (RF) design, as well as a high-level software interface for application development. Hitachi's complementary 2 MIPS H8/3048 embedded controller is designed to extend battery life in portable communication devices.

The Series 6000 chipset includes the WR6010 bipolar 900MHz RFIC, the WM6040 intermediate frequency (IF) modulator/demodulator, the WB6050 decoder and the WS6000 software API library. Sample quantities are expected in 1Q97, with production to follow in 3Q97. Pricing is $75 for the chipset, based on orders of 1,000.

Tim A. Williams, CTO of Wireless Access, commented, "The Series 6000 ReFLEX offers a turn-key solution that will enable companies--both large and small--to develop a new wave of wireless products that integrate two-way messaging capabilities, using de facto standard protocols like ReFLEX."

Under the terms of the technology license, Wireless Access is authorized to sell ReFLEX-based chipsets to third party developers, a privilege previously extended only to the basic FLEX protocol. Until recently, Motorola's ReFLEX and InFLEXion two-way messaging protocols were licensed to manufacturers for internal consumption only. Recently, Philips Semiconductors became one of the first to obtain a license to develop FLEX family-based chips for the OEM market (EN, Sept. 30).