Wisair announces and demonstrates industry's first Multi-Band OFDM transceiver chip UB501 for UWB applications

Mobile Internet, The, April, 2004

Wisair, an Ultra Wide Band (UWB) chipsets and solutions company, announced its Multi-Band OFDM (MB-OFDM) transceiver chip UB501. The UB501 is the industry's first MB-OFDM-compliant device providing throughput of up to 480 Mbps. This chip will be used in numerous Consumer Electronics (CE), PC, Mobile, and Handheld products.

Wisair is one of the founding members of the Multi-Band OFDM Alliance (MBOA) and one of the authors of its UWB radio specification. Wisair is also a member of the WiMedia alliance to assure interoperability among various manufacturers of UWB-based devices and systems. Wisair has recently joined the Wireless USB Promoter Group as a key contributor, and this group is expected to release its specifications by the end of 2004.

UB501 uses SiGe-BiCMOS technology supporting a range of data rates up to 480 Mbps, occupying a frequency spectrum between 3.1 and 7.4 GHz. It is compliant with the current MBOA Version 0.8 specification and upgradable to the final Version 1.0. The UB501 comes in a 56-pin package, requires several passive components, an off-the-shelf crystal, and no external power amplifier. The Wisair UB501 chip will be provided as part of several development kits and reference designs to help OEMs quickly develop their systems and applications.