OFDM Forum First Anniversary Highlighted by Promise of Future Use of OFDM in Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--
OFDM Forum meeting also sees the addition of 11 new members to its already impressive membership roster
The OFDM Forum, an association organized to promote a single standard for high-speed wireless communications, today
concluded its first meeting of the 2001 calendar year. This meeting saw the achievement of several milestones that
demonstrate the importance of OFDM technology to the future of the wireless industry, as well as the need for a single,
compatible global standard for OFDM technology:
* A demonstration of a fully automated automobile that will use OFDM technology
* The addition of 11 new members, including 3Com and Runcom
* The review and discussion of various proposals by OFDM Forum working groups
At the University of California at Berkeley' Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) program research facility,
the OFDM Forum participated in an automated vehicle merge demonstration conducted by PATH's scientists and graduate
students. Three vehicles utilizing IEEE802.11b technology with fully automated steering, acceleration and speed were used in
a low-speed merge maneuver in which one car merged into a gap created by the other two without manual/human assistance.
This demonstration proves the technical feasibility of operating standard automobiles under precise automatic control at close
spacings. Researchers at the California PATH program have plans to migrate the technology to OFDM in the near future to
mitigate multipath issues and provide higher data rates for improved vehicle-to-vehicle communications. While only currently in
test stages, networking the vehicles in this way has the potential to enable vehicles to operate much closer together than is
possible under manual driving conditions, allowing each lane to carry at least twice as much traffic as it can today. Through its
involvement in this demonstration, OFDM Forum members showed their commitment to the future of wireless technology and
to working with the next generation of transportation professionals.
In addition to this demonstration, and marking the OFDM Forum's first anniversary, the meeting was also attended by many
of the most recent additions to the organization's already impressive membership roster. New OFDM Forum members are as
follows:
Runcom Technologies Ltd. Principal Member
3Com Corporation Associate Member
ComSilica, Inc. Small Business Associate Member
Ellipsis Digital Systems Small Business Associate Member
Encore Software Ltd. Small Business Associate Member
Improv Systems Inc. Small Business Associate Member
Littlefeet, Inc. Small Business Associate Member
RF Integration Inc. Small Business Associate Member
Wavesat Telecom Ltd. Small Business Associate Member
University of Cairo
- Faculty of Engineering Academic Member
Radio Communications Agency, UK Government Agency Member
ABOUT NEW OFDM FORUM MEMBERS
Runcom Technologies Ltd - Principal Member
Runcom Technologies develops innovative and state of the art high speed link comprising subscriber's units, base stations and
related software for the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) PMP communication market, and to the full Iteractive DVB-T
based Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) market. www.runcom.co.il
3Com Corp. - Associate Member
3Com simplifies how people connect to information and services through easy-to-use connectivity products and solutions for
consumers and commercial organizations. The company also provides access infrastructures and IP services platforms for
network service providers. www.3com.com
ComSilica, Inc.
ComSilica develops broadband wireless semiconductor solutions for corporate and home networks and inter-device
communication. www.comsilica.com
Ellipsis Digital Systems - Small Business Associate Member Ellipsis' unified system/hardware/software design methodology
enables the company to design and develop products for the rapidly evolving Digital Communications market. The company's
markets include: Wireless Internet Access devices, Wireless Local and Personal Area Networks (WLAN/WPAN), Digital
Cellular Telephones and Wireline Internet Access devices, such as Broadband Digital Cable and Digital Subscriber Loop
(DSL) devices. www.ellipsisdigital.com
Encore Software Ltd. - Small Business Associate Member
Encore develops DSP-based software for modems, speech processing, and telecommunications protocols. Encore's
technology is used by some of the world's leading telecommunication, semiconductor and electronic equipment manufacturers.
www.ncoretech.com
Improv Systems Inc. - Small Business Associate Member
Improv Systems develops and licenses configurable processors and platform solutions for Voice-over-IP (VoIP), Networking
and Emerging Media. Improv's Jazz(TM) DSP processor is a programmable, scaleable and configurable DSP processor,
targeted to consumer electronics and telecommunications markets. www.improvsys.com
Littlefeet, Inc. - Small Business Associate Member
Littlefeet provides wireless infrastructure equipment. Littlefeet's patented SPICE products provide enhanced coverage and
quality for today's mobile network infrastructures worldwide, and are designed to meet the needs of tomorrow's mobile
consumers, service providers and the global community. www.littlefeet-inc.com
RF Integration Inc. - Small Business Associate Member
RF Integration Inc. provides highly integrated, custom, turn-key RF/Mixed Signal IC Product Development Solutions for the
wireless and broadband communications markets. Strategic foundry alliances provide access to high performance Silicon and
GaAs IC technologies, allowing RF Integration to choose the IC process that best fits the customers specific performance and
cost requirements. www.rfintegration.com
Wavesat Telecom Ltd. - Small Business Associate Member
Wavesat Telecom provides unique technical solutions for telecommunications applications such as PCS, cellular, satellite, line
of sight microwave radios and emerging digital broadcast communications systems. Wavesat has secured a reputable position
within the industry as a leading developer of commercialized high-power, linear, efficient RF and microwave solid state power
amplifiers (SSPA). www.wavesat.com
University of Cairo - Faculty of Engineering - Academic Member
Since opening in 1816 and until the mid 1990s, more than 90% of Egyptian engineers have graduated from the University of
Cairo's Faculty of Engineering. In addition to the graduation of generations of engineers in all fields, the faculty has been a
continuous source of staff and advice to its younger sister faculties all over Egypt and the Arab region. www.cairo.eun.eg
Radio Communications Agency, UK - Government Agency Member
UK Radiocommunications Agency is an executive agency of the Department of Trade and Industry and is responsible for civil
radio spectrum matters in the UK. The Agency is responsible for the allocation, maintenance and supervision of the UK Radio
Spectrum. www.radio.gov.uk
The OFDM Forum has grown to include 56 members to date, 15 of which are listed as Principal Members of the
organization.
The Wireless LAN, PAN and HMM working group of the OFDM Forum will host a post-conference workshop at
EuroForum's Wireless LAN conference. Taking place on April 6, 2001, this workshop will be held in London, England at the
London Hilton Hotel. For more information, visit www.ef-telecoms.co.uk/wlan.
ABOUT OFDM
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a technology that is considered to be the cornerstone of the next
generation of high-speed wireless data products and services for corporate and consumer use. OFDM is also at the
foundation of both the IEEE 802.11 and ETSI BRAN standards and is used in numerous multimedia applications.
ABOUT THE OFDM FORUM
The OFDM Forum is a market development association comprised of hardware manufacturers, software firms,
telecommunications companies and other users interested in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology
in wireless applications. Founded in December 1999, the OFDM Forum was established to promote a single, compatible
global OFDM standard for cost-effective, high-speed wireless networks on a variety of devices. Founding companies are as
follows: Ericsson, Nokia, Philips Semiconductors, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Sony, Wi-LAN and the Testbed Center for
Interoperability at the University of California at Santa Barbara (a division of CalTrans). The OFDM Forum has grown to
include 56 members to date, 15 of which are listed as Principal Members of the organization. More information on the
OFDM Forum can be found at www.ofdm-forum.com.
Organizations interested in joining the OFDM Forum are invited to visit the OFDM Forum website at www.ofdm-forum.com. |
