Ray - 'Winners write both history and standards.'
See:
computerworld.com
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Microsoft backs high-speed frequency wireless standard
By JACK MCCARTHY, IDG NEWS SERVICE
(March 15, 2000) Microsoft Corp. said yesterday it will support an effort to set standards for high-speed frequencies for wireless communications.
The software giant said it is supporting the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) Forum, in which several companies will back development of a single OFDM standard.
A forum steering committee has been created whose members include L. M. Ericsson Telephone Co., Nokia Corp., Philips Semiconductors, Sony Corp. and Wi-LAN Inc., the companies announced Tuesday at a news conference held at the Broadband Wireless World Forum in San Francisco.
"We want to develop OFDM standards," Hatim Zaghloul, chairman and CEO of Wi-LAN, said at the conference. "We want to be able to communicate with everything from PDAs (personal digital assistants) to Windows CE devices."
With rising demand for increasing the speed of wireless data transmission and the growth of the Internet, the OFDM standard is appealing because it sends multiple high-speed signals concurrently on different frequencies, resulting in efficient use of bandwidth and high-quality communications, Zaghloul said.
More than 100 companies first met in December to discuss the development of the OFDM Forum, Zaghloul said. The group's work will include cooperating on patent development and the formation of a research center for OFDM standards.
Microsoft wants to see a single, global standard for devices using its software in businesses and in homes, said Mike Wehrs, a Microsoft Windows CE product manager.
"The question is whether there will be a standardized network so we can deploy multiple devices," Wehrs said.
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Which one is the 'winner', according to your definition?
Best,
Jim |
