Spectrum Signal Processing Selects Ittiam's Wireless LAN Technology

Agreement covers the latest IEEE 802.11g high data rate standard-based intellectual property

Bangalore - August 27, 2003 - Ittiam Systems today announced the licensing of its IEEE 802.11g Wireless LAN (Local Area Network) technology for use with Spectrum Signal Processing Inc.'s SDR-3000 platform. The agreement with Spectrum also includes the IEEE 802.11i and IEEE 802.11e MAC (Media Access Control) extensions. Under this agreement, Ittiam will offer algorithms and real-time software implementations of the IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g PHY (Physical Layer) and IEEE 802.11 MAC and its extensions.

Spectrum Signal Processing Inc. designs, develops and markets high performance wireless signal processing and packet-voice processing platforms for use in defense and communications infrastructure equipment. Spectrum's SDR-3000 platform was specifically designed to address the requirements of military communications systems as they migrate to software defined radio technologies. The design of the SDR-3000 incorporates high-bandwidth communication paths between modular processing elements that can include Texas Instruments' TMS320C6416 DSPs, Motorola MPC7410 PowerPCs, and Xilinx Virtex-II Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The combination of powerful processing elements and high-bandwidth communications makes the platform ideal for IEEE 802.11 physical layer processing.

"Spectrum chose Ittiam's IEEE 802.11 technology because Ittiam demonstrated a deep knowledge of the 802.11 standards and the underlying hardware technologies that can be used to implement those standards. Working with Ittiam, Spectrum will be able to offer 802.11 technologies running on the various processing devices on our SDR-3000 platform, a capability that is consistent with our strategy to offer heterogeneous processing platforms and subsystems that give customers choice in their implementations," stated Sean Howe, Vice President and General Manager of Spectrum's Wireless Systems Group. "Another major contributing factor in the decision was Ittiam's high level of responsiveness and extraordinary technical support while we were evaluating the numerous competitive offerings in the marketplace," he added.

Ittiam's IEEE 802.11g offering is the next step in Ittiam's continued focus on Wireless LAN technology. The 'g' standard, ratified this year, provides for physical layer data rates of up to 54Mbps, utilizing the 2.4 GHz ISM radio band, with backward compatibility to 802.11b networks. The IEEE 802.11i extension enhances the IEEE 802.11 MAC with improvements in the security of Wireless LAN networks. The IEEE 802.11e MAC extension adds quality-of-service (QoS) features and multimedia support to the existing 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g wireless standards, while maintaining full backward compatibility.

Ittiam Systems licenses Intellectual Property (IP) for IEEE based Wireless LAN systems. The IP includes algorithms and synthesizable HDL soft cores for the IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g PHY, and real-time software implementations of the IEEE 802.11 MAC and its extensions. Additionally, the company also provides software implementations of the IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g PHYs.

"IEEE 802.11-based wireless LANs, especially 802.11g, are a technical challenge and provide strong opportunities in business. We are pleased with the selection of Ittiam's solution by Spectrum Signal Processing" said Srini Rajam, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ittiam Systems. "It's a superb recognition of the quality of our solution," he added.

According to Rohit Bhuva, Vice President Business Development, Ittiam Systems, "The goal of Ittiam's 802.11 offering, a 20-plus man-year, multi-million dollar investment, is to shrink our customer's time-to-market by more than a year. It's tailor-made for semiconductor companies that are getting into the wireless LAN chip-set market and for companies that are embedding wireless LAN technology or its proprietary variants into their larger systems. Spectrum's implementation falls into the latter category," he added.

Spectrum Signal Processing's choice of Ittiam's technology in the face of multiple solutions currently available worldwide is a significant recognition of the singular focus and of the rapid progress made by Ittiam Systems since its inception three years ago.

About Ittiam

Ittiam Systems Private Limited, headquartered in Bangalore, is a technology product company singularly focussed on digital signal processing systems in media and communication. The company operates through its network of offices and representatives around the world. Ittiam's customers include Fortune 100 companies and are distributed across U.S., Europe, Japan and Asia. For more details, visit www.ittiam.com.