Multi-Protocol Engine with Classifier, Look-Aside, 5-10 Gbps
Multiband-OFDM Alliance seeks to lift UWB licensing clouds
![]() |
Multiband-OFDM Alliance seeks to lift UWB licensing clouds
By Patrick Mannion, EE Times
December 15, 2003 (10:30 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031208S0085
MANHASSET, N.Y. Texas Instruments Inc. announced plans Monday (Dec. 8) to offer royalty-free licenses for any patents it holds within the Multiband-OFDM Alliance's (MBOA) ultrawideband proposal should the proposal be ratified by the IEEE 802.15.3a task group working on a high-speed, short-range wireless physical layer. The announcement removes a cloud that has hung over the proposal, and is expected to be followed in quick succession by similar announcements from other patent-holding members of the Alliance. The patent licensing issue came to the fore as the IEEE group met formally for the first time in July to discuss its options for that standard. In late October, XtremeSpectrum Inc., now the UWB operations division of Motorola Inc., and the competing proposal for the .15.3a standard filed a RAND-Z (reasonable and non-discriminatory-zero) statement with the IEEE. While M otorola has agreed to honor the statement with the purchase of XSI, it has declined to comment on what, if any, intellectual property it holds within the direct-sequence UWB proposal until spinning off its SPS group. Until now, according to MBOA spokespersons, the group has been striving to complete a similar RAND-Z statement, but has been hampered by the sheer logistics of achieving consensus from its 34 members. However, according to Mark Bowles, director of marketing for Staccato Communications Inc. (San Diego), all major contributors to the MBOA proposal have filed a RAND-Z statement with the IEEE. "Staccato, TI, Wisair, Alereon and Intel have the majority of all IP relevant to the current MBOA proposal and have filed RAND-Z," said Bowles. "Other MBOA members may hold IP now or in the future and they too may file RAND-Z at some point." According to Bowles, the filing by the five companies addresses the concerns of IEEE members opposed to the MBOA proposal.
Related News
- Multiband OFDM Alliance releases UWB PHY specs
- SiWorks Inc. Announces FFT and Viterbi Cores For The Emerging IEEE 802.15.3a Multi-band OFDM UWB Standard
- ZeroPoint and Rebellions Forge Strategic Alliance to Revolutionize AI Accelerator Performance and Efficiency
- Comcores is now a member of the OPEN Alliance
- Cadence Joins Intel Foundry Accelerator Design Services Alliance
Breaking News
- JEDEC® and Industry Leaders Collaborate to Release JESD270-4 HBM4 Standard: Advancing Bandwidth, Efficiency, and Capacity for AI and HPC
- BrainChip Gives the Edge to Search and Rescue Operations
- ASML targeted in latest round of US tariffs
- Andes Technology Celebrates 20 Years with New Logo and Headquarters Expansion
- Creonic Unveils Bold Rebrand to Drive Innovation in Communication Technologies
Most Popular
- Cadence to Acquire Arm Artisan Foundation IP Business
- AMD Achieves First TSMC N2 Product Silicon Milestone
- Why Do Hyperscalers Design Their Own CPUs?
- Siemens to accelerate customer time to market with advanced silicon IP through new Alphawave Semi partnership
- New TSN-MACsec IP core for secure data transmission in 5G/6G communication networks
![]() |
E-mail This Article | ![]() |
![]() |
Printer-Friendly Page |