Staccato Achieves WiMedia Certification Milestones
Ripcord2™ single-chip UWB solution earns WiMedia platform certification for recently ratified Spectrum Extension Release; Ripcord A-200™ earns WiMedia PHY certification for Band Groups 1, 3 and 6
San Diego, CA – February 3, 2009 Staccato Communications, an Ultra Wideband (UWB) wireless technology pioneer and leader in Wireless USB from the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), today announced that its Ripcord2™ family of single-chip, 65nm CMOS UWB solutions has earned official WiMedia platform certification for the recently released Spectrum Extension Release (SER) specification. Solidifying the company’s leadership position in the UWB market, Staccato also announced that the Ripcord A-200™ family has earned official WiMedia PHY certification for Band Groups 1, 3 and 6. In addition, both Ripcord2 and Ripcord A-200 have been qualified as official PHY test beds, which will enable Independent Test Labs (ITLs) to conduct WiMedia Certification testing in the near future.
The WiMedia SER specification adds additional features to address certain worldwide regulatory requirements, which allow even broader deployment of the WiMedia common radio platform. Among these new features supported by both Ripcord2 and Ripcord A-200 are:
• Band Group 6 (BG6) – Operating from 7.4GHz to 9.0GHz, the newly defined BG6 allows 3-band hopping on a global basis, including China, which approved spectrum for UWB use in January 2009. With support for Band Groups 1 (3.1GHz to 4.8GHz) and 3 (6.3GHz to 7.9GHz) as well, both Ripcord families enable OEMs and ODMs to offer a worldwide compatible solution in a single SKU design.
• 2-band hopping channels – Three new channels of operation have been introduced allowing WiMedia radios to hop between 2-channels within a Band Group. The addition of these new operating modes provides increased range (compared to single band operation) and greater flexibility to deploy a worldwide compatible solution.
• Support for Detect and Avoid (DAA) – Various regions require that certain services (such as radar and mobile networks) are protected from interference. DAA, supported by the certified Ripcord solutions, allows the UWB radio to detect these protected services and move to an interference-free mode of operation allowing even more flexibility.
In addition to achieving WiMedia PHY certification, Ripcord2’s WiMedia platform certification signifies that the fully integrated MAC+PHY solution adheres to the strict MAC-layer and protocol requirements defined by WiMedia. This ensures compatibility with a number of protocol implementations based on the WiMedia Common Radio Platform such as Wireless USB and High-Speed Bluetooth.
“Achieving WiMedia platform certification for the latest specifications demonstrates Staccato’s commitment to offering worldwide compatible solutions based on industry standards,” said Marty Colombatto, chairman and CEO for Staccato Communications. “In addition, our certified Ripcord single-chip families allow us to meet the stringent power, size, performance and system cost requirements needed to drive mass adoption.”
The Ripcord2 and Ripcord A-200 solutions are ideally suited for high volume wireless USB applications such as PCs, PC peripherals and consumer electronics. Staccato offers its customers a portfolio of fully integrated end-to-end system solutions supporting worldwide compliant operation.