TTPCom delivers 802.11 Wireless Multimedia Extensions

This complements TTPCom's 802.11 intellectual property portfolio

December 2, 2003 - TTPCom Ltd, the world’s leading independent supplier of digital wireless technology, announces today that it has delivered the 802.11 Wireless Multimedia Extensions (WME) for its 802.11 a/b/g/i core intellectual property (IP) designs. TTPCom's multimedia enhanced design is compliant with the WME sections of the 802.11e standard. WME adds Quality of Service features to the medium access controller (MAC) to enhance the delivery of multimedia and streaming content over the 802.11 wireless protocol.

Wireless multimedia offers a new market opportunity – building on current wireless technologies to provide flexible connections between consumer products such as TVs, set top boxes, DVD players and more. The WME protocol also enhances the reliability of Voice over IP connections – ensuring that time sensitive voice packets get priority over normal wireless data traffic when delivered over the air. TTPCom's 802.11 core IP designs and the WME extension together form a flexible platform for manufacturers intending to develop innovative new consumer products.

Tony Milbourn, Managing Director of TTPCom, stated, “support for multimedia and streaming applications is key to opening Wireless LAN to the mass consumer market and we are glad to have released a WME solution in advance of full ratification of the 802.11e standard. This will allow our customers to be well ahead of the pack in incorporating the very latest multimedia features in their products.”

TTPCom's WME extension is the first step on a roadmap towards full support of the emerging 802.11e standard. WME was created in late 2002 as a means to accelerate the deployment of Quality of Service functionality, adding key enhancements to the protocol to give priority to selected content. The WME enhancements were added to TTPCom’s MAC architecture with minimal hardware changes, maintaining low processor overhead to reduce power consumption in mobile/portable applications. The WME IP is supplied as an optional overlay to TTPCom's existing core a/b/g/i designs, enabling customers to selectively include WME functionality into devices which require multimedia functionality.

WME provides a fast track to market in a similar way to WPA (wireless protected access), which added key security enhancements in advance of the ratification of the full 802.11i standard. WME allows the implementation of video streaming and Voice over IP and is fully backwards compatible - prioritised streams automatically get preferential access over lower priority traffic or standard WiFi devices.

Those interested in seeing TTPCom’s 802.11 technology in action are invited to visit the company’s booth, number 320, at the Wi-Fi Planet Conference & Expo, San Jose McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, California, USA from 2 - 5 December 2003.