Silicon Wave To Demonstrate Adaptive Frequency Hopping Technology At Bluetooth Developers Conference

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless technologies share the same 2.4GHz ISM band, creating serious interference issues when both technologies are used simultaneously. Coexistence solutions, such as Adaptive Frequency Hopping, are designed to minimize the interference and maximize the users wireless experience. Silicon Wave today announced that it would demonstrate its implementation of Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) technology at the Bluetooth Developers Conference on December 10 --12 in San Jose. The demonstration features the industrys first firmware upgradeable implementation of AFH.

Firmware Upgrade Designed to Minimize Interference Between Devices Enabled with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Wireless Technologies

http://www.siliconwave.com/pr_120302_AFH_Demo.htm

SAN DIEGO, CA -- December 3, 2002 -- Silicon Wave, a leading supplier of integrated circuits for Wireless Personal Area Networks, today announced that it would demonstrate its implementation of Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) technology at the Bluetooth Developers Conference on December 10 --12 in San Jose. The demonstration uses Silicon Waves SiW1700 series Bluetooth chipset and will feature the industrys first firmware upgradeable implementation of AFH. For more information about Silicon Waves AFH solution, please visit Silicon Wave in the San Jose Convention Center, booth #113.

Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) is a technique that addresses the serious interference issues created when wireless technologies that share the 2.4GHz ISM band, such as Bluetooth technology and Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b), are used simultaneously by multiple devices located in the same physical area. In May 2002, the FCC issued a ruling permitting the use of AFH as a coexistence scheme. The Bluetooth SIG is actively working to incorporate AFH into the next version of the Bluetooth specification.

Silicon Wave continues to be the leader in providing coexistence solutions to the Bluetooth industry," said Greg Hein, vice president of engineering for Silicon Wave. Implementing Adaptive Frequency Hopping via firmware means that our customers can design products today using current Silicon Wave components and know that they can easily add AFH technology to their designs once the Bluetooth SIG formally adopts AFH as part of the Bluetooth specification."

Silicon Waves Adaptive Frequency Hopping implementation complements its recent announcements on Bluetooth technology + Wi-Fi coexistence solutions with Intersil Corporation (Blue802 Technology) and Intel Corporation (Intel Wireless Coexistence System). AFH is a frequency-hopping technique that allows multiple wireless devices located in the same physical area to share the unlicensed 2.4GHz ISM band, while Blue802 Technology and the Intel WCS use a collaborative approach to solve the technical interference issues created when Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless technologies are collocated in the same device. In real-world applications, both AFH and collaborative approaches are necessary to minimize the RF interference and maximize the user experience.

About Silicon Wave
Based in San Diego, Silicon Wave is a leading provider of low-power, highly integrated RF communication system components for the global BluetoothTM wireless market. Silicon Wave products and services include radio modems, baseband processors, software solutions and a baseband IP licensing program. Founded in 1997, the company was the first to deliver a fully qualified, single-chip radio modem for Bluetooth communications and first to achieve Bluetooth Specification Version 1.1 qualification for its products. Silicon Wave is an Associate Member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. The company's Web site is located at http://www.siliconwave.com.

Silicon Wave, the diamond logo design and the SiW product name prefix are registered trademarks and Blue802 is a trademark of Silicon Wave, Inc. Bluetooth is a trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc., and licensed to Silicon Wave, Inc. All other product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.