SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The WiMedia Alliance (WMA) today announced the availability of Version 1.5 of the WiMedia Common Radio Platform Specification. The primary upgrade in Version 1.5 increases the technology speed to 1024Mbps from the current 480Mbps targeting streaming video and other applications requiring gigabit level performance. In addition, the Alliance has announced that for 2010 they will focus on generating specifications specifically targeted at streaming video platforms.

“Streaming video has become one of the primary applications chosen by consumer electronics manufacturers to utilize WiMedia ultrawideband technology,” said Clint Chaplin, principle engineer at Samsung Electronics and current WiMedia president. “The WMA Common Radio Platform provides the necessary bandwidth worldwide without interference that can truly provide the predictable performance necessary for customers to be happy with wireless video streaming.”

Currently the WMA radio platform provides the underlying technology for Wireless USB from the USB-IF and is implemented in a number of office type applications such as wireless docking stations, hard drives and projectors. In addition, there are a number of introduced products that provide the technology for streaming video from a laptop to HDTVs. Future planned implementation will include set-top boxes, network players and wireless IP-based applications.

Version 1.5 of the specification is backwards compatible to the current revision 1.0 and again meets worldwide regulatory requirements. Advantages of the WMA Common Radio Platform versus other wireless technologies include requiring the least amount of energy per GB transferred, predictable performance and a low cost of implementation. In addition, current WiMedia solutions have been shipping for over 2 years in the market, making it a mature reliable solution for vendors looking at high speed wireless technologies to deploy in 2010 in volume production.

For further information on the WiMedia Alliance and access to the WiMedia specifications please see www.wimedia.org.

About the WiMedia Alliance

The WiMedia Alliance is a not-for-profit open industry association that promotes and enables the rapid adoption, regulation, standardization and multi-vendor interoperability of ultra-wideband (UWB) worldwide. The basis for the industry’s first UWB standards (published by Ecma International), WiMedia UWB is optimized for wireless personal-area networks delivering high-speed (480Mbps and beyond), low-power multimedia capabilities for the PC, CE, mobile and automotive market segments. Emphasizing peaceful coexistence with other wireless services, the WiMedia UWB Common Radio Platform is designed to operate with application stacks developed by the Certified Wireless USB Promoter Group, the Bluetooth-SIG and proprietary implementations.