RESONEXT COMMUNICATIONS EASES DEPLOYMENT OF 5GHZ WLAN.

Resonext Communications, Inc., an emerging developer of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) semiconductor products, has unveiled key architectural details on its upcoming 5GHz WLAN chipsets. Designed to address the deployment of 5GHz WLAN platforms, the company's technology marks significant design advances in four areas: Single chip True Zero-IF 5GHz CMOS radio to reduce cost, complexity, and power consumption of WLAN designs ("IF" stands for Intermediate Frequency); AccuChannel equalization technology to increase range; flexible Media Access Controller (MAC) for feature differentiation and upgrade-ability; and Access Point on a Chip (APoC) architecture to significantly reduce access point cost.

Resonext's four technology "building blocks" will debut in its upcoming chipset and software products that provide the backbone for high performance, cost effective, and feature rich 5GHz end-to-end WLAN platforms in the enterprise, small business, and home markets.

"Our goal at Resonext has been to eliminate any doubt for IT managers that 802.11a standard based WLAN is the right solution for their enterprise network needs," said David Tahmassebi, president and CEO of Resonext Communications. "We have successfully engineered key technology components that will enable 5 GHz WLAN platform scalability, investment longevity, and affordable deployment cost."

Single Chip True Zero-IF CMOS Radio for 5GHz WLAN

Resonext has developed the world's first True Zero-IF radio architecture for a 5GHz WLAN single-chip RF transceiver using a standard CMOS process. Unlike conventional dual conversion (superheterodyne) and alternative low IF designs, this is a true direct-conversion architecture that converts 5GHz signal directly to the baseband signal without any Intermediate Frequency (IF) stages. Resonext has successfully overcome the common Zero-IF on CMOS design challenges, such as DC offset, I/Q mismatch, and 1/f noise through its advanced RF design techniques and patented modem algorithms. Resonext's Zero-IF architecture is integrated with the required Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA), filters, Phase Lock Loops (PLL) and Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCO) on the .18 micron, 1.8 volt CMOS process. The combination of the unique radio architecture and the standard CMOS process reduces cost, design complexity, and power consumption while enabling small form factor WLAN platforms.

AccuChannel Equalization Technology

The AccuChannel equalization architecture extends the range and data rates for WLAN deployment by counteracting the effects of signal degradation caused by real world impairments such as multipath delays and signal attenuation. This unique architecture provides a range increase of nearly 30% for all data rates over conventional implementations. This breakthrough helps reduce the deployment cost by reducing the number of access points required in a given deployment area. Resonext's AccuChannel equalization architecture improves the signal-to-noise ratio by 3dB beyond traditional methods of equalization through the company's patent pending channel estimation and adaptive equalization technique. By reducing the total system bit error rate (BER), overall system performance is vastly improved.

Flexible Media Access Controller (MAC)

Resonext's Flexible MAC is based on a programmable MAC architecture which allows wireless system OEMs to differentiate with such capabilities as security, Quality of Service (QoS), and power management. The architecture also provides the flexibility for Resonext and its customers to quickly support future standards enhancements via software upgrades. An additional benefit of the Flexible MAC is its ability to support remote MAC software updates, as Resonext based Access Points and clients can have their MAC code updated at their installations without the need for physical intervention. The combination of this flexibility and upgrade-ability features result in enhanced system manageability and investment protection for WLAN deployments.

Access Point on a Chip (APoC) Architecture

In order to provide the lowest cost Access Point system to help reduce 5GHz deployment cost, Resonext has developed its proprietary Access Point on a Chip (APoC) architecture. This architecture incorporates a dedicated on-chip processor, an Ethernet MAC, and the entire 802.11a digital subsystem into a single chip. This approach enables Access Points to be designed with less external components and complexity resulting in a cost effective, small form factor designs. Another benefit of the APoC architecture is high performance, which is achieved by the company's propriety on-chip high-speed data path to minimize the latencies typically associated with a conventional Access Point design using off-the-shelf components.

Resonext Delivers the Building Blocks for a 5GHz WLAN Future

The WLAN market is experiencing explosive growth and the market is forecasted to grow from $1.7 billion in 2001 to in excess of $4.6 billion by 2005 according to Cahners In-Stat Group.

Resonext is positioned to grow with this market and is fortified by numerous patents and unique architecture to anticipate the market needs for next generation wireless networks. The company's rich IP portfolio and core competencies lie in the areas of Radio Frequency (RF) on CMOS technology, modem and Digital Signal Processing (DSP), Media Access Controller (MAC), wireless networking, and protocol stack software.

"The wireless LAN market is moving to 5 GHz spectrum to enable greater capacity, higher bandwidth applications with less interference, but for solutions to be successful, they must demonstrate adequate range, provide an upgradeable MAC, and be low in cost," said Allen Nogee, senior analyst for Cahners In-Stat's Wireless Component Technology group. "Resonext's innovative WLAN 5 GHz chipset meets these requirements, allowing device manufacturers to produce state-of-the-art products."

About Resonext Communications, Inc.

Resonext Communications, Inc. is a fab-less semiconductor company that develops complete chipsets and software for the emerging 5GHz Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) market. Resonext's innovative technologies enable high performance, cost effective, scalable, and power efficient WLAN systems for the enterprise, small business, and home markets. The company's products will include Radio Frequency (RF) on CMOS, digital baseband, and Media Access Controller (MAC) as well as protocol stack software. Resonext has experienced management and engineering teams with extensive wireless communications experience and a rich IP portfolio. Resonext is privately held and is based in San Jose.

Resonext can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.resonext.com.

For more information, call 408/392-7047.