News | March 1, 2005

Taiyo Yuden, Wisair Partner To Develop First MBOA Standard UWB Module

San Francisco -- TRDA (Taiyo Yuden R&D Center of America), the R&D arm of electronics components manufacturer Taiyo Yuden, and Wisair are teaming up to develop the first MBOA standard ultra wideband (UWB) module for customized applications, using Wisair's UWB chipset and Taiyo Yuden's RF and UWB components.

Focused on mass commercial deployment, TRDA and Wisair have been developing UWB modules to enable consumer electronic (CE) manufacturers to rapidly deploy UWB applications, based on the MBOA standards.

The first phase of the project was completed with the development of a UWB RF module based on Wisair 501 RF chip and Taiyo Yuden UWB antenna and additional components.

"TRDA and Wisair's partnership is the next logical step forward for the two leading companies towards the production of market-ready UWB solutions," said Mr. Shaw Sekiguchi, COO of TRDA. "TRDA developments are based on Taiyo Yuden's, our parent company, extensive RF and wireless experience and Wisair's ability to provide module solutions for large volume applications with OEM- specific requirements."

"TRDA and Wisair's collaboration is a key milestone in the process of commercialization of UWB technology, as it provides our customers with industry recognized high performance UWB solutions," said David Yaish, Wisair president and CEO. "Taiyo Yuden's UWB 'know how' and UWB components compliment Wisair solutions, addressing OEM's requirements for high performance UWB based products."

The UWB modules are based on Wisair's low-cost, high-bit-rate baseband and RF chipset, comprised of a MB-OFDM modem, MBOA MAC, and wireless USB functionalities. Wisair's DV9100 Development Kit featuring the chipset was recently sold to over 30 CE and PC peripherals companies worldwide.

Taiyo Yuden successfully developed the world's first ceramic chip antennas for UWB applications in 2003 and other passive solutions such as band pass filters and baluns optimized for the MBOA specifications.

Source: Wisair