CEOs and product engineers from leading wireless communications companies in South Korea recently witnessed an historic, first-ever demonstration of a True Software RadioTM (TSR) receiver that can process radio frequency (RF) signals in the licensed and unlicensed frequency ranges without any of the traditional front-end analog and RF circuitry. As a result of the demonstration the Company is in discussions regarding specific commercial applications in the 6 GHz range. This TSR technology has the ability to revolutionize the communications industry.
The TSR receiver is proprietary technology of TechnoConcepts, Inc., the developer of what the company believes is the first and only commercially viable patented technology that enables conversion of any raw wireless (analog) signal directly into digital base band data, regardless of frequency - a characteristic known as "frequency agility."
Approximately 40 representatives from 16 different wireless communications companies, including ETRI (Electronic and Telecommunications Research Institute), SK Telecom, SK Telesys, LG Electronics, Inc., Samsung Venture Investment Corp., Axesstel R & D Center, Ltd., Bellwave Co., Ltd., C & S Co., Ltd., Cablerex, Inc., Hyunseo Data Communications, Ltd., Kisan Telecom Co., Ltd., Megacraft Company, Ltd., Mobianet Corporation, System Mecca Company, Ltd., as well as research and development engineers from the South Korean government viewed the demonstration.
TechnoConcepts' TSR technology demonstrated interoperability between differing communications frequencies, an accomplishment that was impossible to achieve utilizing a single receiver until now. In the demonstration, a single TSR receiver chip using only software, with no other analog front-end filter or circuitry, was able to receive, translate and process different remote signals between 450 MHz and 1.2 GHz, including a walkie talkie operating at 465 MHz.
Techno's TSR receiver chip - a single wireless receiver - was shown to communicate directly with different devices on multiple different frequency bands, using only software to receive, translate, and process the different wireless signals. With TSR, the flexibility to communicate with and among different frequencies (and devices) is virtually unlimited.
"This is analogous to every member at the United Nations being able to communicate directly with each other, in their own native language, without a translator", stated Tony Turgeon, CEO of TechnoConcepts.
Normally, devices on separate frequencies cannot communicate with each other. Today, a single conventional wireless receiver (which could be found in a cellular base station, cellular phone, lap top computer, walkie talkie, etc.) cannot receive multiple different frequencies on multiple different frequency bands. For a walkie talkie user to receive and understand communication from a cell phone user, the cell phone's signal would have to be transmitted at the same frequency using the same protocol as the walkie talkie - and vice versa.
Antonio Turgeon, chairman and CEO of TechnoConcepts, stated, "We have every reason to believe that our technology will bring about profound changes in both the landscape of the communications industry and how wireless communication is facilitated. We have received an exceptional response from our demonstration and generated a significant amount of 'buzz' within the communications industry in Eastern Asia. South Korea is the center of wireless communications design and manufacturing and an area that we believe is ideal to launch commercial applications of our technology."
Turgeon also noted that a news report in South Korea cited the strong interest the company received from the leading South Korean companies who attended the event.
As a result of the success of this demonstration, the company plans to establish a Development Center in South Korea as well as to provide similar demonstrations in other manufacturing centers such as China and North America, where there has been additional interest in the company's technology. Dr. Jae Jung, the Company's E.V.P. of Engineering will return to South Korea this week to participate in detailed technical discussions with several of the organizations that attended the demonstration.
Applications of TechnoConcepts' True Software RadioTM Technology
TechnoConcepts' True Software Radio technology can be applied in several areas. Among them are the following:
Cellular Base Stations: Cellular service has been historically limited to once-a-decade upgrades of equipment because of the tremendous costs involved. A wireless network infrastructure based on True Software Radio technology can be upgraded to new standards more quickly and save hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment maintenance and upgrades simply by carrying out inexpensive software changes. Just as an individual or business can update a software program used on a PC, cellular providers can easily and quickly simply upgrade software to make changes on their systems with the use of TechnoConcepts' True Software Radio technology. As a result, the cost for cellular phone service can continue to be lowered for consumers, while cellular providers can realize higher margins on service fees.
Military Uses: The U.S. military has significant radio interoperability problems. In multi-national situations where communication among various countries' military is essential, it is not unusual for one country's radio system to be incompatible with another country's. It has even been the case that within the United States military one branch of the service can't "talk" to another branch because of different radio systems. TechnoConcepts' True Software Radio can solve the problem in a simple manner so that on the battlefield if an English soldier needs to communicate with a Polish soldier, the only language barrier will be the actual spoken one - not one from the radio equipment.
Public Safety: As with the military, local, state and federal agencies that respond to public safety situations also have radios that do not communicate with each other. In effect, the agencies, who are all trying to help deal with the same emergency, simply cannot "talk" to each other or share database information. Since there is no way to know in advance when these "first responders" will have an emergency that requires a response, TechnoConcepts' True Software Radio technology can provide a flexible and rapid solution so that these workers can communicate directly with each other. TSR enables firemen to talk to policemen and vice versa - something that has become even more important in the post-9/11 world. Additionally, TechnoConcepts' True Software Radio technology can also facilitate radio or telephone handsets to be switched from cellular to satellite communications in the event of a blackout that would disable base station operations. This would have been greatly welcomed during the blackout that affected the northeastern part of North America in 2003.
Consumer Devices: TechnoConcepts' True Software Radio Technology enables the development of wireless consumer devices that can communicate with different wireless systems; operate over licensed and non-licensed frequency domains; and support current as well as future technological standards and services. As a consequence the following are some of the products that can be developed:
-- Cellular Phones - Gartner Research estimated that 700 million cell phones would be sold worldwide in 2003. And in a recent New York Times story (January 15, 2004), it was noted that there are more than 150 million Americans using cell phones. The Times' article points out that the biggest concern among those cell phone users is coverage - which is nothing more than one network being able to talk to another network. And this is where the advantage TechnoConcepts' True Software Radio is realized. The biggest benefit is that TSR will cause many - if not all - of those dead zones that frustrate cell phone users to vanish. TSR technology can enable mobile phones to work with any carrier's transmission system in any geographic area - and can even allow users to download new services and features from their providers without purchasing new handsets. This can be particularly important for those businesses that are global in scope and demand that cell phones work in both the U.S. and abroad. Furthermore, the ability to download new services to an existing cell phone will be very attractive to most cell phone users who sign two-year contracts - and normally do not change phones until the two year period is up. And, with technology changing almost daily, cell phone users will welcome the ability to add or change functions through the download of software over the air. For example, many would welcome the opportunity to make their cell phone into a mobile GPS device, a mobile debit card, or even a TV remote control device. It is through the use of True Software Radio technology that these examples can become commonplace.
-- Television - There is a conversion underway of the analog signal to digital. As of May 2003, more than 1,000 stations were on the air with DTV signals and every major television market has at least one DTV station. Congress has set a date of December 31, 2006, to complete the transition from analog broadcasting to digital. Until this date, television sets are required to broadcast on both digital and analog channels, but once the date arrives, analog will end and digital will prevail. It would be a simple task for television stations to provide the conversion for consumers with the use of TechnoConcepts' True Software Radio(TM).
-- HDTV - True Software Radio may also have significant applications in the conversion of both analog and digital transmissions to HDTV, an up and coming broadcast technology.
-- IPTV Set-top Box - IPTV is a new method for delivering television over the Internet. The integration of True Software Radio into IPTV set-top boxes will create a command and control tool for numerous multi-media devices throughout a business or household via wireless connectivity.