Ascom Adopts Redpine's Dual-Band 802.11n Single Stream Offering For New Generation of Phones

San Jose, CA. — May 28, 2009 — Redpine Signals and Ascom Wireless Solutions are partnering to create next-generation Voice-over-Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) phones with 802.11n wireless connectivity. Redpine Signals, Inc. is a leading developer of ultra low power multi-standard OFDM and MIMO silicon-based solutions for Wi-Fi®, WiMAX® & 3GPP LTE. Ascom Wireless Solutions is a leading provider of on-site wireless communications for key market segments such as hospitals, manufacturing industries, retail and hotels.

The new VoWiFi phone designs are built upon Ascom’s long experience in offering state of the art purpose-built handsets, wireless voice- and message transmission systems, and customized alarm and positioning applications. Ascom’s customers are found in areas ranging from Hospitals, Elderly Care, Industry, Retail sector, Secure Establishments and Hotels – all of which see increasing amounts of wireless traffic. In these scenarios, the 802.11n wireless LAN standard, even in a low power single-stream mode, provides the benefits of higher throughput through MAC and PHY efficiency, longer range through provisions such as STBC, and importantly, the preservation of 802.11n network capacity. VoWiFi further benefits from 802.11n through PSMP – that allows handsets to maintain large talk-times in a deployment with considerable Wi-Fi traffic.

Redpine Signals has been working closely with Ascom in bringing in the differentiations of its Wi-Fi product to Ascom's handset designs. Redpine's Lite-FiT technology, based on its RS9110 802.11n SoC, provides key advantages in a VoWiFi solution - including high performance in multipath environments, best-in-class standby power consumption, an active Wi-Fi power consumption of less than 20 mW through the use of uAPSD (certified as WMM-PS), use of less crowded 5 GHz spectrum, voice performance certified through the Wi-Fi Alliance's Voice-Personal program, and enterprise class security through WPA2T Enterprise.

"Redpine's expertise in developing and deploying high performance and low power wireless technology perfectly complements Ascom's experience in delivering solutions for wireless on-site communication that support and optimize their customers' mission-critical processes," said Venkat Mattela, CEO of Redpine Signals. "Our pioneering design has been the world's first SDIO device to be Wi-Fi certified for the 802.11n draft 2.0 certification, along with WMM, WMM-PS and WPS. It is also among the first designs to be certified for Voice-Personal - the Wi-Fi certification that helps ensure a satisfactory user experience for Voice over Wi-Fi applications," he added.

"We were impressed by Redpine's thorough understanding of wireless technology and low-power system know-how," said Stephan Bramberg, Chief Technology Officer at Ascom. "Their focus on minimizing energy consumption in a handset through provision of high-performance wireless in multipath environments is the right approach, as opposed to the general reduction of peak power consumption," he added. "Ascom's products will integrate these benefits along with our highly optimized system design and deployment methods, delivering an outstanding user experience to our customers."

Headquartered in San Jose, California, Redpine Signals, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor and wireless system solutions company focusing on ultra-low-power and high-performance products for next-generation wireless applications. Redpine was founded in 2001 and was the first in the industry to launch a single-stream 802.11n chipset for mobile handsets in late 2007. Redpine offers chipsets, modules and sub-systems focusing on specific vertical market segments including industrial, wireless sensor, wireless audio & video, Voice over Wi-Fi, and high-end consumer devices. Its product portfolio includes multi-stream 802.11n along with mobile WiMax (802.16e) and 3GPP LTE technologies. The company has 140 employees worldwide. For more information on Redpine products, visit www.redpinesignals.com or contact Redpine at info@redpinesignals.com.

ASCOM WIRELESS SOLUTIONS (www.ascom.com) is a leading provider of on-site wireless communications for key segments such as hospitals, manufacturing industries, retail and hotels. More than 75,000 systems are installed at major companies all over the world. The company offers a broad range of voice and professional messaging solutions, creating value for customers by supporting and optimizing their Mission-Critical processes. The solutions are based on VoWiFi, IP-DECT, DECT, Nurse Call and paging technologies, smartly integrated into existing enterprise systems. The company has subsidiaries in 10 countries and 1,200 employees worldwide. Founded in the 1950s and based in Göteborg, Sweden, Ascom Wireless Solutions is part of the Ascom Group, listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange.

Lite-Fi and Find-iT are trademarks and Redpine Signals is a registered trademark of Redpine Signals, Inc; WiMAX is a trademark of WiMAX Forum; Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Redpine Contact Information

Dhiraj Sogani
GM & Sr. VP, System Products,
Redpine Signals, Inc.
Phone: +1 408-748-3385 x209
Email: dhiraj@redpinesignals.com

Press Contact Information

Barbara Kline
Breakthru Communications
Phone : +1 505-899-8578
email: bkline@breakthrucom.com