SDR FORUM WILL HOST WORKSHOP ON SCA TEST, EVALUATION AND CERTIFICATION AT ITS GENERAL MEETING IN ROME

DENVER, CO, Jan. 24, 2008 -- The Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum, (www.sdrforum.org), a nonprofit international industry association dedicated to promoting the success of next-generation radio technologies, announced today that it will host an all-day workshop on Software Communications Architecture (SCA) test, evaluation and certification. At the workshop, to be held Thursday, April 17, in Rome, Italy, government and industry leaders from around the world - including representatives from the EDA (European Defense Agency), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and the EC-JRC (European Commission Joint Research Center) - will meet to discuss requirements and key issues in international test and certification of SCA technologies.

Eight years after its initial launch by the Modular Software-Programmable Radio Consortium for the Department of Defense's JTRS (Joint Tactical Radio System) program, the SCA is undergoing a phase of international consideration for SDR development, with governments worldwide evaluating the adoption of the SCA in support of their national and multi-national interests. A key part of this evaluation is addressing the need for harmonized test and certification procedures for SCA-enabled radios, waveforms and technologies used in international markets. As an organization serving both government and industry members around the world, the SDR Forum is uniquely positioned to derive the needs and requirements of the international SDR/SCA community and create consolidated recommendations for use by national radio acquisition authorities.

"The goal of this workshop is to capture requirements from the international SCA stakeholders to lay the foundations of future test, evaluation and certification of SCA-based radios and other products," said Lee Pucker, CEO of the SDR Forum. "This workshop can be regarded as the first step of a process, leading to projects within the SDR Forum that will define concepts, strategies, methods and recommendations that address this goal."

The workshop will be held in conjunction with the SDR Forum's general meeting (April 14-17), which will include working sessions advancing the SDR Forum 2008 operations plan in support of the commercial, public safety, avionics, and tactical radio communities. Among the highlights of this meeting will be a plenary presentation by Motorola Program Manager Didier Bourse introducing the E3 (End-to-End Efficiency) program, a plenary roundtable session led by innovITS CEO Phil Pettitt, and Pucker exploring the use of software defined and cognitive radio technologies in intelligent transportation systems. Other items will include continued advancement of the cognitive use cases and the trade study on the multi-service portable radios by the Forum's Public Safety Special Interest Group as well as work on the meta-language for mobility use cases and scenario analysis, the cognitive nomenclature document, response to ITU-R WP5A questions on cognitive radio, the specification on securing software reconfigurable communications technologies, and a number of relevant APIs (application programming interfaces) by the Technical Committee. In addition, the Regulatory Committee will provide a plenary summary on the initial results of the SDR Forum regulatory request for information, which will be used as a basis for defining the Forum's international regulatory agenda.

Both the workshop and the general meeting will take place at the Meliá Roma Aurelia Antica hotel in Rome and are open to anyone interested in next-generation radio technologies, including non-Forum members. Additional details and registration information are available on the web at http://www.sdrforum.org/Rome08meeting/.

About the SDR Forum

Established in 1996, the SDR Forum is a nonprofit international industry association dedicated to promoting the success of next-generation radio technologies. Currently numbering some 100 organizations, the Forum's membership comprises world class technical, business and government leaders who are passionate about creating a revolution in wireless communications based on reconfigurable radio technologies. Membership of the Forum spans commercial, defense and civil government organizations, including wireless service providers, network operators, component and equipment manufacturers, hardware and software developers, regulatory agencies, and academia from Asia, Europe, and North America. The SDR Forum's administrative office is headquartered in Denver.

Lee Pucker, SDR Forum, 604-828-9846, Lee.Pucker@SDRForum.org or
Neal Leavitt, Leavitt Communications, 760-639-2900 or 760-212-9112, neal@leavcom.com

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