SDR FORUM LAUNCHES 2nd ANNUAL SMART RADIO CHALLENGE

DUBLIN, Ireland, April 16, 2007 -- At its general meeting today in Dublin, the Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum (www.sdrforum.org) announced it is now accepting entries for its second annual Smart Radio Challenge, a worldwide competition in which student engineering teams design, develop and test a software defined radio. Smart Radio Challenge '08 is open to student teams from all academic institutions interested in SDR and cognitive radio technologies; registration is online and ends June 15.

Like the inaugural competition, Smart Radio Challenge '08 will entail multiple phases, including a qualifying round and one or more development rounds. Each student team must build and demonstrate an SDR that addresses one of four problems - which the Forum will define by June 30 - and supports required target waveform(s). Teams will submit proposals specific to a defined problem by September 30, and those that qualify will be announced at the Forum's annual technical conference in November. The qualifying teams will then have 10 months to complete and submit their projects.

Sponsors of Smart Radio Challenge '07 - Altera, Lyrtech, The MathWorks, Objective Interface, PrismTech, Synplicity, Texas Instruments, Xilinx, and Zeligsoft - are all returning and will once again provide participating teams with development tools and training. (The Forum, a nonprofit international industry association, is also accepting additional sponsorships - available in five levels - from companies and government agencies worldwide.)

Following the development phase, the SDR Forum will award several prizes, and the winning entries will be demonstrated at the organization's 2008 technical conference. The '07 Smart Radio Challenge competition will conclude at the SDR Forum Technical Conference in Denver, Nov. 5-9. Teams previously qualified may compete in successive years for the annual prizes, which include monetary grants to the student teams as well as their university departments.

"Our initial competition has been a rousing success, with 43 student teams from 12 different nations entering," said Bruce Fette, chair of the SDR Forum's Technical Committee and originator of the Smart Radio Challenge concept. "Judging by the enthusiasm that Smart Radio Challenge '07 has generated, we expect even more submissions this time, and from more countries." The Forum has long been active in educational endeavors and has academic members that include universities in Finland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Spain and the U.S.

Further information about Smart Radio Challenge '08, including complete rules and entry form, can be found on the competition website: www.radiochallenge.org/08challenge.html.

About the SDR Forum

Established in 1996, the SDR Forum is a non-profit international industry association dedicated to supporting the development and deployment of software defined radio systems that enable flexible and adaptable architectures in advanced wireless systems. Currently numbering some 100 organizations, the Forum's membership 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.

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