Agilent Technologies and Sequans to Work Together on Wave 2 Mobile WiMAX(TM) Protocol Test

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) and Sequans Communications today announced they would be extending their WiMAX(tm) collaboration to include Wave 2 Mobile WiMAX mobile station (MS) and base station (BS) protocol testing.

Protocol Conformance Test (PCT) is a vital part of the WiMAX certification process. The availability of rigorous and efficient protocol test solutions is a must for ensuring that the latest WiMAX technologies are delivered with a high degree of device interoperability. This level of assurance helps to create customer confidence and drive market growth.

Agilent Technologies and Sequans Communications are committed to working in partnership to accurately implement their designs against the relevant standards and thereby bring robust solutions to market.

Sequans is a leading supplier of chipsets for the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard on which WiMAX Forum(r) mobile profiles are based, as well as for the Fixed WiMAX(tm) IEEE 802.16-2004 standard. The Agilent N6430A WiMAX Protocol Conformance Test and Development Solution, based on Agilent’s E6651A Mobile WiMAX Test Set, is undergoing pre-validation testing at a WiMAX Forum testing laboratory using mobile terminals that use Sequans’ Mobile WiMAX chips.

“Our collaboration with Sequans for Wave 1 PCT testing has really accelerated our progress,” said Niels Faché, vice president and general manager of Agilent’s Mobile Broadband Division. “I am very excited about what we can achieve in extending this collaboration to support the latest WiMAX technologies. Sequans is forging ahead with MIMO and we see them as an excellent company with which to partner.”

Sequans’ chips for WiMAX mobile stations -- the SQN1110 and SQN1130 -- feature the industry’s highest throughput and lowest power consumption. Sequans’ newest chip, the SQN1130 Wave 2-ready MIMO chip for WiMAX mobile stations, delivers more than 30 Mbps throughput while drawing less than 280 mW of power.

“Our customers are keen to see PCT solutions come to market quickly, and they want us to play an active role in supporting this,” said Bernard Aboussouan, Sequans vice president of Marketing and Business Development. “Working with Agilent is important as they are leaders in the wireless test industry and offer a solution which covers a broad scope of tests and frequency bands up to 6 GHz.”

For more information about the Agilent N6430A WiMAX Protocol Conformance Test and Development Solution see www.agilent.com/find/pct. Photos of Agilent’s N6430A Protocol Conformance Test and Development Solution and E6651A Mobile WiMAX Test Set are available at www.agilent.com/find/Wave2_PCT_images.

Agilent in WiMAX Forum

A principal member of the WiMAX Forum (www.wimaxforum.org), Agilent is an active participant in the development of WiMAX Radio Conformance Test (RCT) documents and procedures. Agilent was the first to provide standard-compliant 802.16 physical layer (PHY) design and test tools for Fixed and Mobile WiMAX applications including WiBro, allowing users to efficiently simulate, troubleshoot and verify designs.

Agilent has extended its expertise into manufacturing to help customers get designs to market faster and more efficiently, and will continue to provide comprehensive test tools as the lifecycle progresses into installation and maintenance.

Information about Agilent’s WiMAX test solutions is available at www.agilent.com/find/wimax.