SkyCross Develops Industry's First Embedded Antenna Combining Cellular, PCS, GPS and WLAN Coverage

The Antenna Targets E-911 Handheld Devices That
Integrate Mobile Phone And GPS Functionality

MELBOURNE, Florida, December 3, 2001 — - SkyCross Inc., a leading developer of advanced wireless antenna solutions, today introduced the industry's first embedded antenna that provides simultaneous coverage of the 800 MHz cellular, 1575 MHz GPS, 1900 MHz PCS and 2450 MHz WLAN frequency bands. The antenna is initially targeted for E-911 wireless applications that integrate mobile phone, wireless data and GPS handheld receiver functions into a single device.

Wireless carriers can provide E-911 service by offering a network-based solution, a handset-based solution, or a combination of the two. The network-based solution requires carriers to add equipment at each of the cell towers to triangulate and determine the position of the 911 call. The network solution is generally considered to be less accurate than the handset solution, which requires the introduction of new devices that receive the global positioning system (GPS) signal.

Separately, wireless handset manufactures have begun to integrate wireless data ports into their handheld devices utilizing the 2400 MHz ISM frequency band. Standards such as Bluetooth and 802.11b will increase the utility of mobile devices.

Until now, handset makers had to contend with challenging aesthetic, design and cost issues when incorporating more than one antenna into a single wireless device. "Handset makers now have a cost-effective and reliable option for incorporating GPS functionality into handsets," said Alan Haase, CEO of SkyCross."Using our patented Meander Line Antenna technology, SkyCross has developed a single, high-performing antenna that can simultaneously operate over mobile phone, wireless data and GPS frequencies."

Key highlights:

• SkyCross' single, embedded Cellular/PCS/GPS/WLAN antenna solution performs equal to or better than existing OEM handheld devices with multi-antenna solutions for E-911 services.
• SkyCross' new multi-band embedded antenna performs equivalent or better than external quarter-wave monopole whips and up to 3 dB better than traditional embedded Cellular/PCS antennas currently used in OEM handsets.
• The same antenna also performs equivalently to a circularly polarized quad helix, commonly used in high performance handheld marine GPS receivers.
• Additionally, the SkyCross antenna provides coverage in the 2.45 GHz frequency band used by 802.11b and Bluetooth wireless networking standards.

"With the FCC requirements for E-911 location reporting and recent industry reports on the high growth opportunity for location-based services, we expect that multi-mode mobile devices will become the standard for future handsets sold in the U.S. market,"explained Kerry Greer, vice president of engineering at SkyCross.

"In general, a multiple purpose antenna design is difficult to achieve, especially when you consider that the span of 800 to 2500 MHz represents nearly two octaves of bandwidth," Greer said. "Until now handset designers were forced to implement GPS and WLAN capability in mobile handsets using separate antennas. With our new multi-band MLA antenna, SkyCross is leading the next level of wireless multiple-mode integration."

The Cellular/PCS/GPS/WLAN antenna represents SkyCross' fourth product release this year that is unique to the embedded antenna industry.

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