Media Forward Link Only (FLO), the mobile multicast TV technology initially developed by CDMA pioneer Qualcomm, has shaken off more of its ‘proprietary’ associations with the news that  the US Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)’s TR-47.1 Subcommittee has officially approved publication of the FLO Air Interface Specification (AIS) as TIA-1099. The AIS was the first technical specification produced and approved by the FLO Forum, an association of wireless industry companies working on the global standardisation of FLO technology and whose activities are likewise helping to distance MediaFLO from Qualcomm. Or vice versa.

The Air Interface Specification defines the radio protocols used over the air between the FLO network and a FLO device for the delivery of multicast services. “Approval of the Air Interface Specification is an important part of the process of developing a complete set of standards based on FLO technology,” says TIA senior vice president, Standards and Special Projects Dan Bart.

“Publication of the FLO Air Interface Specification by the TIA TR-47.1 engineering subcommittee marks a significant milestone in the FLO Forum programme of promoting global open standardisation of FLO technology,” adds FLO Forum president Dr. Kamil A. Grajski.

In other Qualcomm news the company is claiming to have achieved significant milestones toward bringing fully wireless broadband capabilities to WCDMA (UMTS) networks in 2007, including completion of the industry’s first HSUPA test calls delivering 2.0Mbits/s on the uplink and the launch of interoperability testing with multiple infrastructure providers. Qualcomm also says ten major device manufacturers are now designing products based on its HSUPA chipset solution.
John Williamson