Dolby's Via Licensing adds 802.11e

Via Licensing (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dolby), today announced the addition of IEEE 802.11e to Via’s ongoing patent licensing program, critical to the implementation of the IEEE 802.11 standard.

The IEEE just finalized the 802.11e standard, which aims to add quality-of-service (QoS) features and multimedia support to the existing IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11a wireless standards. According to Via, "Enhancing QoS and multimedia support are critical to wireless home networks. 802.11e is an essential ingredient to delivering better performance for voice over IP and multimedia applications".

More importantly, when is Dolby going to throw its support behind a 7.1 surround sound VoIP application?

Via also informed me, "Joint licensing programs provide the market with a convenient and cost-effective way to obtain licenses to the patents essential to practice of the standard. By doing so, the programs encourage greater adoption of the standard. Since introducing the program, Via is now able to offer patent licenses owned by companies: France Telecom SA, Fujitsu Limited, Japan Radio Company, Ltd., LG Electronics, Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, and Sony Corporation."

Here's the release:

Via Licensing Expands Call for Patents for Its IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networking Patent Licensing Program

Call for essential patents now includes IEEE 802.11(e) Quality of Service Enhancements amendment

Via Licensing Corporation is pleased to amend its outstanding call for essential patents reading on the IEEE 802.11 family of specifications to include the IEEE 802.11(e) amendment. IEEE 802.11(e) is entitled “Medium Access Control (MAC) Quality of Service Enhancements” and identified by the IEEE as document number IEEE p802.11e/D13.0.

The complete list of specifications in the IEEE 802.11 family, which this patent call now encompasses, consists of:

• IEEE Standard 802.11—1999
• IEEE Standard 802.11a—1999
• IEEE Standard 802.11b—1999
• IEEE Standard 802.11b—1999/Cor1—2001
• IEEE Standard 802.11d—2001
• IEEE p802.11e/D13.0 and its successors
• IEEE Standard 802.11f—2001
• IEEE Standard 802.11g—2003
• IEEE Standard 802.11h—2003
• IEEE Standard 802.11i—2004
• IEEE Standard 802.11j–2004

Copies of the above specification documents can be obtained online from the IEEE at www.ieee.org.

Via Licensing currently offers a joint license for patents that are essential for implementation of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards as defined in the patent license agreement on behalf of France Telecom SA, Fujitsu Limited, Japan Radio Company, Ltd., LG Electronics, Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, and Sony Corporation.

The goal of expanding the call for patents is to identify owners of the patents that are necessary for the practice of the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standards documents listed above. Essential patents are understood to be issued patents that have one or more claims that would necessarily be infringed by the implementation or use of the IEEE 802.11 standards. Patent owners are encouraged to submit patents for evaluation so they may be qualified to become licensors under Via Licensing’s IEEE 802.11 Joint Patent Licensing Program.

Any entity that believes it has a granted patent that is essential to the normative portions of the IEEE 802.11 standards and wishes to participate in a group of essential patent holders jointly offering to license their patents under the terms of Via Licensing’s IEEE 802.11 Joint Patent Licensing Program is invited to contact Via Licensing Corporation for information about how to submit patents for evaluation. To request such information, interested entities should send an email to submissions@vialicensing.com, specifying their interest in making a submission for consideration of essentiality to the IEEE 802.11 standards.

The IEEE 802.11 Standard is an internationally published open standard that defines a range of methods for providing wireless local area networking services. IEEE 802.11 networking is flexible and convenient. In homes, businesses, and public places, wireless networks can be established to provide connectivity to the wider world. IEEE 802.11 devices combine portability, mobility, and high data rates to bring networking to more places than it has ever been.

About Via Licensing Corporation
Via Licensing Corporation develops and administers patent licensing programs or patent pools on behalf of innovative technology companies and for the convenience of licensees. Via Licensing Corporation is a subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc., and benefits from the expertise, infrastructure, and strategic business relationships that Dolby has developed in more than 35 years of licensing into the consumer electronics and personal computing markets. Via Licensing is involved in the development and operation of licensing programs for both mandated and de facto or emerging standards. For more information about Via Licensing Corporation, please visit www.vialicensing.com.