Aperion Audio, DEI Holdings, Inc. (parent company to Polk Audio and Definitive Technology),Hansong Electronics Co., Klipsch Group, Inc., Meiloon Industrial Co., Pioneer Corporation, SHARP Corporation, Silicon Image and Summit Semiconductor signed Letters of Intent to join the WiSA Association as Advisory Board members to promote interoperability of interference-free, wireless surround-sound audio across a wide range of consumer electronics devices.

The WiSA certification and test program addresses an industry need to develop and deliver HD wireless audio products for the home while ensuring interoperability between any manufacturer’s CE devices such as speakers, DTVs, Blu-ray Disc players, gaming consoles, set-top boxes, and mobile devices. Consumers will be able to outfit their home entertainment system with WiSA-certified speakers and components from any participating vendor with the assurance that the devices will interoperate with each other and provide the highest standard in wireless HD surround sound audio.

“Consumers are looking for a reliable, high-quality wireless audio experience that offers seamless interoperability between products from multiple brands,” said Jim Venable, president of the WiSA Association. “With the interoperability testing and certification programs created by the WiSA Association, manufacturers will be able to bring products to market that provide consumers with a wireless audio experience of exceptional performance and ease of use.”

Initially, the WiSA Association’s interoperability testing and certification program will be aimed at products offering interference-free, uncompressed HD audio over the 5 GHz Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) frequency band. This is a portion of the spectrum that is largely unused compared to the lower-frequency Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio bands, which are becoming increasingly crowded with signals from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, and other radio emitters in the home.

By operating in the U-NII spectrum, WiSA-certified products will be designed to avoid the interference, signal loss, and generally unpredictable behavior reported by many users of legacy wireless speaker connections. A wide range of WiSA-certified products are expected to be available, addressing the high-end of the market as well as entry level products and delivering 16 or 24-bit audio and up to 96kHz sampling rate in configurations ranging from stereo to 7.1 surround sound and beyond. The WiSA Association’s interoperability testing and certification program will also ensure easy set-up and configuration, with the goal of enabling consumers to set up a 7.1 home theater system in less than 30 minutes on average.

Opportunities to participate in the WiSA Association exist for Members and Associate Members. Companies and organizations interested in joining the group are welcome to contact the Association. The application to join and information about membership fees can be found at http://www.wisaassociation.org.

Members
Members are companies that manufacture and promote WiSA-certified products. They agree to perform compliance and interoperability testing, and to abide by the WiSA trademark and logo usage guidelines. Members pay an annual fee of US$5,000.

Associate Members
Associate Members are trusted vendors of WiSA-certified products, such as branded resellers, who agree to sell compliant products. Associate Members may display the WiSA logo signifying their membership in the Association and indicating that they sell WiSA-certified products. Associate Members pay an annual fee of US$3,000.