Regular readers here should at least recognize that they've heard Cognio mentioned here before. I did a podcast chat with Neil Diener, their CTO a while back. And as I find myself starting to research for a wireless security article for VON Magazine in a few months, I know I'll be back talking to Neil again.

Cognio is one of the real thought leaders in wireless spectrum management, and that includes securing the spectrum. While not directly a VoIP or unified communications players, wireless is so key to these technologies that the value Cognio brings is huge. And note that we're talking wireless spectrum, not just WiFi.

Patents and ongoing thought leadership will make Cognio a long term company and I watch for huge things from them in the future.

Cognio cements technology leadership in spectrum management
Cognio builds on its extensive intellectual property portfolio with unique wireless spectrum management technology patents

Germantown, MD, MAY 15, 2007— Cognio, the market leader in spectrum analysis and management for WiFi, today announced that it has been awarded its 16th US patent, and has several more pending issue in the coming months. Cognio’s comprehensive intellectual property (IP) portfolio solidifies the company’s market and technology leadership around cognitive spectrum analysis.

Cognio’s issued patents cover an ever-expanding range of applications, including:

Interference Classification: algorithms and methods for classifying RF signals in order to determine what devices are causing interference and where they are located.
Interference Mitigation: methods to tune WiFi to improve performance in the face of interference, and ensure reliable wireless operation for applications such as mission critical data, voice and video.

Spectrum Management: management of enterprise, outdoor and residential spectrum by proactively monitoring and solving physical layer performance and security issues.
Location: advanced methods for accurate location of interference sources in order to determine of a zone of impact of an interference device.

Embedded Spectrum Analysis: specialized implementations and algorithms that allow spectrum analysis to be embedded directly within network equipment.

On March 13, 2007, Cognio was awarded US Patent No. 7,190,733. This patent, entitled “Memoryless Spectrum Correction Algorithm for Non-Ideal I/Q Demodulators,” marked the 16th patent Cognio has been awarded, and further cements the company’s position as the leader in spectrum analysis solutions.

“Cognio’s deep intellectual property base is a clear indication that they understand the problems network administrators face as they struggle to cope with the complexities and challenges of managing WiFi network deployments,” said Becky Watson, Stratecast (a Division of Frost & Sullivan) Program Manager, Convergence Strategies and Network Architectures. “IT managers need solutions like those created by Cognio to ensure the integrity, reliability and capacity of their WiFi network environments if they want to truly leverage it to deliver innovative services.”

With the use of the advanced technology covered by the patents in Cognio’s IP portfolio, IT professionals and enterprise WLAN managers can track RF activity by measuring pulses of energy, duty cycle, maximum power and other characteristics. Many of Cognio’s innovations have contributed to the success of its Spectrum Expert product, a laptop card used to simply and easily track and identify spectrum interference in a WiFi network environment. Using this low-cost tool results in a more productive and secure wireless network.

“Our patented intellectual property drives the solutions that solve business-critical wireless networking interference problems,” explained Neil Diener, CTO for Cognio. “Cognio focuses its efforts on the unlicensed frequency bands commonly used by companies today for wireless networks. And, while the science behind these applications is complex, the result of this work is technology that makes managing wireless simple and straightforward.”

About Cognio
Cognio is the leading provider of tools to fix RF interference. Cognio, a Cisco Solutions Plus partner, is certified through Cisco’s Technology Partner program to be compatible with Cisco wireless access technologies and equipment. More information is available on the web at http://www.cognio.com.

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