Samsung Research is pleased to announce that several of its’ researchers have been elected as chairs to lead the next-generation ultra-wideband (UWB) standards for two-year term at FiRa Consortium.

Karthik Srinivasa Gopalan, at Samsung R&D Institute India - Bangalore, was re-elected as co-chair of the Technical Working Group, and he will continue leading to deliver technical specifications for the UWB interoperability. Karthik has more than 20 years of experience and has worked extensively in the areas of research, development and standardization in peer-to-peer, contents recommendations, UMTS, Wi-Fi and UWB systems.

Clint Chaplin, at Samsung Research America, was also re-elected as co-chair of the Compliance & Certification Working Group, and he will continue to lead the first FiRa Certification Program launching this year. Clint has more than 20 years of experience in connectivity standards, and has shown strong leadership as chairman or Board member in many standards organizations such as Wi-Fi Alliance, IEEE, WiMedia Alliance, NFC, and so on.

In addition, Jieun Keum, at Samsung Research, was elected as chair of D2D Task Group, which was newly formed to define specifications for multiple services between two UWB devices such as tap-less payment, directional control of smart home devices and nearby sharing. Jieun brings around 20 years to research and standardization, and has successfully driven standardizations in leadership positions at many other organizations such as OCF (Open Connectivity Foundation), oneM2M and OIPF (Open IPTV Forum).

“These election outcomes reflect the strong technical leadership that Samsung has demonstrated in developing UWB standards and driving interoperable ecosystem.” said VP Jin-kyu Han, Head of Standards Research Team at Samsung Research.

Samsung is a founding member of the FiRa Consortium, which is a member-driven organization dedicated to the development and widespread adoption of seamless user experiences using the secured fine ranging and positioning capabilities of ultra-wideband (UWB) technologies. FiRa Consortium currently has about 70 members ensuring an interoperable UWB ecosystem across chipset, device and service infrastructure. To learn more about the FiRa Consortium, visit www.firaconsortium.org.

Karthik Srinivasa Gopalan / Clint Chaplin / Jieun Keum