Haim Harel, President and CEO, Magnolia Broadband

Haim Harel is no dummy. He just works with one.

Harel is the president and CEO of Magnolia Broadband, a Clinton, N.J.-based developer of products designed to increase wireless network capacity and coverage. Almost as important as the other executives and engineers who staff the company is “Andy,” essentially a crash-test dummy filled with liquid to approximate the size, shape and density of a human head. By rotating and tilting Andy's noggin, Magnolia studies how users' heads affect the transmission of signals to and from wireless devices.

The brains behind the operation is Magnolia's DiversityPlus technology, which draws on principles of diversity antenna architecture in combining proprietary algorithms and RF integrated circuit designs in a chipset solution. When added to a handset's processor and combined with both an internal and an external antenna, the chip increases the device's transmission and reception capabilities, which improves signal-to-noise ratio, reduces power consumption and doubles network capacity without infrastructure or protocol upgrades.

“It is a downlink solution and an uplink solution. No one else is addressing the uplink,” Harel said. “Both the antenna industry and the handset industry are very professional in what they do. However, when each technology is combined in the network, there are some missing links.”

A 15-year veteran of the Israeli defense industry, Harel launched his first start-up, radiolocation system developer Nexus Communications, in 1991. After relocating to California, in 1995 he founded Wireless Online, which produced smart antenna technology engineered to extend the range of base stations. Magnolia, founded in 2000, announced last year a development and marketing deal with Korean carrier SK Telecom, and is currently trialing its technology with an unnamed U.S. CDMA carrier.

“It's our belief that diversity in handsets is going to be the prevailing solution,” Harel said. “The world will soon realize its value.”