Aware, Inc. - About Aware

Aware was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in March 1986. During its first seven years, Aware was engaged primarily in research, specializing in wavelet mathematics applications, digital compression, and telecommunications and channel modulation and coding. Aware’s early contract work was from the US government and commercial companies, and most revenue was generated from research grants. As its technology matured, Aware focused its efforts in two areas: data/image/video compression and telecommunications.

Since 1988, Aware has developed expertise, trade secrets and intellectual property in the field of wavelet transform-based data compression and has obtained many patents in this area.

In 1993, seeing a major market opportunity emerging, the company shifted its business from contract research toward development of ADSL and other broadband technologies and more advanced data and video compression products.

In September 1993, Aware entered into an agreement with semiconductor manufacturer Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) to develop integrated ADSL chipsets. Then in 1996, Aware launched its first ADSL intellectual property (IP) offering, including our first ADSL modem in February of 1996 which transferred data at 6Mbps – or 200 times faster than ordinary dial-up.

During this time, Aware also launches its first image compression products, which included AccuPress for Multimedia (general-purpose compression), AccuPress for Remote Sensing (compression of satellite-based remote sensing imagery), AccuPress for Radiology (compression of medical images), SeisPact (for companies in the oil and gas industries to store and handle seismic data), and WSQ by Aware (compress digital fingerprint data for law enforcement agencies and the FBI).

The company continued to grow, and in August 1996, Aware launched a successful public offering and became listed on NASDAQ under the ticker “AWRE” before expanding and relocating to its current headquarters location – a 72,000 square foot facility in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Today, Aware is a leading technology supplier for the telecommunications and biometrics/imaging industries. Over the years, Aware has continued to pioneer innovations at telecommunications standards-setting organizations and develop and market DSL silicon intellectual property and test and diagnostics products. Its StratiPHY™ IP product line supports DSL standards, including ADSL2+ and VDSL2, and has been broadly licensed to leading semiconductor companies. Telecom equipment vendors and phone companies use Aware's DSL test and diagnostics modules and Dr. DSL® software to help provision DSL circuits globally. Aware’s biometric and imaging software components are used in government systems worldwide, and its interoperable, standard-compliant, field-proven imaging products are used in a number of applications, from border management to criminal justice to medical imaging.