Bluetooth on steroids, the solution for short-range wireless video, or the replacement for USB in computers?
If the 1990s was the decade of speed, then this is the decade of bandwidth. Back then, every extra megahertz was seen as a triumph of progress, and clock speed was the first thing any PC buyer looked at. These days, it's all about data transfer rates. No longer seen as mere data processors, PCs are expected to deal in realtime experiences, anywhere and anytime. This means constantly having to move vast amounts of data at every scale from the global to the microscopic. Technology is lagging behind our expectations. A totally new approach is needed, and one candidate the industry is currently pinning its hopes on is ultrawideband, or UWB.
UWB promises to deliver speeds of more than 1GB/s, with minimal power consumption and simple plug-and-play connectivity. It’s a wireless technology that’s limited to short-range operation up to about 10m, but it also lends itself to creating mesh networks that extend the range and the possibilities. The first generation of consumer devices to use UWB is aimed at PCs and should be available by the end of this year. Beyond that, we’re being promised a wide range of applications that will revolutionise everything from home cinema to aircraft communications.
UWB isn’t without its opponents though, and even among its supporters there’s been disagreement over technical issues. So much so, that the IEEE committee charged with defining a UWB standard for computer communications gave up the unequal struggle and unanimously voted to dissolve itself earlier this year.
One thing that sets UWB apart from the familiar forms of wireless networking and connectivity is that it isn’t a communication protocol, but a different approach to using radio. In other words, UWB changes the physical layer of wireless communication. The protocols that sit above this physical layer may include new ones not seen before, but will certainly include familiar ones such as Bluetooth and USB.
Although UWB is new, there are strong links with older technologies. When radio was first used in the 19th century, one of the main problems was that any transmission would interfere with any other that was within range. This was because the early transmitters spread their signal across a wide bandwidth. Radio didn’t become a viable communication medium until the development of the tuned circuit tamed the bandwidth and allowed different signals to work on various frequencies. This principle of using fixed frequencies has underpinned virtually every application of radio ever since.
More than that, it also established the foundations of the regulatory process. This is based on the notion that spectrum is a finite resource and so operations need to be licensed for specific frequencies, and controlled or charged according to the bandwidth they occupy. UWB turns this on its head. Rather than transmit on one frequency, it has no defined central, or “carrier”, frequency. Rather than squeeze its bandwidth, it spreads itself as wide as possible. Rather than fit into any conventional regulatory model, it demands a new set of rules. The appeal is that it manages to do all this without apparently causing serious interference and with a high level of security and immunity from other signals.
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| The Belkin CableFree USB Hub, which was announced in January, is one of the first consumer devices to offer UWB connectivity. |