Where oh where is ultra-wide band?

Posted by: Paul DeBeasi

We have been hearing about ultra-wide band (UWB) for years, but where are all the UWB products? UWB is supposed to provide a standard, high-speed, wireless connection for your peripherals. Think “wireless USB”, or, “Bluetooth on steroids”. Imagine connecting cameras, printers, and storage devices using a wireless connection instead of a wired connection. Sounds pretty good! But where are all the UWB products?

Well, the problem is that there are at least 3 competing solutions. First, we have Cable-Free USB. Cable-Free is based on Icron’s proprietary ExtremeUSB technology running on top of Freescale’s UWB chipset. It is designed around the USB 2.0 specification so it uses the USB 2.0 drivers. In effect, it replaces a single USB connection with a wireless Hub and dongle approach. Unfortunately, it is proprietary and not widely adopted.

Next we have the Certified Wireless USB approach that is based upon the WiMedia Alliance physical layer and MAC layer definition. This approach is backed by heavyweights including HP, Intel, and Microsoft. Certified Wireless USB creates a new USB protocol and uses a Hub and spoke model, connecting up to 127 wireless USB devices. Unfortunately, chipsets are still in the $10 range, which is far too expensive for low margin consumer electronic devices.

Lastly, we have 802.11n. Yup, good ole Wi-Fi can get the job done. In fact, this summer Texas Instruments withdrew from the WiMedia alliance in order to focus on 802.11n instead. Why? Well, consider this. Many consumer devices already have embedded WiFi. Why incur the power, space, and cost burden to add a UWB chipset when 802.11n is already available and will achieve 180+ Mbps? There will be over 450 million 802.11 chipsets sold this year and over 100 million will be 802.11n!

My bet is that Certified Wireless USB will not see widespread adoption and that 802.11n will become the dominant method for wirelessly connecting peripherals. No way, you say? Well, if you disagree, voice your opinion by commenting on this blog post.