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As part of Ecma 368 and 369, the WiMedia ultra wideband standards are now officially global standards. This was announced this week and published on the Ecma website under their Wireless Proximity Systems section. This is another huge step forward for the ultra wideband community. It should help accelerate the adoption and deployment of WiMedia-standards-based products in Europe and throughout the world.
You’ve heard the arguments before. Standards-based approaches are good for markets because they enable multi-vendor sourcing and reduce costs, ensure compatibility and interoperability. But in wireless communications and particularly in the emerging UWB market it’s even more critical to be standards based.
Imagine as a consumer bringing home a new non-standard UWB product. Set it up and it seems to work fine. Then go to your new Wireless USB printer. It worked well before but now it doesn’t. The non-standard product is interfering. Put on your Bluetooth headset and try to call tech support. It no longer works either. Which product do you return? If you’re like many consumers, you return them all.
Imagine being the retailer having to take all those products back. You can’t even begin to diagnose the problem. Every year, retailers receive more than $15 billion in returns because of problems like this. With nearly 300 companies soon to ship WiMedia standards-compliant products – and another 7,000 companies adopting this standard for next-generation Bluetooth devices – you can understand the magnitude of the problem that could be created by even one non-standard product.
Non-standard communications by devices result in interference and chaos, and greatly reduce the likelihood of widespread adoption. We urge all companies involved in the UWB market to take a standards-based approach, and participate in WiMedia compatibility and interoperability tests.
Last week, the European Union took another welcome step to enable the widespread adoption of ultra wideband -- in a range of applications -- beginning later this year.
The Commission of the European Communities issued a decision to approve frequencies for use of UWB devices and stated that it "must be applied within the next six months throughout the EU's 27 Member States." That's good news for all of us in the UWB community and ultimately for consumers throughout Europe.
One other key point made by the Commission included the clear identification of video distribution as an important application area for UWB. "Furthermore, video signals will be transmitted using predominantly high-efficiency coding," said the decision. This essentially mandates the use of compression and validates Tzero's Wireless for HDMI product.
See the full decision by visiting the European Commission website.
