802.11n or Bust?

That's the question asked by BusinessWeek's Cliff Edwards in a recent blog posting.  He points out, quite rightly, that WiFi has a significant problem: the lack of what's known in the industry as Quality of Service or QoS.  Instead, WiFi uses a contention-based access scheme which is exactly what it sounds like, everybody that's trying to use the network must fight for it.  That works okay for data but it's death for video.  As Cliff says, "Since most wireless routers aren't smart enough to prioritize data streams, the more devices that are connected the slower the connection speed for all those devices. With video, the issue is particularly vexing since any data loss during transmission of these large files leads to image stuttering." Or worse.

Where does ultra wideband come down on this?  The WiMedia standard allows for bandwidth reservations for applications like video, ensuring the delivery of a high-quality viewing experience.