The Ultra Wideband Blog

Bluetooth and UWB

Last week, there was a little controversy surrounding Bluetooth and its continued support of ultra wideband. The headline to a Techworld post read "Reversing an earlier decision, Bluetooth backers choose Wi-Fi over UWB for the technology's next version."

The source of the report is, however, the real story. John Barr of Motorola was involved with the UWB development within Motorola (later Freescale). Motorola had purchased XtremeSpectrum, a developer of the Direct Sequence-based UWB system, an effort which was shut down. Gearlog, which covered this story says, "And now you see why Barr 's comments are essentially sour grapes."

The Gearlog piece also quotes Mike Foley, the executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, as disagreeing with the Techworld story. The specification to enable Bluetooth profiles to run on top of different transports will be released in 2008. Both UWB and WiFi are high-speed technologies which can be utilized for this purpose, and the suitability will be determined by the devices and applications.

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. 

Read Rick Merritt

If you're not reading Rick Merritt's blog, and you're tracking the world of connectivity, you need to.  He's up to speed on just about everything going on in the space and has some very interesting insights. 

I do take issue, however, with one recent post from Rick that talked about the Park's Connections Conference.  In it, he contrasted two panels: one that featured the views of wireless vendors and the other that focused on those of the telcos and cable providers.  His point was that the wireless wags need to pay attention to the cable camp that, guess what, is very comfortable with wires. 

My issue isn't that I disagree with Rick's point, frankly I agree with him whole heartedly.  But Rick should have noted that at least one wireless technology -- UWB -- has already demonstrated its ability to work over wires, coax in particular. Several suppliers of residential gateways, routers and set-top boxes are working to productize UWB over coax as an alternative to MoCA.  And the WiMedia Alliance has created a study group (led by one of the major telcos) to implement this as part of the UWB standard.   

The Retailer's View

Last week, ultra wideband was one of the hot topics of conversation at the RetailVision, a Gartner Group event that attracts 200 or so buyers from national and regional chains.  Tzero's ultra-wideband-based Wireless for HDMI won Best New Technology underscoring the growing interest in the application of wireless high-definition video and UWB products in general.

Even more telling were the comments from these retail buyers.  One buyer commented that Wireless for HDMI was "a game changing solution."  Others remarked that they could see it easily fitting into their line and that selling these products was a "no brainer."   In other words, they get the value proposition -- the world is going wireless.  They've seen it in the data world and now they're on the verge of it for video. Replacing the tangle of cables behind the media cabinet and simplifying installation will solve  huge problems for their consumers, and those are very good things.

One cautionary note was sounded by these buyers.  Their concern was over proprietary products and implementations.  They want standards-based solutions that ensure interoperability.  Our advice to retailers, make sure you ask if the solution you're considering is WiMedia compliant.    

Ultra Wideband Approved as an ISO Standard

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.

The Importance of a Standards-based Approach

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.

The EU and UWB

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.

Is It The Year of UWB?

It's a good question.  And what does it really mean to be the year of any technology?  Does it mean that commercial products hit the shelves in volume?  If that's the criteria, then 2007 will definitely be the year for UWB.  Does it mean that the technology becomes adopted across a wide range of applications?  This will also be true in 2007.  Already we've seen announcements that the technology will be embedded in laptop PCs, high-definition TVs, automobiles and a range of aftermarket products designed to make the delivery of multimedia content around the home simpler and easier than ever before.

Wireless Week Magazine muses on the UWB trend in a recent article entitled UWB Blast Off. Tim Bajarin, analyst with Creative Strategies, writes in PC Magazine that wireless high definition and UWB will be one of the hottest themes this year, "since it represents a key to the future for content distribution within the home."

Additionally, both Wireless Net Design Line and EDN declare Tzero's UWB one of the top wireless products of the year. Even the podcasters at the HT Guys predict 2007 will be a big year for UWB. They must be onto something.

Gates' CES Short List

When you’re attending a tradeshow as large as CES, it pays to make a check list of top companies to visit. That’s the approach taken by Bill Gates and this year Tzero was on that list. Shortly after the show opened on January 8, Gates along with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen made a beeline for the Tzero booth in the Central Hall to see the latest in ultra wideband.

While at the booth, Gates and Allen met with Tzero CEO Mike Gulett, and senior vice president of sales and marketing Dan Karr. They saw demonstrations of both wireless high-definition video and wired networking of entertainment content using UWB. After viewing the demonstrations, Gates observed that UWB “has certainly come a long way.”

Coincidentally, Forbes reporter Rachel Rosmarin was also visiting Tzero on Monday morning. You can read her observations at www.forbes.com.

Another Milestone

Last week, ultra wideband passed another major milestone with the announcement of the finalization of the WiMedia Alliance's Certification program.  One of the organization's charters is to provide coexistence and interoperability between the different applications and products that use UWB standards and specifications.  And this new certification program goes a long way to helping ensure that interoperability and fuel the growth in adoption of the technology.

As part of the program, the WiMedia Alliance also conducts organized compatibility and interoperability testing for UWB products.  They test both the PHYs (or Physical Layer implementations) as well as the platforms.  Last week, six companies -- including Tzero -- received initial registration of their PHYs, paving the way for the next major milestone of platform certification later this year. 

Look for more information about certification on the WiMedia Alliance website.