Can short-range UWB cross the Atlantic?
Within the next two years, we should start to see fast wireless links based on ultrawideband (UWB), taking the place of short-range connections such as USB and Firewire, and providing fast data links between consumer goods. Chipmakers are now on the verge of creating the silicon, and vendor groups are completing the standards. But the technology may have trouble getting a world market, as regulators wrestle with the objections of the cellphone industry. UWB standards are in deadlock at the IEEE; but what the regulators say matters far more to the future of the technology. At the Ultrawideband Europe conference in London last week, a select group of vendors and regulators made the issues quite clear. UWB crosses boundaries In a nutshell, UWB has problems because it is hard to pigeon hole. The technology operates at low energies, across a wide radio spectrum – and also crosses boundaries between markets. Some applications look very IT-centric (get rid of all your UWB cables, synchronise
