Ultra Wideband: Short range, high bandwidth

Darius Chang | Jun 19, 2007

At CommunicAsia 2007, Singapore's research agency A*STAR, as part of the WiMedia Allianace, showcased its latest solution for short-range, high-bandwidth communication.

Developed by the WiMedia Alliance, the Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology offers a significant performance increase over other short-range wireless standards like Bluetooth and Wireless USB. Capable of streaming even high-definition videos, UWB offers a bandwidth of up to 480Mbps and a range of over 10m. Bluetooth 2.0 allows for only 3Mbps transfer rate at a maximum distance of 10m. Wireless USB has a top speed of 480Mbps, but the range is also capped at 10m.

Little wonder that the next revision of the Wireless USB protocol and Bluetooth 3.0 will ride on the UWB technology. In the near future, connecting peripherals and portables will be a breeze as UWB devices are able to handle the demands of multiple secured connections wirelessly without interfering with current Wi-Fi networks.

Watch out for this new standard as UWB devices may soon be making their appearence later this year.

More CommunicAsia 2007 coverage here.