Ultrawideband? - Show me the money

26 January 2005 Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT

One of the advantages originally touted for ultrawideband was that it would be a very low cost solution. It is time to 'show me the money', says ABI Research.

According to principal analyst of semiconductor research, Alan Varghese, heated discussions in the IEEE standards bodies have made one thing clear: there is not going to be a UWB Standard, and the two disputing sides - the UWB Forum and the MBOA Alliance - are going to market with their separate designs.

"This implies that UWB devices will not interoperate," says Varghese, "so the consumer had better know the difference between direct sequence and multiband OFDM. This is not good news."

That is not all. UWB, when originally discussed, was supposed to offer the advantage of not needing modulators, synthesisers, and other RF circuitry. Vendors mentioned a price point of $3 for the UWB chip, ensuring widespread penetration into all kinds of consumer electronics.

Today, Freescale's 3-chip solution goes for the high teens, and the MBOA talks about entering at a price point of about $14. This is not good news either. Rival 802.11n will enter at a similar price, and it enjoys industry consensus. Its devices will interoperate and work at much higher ranges, and it is an evolution from the well known standards, 802.11a, b, and g.

What advantage does UWB have over 802.11n for CE devices? It is unfortunate for vendors if you have to ask that question says Varghese. "UWB vendors better enter the market with all-CMOS designs, integrate to one chip quickly, then scale rapidly down in process geometry to prove that UWB truly is a low-cost technology," he says.

ABI Research's study, 'Ultrawideband - Standards, Technology, OEM Strategy, and Markets' discusses these issues in detail.

www.abiresearch.com

Further reading:

Industrial Ethernet time sensitive networking switch
RS South Africa Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The ADIN3310 and ADIN6310 are 3-port and 6-port Gigabit Ethernet time sensitive networking (TSN) switches with integrated security primarily designed for industrial Ethernet applications.

Read more...

---

When it comes to long-term reliability of RF amplifier ICs, focus first on die junction temperature
Altron Arrow Editor's Choice Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
When considering the long-term reliability of integrated circuits, a common misconception is that high package or die thermal resistance is problematic. However, high or low thermal resistance, by itself, tells an incomplete story.

Read more...

---

Automotive-grade digital isolators
Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The NSI83xx series of capacitive-based isolators from NOVOSENSE Microelectronics offer superior EOS resilience and minimal power noise susceptibility.

Read more...

---

Why bis means business for LTE Cat 1 IoT connections
NuVision Electronics Editor's Choice Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Tomaž Petaros, product manager IoT EMEA at Quectel Wireless Solutions explains why the market for Cat 1bis IoT connections is getting busy.

Read more...

---

Wi-Fi in 2025: When is Wi-Fi 7 the answer?
iCorp Technologies Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Wi-Fi 7 introduces multi-link operation and lower latency, a game-changing feature that allows devices to transmit and receive data across multiple frequency bands simultaneously to significantly reduce network congestion.

Read more...

---

Bluetooth Lite SoCs purpose built for IoT
NuVision Electronics Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Whether it is enabling predictive maintenance on industrial equipment, tracking assets in dense environments, or running for years on a coin cell battery in ultra-low power sensors, developers need solutions that are lean, reliable, and ready to scale with emerging use cases.

Read more...

---

LTE Cat 1bis module
Otto Wireless Solutions Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The A7673X LTE Cat 1bis module from SimCom is engineered to meet the growing demands of the IoT industry, offering exceptional performance and seamless integration.

Read more...

---

Track with precision
Electrocomp Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
KYOCERA AVX provides innovative antennas for cellular, LTE-M, NB-IoT, LoRa, GNSS, BLE, UWB, Wi-Fi, and future Satellite IoT.

Read more...

---

Wi-Fi 7 front-end module
RF Design Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The Qorvo QPF4609 is an integrated front end module designed for 802.11be systems that has integrated matching, which minimises layout area.

Read more...

---

Multi-channel downconverter
Vepac Electronics Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The Downconverter from Crane Aerospace is a converter that operates from 2 to 18 GHz and delivers a noise figure of 11 dB with an attenuation range of 25 dB.

Read more...

---