We got a lot of feedback, again in my e-mail box, about our UWB article from last week. Not a lot of it was positive, it seems that even after we tried to provide some general information about UWB, folks were still pretty upset at how we handled wireless USB.

Look, we like wireless USB. We just want folks to know more about it in a slightly different way.

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) the radio technology is pretty cool and it’s really driving a lot of what’s going on in the wireless USB space. It’s been called “dead” by critics and panned by many people for a long time now, but understand that it’s the nature of the tech industry. Everytime a new technology appears, a lot of companies are quick to jump on it. However, when the technology doesn’t commercialize quick enough, many of those early companies tend to fall out from the initial surge. UWB is no different. From the get-go a lot of companies jumped on board and touted it’s versatility and ability to replace several existing and well adopted technologies.

Clearly, this didn’t happen as many people had planned. Today, UWB has matured and really found a space as an enabling technology. You could even think of it as a “platform” where other protocols (USB, bluetooth) can run on it over short distances, but with high band-width.

In doing our post about UWB, we reached out to many companies. We recently went back to one of those companies to follow-up on our UWB article. Mike Krell, Sr. Director of Marketing Communications at Alereon, was kind enough to provide us with a detailed interview.

Tech Bucket Blog (TBB): First, explain to us a little bit about UWB.

Mike Krell: UWB is an acronym for Ultrawideband, which is a specific type of radio technology. There are a number of different types of UWB radios in use today in both consumer and military applications. The WiMedia Alliance (WMA) has produced a specification for the WiMedia Common Radio platform that used a specific UWB radio.

TBB: What is the WMA standard? Is it vendor specific?

Mike Krell: This is no different than the WiFi Alliance that develops the specification for WiFi that uses a specific type of radio. Radios that meet the WMA specifications can be assured to interoperate.

TBB: What is Common Radio Platform?

Mike Krell: The Common Radio Platform is the concept that UWB spans many different applications and can be applied to many industries as well. UWB was designed to be protocol independent (i.e. you could use it to run any protocol, USB, Bluetooth or IP).

TBB: Could you tell us a little bit about how wireless USB and UWB are related?

Mike Krell: The USB-IF has chosen the WMA platform as the basis for Wireless USB, meaning they (USB-IF) have developed software that runs the USB protocol stack using the WMA radio as the transport mechanism instead of a wire. This allows them (USB-IF) to guarantee that radios that have their logo meet the specifications that allow them to interoperate. These devices will not interoperate with UWB radios that do not meet this specific specification.

TBB: We’ve been trying to make the point that UWB can be used in several different applications and it seems some folks think we’re silly. Can you help us explain this better?

Mike Krell: Sure. For instance, you can write a Bluetooth application stack that will run on the WMA radio platform. The BT systems that used this stack would talk to each other, but not other UWB implantations that use a different protocol on the same radio. As another example, you can implement an IP Stack that runs over a WMA UWB radio that would be significantly higher performance (and lower cost) than other wireless IP implementations. So your premise is true, UWB is really an enabling technology that is protocol independent and doesn’t really compete with Wireless USB.

TBB: Thanks for letting us know we were on target. For a minute there, we were starting to doubt our own research

TBB: What about the critics who say UWB is dead? We know Alereon is working with some really big name companies out there, so to us, we know UWB is starting to grow. What can you tell us about UWB today?

Mike Krell: Every wireless technology ever introduced to the market, including WiFi and Bluetooth, has been declared dead at least once if not twice by some industry pundit. The fact is that most wireless technologies are rushed to market before either the infrastructure, that allows them to work, is built to allow the technology’s optimum potential, or there are no applications ready. This was certainly the case with WiFi and Bluetooth and both of them have succeeded wildly.

The same case certainly applies with UWB.

Today we are in a different situation where the chipsets and software are mature. That allow our customers to produce compelling products that can achieve things these other wireless technologies just can’t approach.

UWB systems can provide cheaper high speed bandwidth, that is easier to use, than any of these other wireless technologies. OEMs have recognized this fact. You have seen companies such as Dell, Toshiba and Imation introduce new UWB (specifically Wireless USB) products over the last few months. I expect that you will see many more follow over the next year.

Bottom line is that UWB is the most energy efficient and cost effective wireless technology available to the average consumer. Customers have recognized this and are moving forward to bring this technology to market.

TBB: Thanks Mike, we really appreciate your time in helping us get the UWB message out there.

Mike Krell: You’re very welcome. If you get lost again, just let me know.

Check out our original and verified to be correct article here.

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