ARM has announced that industry-leading UWB chip and hardware companies Alereon, Focus Enhancements, Mindtree Consulting, Pulse~LINK and Staccato Communications are integrating ARM9 family microprocessor technology in their upcoming networking and consumer device products. The feature sets of the ARM9 family enable UWB developers to implement systems, while delivering savings in chip area, development costs and power consumption, making it suitable for the high-volume, wireless technology demands of UWB design.

The industry momentum behind the licensing of ARM9 microprocessor technology for UWB development will provide a significant time-to-market advantage for the introduction of UWB chipsets and hardware. UWB, a high-speed, short-range wireless technology, is ideal for transferring digital content between devices in different entertainment and computing groups in the home, like digital video recorders, set-top boxes and personal computing peripherals.

“UWB industry activity has approached reality in the last year as some suppliers have begun sampling complete solutions and standards-based specifications are being released,” said Stan Bruederle, research vice president for Gartner Semiconductor Research. “2006 is expected to be the year we see first volume system production with accelerating growth in 2007.”

“UWB is reaching a point in its development where system integrators can integrate the technology directly into their products,” said Dave Steer, director of U.S. Segment Marketing, ARM. “The ARM9 family of processors enables integrated solutions for the commercial deployment of UWB technology-based wireless connectivity in consumer electronic devices such as digital displays, DVD players, set-top boxes, as well as handheld products such as PDAs and digital cameras, to be successfully designed to meet performance, quality and cost requirements — all of which are key elements to making UWB technology a reality in the consumer marketplace.”

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