For some time now, the personal area network (PAN) market has been waiting for the evolution of a wireless solution that could complement established wired applications. It had to have the ability to transmit large data files and not be too adversely affected by the many walls and other potential obstacles found inside the typical home. Is ultrawideband (UWB) wireless communication technology the answer to that wait?

According to a recent study conducted by the In-Stat (www.in-stat.com) market research firm, the answer may be yes. It claims that by 2010 the shipment of UWB chipsets is expected to reach 289 million. PCs will be the initial and largest volume market for the chipsets, with PC vendors shipping more than 125 million desktop and laptop PCs with UWB capability by 2010. That's a pretty hefty number, but how will this still occur given the recent flurry of activity surrounding UWB?

At a meeting in Hawaii this past January, the members of the IEEE 802.15.3a task group — charged with overseeing the formation of the UWB standard — agreed to withdraw the project authorization request (PAR) that formed the group in the first place. One reason appears to be a lack of consensus between the two proposed UWB technologies: direct-sequence UWB (DS-UWB), which is promoted by the UWB Forum (www.uwbforum.org), and multiband orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) UWB, which is promoted by WiMedia Alliance (www.wimedia.org). Rather then continuing to work to resolve the deadlock, it appears that each organization and its respective technology will work to grow the UWB market and achieve commercialization.

How exactly will this play out? It's hard to tell, given that both groups seem to have a certain edge. Two products based on the UWB Forum's DS-UWB technology were announced in early 2006. Belkin Corp. and Gefen each are offering solutions that consist of a small dongle wirelessly connecting a laptop to an ac-powered four-port USB hub, located some distance from the laptop. The devices will use UWB for communication but simulate USB 2.0 for the ports, thereby requiring no drivers.

In February, the WiMedia Alliance announced that it had successfully completed its first interoperability workshop, having successfully demonstrated initial UWB silicon interoperability between five different manufacturers: Alereon, Staccato Communications, Realtek Semiconductor, WiQuest Communications and Wisair. In March, it formalized its relationship with the Multiband OFDM Alliance UWB group. The merged organization, which also includes the Wireless USB and Wireless 1394 groups, will serve as a focal point for regulatory activities as well as best practices. Additionally, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has picked WiMedia MB-OFDM technology to run future Bluetooth applications. The European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) has also adopted it and is now helping to fast-track it into the International Standards Organization (ISO).

Although the various members of the IEEE 802.15.3a task group may have voted to withdraw its PAR, one thing is for certain — with the ongoing activities of the WiMedia Alliance, the UWB Forum and others, UWB is not going away anytime soon. In fact, it may just be the answer to the “nest of wires” dilemma the PAN industry has been seeking.