Keeping Bluetooth’s long-term goal in mind, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced its intent to work with the developers of the ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless technology. Combining the strengths of two technologies, the Bluetooth supporters plan to extend its long-term roadmap to meet the high-speed demands of synchronizing and transferring large amounts of data, as well as enabling high-quality video applications for portable devices. For UWB, it means using Bluetooth technology’s manifested maturity, qualification program, brand equity and comprehensive application layer--a win-win deal for both.

While details are still being worked out, the goal is to work toward an architecture that allows devices to take advantage of UWB data rates for scenarios that require high speed. Bluetooth will still be important to maintain backward-compatibly with existing devices on the market and future products not requiring the higher data rate.

“It has been apparent that members of the Bluetooth SIG would like to enable products with higher data rates. I feel that it is the responsibility of the industry to recognize synergies and limit fragmentation as much as possible,” said Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “Joint development between Bluetooth technology and UWB is the fastest and most economical pathway for both technologies to meet the future demands of companies and end users. At the same time it is important to understand that Bluetooth is a global standard to a great extent driven by the adoption into mobile consumer devices like mobile phones, so not only is a requirement that worldwide regulation is achieved but also that it is done in a way so co-existence with future mobile standards is realized.”

“The Bluetooth SIG's intention to employ UWB in their next-generation products is a very positive step in allowing consumers to connect seamlessly between PCs, phones and consumer electronics equipment,” said Stephen Wood, UWB technology strategist, Intel.

With this collaborative approach, it will be possible to maintain existing Bluetooth core values like low power, low cost and unique ad hoc connectivity while enabling future usage scenarios requiring higher data throughput. Such an example would be streaming high quality video between portable devices. As digital content size increases, the bit rate required to move data from device to device increases. As such, a classic Bluetooth usage scenario today of exchanging a file is more likely to require UWB speeds in the future.

“The collaboration of both groups is a natural and necessary evolution of the market,” said Celeste Crystal, senior research analyst, semiconductors, at IDC. “As consumers continue to increase the use of portable and digital media devices, the need for standardized, higher performance, low power connectivity solutions becomes integral. Leveraging Bluetooth technology’s established brand and traction in the consumer space with the higher data rate, lower power UWB technology should enable a faster time to market for next generation devices, and compliment the growing demand for connectivity."

“UWB is a compelling technology for mobile and high-speed wireless designers, but it doesn’t yet have the infrastructure required to truly impact the industry,” said Martin Rofheart, director of the Ultra-Wideband Operation at Freescale. “We deeply value the expertise of the Bluetooth SIG and its learning in profile and applications for personal area networks. By marrying DS-UWB and Bluetooth through an industry-developed protocol adaptation layer, we will dramatically enhance existing applications and profiles and enable new wireless user experiences.”

Before bringing products to the global market, some fundamental issues of UWB need to be resolved like interference issues for wireless LAN, WiMAX and new cellular bands, in addition to the lack of a worldwide spectrum allocation for UWB.

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