wimedia alliance

Texas Instruments drops out of WiMedia Alliance

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:53 -0400

Texas Instruments has dropped out of the WiMedia Alliance, the group pushing ultra-wideband, and is throwing its support behind the 802.11n fast WiFi standard. The move follows the Bluetooth SIG's decision to link Bluetooth with WiFi to make it easier for users to transfer images and large data files such as music and video. UWB was supposed to fill that roll by now but isn't ready.

TI says it believes 802.11n gives the company the right technology to use until UWB matures enough to put in a handset.

To find out more about TI's 802.11n Bluetooth plans:
- check out this article from Techworld

Staccato claims Bluetooth/WiFi causes interference

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:59:54 -0400

Staccato Communications, a WiMedia Alliance company, claims that using WiFi to boost the data transfer speed for Bluetooth will cause interference to nearby WiMAX and cellular devices.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced last month it was linking Bluetooth with WiFi to make it easier for users to transfer images and large data files such as music and video. WiMedia's ultrawideband technology was originally chosen by the Bluetooth SIG as the technology for high-speed Bluetooth, but the lack of cellular devices with UWB prompted the Bluetooth SIG to move ahead with WiFi.

In an article published by WirelessNetDesignline, Roberto Aiello and Siddharth Shetty from Stoccato said that if 802.11 radios are used to provide higher data rates within the Bluetooth standard, they will interfere with 3G devices unless the devices are located about 8 meters apart for 2.6 GHz and 16 meters apart at 2.3 GHz. The authors offered both a rationale and laboratory results to support their claim.

Fore more about the interference claim:
- read this article from EE Times

Related articles:
Bluetooth SIG harnesses WiFi for high-speed transfer Report
Bluetooth SIG embraces WiFi for transport Report
Bluetooth over UWB delayed Report

First UWB devices certified

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:59:54 -0400

The WiMedia Alliance, the group behind the ultrawideband high speed wireless technology, has certified the first chipsets for UWB. UWB will bring about wireless USB and next-gen Bluetooth. UWB is designed to deliver 480 Mbps over a few meters, making short range data transfer quicker. Not only is UWB faster, but proponents say it will help conserve battery life. The group certified chipsets from 12 vendors, including Intel, Alereon and Staccato.

For more on the new chipsets and UWB:
- read this article from PC World

Related articles:
UWB shows signs of life
UWB to pass WiFi

Intel shows wireless UWB link MAC silicon

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:01:33 -0400

When you cannot point to big victories, then small ones will have to do, at least for now. This is the case with UWB technology: In February 2004 the FCC approved its use, with some limitations, in commercial applications, but in the nearly three years since then, UWB has been more conspicuous for what it has failed to deliver relative to its early promise--rather than for what it has delivered. Yes, at every consumer electronics show we are invited to impressive demonstrations of, say, an UWB-enabled HDTV and feats of sheer speed and resolution, but the total, so far, is less than the sum of the parts.

This is why we note the release by Intel of its Wireless UWB Link 1480 MAC silicon and reference design, aiming to enable UWB-based solutions. It is hoped that these solutions--compliant with the Certified Wireless Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification from the USB Implementers Forum and the WiMedia Network specification from the WiMedia Alliance--will allow OEMs to embed UWB in the gear they manufacture, ushering in the era of UWB-based WLAN at home and at the office. Intel made a point of integrating its UWB host MAC with several third-party UWB PHY ports, thus allowing customers to choose different radio solutions.

For more on Intel's UWB 1480:
- see company's Web site

For more general background:
- see this page on Intel's Web site

WiMedia, Ecma to push UWB standardization

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 20:01:39 -0400

Some stories have a happy ending. Such is the case with the 802.11n standard skirmishes which ended two weeks ago when the two competing coalitions ceased fire and began to work on reconciling their differences. Other stories end less happily, with an all-out war and real winners and losers. Such was the case in the late 1970s when home videocassette players hit the market. A war erupted between VHS and Sony's Betamax system. Beta had many advantages over VHS, but by the 1980s it had lost the war, and customers who had gambled on it had to switch to VHS, which became the standard.

The UWB situation is coming to resemble the Beta-VHS situation. The latest move was taken by the WiMedia Alliance. Earlier this week it announced that it was working with Ecma International to establish the WiMedia MB-OFDM UWB platform as the global UWB standard. Ecma, established in 1961, is a non-profit industry association of technology developers, vendors, and users. It is known for its development of DVD interchange standards, scripting languages, and other standards in information, communications technology, and consumer electronics.

WiMedia hopes that its work with Ecma will make it possible to complete the process of establishing a recognized international standard by the end of this year, which will correspond to WiMedia standard-based UWB product launches.

For more on the state of UWB standard war:
- see the WiMedia Alliance's website
- check out Ecma International's website
- read this press release

BACKGROUND: UWB sends a very low-power signal over a large portion of bandwidth. The weakness of the signal and the fact that it is sent in a brief pulse means that equipment operating in the spectrum for which the FCC has licensed UWB -- a 7.5 GHz band from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz -- is unable even to notice the UWB signal.

There are two competing UWB coalitions. One is led by Motorola-spin-off Freescale Semiconductor. Freescale's technology uses the full 7.5 GHz in one long stretch but with a filter that excludes the unlicensed 5 GHz band used by 802.11a. Freescale already has production chips and reference designs, but no products shipping yet. Chinese consumer electronic giant Haier will soon bring out a Freescale-based UWB HDTV.

The competing group is the WiMedia Alliance, which counts Intel, Kodak, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, and many other leading companies among its members. A few months ago, the WiMedia Alliance merged with the Multiband OFDM Alliance (MBOA). It was a helpful merger as MBOA was formed to work on the PHY while WiMedia was established to work on the MAC layer. WiMedia divides UWB into several smaller bands, allowing some bands to be turned off (for example, a range in the 5 GHz to allow for 802.11a, or other swaths of spectrum to comply with regulations in other countries). OFDM is used within each band.

For an through analysis of the state of UWB:
- see Glenn Fleishman's MobilePipeline discussion

ALSO: UWB solutions developer Wisair said its UWB chipset development system had received FCC certification approval. This makes Wisair the first MBOA-based WiMedia Alliance member to receive FCC certification. Report