The standards deadlock over ultra-wideband technology between the Multiband OFDM Alliance and the Direct Sequence UWB Forum continued at the IEEE conference last week. This time, however, it had an unexpected twist.
In a vote tally often won by MBOA, the DS-UWB Forum won what is described as a down select vote, albeit by one vote. In a 74-73 vote, the Motorola Inc.-led DS-UWB Forum edged out MBOA amid complaints that most members of the losing alliance did not attend, and allegations that Motorola paid consultants to attend the meeting to pad its voting numbers. Motorola vehemently denied those charges.
But the deadlock remains because the Motorola-led group did not muster the 75-percent required for the confirmation vote. Indeed, the confirmation vote tilted against the DS-UWB forum in a 52-48 tally.
“The vote shows that we are not keeping the industry at bay, rather that the momentum has shifted to our side,” said Martin Rofheart, director of UWB operations at Freescale, a Motorola spinoff. The next meeting is set to take place in September in Berlin.
“It’s no big deal,” remarked Jeff Ross, executive vice president of Alereon Inc., which belongs to the MBOA side of the aisle. He explained that Motorola’s victory did not amount to any momentum for the direct-sequence standard, adding many MBOA members did not attend.
“Unequivocally no,” commented Rofheart, on the allegation of paying consultants to vote. “We do not pay for votes nor would we form a company to then vote for DS-UWB. He said it was “disappointing to hear that some members of the MBOA would go to such lengths to justify this week’s vote for DS-UWB.”
Rofheart said the reason DS-UWB won over MBOA was emerging clarity over 802.11n, which competes against multiband OFDM. He said voters recognized that MB-OFDM does not enjoy a significant advantage over 802.11n.
“We believe that 802.11n will co-exist with DS-UWB as they serve different application segments and continue to believe that 802.11 is a solid technology that will remain very successful,” said Rofheart.
“It’s a good wake-up call because we needed something to reinvigorate us,” said Mark Bowles, vice president of marketing and business development at Staccato Communications, which belongs to MBOA. He is also the chair of the MBOA marketing committee. He said the reason DS-UWB won was because some MBOA members were on vacation and others were in another IEEE meeting that coincided with the voting session.
Bowles said the practice of paying consultants is not unusual, explaining that it reflected the way IEEE does business, relying on peers, and not companies, to decide standards.
Companies on both sides of the standards issue have decided to go to market with their products, thereby complicating the standards process.
But the intriguing issue is the ability of Motorola to hold a long list of industry heavyweights ransom. While Motorola supports its version of the standard with acquired company XtremeSpectrum, it enjoys support from up to 54 companies within the UWB Forum, most of them its customers. Meanwhile, the MBOA has 165 member companies, including most of the major consumer electronics players, all the major mobile players and semiconductor firms.
Freescale said it is the only company shipping working UWB silicon, adding it does not have any regulatory or patent issues and it enjoys a two-year time-to-market advantage. Freescale said it wants industry to support two standards and allow the market to decide which one wins.
Freescale’s Rofheart explained that his company has an advantage for handheld and mobile applications.
Bowles noted the IEEE process does not determine the fortune of a technology, adding it is “one part of an industry ecosystem to get a product to the market.” Products will have to go through an interoperability phase, which will match the standards with the products of companies. This will also involve certification, compliance testing, software applications stacks and how they are received by the broad customer base, Bowles added.
Given the stature and number of companies in the MBOA, the DS-UWB will not win the war, Bowles contended.
Up to 1.5 billion USB ports have been shipped since 1996, 400 million last year and 600 million this year, according to Bowles. By 2007, about 3.5 billion will be shipped, he commented.
“It’s a large installed base,” he added. RCR
