OYSTER BAY, N.Y.—ABI Research reports that despite stalled efforts to standardize ultra-wideband technology, shipments of UWB gear likely will increase to 300 million units by 2011.
According to ABI’s principal analyst Stuart Carlaw, some observers have pointed to the lack of standardization as a major barrier to growth in the UWB market. “The collapse of the UWB standards process was widely seen as a major faux pas,” he notes, “but those inside the industry viewed it as the shackles being removed.”
Similarly, Carlaw points out that while many in the industry have called 802.11n, the IEEE standard for higher throughput Wi-Fi technology, as “the UWB-killer,” the reality is that they are complementary.
“It is clear that UWB and 802.11n will co-exist and be powerful allies for each other,” Carlaw stated.
However, Carlaw points to global spectrum and regulatory approval, along with the need to drive down cost, power consumption and silicon package sizes as legitimate factors threatening UWB’s success.
The need to find global regulatory approval and common frequency allocations is the key to UWB’s success, according to ABI. The firm suggests that that the band between 7 GHz and 8.5 GHz will be common across all regions as the European Communications Commission recently announced support for the 6 GHz to 8.5 GHz band, while Japan looks set to ratify the 7 GHz to 10 GHz band.
In addition, ABI said that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s support for the WiMedia Alliance will further assist the drive for global regulatory approval, since the Bluetooth SIG has had previous success in gaining regulatory approval for its 2.4 GHz solutions.
