The WiMedia Alliance announced plans to start interoperability testing later this month. The testing may lead to fully-certified devices that use the alliance’s UWB technology in the second half of the year, the group said.
It’s the latest skirmish in the continuing battle between incompatible and competing UWB standards. Motorola and Freescale may come to market first. Motorola could use their UWB standard in cellphones and settop boxes, for example. That could be problematic for consumers when trying to connect “the other” UWB standard (WiMedia).
Neither side has the IEEE’s blessing. WiMedia is using a strategy right out of Motorola’s playbook, stacking the deck and trying to get a private (political) concensus and a unitied front for IEEE ratification. XtremeSpectrum joined Freescale in 2003 and got the FCC to certify their XS110 Ultra-Wideband Solution last year. Their solution skips the 5 Ghz band and claims to produce less interference.
Belkin’s wireless USB device includes a dongle and a four port hub that claims to achieve wireless connectivity instantly for any USB device. Gefen Wireless USB Extender uses small sender and receiver units connected to the computer to extend the range of USB. It is expected to cost between $400 and $500.
Belkin’s products are described as “Cable-Free USB“, because the USB Implementers’ Forum has given its blessing to the Intel-backed WiMedia specification as the “official” future for USB without cables.
The WiMedia Alliance is designed to operate with application stacks developed by the 1394 Trade Association Wireless Working Group, the Certified Wireless USB Promoter Group and the Bluetooth-SIG. WiMedia’s board members include Alereon, HP, Intel, Kodak, Microsoft, Nokia, Philips, Samsung Electronics, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Staccato Communications, Texas Instruments and Wisair.
Both UWB and 802.11n are on separate development paths but, in the end, could be addressing the same design requirements, thus raising the question of whether they are competitors or compliments.
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[...] Related DailyWireless articles on UWB include; Cable-Free Vrs Wireless USB, Bluetooth Adopts UWB, 802.11n: Yea, UWB: Nea, and UWB Plugfest. [...]
Left by dailywireless.org » UltraWideband: All Together Now? on November 29th, 2006