Ultrawideband technology is effectively dead in consumer and computer markets, according to a new report that says Wi-Fi will take a majority of the market for handling high-definition video over wireless links while Wi-Fi variants and 60-GHz options grab a slice of the pie.
“By 2013, the only UWB solutions still on the market will be proprietary solutions in the industrial/medical segment. All other UWB will be gone by the end of the forecast period” in 2013, predicted Brian O’Rourke, principal analyst covering the sector for market watcher In-Stat.
Three other technologies are competing in this space:
- Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI): Uses the 5 GHz unlicensed band for uncompressed 1080p in a 40 MHz channel .
- WirelessHD: Uses 60GHz and allows for uncompressed, digital transmission of full HD video and audio and data signals.
- Ultrawideband: Uses a large bandwidth (3.1 to 10.6 GHz) at very low power, limiting speeds in excess of 675 Mbit/s.
However, the ubiquity of Wi-Fi technology is proving unstoppable, concludes the report. While 802.11n has the advantage of being a Wi-Fi technology, with a large installed base, it has limited bandwidth (about 600 Mbps), necessitating the use of expensive codec technologies to transmit HD.
