Abstract
The report researches the UWB technology and market landscape by examining the
current state of the technology, standards, market and the industry. The study
looks to provide a deeper understanding to wide audience UWB specifics,
advantages and limitations. It also looks further, until 2010-2011, with
market forecast and technology progress.
UWB technology includes not only low-power wireless networks linking phones,
computers, and televisions without the need for hard-wiring, but, potentially,
also cell phones that could help determine a user's location for a 911
emergency operator. With UWB, radio signals can penetrate nearby surfaces
while reflecting off surfaces that are farther away. This capability allows
radar-type applications to detect objects, such as people or weapons, behind
walls or under surfaces, such as a collapsed building. UWB technology also can
precisely measure distance and movement to within few inches.
Precision localization systems, based on UWB, locate a person or vehicle by
attaching locator beacons that send out signals to receivers so that a precise
location can be determined. Beacons could be inserted into pagers, cellular
phones, or a vehicle.
This technology could aid emergency responders in locating victims, team
members, and medical supply trucks, for example. Unlike GPS, such a
localization system could operate indoors, underground, in foliage, in noisy
environments, and through bad weather.
Utilizing time-modulated digital pulses, UWB allows the use of very
low-powered and relatively inexpensive equipment to broadcast signals at very
high rates over a large part of the spectrum. This technology enables the use
of public safety devices and wireless communications in areas that suffer from
severe multipath and/or high levels of industrial noise and interference. UWB
could conceivably be used to provide high-speed Internet access similar to
today's wireless modems.
This technology could radically change how national security and emergency
preparedness personnel operate in search and rescue efforts and other crisis
events.
In particular, this report goal was to addresses the following UWB aspects:
- UWB products market characteristics, their specifics, and market
segmentation
- Technology standards and associated issues
- Market barriers
- Applications, with emphasis on Homeland Security and first responders
application
- Current implementation
- Market players and their products.
The major obstacles for UWB wide acceptance are:
- Regulatory issues. Only in 2002, FCC opened spectrum for the commercial
use of UWB devices, but imposed many restrictions. The industry is still
dealing with a situation when each new type of the UWB devices needs special
approval to be manufactured. The similar or worse situation observed outside
of the U.S.
- Competing standards. The standard bodies are unable to reach consensus for
UWB. Two major groups of vendors manufacture UWB chipsets based on their
developed specifications.
- Some technical issues that are in a process of resolution.
It looks like opponents of UWB are gradually losing their positions. Their
major argument that UWB transmission may create interference and degrade the
performance of the incumbent technologies (such as, for example, GPS) is being
thoroughly investigated by the regulatory bodies, and so far, in the majority
cases, was not sustained. This, together with utilization numerous UWB
benefits, opens bright perspective for UWB.
We described in this report a number of current UWB applications, and stressed
the importance of utilization of this technology in homeland security
applications. This technology is, so far, the only one that allows to:
- Combine effective radar with short-range communications
- Support high-speed wireless transmission (in Gb/s)
- Support unprecedented long transmission time without changes of batteries
- Support transmission where other technologies failed, i.e., in the
multipath conditions.
In the marketing part of this report, we provided our estimates of the market
for UWB circuitry. Currently, this market is just at the beginning of its
dynamic evolving, but a number of companies are already being involved in the
manufacturing process. The majority of them produce chipsets that can be used
in RFID, security devices, radars and communications.
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