About UWB Design for Next-Generation Handset-Centric Applications – Site 1
July 4th, 2007
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By Mark Bowles (Founder & Vice President of Business
Development & Marketing at Staccato Communications)
In today’s highly competitive and evolving market for wireless communications services, mobile operators are facing a constantly shifting mix of opportunities and challenges. On one hand, the ubiquity of mobile phone handsets and on-going consolidation of wireless networks have created a powerful asset that mobile operators need to leverage to maximum advantage. On the other hand, the
challenges of subscriber churn, the commoditization of voice services, and
competition from less regulated mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) mean that mobile operators must proactively offer new enhanced services to improve subscriber loyalty and to maximize average revenue per user (ARPU).
According to a recent report by Research and Markets, “In 2007 the development of mobile technologies and the rapid increase in the number of content providers will provide enormous potential for the profitability of Europe’s mobile operators, which have suffered from falling ARPU in recent years as a result of competition from MVNOs and regulatory pressure on roaming and interconnection tariffs. Operators nevertheless face a number of challenges – while gaming, video and music portals are concepts which have been transferred into the mobile arena, and subscribers have become more aware of the capabilities of 3G and other services, they are also wary of the high costs of data transfer. The most successful data service remains SMS, while only about 14% of subscribers use MMS/picture messaging, and only 10% of mobile users across Europe who have access to mobile Internet make use of it.”
One of the pronounced differences between mobile use in the U.S. and Europe is that Europe has a significantly more developed mobile phone culture. Although attitudes vary from person to person, most people in Europe expect the mobile to play a prominent role in the structure of society and they look to mobile applications as a source of new innovations for fostering community interaction. European mobile operators have helped to engender this difference through a typically more aggressive rollout of enhanced services than wireless carriers in the U.S. However, as the above statistics illustrate, savvy users in European markets demand high value from mobile service offerings.
A key element for realizing the full potential for next-generation handsets will be the integration of short-range, high speed wireless capabilities that can seamlessly connect with a variety of existing and emerging communications methods. This is where ultra wideband (UWB) wireless comes into play, providing standards-based, high-bandwidth, multi-protocol capabilities, with the flexibility for auto-discovery and connection with a variety of peer-to-peer and/or local server-based networks.
Overview of UWB Technology
Ultra-wideband wireless has its roots in work that began in the 1960s and was generally referred to as impulse radio, baseband or carrier-free communications, with most efforts through the 1980s focused on U.S. Department of Defense applications, such as ground penetrating radar. As the technology’s potential advantages for public communications in public safety, enterprise and consumer applications became more apparent, the FCC allocated unlicensed radio frequency spectrum for ultra-wideband use. Using unlicensed spectrum in the 3.1 to 10.6 GHz range, UWB has the ability to deliver very high bandwidths (up to 480 Mbps) over short distances (3-10 meters), with excellent power efficiency and low-noise characteristics.
Ultra-wideband technology from the WiMedia Alliance industry consortium has already been adopted by both the Bluetooth SIG for Bluetooth and the USB Implementer’s Forum for Certified Wireless USB. This offers a globally recognized, industry-wide standard that can be leveraged by mobile operators and handset manufacturers to embed short-range, high-performance wireless capabilities.
Because UWB wireless provides a standard physical layer (PHY) and Media Access (MAC) layer across various protocols, including Bluetooth, Certified Wireless USB and WiNET IP, handset manufacturers can cost-effectively pack multi-protocol functionality into a single device, while holding down overall complexity and costs.
In effect, UWB allows every handset owner to activate a “10 meter bubble” of flexible, auto-discovery wireless that moves with them anywhere they go, ready to connect with applications in their immediate proximity, based upon their user-defined security and auto-connect settings. Depending on the settings, users can be automatically alerted whenever they come into proximity of enhanced services or other users with coinciding settings. Based on the mobile operators’ or service providers’ specific revenue and service models, the underlying UWB technology can be used along with multiple protocols to either connect users-to-users or users-to-services.
By routinely including UWB based wireless capabilities in their next-generation handsets mobile operators can offer Bluetooth 3.0, Certified Wireless USB, and IP-based LAN connectivity, all from a single low-cost, low-power embedded UWB function. This allows the handset to “talk” with virtually any local devices that come with the 10 meter proximity envelope.
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Entry Filed under: UWB Articles
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