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BLUETOOTH ROADMAP INCLUDES UWB |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Friday, 06 May 2005 |
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The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has announced it plans to work with the Ultra-wideband developers to hammer out a long term roadmap that could see the future of the Bluetooth standard based on UWB.
See the thing is Bluetooth is likely to have a limited lifespan unless it works out a way to significantly increase its bandwidth capabilities, UWB on the other hand has bandwidth but lacks the maturity and market clout that Bluetooth has.
While details are still being worked out, the goal is to work towards an architecture that allows devices to take advantage of UWB data rates for scenarios that require high speed. Bluetooth will still be important to maintain backward compatibly with existing devices on the market and future products not requiring the higher data rate.
Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG said the joint development idea is seen as the fastest, most economical way for both technologies to meet the future demands.
The SIG says the collaborative approach will allow it to maintain its emphasis on low power, low cost and ad hoc connectivity, while enabling future usage scenarios requiring higher data throughput. Before bringing products to the global market some fundamental issues of UWB need to be resolved like interference issues for Wireless LAN, WiMax and new Cellular bands, in addition to the lack of a worldwide spectrum allocation for UWB.
"The collaboration of both groups is a natural and necessary evolution of the market," said Celeste Crystal, senior research analyst, semiconductors, at IDC. "As consumers continue to increase the use of portable and digital media devices, the need for standardized, higher performance, low power connectivity solutions becomes integral. Leveraging Bluetooth technology's established brand and traction in the consumer space with the higher data rate, lower power UWB technology should enable a faster time to market for next generation devices, and compliment the growing demand for connectivity."
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