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UWB Wireless Access Could Be Here Soon
fluppy88 writes: "802.11b doesn't have anything on UWB. With a potential of 1000M bits/sec it blows the pants out of 802.11b and doesn't eat up the tightly controlled spectrum. This article on CNN gives an interesting introduction to UWB, another candidate in the future of wireless." It was mentioned here a while ago, but much more mired in controversy about whose idea it was. Now there are several companies which seem anxious to get products based on UWB to market -- if it's approved.
I agree - price is everything!! Someone like UWB could come in and obsolete the entire 802.11 market by making a PCMCIA USB card that retails for $30. Its the price that is currently killing bluetooth. If there were a bluetooth-on-a-chip system today for $10 each and palmV sleds or CF cards for $40/each, everyone would suddenly be enjoying their bluetooth powered PDAs.
Let me get this straight. You "don't mind raising the noise floor for something like this," when it would be affecting GPS, public safety nets, air traffic, marine navigation and communications?
Don't jump to conclusions, you may hurt yourself.
What I was wanting to say (and I am thankful for the number of technical responses) was that I am in favour of UWB for short-range communications. I do not like the idea of spewing out tens of watts (or even watts) of noise. I was thinking more along the lines of replacing the sub-watt communications systems used today for things like cordless phones, wireless mics, R/C cars, wireless keyboards/mice, 802.11[ab] and Bluetooth. I'm very much in favour of freeing up chunks of the spectrum and instead allocating them to better causes or for rather to communications links which can better exist in that spectrum. Yes UWB will raise the noise floor but again, in the miliwatt range and below I think this would be acceptable, but I have not done the studies to verify it.
As far as UWB being used for high speed long range links, I would imagine that the pilot of the Cessna would not be flying across the well-documented and regulated link, and that such a link would use super-directional antennas to avoid the amount of splatter.