Ultra wideband is a unique type of wireless technology that uses an inconstant pulse transmission on a very wide bandwidth base to send a large amount of data over relatively small distances. UWB was originally developed for military communications and radar, but has since been declassified and become a developing consumer electronics technology.

Specifically, ultra wideband is defined as pulsed communications that use a broadcast bandwidth of over 500 MHz, or 20% of the center frequency, and operates between 3.1 and 10.6 GHz at limited transmit powers. For the most part, imaging and radar implementations of UWB transmit between 1 and 100 megapulses per second, while communications systems have between 1 and 2 gigapulses per second.

Advantages of Ultra Wideband

One of the primary advantages of ultra wideband communications is that it doesn't interfere with normal radio frequency electronics on standard narrow bands. UWB transmits in pulses that are very short in duration, measured in nanoseconds or even picoseconds, which other devices filter out as standard background noise.

Another big advantage of UWB is that it can transmit a lot of data at a very low power cost. Ultra wideband implementations can communicate at a rate of several megabits per second up to a gigabit per second, with promises of even faster rates as technology improves. This translates to enormous power savings for portable devices that use the technology.

Although ultra wideband can communicate at distances of up to 200 feet or more, transfer speeds become more limited the further apart the communicating devices are. So, for optimal transmissions the devices should be within a few feet to 20 or 30 feet.

Example Uses for UWB

With all of these limitations, what are some good uses for ultra wideband technology? There are many applications for which UWB could be considered an ideal solution.

Personal computers and their peripherals usually result in a tangled mess of USB, parallel, and other proprietary cabling connecting printers, fax machines, digital cameras, scanners, and portable audio players. UWB is an ideal technology to replace those wires, without interfering with your local wireless network.

Cellular phones, laptop and handheld computers, and entertainment-related devices such as camcorders, video projectors, home theater electronics and video games could also benefit from such technology.