Ultrawideband Beginning to Take Off

The market for Ultrawideband (UWB) silicon is finally beginning to take off in 2007, reports In-Stat. Though regulatory hurdles over UWB still persist worldwide, the first UWB-enabled notebook PCs have shipped this year from Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba, the high-tech market research firm says.

"The primary question for UWB now is: Will other product segments follow where PCs lead?" says Brian OĆ'Rourke, In-Stat analyst. "UWB is a very flexible technology in that it supports multiple standards, including WUSB, Bluetooth 3.0, IP over UWB, and Video over UWB. This should enable the technology to gain design wins in a wide range of product segments, including PC peripherals, Consumer Electronics (CE), and mobile phones."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• UWB-enabled notebook PCs hit the market in mid-2007. PC peripherals will follow in 2008.
• CE and communications applications with UWB won't hit the market in volume until 2010.
• In 2011, over 400 million UWB-enabled devices will ship.

Posted to the site on 12th December 2007