Bluetooth ultra wideband discussion

It is not really a new thing for many that Bluetooth is interested in taking advantage of the new ultra wideband technology in order to create faster networks which are also compatible with the existing Bluetooth products. SIG, or the Special Interest Group of Bluetooth has been working with the UWB Forum and the WiMedia Alliance since quite some time, who are promoting two different ultra wide band technologies.

Ultra wide band has been designed to deliver greater bandwidth in comparison to Wi Fi but over the distance of a few meters. The promoters have envisioned the opportunity as an interconnection for the appliances in the consumer electronics market like home entertainment devices which support streaming video.

Bluetooth does not deliver more than a couple of megabits every second over a range of typically ten meters which is deployed on headsets and cell phones to a less degree. Using ultra wideband will speed up Bluetooth applications for the future products like the cell phones which can capture very large videos and store large amount of music. It can also be used for transferring megabits of files from a computer to a phone and other such uses.

Using Bluetooth ultra wideband

Among various profiles of Bluetooth, streaming video would soon be one which would be a possibility with Bluetooth 3 which is based on the ultra wideband technology which is a high speed, short range network technology. However, Bluetooth 3 is not the only one which has been planning to take the advantage of ultra wideband technology. Another version of wireless USB will also soon be available which will also be based on the ultra wide band technology. There is still a possibility of intense competition though there is still a chance that both could co-exist.

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Bluetooth is quite strong in many scenarios where the device transfers the data quickly but is not really fast. On the other hand, USB currently is used in situations where wireless is needed. There are quite a lot of USB devices which are stationary and heavy like printers and so wireless connections are not really necessary. On the other hand, Mp3 players are charged over the USB so they still require a wire for utilizing power. So it is not quite possible that USB with ultra wideband would overtake the new Bluetooth.

The high speed Bluetooth has a big advantage and that is- entering the market which is already mostly wireless. Bluetooth with high speed will definitely take some time to sell huge volumes but it can also over take new areas and markets like the wireless projectors which is still not Wi-Fi friendly. The possibilities are endless and if used correctly. Bluetooth ultra wideband can be the perfect combination of technologies and can be applied to a whole new range of applications and devices in the market.