Best of both worlds

WiMedia Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology is set to deliver high speed wireless data links between multimedia intensive devices. The technology promises data transfer rates of up for 480Mbit/s, bringing together a variety of mobile applications. However, UWB isn’t without its faults and, without being a mature technology like WiFi and Bluetooth, is still being developed. Certain aspects of UWB make it unsuitable for use as a pervasive technology for the portable device market. The lack of signalling technology, trusted security, robust pairing and power efficiency issues put UWB at risk of being left behind as a niche technology, unsuitable for battery powered portable devices. Bluetooth, on the other hand, is proven and efficient, with the attributes to take UWB into the mass market. It is with this in mind that the Bluetooth SIG announced that the WiMedia UWB would be supported by a future incarnation of the Bluetooth specification.