“Ultrawideband (UWB) will not only co-exist with rival Personal Area Network standard Bluetooth but many ultimately form the basis for its future, members of newly formed UWB industry bodies suggested today. In the same way, UWB will also form the basis for wireless versions of stand device interconnectivity technologies such as USB and 1394.” Read the report from IDF at TheRegister.
UWB Group Dumps IEEE to Speed Wireless USB, 1394
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“FireWireless”
Awesome name.
USB has specific standards that define what USB devices are, including electical wiring specifications. The same is true of Firewire and IEEE 1394. If the device doesn’t meet these standards defined by the USB standards corporation or IEEE then it’s NOT USB or 1394. It’s that simple. Unless those 2 entities decide on a wireless standard and put their stamp of approval on it, they will not be USB, 1394. Apple would have to approve any application of the “Firewire” trademark, including derivatives like “Firewireless”.
This smacks of yet another proprietary “open” standard like RAMBUS, which is “open” but cannot be used unless you pay royalties to Rambus corporation. THe only reason that was made a “standard” is from legal trickery and bribery to the memory standards oversight committees. This smells of the same sidestepping.
(so color me cynic)
As a more relevant side note, there are already open wireless standards on the books that would do just as well rather than yet again reinventing the wheel, and probably getting it wrong yet again.
Yah… Why not fireless?
One thing that troubles me is SECURITY. I’ve just got my AirPort two months ago, and it was “hacked” next week, I guess by some neighbour. Then I put a password – but still the time between setting a password and connecting to the device is critical – someone may connect to it before you and hack it again (Good news is that he does not have hardware control to the RESET button).
Now the same could happen with my (future) DV CAMERA???
Anyway… That’s a good news for the PAPPARAZZI…
Apples and Oranges.
UWB is more like 802.11 than universal serial. Its bandwidth might be similar to 1394 or USB, but I don’t understand why they would compare it with Bluetooth.
What I find more interesting is how the technology can be used by law enforcement to get accurate 3D scans through walls. Privacy be damned.
these might be the best solutions for short range wireless.
why? range, directivity and capacity.
There is a lot spectrum available up there (and its unlicensed). Those bands are in the oxygen absorption band (at least 60 GHz not sure about the others) but none has much range (compared to 2.4 GHz) and they are narrow beams (limited dispersion).
in english this means high capacity (like 1-10 Gbps) short range that is difficult to hack because the signal fades quickly (limited signal strenght is a tough beast to defeat)and does not disperse everwhere.
but…..making equipment for those bands costs a FORTUNE, for now that is.
There is a lot spectrum available up there (and its unlicensed). Those bands are in the oxygen absorption band (at least 60 GHz not sure about the others) but none has much range (compared to 2.4 GHz) and they are narrow beams (limited dispersion).
You can actually still achieve considerable distances in some of the high gigahertz bands. I’ve seen hams with equipment that operates on the 1 centimeter (30GHz) band over a distance of several miles, albeit the signal is limited to line-of-sight.
but…..making equipment for those bands costs a FORTUNE, for now that is.
Solid state equipment, anyway. Creating vacuum tubes that operate on these frequencies (i.e. magnetrons) is still relatively inexpensive.