UWB QRM ?

[Andre Kesteloot]

Study Launched Into True Effects of UWB

(13/05/2004, BWCS Staff)


Controversial plans to license ultra-wideband services in the future took
a step closer yesterday with the launch of a major investigation into the
safety of the technology. The US National Telecommunications and
Information Administration will report on the effects of UWB emissions.
The study will also investigate the potential of various UWB waveforms to
interfere with existing technologies.

Ultra wideband radio, also known as digital pulse wireless is a wireless
technology which enables the transmission of large amounts of data via a
wide spectrum of frequency using very low power. The standard is based on
patents filed more than 20 years ago. However, as it uses a massive range
of frequencies between 1MHz and 3GHz, rather than a dedicated frequency
band, it has not yet been ratified for many possible commercial services.

Commercialization of the technology has been hindered by fears that it
will interfere with existing frequency-specific services, a claim that is
refuted by UWB supporters. The Federal Aviation Authority for one is known
to be concerned over possible interference with aviation channels.

The NTIA investigation will consist of four phases: UWB signal generation,
including white Gaussian noise,  gated white Gaussian noise, dithered
narrow pulses, DS-UWB, and MB-OFDM;  development of measurement methods to
characterize UWB emissions and  assess receiver susceptibility; and actual
measurement of UWB emissions  characteristics and interference
susceptibility of both digital and  analogue C-band downlink receivers.
Freescale Semi-conductor, a subsidiary of Motorola is also backing the
study.