From industrial IoT to connected transportation and smart home devices, knowing the location of a device is key to effective communication and tracking. While Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can provide those functions, a newer technology opens up new possibilities for the future of connected systems.
Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a low-power, short-range and high-bandwidth wireless communication protocol. Originally known as pulse radio, and first used for military radar and medical imaging applications, UWB is now primarily utilized for device-to-device communication and real-time location systems (RTLS) in indoor commercial applications.
UWB offers robust spatial awareness and location tracking between UWB-enabled devices. It can gather and communicate large amounts of data thanks to its high-bandwidth capabilities, operating at greater 500 MHz. This bandwidth, combined with its low power level (0.5 mW / -41.3 dBm/MHz) means that UWB can effectively transmit information without interference from other conventional narrowband or carrier wave transmissions which may be operating in the same frequency band.
A New Protocol with New Benefits
Ultra-wideband offers a series of benefits that make a more ideal option for precise indoor location discovery and device ranging than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. UWB operates by continuously scanning a room for UWB-enabled devices. Once a device is identified, its location data is captured and the distance between devices is calculated to within 10 to 30 cm of accuracy.
While UWB lacks Wi-Fi’s ability to penetrate walls or other physical structures, it is superior to both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as it is more precise, operates at a lower power level and provides higher security than those protocols.
Emerging Applications for UWB
Apple was the first to introduce UWB capabilities to the smartphone industry with the launch of their UWB-enabled iPhone 11 in September 2019. The use of ultra-wideband has allowed for more precise and secure data transfers using their AirDrop communications feature.
Apple also patented the use of UWB with their iBeacon technology to support more precise spatial awareness when monitoring the presence of UWB-enabled devices, including smartphones and smartwatches that rely on beacon sensors for functionality.
Beacons are most commonly used in retail locations, airports and manufacturing facilities to track the location or proximity of devices, delivering any of a number of actionable insights: potential consumer product interest; tailored consumer mapping and navigation; intrafacility asset tracking; and tailored procedures for picking, placement or other activities within a distribution center or production line.
A Growing Ecosystem
The FiRa (fine ranging) Consortium – which consists of major corporate players including Sony, Samsung, Bosch, NXP, Decawave (Qorvo) and others – are focused on growing a new ecosystem of interoperable UWB technologies.
At present, the FiRa Consortium is focused on smart home, smart city, smart retail and smart building/industrial applications: hands-free access control, location-based services and device-to-device applications.
With this level of interest and investment, along with the promise of IoT and connected systems, you can expect the number of UWB-enabled devices and applications to continue to grow. Along with the growth of UWB technology will come new opportunities – and demands – for sensors in industrial systems, smart home devices and more.
References
A version of this article originally appeared on the Symmetry Electronics blog.
