Ultra Wideband Technologies and Their Contribution to Homeland Security Technology-Market Assessment and Prospective

SUMMARY

The report researches the UWB technology and market landscape by examining the current state of the technology, standards, market and the industry. The study looks to provide a deeper understanding to wide audience UWB specifics, advantages and limitations. It also looks further, until 2010-2011, with market forecast and technology progress.

UWB technology includes not only low-power wireless networks linking phones, computers, and televisions without the need for hard-wiring, but, potentially, also cell phones that could help determine a user's location for a 911 emergency operator. With UWB, radio signals can penetrate nearby surfaces while reflecting off surfaces that are farther away. This capability allows radar-type applications to detect objects, such as people or weapons, behind walls or under surfaces, such as a collapsed building. UWB technology also can precisely measure distance and movement to within few inches.

Precision localization systems, based on UWB, locate a person or vehicle by attaching locator beacons that send out signals to receivers so that a precise location can be determined. Beacons could be inserted into pagers, cellular phones, or a vehicle.

This technology could aid emergency responders in locating victims, team members, and medical supply trucks, for example. Unlike GPS, such a localization system could operate indoors, underground, in foliage, in noisy environments, and through bad weather.

Utilizing time-modulated digital pulses, UWB allows the use of very low-powered and relatively inexpensive equipment to broadcast signals at very high rates over a large part of the spectrum. This technology enables the use of public safety devices and wireless communications in areas that suffer from severe multipath and/or high levels of industrial noise and interference. UWB could conceivably be used to provide high-speed Internet access similar to today's wireless modems.

This technology could radically change how national security and emergency preparedness personnel operate in search and rescue efforts and other crisis events.

In particular, this report goal was to addresses the following UWB aspects:

• UWB products market characteristics, their specifics, and market segmentation
• Technology standards and associated issues
• Market barriers
• Applications, with emphasis on Homeland Security and first responders application
• Current implementation
• Market players and their products.

The major obstacles for UWB wide acceptance are:

• Regulatory issues. Only in 2002, FCC opened spectrum for the commercial use of UWB devices, but imposed many restrictions. The industry is still dealing with a situation when each new type of the UWB devices needs special approval to be manufactured. The similar or worse situation observed outside of the U.S.
• Competing standards. The standard bodies are unable to reach consensus for UWB. Two major groups of vendors manufacture UWB chipsets based on their developed specifications.
• Some technical issues that are in a process of resolution.

It looks like opponents of UWB are gradually losing their positions. Their major argument that UWB transmission may create interference and degrade the performance of the incumbent technologies (such as, for example, GPS) is being thoroughly investigated by the regulatory bodies, and so far, in the majority cases, was not sustained. This, together with utilization numerous UWB benefits, opens bright perspective for UWB.

We described in this report a number of current UWB applications, and stressed the importance of utilization of this technology in homeland security applications. This technology is, so far, the only one that allows to:

• Combine effective radar with short-range communications
• Support high-speed wireless transmission (in Gb/s)
• Support unprecedented long transmission time without changes of batteries
• Support transmission where other technologies failed, i.e., in the multipath conditions.

In the marketing part of this report, we provided our estimates of the market for UWB circuitry. Currently, this market is just at the beginning of its dynamic evolving, but a number of companies are already being involved in the manufacturing process. The majority of them produce chipsets that can be used in RFID, security devices, radars and communications.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction 7

• 1.1 General7
• 1.2 History7
• 1.3 Brief Description8
• 1.4 Scope10
• 1.5 Structure10
• 1.6 Research Methodology11
• 1.7Target Audience11

2.0 Technology Specifics 12

• 2.1 General12
• 2.2 Definition13
  • 2.2.1 Rates14
• 2.3 Spectrum Allocation14
  • 2.3.1 Choices15
• 2.4 Major Features16
  • 2.4.1 Communications Features19
• 2.5 Standards and Regulations20
  • 2.5.1 Multiband OFDM20
  • 2.5.2 DS-UWB21
  • 2.5.3 Standards Bodies22
  • 2.5.4 Groups22
  • 2.5.5 FCC and ETSI23
  • 2.5.6 ECMA International25
  • 2.5.7 ITU and International25
  • 2.5.8 Intel Efforts26

3.0 Applications 27

• 3.1 General27
• 3.2 Home Security28
• 3.3 Phones28
• 3.4 RFID28
• 3.5 Communications and Imaging29
  • 3.5.1 WPAN30
  • 3.5.2 Imaging systems30
  • 3.5.3 Sensor networks31
  • 3.5.4 Vehicular radar systems31
  • 3.5.5 Ranging31
• 3.6 Impacts on Public Safety32
  • 3.6.1 General32
  • 3.6.2 Five Elements of Interoperability33
  • 3.6.3 Emergency Communications: Support Features39
• 3.7 Issues40

4.0 Examples 41

• 4.1 Transceiver (military)41
• 4.2 Ground Wave Propagation Device41
• 4.3 25 Mb/s UWB Radio42
• 4.4 Tagging Device42
• 4.5 Aircraft Intercom42
• 4.6 Ad Hoc Network43
• 4.7Positioning Systems-EUROPCOM-First Responders Gear43
• 4.8 Summary44

5.0 Market Issues 47

6.0 Industry 50

• Aether (localization devices)50
• Alereon (chipsets)51
• Artimi (chipsets)51
• BBN (radio, first responders)52
• Camero (radar, equipment for first responders)53
• decaWave (chipsets)54
• Focus Enhancement (chipsets)54
• Freescale (chipsets, systems)55
• General Atomics (chipsets)56
• Multispectral (RFID and others)57
• Parco (RFID)58
• Pulse~ Link (chipsets)59
• Staccato (chipsets)61
• TriQuint (chipsets -- homeland security applications)62
• Time Domain (chipsets-fusion of communications & radar)62
• Tzero (chipsets)66
• Ubisense (RFID-tracking)66
• Wisair (chipsets)68
• WiQuest (chipsets)69

7.0 Competition 71

• 7.1 Bluetooth71
• 7.2 IEEE802.11a, b, g, n71
• 7.3 WiMax -- 802.16 and 802.16e73
• 7.4 Summary74

8.0 Conclusions 75

List of Figures

• Figure 1: UWB Spectrum13
• Figure 2: Market Estimate: UWB Circuitry ($B)42
• Figure 3: Market Estimate: Multiband OFDM UWB Circuitry ($B)43
• Figure 4: Market Estimate: DS UWB Circuitry ($B)43
• Figure 5: Estimate of UWB Market -- Communications Applications ($B)44

List of Tables

• Table 1: Comparison: DS-UWB and MB-OFDM20
• Table 2: FCC Emission Limits22
• Table 3: UWB Applications: Summary42
• Table 4: IEEE802.11 Parameters65