THIS ISSUE

for the short range connectivityenvironment

February 2007Issue 105

WIRELESS USB SPECIALINTRODUCING WIRELESS USB

WIRELESS USB IN USE

REGULATORY, APPROVALS & INTEROPERABILITY

LOOKING FORWARD – THE FUTURE FOR WIRELESS USB & UWB

WIRELESS USB AT CES – VIDEO TOUR

sponsored by

TM

INCISOR

wireless usb – real and readyAs the title of this introduction tells us, Wireless USB is here and now. Or so we are told. In order to provide a completepicture, Incisor has dedicated a special issue to Wireless USB, which has been the main focus for the WiMedia Allianceultra-wideband companies. We enlisted the support of the WiMedia Alliance and some of the leading UWB/WirelessUSB companies – Alereon, Artimi, Staccato Communications, Wipro NewLogic and WiQuest Communications.

We decided to open this review with a top-down overview of the Wireless USB roadmap. We look at the history and thefundamental principles of USB, marvel at the sheer size of this market and consider what applications Wireless USB willenable - will it change our lives?

Then we look at Wireless USB in use. Key questions that we wanted to ask included; will Wireless USB be as simple touse as USB? In what type of devices will Wireless USB be implemented? We show real Wireless USB-enabled productsand demonstrations.

Then we consider regulatory, approvals and interoperability matters. The burning question is, can Wireless USB be aglobal solution? If so, it needs control and regulation, so who is running the standardisation and specificationdevelopment? The answer, of course, is the WiMedia Alliance, so we spoke with WMA president Stephen Wood.

We finish this review by looking forward. When will we be able to buy Wireless USB enabled products? Are therechallenges to Wireless USB? Finally, we take a little time looking at blue skies scenarios.

All of this is complimented by Incisor’s biggest yet presentation of video material. Five short films place Incisor’s readersin front of key players in the Wireless USB and UWB industry. This material, which was captured by the Incisor TV teamduring the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, provides a unique insight into developments in Wireless USB.

We hope that you enjoy this special issue.

Vince HoltonPublisher & editor-in-chief, Incisor

EDITORIAL CONTACTS

IINNCCIISSOORR IISS PPRROODDUUCCEEDD//DDIISSTTRRIIBBUUTTEEDD BBYY ::Click I.T. Limitedwww.click.co.uk – NOW – www.incisor.tvHampshire Gate, Langley, RakeHampshire GU33 7JR, EnglandTel: +44 (0)1730 895614

Incisor provides commercial and promotionalopportunities. Sponsorship and advertisingenquiries should be directed to Vince Holton

CCOONNTTAACCTT DDEETTAAIILLSS::Publisher/Editor-in-chief:Vince Holton · vholton@click.co.uk – NOW – vholton@incisor.tvTelephone: +44 (0)1730 895614

Contributing writers: Rebecca Russell, Manek Dubash, Paul Rasmussen, Mads Oelholm.

Views expressed within are those of the Incisoreditorial and management representatives, and of the representatives of sponsor companies.Incisor is distributed on a monthly basisto companies and individuals with an interest inshort range wireless technology.

Subscribe to Incisor free of charge at:http://www.click-incisor.com/subscribe.phpShould you wish to stop receiving Incisor, please send a message titled 'UNSUBSCRIBE to:mailto:incisor@click.co.uk – NOW –mailto:incisor@incisor.tv

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© Copyright Click I.T. Ltd 2007

Page 10 presents a series of Incisor TVinterviews and a tour of the WirelessUSB presentations at CES.

The four video interviews and CES tourare presented as Flash (.flv) video files.By clicking on the screens shown youwill view the videos which arestreamed from the Incisor. web site –www.incisor.tv

The quality of video delivery willdepend on your connection speed. The assumption has been made thatall but a very few Incisor readers willhave the Flash media player installedand access to a broadbandconnection. A 1MB/s line has beenused as the benchmark.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCINGWIRELESS USBContributors: Artimi and StaccatoCommunications

WIRELESS USB IN USEContributors: Alereon and StaccatoCommunications

WIRELESS USB & UWB –REGULATORY MATTERS,APPROVALS &INTEROPERABILITYContributor: WiMedia Alliance

LOOKING FORWARD –THE FUTURE FORWIRELESS USB & UWBContributors: WiPro NewLogic &WiQuest Communications

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

VIDEO PORTFOLIO

Introducing Wireless USB2

Introducing Wireless USB3

Introducing Ultra-WidebandWhere did it come from, where is it now,and what does the future hold?Colin Macnab, Artimi

The origins of ultra-wideband (UWB) technology date back more than 50 years,when it began life as a military technology. It was used as a highly reliablecommunications method because the signal is spread out over so much radiospectrum that it is almost impossible to completely jam the signal. Developerstoday are developing UWB solutions for consumer electronics devices to providewired bandwidths wirelessly, at reasonable size, cost and power. This requires acomplex combination of highly technical skills in radio, OFDM modulation andhigh frequency operation, which is why it is only recently that these solutionshave been implementable for consumer products.

The applications for UWB technology arebeing driven by the global adoption of theWiMedia standard. This has been selectedby the USB IF for Wireless USB. Thisenables bulk data transfer betweendevices, such as PCs and peripherals,mobile handsets, flash memory cards,digital cameras, is a key application wheresimply removing the need for cables willempower the consumer. Such applicationswill include sharing photographs from adigital camera or rapidly moving files from amass storage device, where achieving thisin seconds, and wirelessly, is hugelydifferent from taking minutes, or evenhours, using wired connections. This hasthe ability to change how people live: if amovie can be downloaded to a PC or DVDplayer in minutes rather than hours andstored on a phone, trips to the video storewill be replaced by simple downloads at thecheckout in grocery stores.

Wireless USB has now taken over the USBroadmap. One reason the bulk data transferapplication is so compelling for consumersis that it is very easily explained, and thebenefits obvious: it’s USB without thewires, and it’s faster than most wiredinstallations. Wireless USB is leveraging apre-existing, well understood marketplace,and therefore it is quickly gainingmomentum. Industry commitment is furtherdemonstrated by the fact that the BluetoothSpecial Interest Group has also committedto incorporating the UWB WiMediastandard into its next-generation highspeed technology.

With continually growing industry support, itis clear that the challenge for developers isnot one of educating the marketplace, butrather one of making wireless connectivitysimple and ubiquitous by achievingconformance and interoperability. TheWiMedia Alliance, the standards body, hasestablished processes to ensure that itsmember companies work together to definethe criteria that will constituteinteroperability, and to provide certificationto products before they enter the market.

The WiMedia Alliance and its membercompanies focused on the issue ofconformance and interoperability well beforethe release of products. Regular interopevents provide developers with the chanceto test and prove their technology. Forinstance, over a year ago, Artimiparticipated in testing at Intel Labs where itproved interoperability with all availableproducts in the industry available in thelabs. Such activities are ongoing and vitallyimportant to ensure that developers keepconformance and interoperability as a mainobjective, rather than developing productsin a vacuum.

The challenge for silicon providers is inproviding the consumer electronics platformand device manufacturers with componentsthat make their product development assimple as possible, through quick and easyintegration and the provision ofcomprehensive reference designs. Artimihas done a number of things to ensure this.Its chips are highly integrated, with in-built

CPU and memory, providing an“engineering-light” experience for theconsumer electronics developers.Additionally, the chip provides support forboth Wireless USB and next-generationBluetooth applications, providing developerswith great flexibility.

Looking to the future, UWB technology, in theshape of Wireless USB and next-generationBluetooth, will be as ubiquitous as wired USBand mobile phones are now. It will beincorporated into PCs and peripherals, PDAs,personal media players, digital cameras,camcorders, mobile handsets, mass storagedevices, docking stations, hubs, and so on.Low-cost, built-in chips for wirelessconnectivity will help solution vendors reduceoverall system costs by replacing expensiveand cumbersome cables.

The current WiMedia specifications call fordata rates of 480Mbps, increasing to 1Gbpsin future increments to the standard. Forconsumers, this justifiable belief in theavailability of high data rates, together withthe elimination of the need to find the rightcables to connect their devices together,provides just what they need: ultra-simpleconnectivity.

Colin Macnab is CEO of Artimi, the developerof chips, reference designs and developmentplatforms for wireless USB and next-generationBluetooth consumer electronics devices.

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Wireless USB in use5

Alereon WirelessUSB SolutionsChanging the Way People Connect to the World™

Mike Krell, Alereon

So what’s the problem?With the advent of high density FLASHmemory and miniature disk drives, datastorage on mobile and portable devices isapproaching the capabilities of what typicalhome computers had just a few years ago.Today’s MP3 players, digital cameras andcamcorders routinely have multiplegigabytes of memory, and now even mobilephones provide large amounts of storagefor photos, music, and video.

But, all of today’s devices use a PC for datamanagement. The default solution forconnectivity between such devices and adesktop computer is Universal Serial Bus(USB). Running at 480 Megabits per second(Mbps), USB provides the speed necessary fortransferring large amounts of data, along withan easy-to-use “plug and play” model forusing it. However, as easy as USB is to use,mobile products yearn to be un-tethered. Awireless solution for mobile connectivity is anatural fit.

Until recently, wireless technologies were notup to par. Using a Bluetooth wirelessconnection at a maximum speed of 3 Mbpswould take almost THREE HOURS to sync a 2GB iPod nano with a PC or laptop. And, theBluetooth radio inside the iPod would use halfthe battery power to perform the sync. WhileWiFi is significantly faster than Bluetooth, itwould still take almost 10 minutes and justunder 10% battery life for the same sync. Andalthough WiFi networks are well suited for localarea networking, they are not optimized forimpromptu “plug and play” connections.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) and CertifiedWireless USB to the rescueAlthough the underlying technology of UWB isinteresting, the most exciting development forUWB enthusiasts was the adoption of theWiMedia standard by the USB PromotersGroup. Dubbed Certified Wireless USB todistinguish it from other wirelessimplementations of USB technology, theCertified Wireless version is backed by thesame organization that administers wiredversions of the USB standard –ensuringcompatibility and interoperability. With Certified

Wireless USB, consumers will realize the sameease-of-use and familiarity as with theirexisting USB connections, but without thetangle of wires.

The trend in today’s consumer market is forsmaller and lighter devices with multimediaand universal connectivity. Providing 10x thespeed of today’s 802.11 networks and at muchlower power, UWB technology is ideal forhandheld devices that run on batteries andcurrently connect to computers via USBcables. With more than one billion unitsinstalled as a base and with projections for 3.5billion interfaces to be shipped by 2006, wiredUSB has emerged as the standard way ofconnecting consumer electronics, personalcomputing and mobile devices. CertifiedWireless USB will build on the success ofwired USB, enabling WiMedia UWB technologyto be at the heart of tomorrow’s wireless USBsolutions. The total market for UWB devices isexpected to reach 100 million units by 2008.Consumers are expected to routinely use802.11 wireless networks between rooms,implementing wireless USB solutions toconnect their electronic and personalcomputing devices within those rooms.

As with most new technologies, the firstproducts to appear will be adaptors for usewith existing equipment. For example, aWireless USB host adapter will plug into anexisting USB port on a laptop and instantlyserve as a wireless hub for up to 127 wirelessdevices. On the other end of the link, aWireless USB docking station will allow severalexisting USB peripherals to connect fromacross a room, where using a wired connectionwould be impractical.As manufacturers begin to integrate wirelessfunctionality into their products, the market willbegin to see wireless printers, scanners, etc.,eliminating the wires we are all familiar withtoday. As suggested above, UWB-WirelessUSB technology will really shine when it isimplemented in mobile devices. For instance,not only will a Wireless USB-enabled cameraconnect to a PC to upload pictures wheneverthe camera is nearby the PC, but it may alsoconnect directly to a printer to print without aPC. And once Wireless USB applications

become widespread, it is likely that thetechnology will be adopted outside the PCenvironment. Take your home entertainmentcenter for example, Wireless USB will allow thedisplay of photos directly from a digital camerato your TV, or will connect your media player toan audio system.

Using UWB-Wireless USB connections, mobiledevices will eventually be able to connect toone another. For example, pictures will transferfrom one camera to another, or to a cell phone,or to an iPod – something that is completelyimpractical with today’s wired USB devices.

Several companies demonstrated workingWireless USB prototypes at CES 2007, andinitial products should begin to appear onshelves this fall. By CES 2008, expect to see awide variety of Certified Wireless USB deviceson display.

Why Alereon?The reasons are very simple:• Alereon was the first UWB company, and is

still the only company with products involume production- The AL4000 WiMedia PHY has been in

production since June 2006- The AL4000 Wireless USB Solution has

been in production since January 2007• Alereon is focused on Wireless USB device

solutions and features eight standardreference design and evaluation platforms,including- Cardbus, ExpressCard, and Mini PCI for

adding Wireless USB capabilities toexisting notebook platforms

- USB Dongle for converting any USB 2.0host port into a Wireless USB Host Port

- 4-Port Wireless USB Hub provideswireless connectivity for existing full-speedUSB peripherals

- CompactFlash and SDIO enables thedemonstration, evaluation and prototypingof Wireless USB on existing platforms

Alereon Wireless USB Solutions…Changingthe Way People Connect to the World™

www.alereon.com

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Wireless USB in use7

Monetizing UWB inMobile Devices usingStaccato’s Single-ChipCMOS Ultra-widebandProductsMark Bowles, Staccato Communications

In today’s increasingly competitive anddynamically evolving market for wirelesscommunications services, mobile carriersare facing a constantly shifting mix ofopportunities and challenges. On onehand, the ubiquity of mobile phonehandsets and the on-going consolidationof wireless carrier networks havecombined to create a powerful asset thatcarriers need to leverage for maximumadvantage. On the other hand, thechallenges of subscriber churn and thecommoditization of voice services meanthat carriers must proactively offer newenhanced services to improve subscriberloyalty and to maximize Average Revenueper User (ARPU).

The enormous number of subscriberscarrying mobile handsets represents a hugeunused asset base, which carriers need toleverage for optimal revenue generation.Over the past few years, severalapplications from the Internet world, such asemail, web browsing and instant messaging,have already migrated into the currentgeneration of mobile handsets; howevercarriers have only scratched the surface ofthe possibilities.

As described in brief, and more fully inwhitepapers that are offered for download atwww.staccatocommunications.com, theability to pack additional performance,memory and functionality into handsets,combined with the fact that mobile phonesare the one device that everyone carries,creates a ready-made opportunity forhandsets to emerge as the single devicethat integrates everything.

A key element for realizing the full potentialfor next-generation handsets will be theintegration of short-range, high-speedwireless capabilities that can seamlesslyconnect with a variety of existing and

emerging communications methods. This iswhere ultra-wideband (UWB) wirelesscomes into play, providing standards-based, high-bandwidth, multi-protocolcapabilities, with the flexibility for auto-discovery and connection with a variety ofpeer-to-peer and/or local server-basednetworks.

According to Media Life Magazine,approximately 70.2 percent of the U.S.population, nearly 208 million people,already have mobile phones and the total isexpected to grow by almost 90 million moreusers over the next four years. With thelevel of mobile handset possession nearinguniversal market penetration, the stage hasnow been set for implementing relativelystraightforward technology changes toenable handset-centric applications. Thiswill enable users to move through the worldwhile controlling and interacting with localresources and services – using only theirmobile phone. From the carriers’perspective, the rise of handset-centricapplications will mean greater value fortheir subscribers and improved subscriberretention levels, as well as new incrementalrevenue and partnering opportunities.

The key challenges entail 1) Cost-effectively embedding sufficient

short-range bandwidth into handsets tosupport multimedia and other data-intensive applications (which is enabledby Staccato’s single-chip, all-CMOSRipcord™ products which feature theProtocol Independent Kernel™)

2) Providing transparent auto-discoveryand auto-connection facilities to support“casual connections” and free usersfrom configuration hassles

3) Supporting multiple connectivity optionsto provide flexibility for interfacing with awide range of legacy and emergingservices and devices.

Some UWB-Enabled Application Models

Phone-to-PC Ecosystem IntegrationWith Certified Wireless USB (WUSB), alreadya built-in element of WiMedia-based UWB,many of the immediate applications willentail using mobile phones within existingPC ecosystems. For example, the handsetcan be used to synchronize files betweenPCs, to print photos or documents directlyon WUSB printers or to interface with harddrives for external storage.

Integration with Larger DisplaysWith the internal storage capacity of mobilehandsets growing and multimedia becominga routine aspect of consumer applications,the ability to casually interface handsets withlarger displays will become an importantdifferentiator. Technology researchcompany, InfoTrends, predicts that morethan 860 million camera phones will be soldin 2009, comprising 89 percent of allhandsets shipped, and camera phones willaccount for 227 billion photos captured in2009, more than the combined photos fromdigital and film cameras. In addition, the ➔

Wireless USB in use8

growing trend of carriers partnering withcontent providers to deliver televisionprogramming, music, etc. directly tohandsets is exponentially increasing theamount of multimedia that is streaming intohandsets – and causing consumers to wantbetter ways to get it out. UWB provides theinherent flexibility and bandwidth forhandsets to interface directly with largerdisplays, such as TVs, PCs or projectors, incombination with digital mobile video (DVB-H, MediaFLO, T-DMB and S-DMB). Forexample, business users can delivermultimedia presentations directly from theirhandsets to projectors, family members caneasily share photos or videos from theirhandset on virtually any available display,and handsets can even act as on-the-goaudio/video tuners for interfacing withautomotive infotainment systems.

Handset-to-Handset Applications UWB’s multi-protocol and auto-discoverycapabilities will also create huge newopportunities for applications based aroundhandset-to-handset communications. Socialnetworking arguably has been the hottesttrend on the Internet over the past fiveyears, heralded by the runaway success ofsites such as mySpace, facebook.com,YouTube, LinkedIn, CyWorld, eHarmony,miniClip, classmates.com, craigslist, andmany others. According to The WashingtonPost, “While growth is slowing at most topInternet sites, it is skyrocketing at sitesfocused on social networking … where newbrands such as MySpace can suddenlybreak into the upper ranks.”

Personal Area Social Networking (PASN - -pronounced “Passion”), powered by UWB-enabled handsets, will inject a “personaltouch” into existing social networkingapplications by allowing users to easily findand connect with one another, while alsoushering in a wave of innovative usagemodels and new revenue streams forcarriers. These include a combination ofsubscription, transaction-based and per-advertisement revenues that boost ARPUwhenever consumers interact with retailers,service providers and other advertisers. Inaddition, carriers have the option to chargeaccess fees for integrating with existingonline Social Network providers.Customizable with user-specific settings andprotected by user-set privacy configurations,users are completely in control of theirexperience.

Handset-to-handset communications alsocan support emerging content-sharingmodels, such as Microsoft’s Zune musicservice, in which users can wirelesslytransmit their purchased content to theirfriends’ handsets. With copyright restrictionsembedded into the content, purchasedsongs could be “shared” for previewingpurposes by new users, thus providing aviral marketing stream for creating newpurchases. Such programs even could beset up to include “incentive credits” for eachsong that a user shares with otherdownstream users, with the accumulatedcredits being used for future purchases.

As an internationally accepted wirelessstandard that provides high bandwidth,support for multiple protocols, casualconnectivity, and has already been adoptedfor Bluetooth 3.0 and Certified Wireless USB,WiMedia UWB technology is destined to playa key linchpin role in the implementation ofthese new handset-centric applicationmodels. Embedded UWB gives handsetmanufacturers and carriers the flexibility tointerface their users with virtually any localenvironment and gives users the freedom tobe at the center of their own world no matterwhere they are.

Source: Mark BowlesFounder and VP Business Development &Marketing, Staccato Communications

www.staccatocommunications.com

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incisor.tv10

INCISOR TV VIDEOPRESENTATIONS

INTRODUCING WIRELESS USB

CLICK ON SCREENS TO WATCH VIDEOPRESENTATIONS

WIRELESS USB IN USE

WIRELESS USB & UWB – REGULATORY MATTERS,APPROVALS

& INTEROPERABILITY

LOOKING FORWARD – THE FUTURE FOR WIRELESS USB

& UWB

CES TOUR – WIRELESS USB AT CES

Colin Macnab of Artimi and Marty Colombatto of StaccatoCommunications explain the background to Wireless USB,and what the goals are as ultra-wideband companies takethe technology wireless

Eric Broockman of Alereon and Marty Colombatto ofStaccato Communications talk us through real-worldapplications for Wireless USB, then Eric and Alun Robertsof WiQuest show us live demonstrations.

Stephen Wood, president of the WiMedia Alliance andUWB strategist at Intel, explains the comprehensive andexhaustive measures taken to ensure that Wireless USBcan address the global market.

No technology stands still, and so Vivek Wandile of WiProNewLogic & Alun Roberts of WiQuest Communicationsprovide an insight into likely future directions for WirelessUSB, and look at how it will fit into the wireless landscape.

The Incisor TV crew tours CES 2007 and reviews someof the Wireless USB products on display, and showsreal-time demonstrations taking place.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

incisor.tv

Wireless USB – Regulatory, standardization and interoperability11

Wireless USB – Regulatory, standardizationand interoperabilityBy Stephen Wood,

President, WiMedia Alliance, Technology Strategist, Corporate Technology Group (CTG), Communication Technology Lab (CTL), Intel Corporation

The WiMedia Alliance has been involved instandardization at several levels. Theprincipal ultra-wideband (UWB) standardswere approved by ECMA International inDecember 2005, which was instrumental toour industry, since ECMA International is anon-profit association of technologydevelopers, vendors and users thatdevelops standards for Information andCommunication Technology (ICT) andConsumer Electronics (CE).

After that, the WiMedia Alliance took theseUWB standards and worked to obtainapproval in the European TelecommunicationsStandards Institute (ETSI), which is officiallyresponsible for standardization of Informationand Communication Technologies (ICT) withinEurope. We are also finalizing approval withthe International Organization ofStandardization (ISO), which when coupledwith the ETSI standards approval, allowWiMedia to work more smoothly with localgovernments around the world.

Interoperability Product TestingWith regards to product testing, the WiMediaAlliance has been strenuously working oninteroperability. In that regard, we havecompleted the design of all of our physicallayer implementation (PHY) interoperabilitytests and have registered six different PHYsover the course of the year during five PHYtesting events. We are just now finishing upour platform test development which verifiesthe overall performance of the radio platform,and this work will be completed in a matter ofweeks. At that time, the WiMedia Alliance willbe in a position to certify radios, apply logosand vendors will begin shipping certifiedproducts.

The WiMedia Alliance relies upon the magicof interoperability testing. Our engineers havespent the last year developing tests designedto do just that, and we will be running newproducts through three different layers ofinteroperability testing. First, we insist that thephysical layer works correctly. Second, wetest the radio at the top of the MAC to make

sure that all radio functions interoperate. Andfinally, the final product will be tested at theend user level where the protocol stack is alsoincluded. We are also going to be workingwith ETSI and various groups inside WiMediato perform a continuing improvement of theinteroperability test process to optimize theamount and type of testing required.

Collaboration with USB and Bluetooth

With the popularity of the USB and Bluetoothproducts, the WiMedia Alliance’s collaborationwith these two worlds is essential for productinterfacing and interoperability. This hasactually been a relatively smooth process,since the principal manufacturers in USB andin Bluetooth are also participants in theWiMedia Alliance. As a benefit in thisrelationship, WiMedia obtains almostimmediate feedback from those groups interms of what works for them and whatdoesn't. In addition, we have a fairly cleandivision of labor, since WiMedia will takeresponsibility for the PHY and MAC layers ofthe radio (and the IP stack), while Bluetoothand Wireless USB take responsibility for theirprotocols.

The WiMedia Alliance’s concentration onwireless technology has been a logicaltransition, even within the USB community.Many of the principals in USB believe thatwireless was a natural extension of thetechnology and necessary to deal with asmore mobile devices emerge in themarketplace. It was also clear to them thatproviding consumers with the ability toeliminate wires was definitely going to be apositive move, so wireless efforts within the

WiMedia Alliance have been verycomplementary to USB’s work within WirelessUSB.

At this moment, there is a moderate amount ofoverlap between the USB Implementers Forumand the Bluetooth SIG, but this is to beexpected. While there are PCs with Bluetoothand there are cell phones with USBconnections on them, both of these SIGs haveexceedingly strong brands that are wellsupported by consumers. There are alsocompanies who have invested substantially inprotocol software, and it would not have beenreasonable to expect that the industry couldhave chosen to employ a single approach.

Today’s world involves a market where PCs,mobile handsets and consumer electronics arerapidly converging into a single space withcommon capabilities. Although the WiMediaAlliance could not move immediately to aconverged solution, we pushed convergenceinto the design to the highest degree possiblethrough the sharing of a common radioplatform. In selecting this approach, we wereable to eliminate potential interference issuesand multiple radio costs that would haveoccurred if we had allowed both SIGs to moveindependently.

Global Regulatory ApprovalOne of the tasks that the WiMedia Alliance hasundertaken is negotiation on behalf of UWB inan effort to obtain a worldwide regulatoryfootprint. In that regard, we are making goodprogress, with the U.S., Europe, Japan andKorea all having established regulations forUWB. Looking forward, we will now turn ourattention toward China and Canada, as well aswork to get a more harmonized set of rulesaround the world as the data supports suchmovement.

Stephen Wood is presently responsible for UWB strategy at Intel as it relates to the standards, and regulation.In addition to his position as a WiMedia Board member,Stephen is a current voting member of 802.15, Ecma TG20 and Ecma TC32. He has one patent awarded and four pending.

Multiple Industry AssociationsUsing A Common UWB Radio (Wimedia)

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technology (such as Bluetoothover UWB and IP over UWB)are still evolving. The challengewould be to have anarchitecture which can addressdifferent product personalitieswithout significant designchange.

Optimal DesignOne typical approach to provideflexibility to adapt to evolvingapplications is to implementmost of the functionality insoftware. Such a solution maybe very demanding on theembedded CPUs typically usedin the solutions such as

CUWSB device. Moreover, it may not bescalable for higher throughput. A betterapproach would be to have an optimalpartitioning of the entire WiMedia MACfunctionality into hardware and software. Thedesign should be modular so that the optimalsolution can be developed by scaling up orscaling down the basic architecture for thegiven product personality.

Another design consideration for addressingthe various product personalities would beoptimal performance. The performanceincludes throughput, silicon area of the ASICand power consumption. The objective ofthe design should be to address differentproduct personalities optimally withoutmaking changes to the design which addsschedule risks. For example, the designshould be capable of scaling down to lowpower and low area by scaling down bufferspace and core clock while keeping thedesign logic unchanged. Similarly, higherthroughputs should be achievable by addingmore buffers and/or scaling up the coreclock without changing the logic design.

The above approach should allow one toreduce the time to market for variousapplications (current or future) and yet beoptimal enough given the constraints.

The authors can be reached ataditya.agarwal@wipro.com andsukalyan.mukherjee@wipro.com

www.wipro.com/semi-ip

The future for Wireless USB & UWB13

Making your UWBsolutions “Future Proof”By Aditya Agarwal and Sukalyan MukherjeeWipro-NewLogic

New technologies bring with them newopportunities as well as newuncertainties. In order to make best useof technology, one has to be prepared fortoday as well as for the future. This ofteninvolves tradeoffs between currentopportunities and future potential. In thisarticle, the effort is to illustrate a possibletradeoff one has to make whiledeveloping the solutions based on UltraWideband.

The challenge: Optimal vs. FlexibleWiMedia Common Radio Platform providesthe firm foundation for the implementation ofdifferent flavors of UWB solutions such asWireless USB, Internet Protocol (IP) overUWB (WiNET), Bluetooth over UWB andWireless 1394. Among these, CertifiedWireless USB (CWUSB) is likely to be thefirst “killer application” for Ultra Wideband asthe USB-IF has launched the productcertifications for Wireless USB basedproducts. Other technologies such asBluetooth over UWB and IP over UWB(WiNET) will soon become available whenthe standardization completes and productcertification programs are launched.Because of the unique proposition of theCommon Radio Platform (supporting multiplePALs) a designer faces the challenge ofdesigning a solution which is optimal for thecurrent applications today, yet flexibleenough to adapt to the newer applicationsand technologies as they evolve over time.

Different Technologies, DifferentRequirementsWiMedia Common Radio Platform providesthe architecture to adopt differenttechnologies such as Certified Wireless USB,WiNET and Bluetooth over UWB over theWiMedia MAC and PHY.

From this figure one may imply a layeringapproach where entire WiMedia MAC iscommon across all solutions and an“adaptation layer” is developed on top toaddress different applications such asWireless USB, WiNET and Bluetooth overUWB. If one were to take the “layeredapproach” for the implementation, entireWiMedia MAC functionality needs to be fullyimplemented. But this layered approach maynot result in an optimal design.

Let’s take the example of Certified WirelessUSB - CWUSB specification defines aWireless USB channel which consists ofMicro-scheduled Management Commandswhich define how the wireless USB packetsare transmitted within the DRP reservationsdone by the Wireless USB host. The micro-schedules have a granularity smaller than theMedia Access Slots (MAS) defined in theWiMedia MAC specification. The micro-scheduling functionality can not beimplemented efficiently if CWUSB is treatedas a “layer above the MAC”. Moreover, all theWiMedia MAC features may not be neededfor all product personalities addressed byCWUSB (see table above). As a result, it maybe common to implement only those featuresof WiMedia MAC and CWUSB spec which areneeded for a given product personality as onesingle layer. Given the fact that Wireless USBmay enable newer applications which wereearlier not envisaged with wired USB, it maybe prudent to design a solution which cansupport all product personalities such asWireless USB device, Wireless USB host anda Dual Role Device with incremental efforts.Similarly, the applications over UWB sponsored contributionFigure 1 WiMedia Common Radio Platform

Table 1: Features of different product personalities

Wireless USB Host

Wireless USB Device

WiNET

Bluetooth over UWB

Sample of WiMedia MAC specific features

MAC-PHY interfaceAES based encryptionBeaconing, beacon mergingDRP reservation and DRP conflict resolution

MAC-PHY interfaceAES based encryptionMAC frame formation, reception

Scan, Beaconing, Beaconing MergingDRP reservation and conflict resolutionAddress generation and conflict resolutionWiMedia Association ModelDRP and PCA data transmission, receptionB-Ack, ImmACK functionality

Scan, Beaconing, Beacon MergingDRP reservation and conflict resolutionAddress generation and conflict resolutionDRP or PCA data transmissions

Sample of Target technology specific Features

Creation of WUSB channelMMC schedules (CTA allocation)USB Device state and endpoint managementDate burstingAssociation

MMC reception and trackingCTA adherenceUSB state mgmtGeneration of device notificationsDate burstingflow controlAssociation

WiNET Spec Implementation

PairingBluetooth protocol stackHCI

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Wireless USB is here15

Wireless USB is here

Evolution of ultra-widebandThis year will be the year that you seemany product introductions incorporatingultra-wideband in wireless USBapplications. The evolution of the ultra-wideband applications will be similar toother technology evolutions that we haveexperienced in the past. The first wirelessUSB products that consumers will see willbe PC aftermarket products like wirelessUSB adapters and hubs intended forenabling the technology for existingproducts. Manufacturers that specialize inaftermarket products such as Belkin and D-Link will start shipping products in the next3 to 6 months. The market will continue togrow as manufacturers begin embeddingthe technology inside notebook PCs aswell as inside peripherals such as cameras,printers and external hard drives.

Mobile Devices EvolveToward the end of 2007 and early 2008, assilicon gets smaller and cheaper, mobilephones and other mobile devices thatrequire lower power and small form factorwill begin to embed wireless USB. Theecosystem will already exist sincenotebook PCs will have already embeddedthe technology. So, activities like “syncing”a mobile handset to a PC, or printing froma PC to a remote printer will occur bysimply “coming within range”.

Wireless USB ApplicationsWiQuest’s WQST110/101 is a cost-effective, highly-integrated chipset that hasbeen designed with the bill-of-materials(BOM) in mind. It combines a WiMediabaseband PHY and MAC engine forassurance of interoperability, high-speedsecurity processor, quality of service (QoS)manager and common host interfaces, allin one design.

The RF transceiver (WQST101), togetherwith the baseband PHY and MAC providesthe most complete UWB solution formanufacturers of PC and peripheralsystems, monitors, mobile phones, digitalcameras, consumer electronics and more.

The chipset eliminates the need forexpensive, external memory and contain acomplete high-speed USB subsystemincluding controller and transceiver, removingany additional USB component cost.

What about Video?One of the most exciting applications thathas evaded wireless technologies, to date, is

video. Ultra-wideband with its highbandwidth (over 1 Gbps) is the firsttechnology that has all of the necessarycomponents to finally address therequirements of high-quality video. Forstreaming natural image video such asMPEG and JPEG2000, wireless USB is anadequate solution. However, the bandwidthrequirement to display high-quality graphicsfrom a notebook PC to an external monitoror projector is much more stringent.

For those types of applications, a new videocompression technology for wireless videocommunication is needed to address thequality needs of graphics that are used in ➔

Ultra-wideband has been talked about for many years, but the next few months willsignal the arrival of the first real products on the market. This high-speed, low-power,room-range technology will start to enable true mobility for a variety of applications. Forinstance, over 2 billion wired USB devices that have been sold to date, and these offeran enormous opportunity for converting to wireless USB. In addition, with thecombination of the low power as required by mobile devices and ultra-high bandwidthas required by bandwidth intensive applications such as video, the spectrum ofapplications that can take advantage of the technology is larger than any other.

The WiMedia Common Radio Platform enables a number of different communicationsprotocols to peacefully co-exist while sharing a common antenna. That number willgrow as more and more applications are created over the coming years.

Wireless USB is here16

day-to-day PC applications such as texteditors, spreadsheets, etc. SXGAresolution (1280 x 1024) graphics iscoming out of the graphics processor atan uncompressed data rate of 1.88 Gbps,and off-the-shelf compression techniquessignificantly degrade picture quality. Thisrequires a new approach, like WiQuest’sWireless Digital Video (WiDV™)technology. This technology perfectlymatches a light (3x to 7x) compression,which is visually lossless, with a 1 GbpsPHY data rate. On the other hand, MPEGor JPEG-2000, which were built for lowbandwidth technologies, implement amuch higher compression, commonly upto 50x.

It’s easy to image new applications thatcan come out of the convergence ofwireless USB and wireless digital video inthe various markets. Smart phones, forexample, equipped with wireless USB andwireless digital video connecting toexternal displays where you can showpresentations, share spreadsheets andrespond to email in a user-friendly displaysize.

WiDV plus Wireless USBWiQuest’s WiDV Technology wasdeveloped specifically to address the

unique requirements of efficient videotransmission using ultra-widebandwireless connections. WiDV operatessimultaneously with Certified WirelessUSB from the USB Implementers Forum,enabling complete wireless connectivity.The technology leverages WiQuest’sbreakthrough, 1 Gbps extended data rateto enable a true, high-resolution wirelessdigital video experience for the consumer.

Toshiba demonstrated the WiDVTechnology in their Portégé® R400 TabletPC and wireless docking station at thisyear’s International Consumer ElectronicsShow (CES).

Compared to other wireless videoapproaches, WiDV Technology is unique inthat it provides more efficient compressionand fewer components to achieve a high-quality video or graphic image with acompletely integrated wireless videosolution. WiDV Technology results in thehighest quality, lowest cost, lowestlatency, smallest form factor and lowestpower consumption wireless videosolution on the market today.

With either chipset, WiQuest enablesequipment manufacturers to buildcomplete host or device solution using the

same silicon from the same vendor,saving time and money in design andeducation.

Total Solution ApproachWiQuest’s complete solution approachaddresses the time-to-revenue and costconsiderations of companies trying tomaintain a competitive edge. Customerscan choose the chipset that best matchestheir requirements. With WiQuest’sindustry-leading, 1 Gbps data rate, the WQST110/101 chipset addresses wirelessUSB applications and the WQST100/101can be used in applications wherewireless USB and Wireless Digital Video(WiDV) are required to run simultaneously.

WiQuest and WiDV are registeredtrademarks or trademarks of WiQuestCommunications Inc. All other trademarks are the property of therespective owners.

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