ABI Research: Ultrawideband Market May Reach 300 Million Shipments by 2011

By Mae Kowalke

TMCnet Associate Editor

 

Despite facing some formidable obstacles, the ultrawideband (UWB) market is poised to soon achieve widespread commercial success, possibly reaching 300 million shipments by 2011.

 

That’s according to a new report from high-tech industry analysis firm ABI Research.

 

In a May 15 press release about the report, ABI analyst Stuart Carlaw dismissed two of most commonly cited obstacles to UWD's success.

 

Lack of standardization: “The collapse of the UWB standards process was widely seen as a major faux pas, but those inside the industry viewed it as the shackles being removed.”

 

802.11n as a UWB-killer: “It is clear that UWB and 802.11n will co-exist and be powerful allies for each other.”  

ABI reports that other, commonly cited obstacles to UWB’s success are:

The first item in that list is the one ABI says is most important. “[T]his is the real key to the UWB question,” ABI said in the release, noting: “All signs are that the band between 7GHz and 8.5GHz will be common across all regions.”

 

ABI added, though, that regulatory endorsement is not necessarily a precursor to success; after all, “Bluetooth gained a lot of ground before receiving general regulatory approval.”

For those unfamiliar with UWB, it is a method of radio transmission using short-duration pulses, capable of carrying high-bandwidth wireless content. Among its many potential applications are uses in the wireless networking market.