[opendtv] Re: Ultrawideband under the gun
- From: "Bob Miller" <robmxa@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:46:44 -0400
"and 60 GHz is looking like the promised land
for high performance LANs," added Mathias."
Is the key statement in this blurb. We demonstrated a 60GHz link a
number of years ago and I have been convinced since that this
technology is going to rule in combo with 70-90 GHz which we also
demonstrated.
Bob Miller
On 10/25/07, Manfredi, Albert E <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Would be nice to know the unvarnished details.
>
> This scheme they're talking about is the one in which three low-power
> and wide band COFDM channels are used, to mimic a UWB signal. Something
> isn't meeting up with all the previous hype, but they don't tell us
> what.
>
> My quess is that the peak to average power ratio being what it is, the
> power had to be turned down lower than they hoped, to keep this from
> interfering.
>
> Bert
>
> --------------------------------------------
> Ultrawideband under the gun
>
> Rick Merritt
> (10/25/2007 8:47 AM EDT)
> URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202601507
>
> SAN JOSE, Calif. - In the race to a gigabit-per-second wireless link for
> the digital home, some ultrawideband backers are gasping for air while
> Wi-Fi proponents are revving up for the next lap.
>
> An IEEE 802.11 study group is gearing up to launch a standards effort
> next year that could pave the way for Wi-Fi to step up to 3-5
> Gbits/second data rates. Meanwhile an independent tester reports two UWB
> products now shipping have average throughput of just 20 Mbits/second at
> a range of 15 feet.
>
> "We are finding throughput is quite disappointing," said Fanny
> Mlinarsky, an industry expert in wireless test. "There is nothing above
> 50 Mbits/s maximum, and the average is 20 Mbits/s. Everyone thought this
> was going to be the short-range Gbit network," she said.
>
> Mlinarsky's lab, Octoscope, is conducting tests of shipping UWB systems
> sponsored by UWB vendor Pulse~Link Technologies. So far, companies
> shipping UWB silicon have declined to participate in the tests, many
> citing the fact a competitor is sponsoring the program. Jack Shandle,
> editor of sister Web site Wireless DesignLine, has publicly called on
> UWB chip makers to participate in the tests, so far without effect.
>
> Vendors said inefficiencies in today's media access controller chips and
> software drivers are inhibiting throughput, something that should be
> cleared up in future products. Mlinarsky plans to acquire a LeCroy
> tester to check the physical layer performance of the systems.
>
> "We are getting less than a tenth of the PHY data rate-that can't be all
> MACs and drivers," she said.
>
> Octoscope tested systems from Belkin and IO Gear using Alereon chips. It
> plans to test Toshiba systems using other silicon this week. Pulse~Link
> did not ship its test chips to Octoscope before fires swept through the
> San Diego area this week, cutting off some communications.
>
> Mlinarsky believes the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing
> technology used in the wireless USB version of UWB may be the culprit.
>
> "Everyone joined Intel in the WiMedia Alliance before they did due
> diligence on the technology," Mlinarsky said. "OFDM is not the optimal
> choice at these low power levels, so the industry may have made a
> mistake," she added.
>
> Companies doing their own tests of UWB silicon agree that performance of
> the parts is so far unacceptable.
>
> "I haven't seen anything I want to build a product around. We can't
> afford to design in a 1W radio to get less than 100 Mbits/s over a few
> feet," said John Barr, a standards director at Motorola.
>
> The UWB problems may be just a passing storm, said wireless analyst
> Craig Mathias of Farpoint Group (Ashland, Mass.). But the problems need
> to get addressed soon or other technologies such as advanced Wi-Fi or
> emerging 60 GHz radios will steal UWB's thunder, he added.
>
> "We think UWB can get to 200 to 300 Mbits/s at the application layer
> without too much trouble," said Mathias. "We think this is just a matter
> of early chips and drivers [but] UWB doesn't have this market all to
> themselves," he added.
>
> Indeed, last week IBM backed an emerging push to 60-GHz radios, an
> approach pioneered by startup SiBeam for a variety of consumer uses. IBM
> said it will make in its silicon germanium process radio that can be
> paired with baseband chips from MediaTek and other companies.
>
> Another startup, New LANs, also is pursuing 60-GHz radios. Meanwhile
> other companies such as Amimon and Radiospire are rolling out their own
> approaches to Gbit-class wireless links for a range of consumer
> applications.
>
> For its part, the IEEE 802.11 convened a Very High Throughput study
> group to look at Gbit-class versions of Wi-Fi. To date, the group has
> heard a range of presentations from AT&T, Intel, Motorola, Nokia and
> startup Wilocity. It could be ready to launch a formal standards effort
> as early as January.
>
> One presentation mentioned the possibility of building 3 to 5 Gbit/s
> products in the 5-GHz band that could serve a range of uses including
> wireless links to monitors, projectors and video cameras. Those are some
> of the same apps UWB is attacking.
>
> A presentation from AT&T Labs called on the group to raise its voice
> against spectrum allocation plans in Europe that could shut Wi-Fi out of
> the 275 GHz to 1 THz bands.
>
> "The best terahertz spectrum is being carved up among science, satellite
> and amateur radio interests. The give-away of this precious spectrum is
> unexpected, capricious and irreconcilable with the evolution of future
> broadband wireless networks," David Britz of AT&T said in his
> presentation.
>
> Britz also noted that startups such as Phiar Corp. (Boulder, Colo.) are
> already working on terahertz-class transceivers. "The 2.4 and 5 GHz
> bands are getting crowded, and 60 GHz is looking like the promised land
> for high performance LANs," added Mathias.
>
> Meanwhile, the many startups pushing UWB could be running into trouble
> keeping investors interested. Several sources report Tzero Technologies,
> one of the early hot startups in UWB, may be taking a hard look at its
> options. "We are in the midst of a funding round and its OK, but not
> going as rapidly as we would like," said a company spokesman. "M&A is
> one of the possibilities. We have talked to strategic investors for
> awhile. It's anybody's guess how things will end up," he added.
>
> Tzero has working UWB chips that can deliver more than 200 Mbits/s at
> the applications layer, he said. But the company has no independent
> testers who can verify that claim and has so far opted out of the
> Octoscope tests.
>
> All material on this site Copyright 2007 CMP Media LLC. All rights
> reserved.
>
>
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