Bluetooth Over WiMedia Ultrawideband Demos.

SL10

Bluetooth Over WiMedia Ultrawideband Demos

05-Jan-2006 [Source: Alereon]

[Bluetooth plus WiMedia ultrawideband (UWB) demos at CES running at 500 times the speed of regular Bluetooth using less than 2% of the battery energy of Bluetooth.]

Las Vegas -- Demonstrating the next step in the on-going evolution of wireless Personal Area Networking (PAN) functionality, Alereon is hosting the industry's first public demonstration of Bluetooth+WiMedia ultrawideband (UWB) operating smoothly together under an existing Bluetooth software stack. The demonstration, held in the WiMedia TechZone at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, utilizes BLUEtusk(TM) software from Open Interface to send UWB signals using Bluetooth protocols.

Bluetooth version 2.0 devices operate at data rates that can be frustratingly slow for large files and inadequate for video streaming. Open Interface's BLUEtusk application combines the interoperability and ease of use of Bluetooth with the bandwidth of WiMedia UWB to transfer data at speeds that enable audio and video streaming.

"BLUEtusk represents a major step forward for both Bluetooth and WiMedia UWB," said Jim Lansford, chief technology officer of Alereon. "The combination of a WiMedia UWB solution from Alereon and Bluetooth software from Open Interface enables Bluetooth applications that run 500 times the speed of regular Bluetooth and use less than 2 percent of the battery energy of Bluetooth. Consumers can now share images, phone books, videos, and the other Bluetooth content at up to 480 megabits per second, enabling devices such as megapixel camera phones to download in seconds, rather than minutes."

"As Bluetooth becomes a standard feature in portable devices, it is apparent that although Bluetooth provides excellent interoperability and ease of use, the maximum data rate of 3Mbit/second is too slow for today's media centric applications," said Greg Burns, chief technology officer of Open Interface. "Combining Bluetooth and WiMedia UWB leverages Bluetooth's core strengths while providing the high data transfer rates for downloading image, MP3, and video files."

About the Demonstration

The demonstration offers an initial view of this important wireless pairing and features two laptops, each enabled with a UWB module and Bluetooth dongle. Attendees will first see a pure Bluetooth to Bluetooth demonstration with a file transfer between laptops that operates at a maximum rate of well under 3 Mbps and takes several minutes. Next, the UWB radios will use Open Interface's BLUEtusk(TM) software solution to leverage the software stack of Bluetooth while operating the Alereon WiMedia radio. Achieving up to 480 Mbps, the file transfer happens almost instantaneously with Alereon's recently announced EVB4002 radio operating under the Bluetooth software stack.

"The WiMedia UWB Common Radio platform is specifically designed to support multiple wireless applications such as TCP/IP, Certified Wireless USB, and Bluetooth, thereby giving consumers a choice," said Stephen R. Wood, president of the WiMedia Alliance. "The WiMedia TechZone demos, including Alereon's, expertly show Bluetooth and Certified Wireless USB operating on the WiMedia radio platform. Combining these successes with the recent publication of the WiMedia-based Ecma International standards clearly illustrates that we are establishing an internationally recognized UWB standard."
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EVDO Addict.

whitebengal · Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:50 pm Post subject:

Sounds like a Bluetooth 3.0 standard is coming.

Make a few tweaks to the bluetooth stack to handle 16 clients and insert
complete backwards compatability, and I'd buy this tech in a heartbeat.

At 480mbps for about 10ft, this would handle 90% of my connection
needs. And the lower power means a Li-Ion lasts months in most
devices.