UWB: it's here, and headed for home networks

After years of literally unbelievable hype, ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless technology made its commercial debut. The technology still doesn't make seeing through walls a snap, as its promoters predicted a few years ago, but it does make it possible to send tens or hundreds of megabits of data per second a tens of meters.

That makes it a good candidate to help out around the house and office, wirelessly connecting all kinds of equipment that formerly would have called for cables. And however it evolves, service providers looking at the possibilities of providing home networking services will have to pay attention.

UWB technology, as its name implies, sends low-power signals spread across large portions of spectrum, usually GHz rather than a few MHz as in conventional wireless technologies. The physics of such an approach means that different transmissions even in the same spectrum tend not to interfere with one another, and that they can carry huge amounts of data but not very far, according to Martin Reynolds, a Gartner analyst.

The signals' ability to pass with ease through, but also reflect from, quite solid objects was also supposed to lead to through-wall imaging equipment that would be a godsend to police and the military--but hasn't yet, Reynolds says.