News and New Products

Demo layers Bluetooth over UWB for 110 Mbps

By Jeff Berman, News Editor -- EDN, 10/10/2005

Freescale Semiconductor last week conducted what it says was the first demonstration of high-data-rate UWB (ultrawideband) silicon operating under existing Bluetooth software stacks.

The demonstration at the WiCon Americas conference in Santa Clara followed the announcement earlier this year that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group and the two organizations focused on UWB technology, the WiMedia Alliance and the Ultrawideband Forum, would work to merge their wireless communication technologies.

For the demo, Freescale collaborated with Bluetooth software vendor Open Interface to stream UWB signals using Bluetooth protocols. A protocol analyzer from Frontline Test Equipment provided monitoring.

"What we wanted to do with this demonstration was to deliver a user experience where we can educate customers and consumers on what personal area networking [PAN] is, which has been done over a Bluetooth connection, and show how it can be leveraged in Bluetooth stacks and software from the L2CAP [Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol] and up," said Martin Rofheart, Freescale's director of UWB operations.

The demonstration featured two laptops transferring the same data file over a conventional Bluetooth link and then over a UWB connection running Bluetooth protocols, contrasting the 1-Mbps Bluetooth transfer rate with the 110-Mbps UWB transfer rate. Open Interface's BlueTusk software employed the Bluetooth software stack while operating Freescale's XS110 DS-UWB radio. The Frontline protocol analyzer monitored the Bluetooth and UWB signals and the performance of the Freescale radios.

The combination of these offerings can be viewed as a "development aid" for a system developer, Rofheart said. "This [protocol analyzer] lets you look at Bluetooth traffic and UWB traffic and protocols to understand what is happening from a developer's perspective," he said. "And this demonstration shows the industry exactly how close to product readiness high-speed Bluetooth is by 'cutting the wires' and delivering exciting user experiences."

Rofheart cited video cameras as a potential user application.