A group of consumer electronics manufacturers Tuesday highlighted their commitment to developing ultra wideband (UWB) solutions for video applications using technology from Tzero Technologies.

 

Among the companies committed to using Tzero’s technology are: AboCom, Amedia Networks (News - Alert), Analog Devices, Anchor Bay Technologies, ASUSTeK Computer, Audiovox, Changhong, Complete Media Systems, CyberPower, Cypress Technology, ELEO, Gefen, GIGABYTE, Hisense, Lite-On, Magnum Semiconductor, Meiloon, OMRON, Quanta Microsystems, S1Digital, Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices, Skyworth, Syntax-Brillian, TCL, ViewSonic, Z-Com, Zinwell (News - Alert), and Zoran.

 

These and other companies have developed UWB solutions designed to accelerate adoption of in-the-home, high-definition video applications.

 

"The availability of ultra wideband-based solutions for connecting consumer electronics throughout a home is a critical step in the current evolution of networking and entertainment,” Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin said in a statement.

 

Bajarin continued: “This high-bandwidth connectivity will allow consumers to take multimedia content, including the growing volume of high-definition video, conveniently anywhere in the home without the need for new wiring.”

Tzero describes itself as “the leading supplier of UWB solutions including those for high-definition video applications.” The company has developed a platform that allows various A/V components—HDTVs, set-top boxes, digital video recorders, media center PCs, residential gateways, etc.—to be connected to one another in a home network.

 

The platform developed by Tzero is based on WiMedia Alliance standards, guaranteeing its interoperability with WiMedia-compliant devices.

 

“We’re eliminating the hassles and the wires associated with connecting audio/video products thanks to our UWB technology,” said Tzero president and CEO Mike Gulett, in a statement. “It’s capable of delivering multiple high-definition video streams around the home easily.”

 

Gulett added: “By building this into their products, our customers are helping consumers achieve their vision of a truly wireless digital living room.”

UWB Forum on its Web site describes ultra wideband as a wireless technology “scalable in performance from 100Mbps to over 2Gbps,” and therefore capable of delivering high-bandwidth content quickly and efficiently.

 

Other types of wireless systems use narrowband modulated carrier waves to transmit information, UWB further explains on its site, but ultra wideband transmits signal using a wide swath of radio spectrum, via a series of narrow, low-power pulses.

 

Because of its nature technically, UWB causes much less interference than narrowband solutions. Partially for this reason, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in 2002 approved the technology for commercial use in 2002.

 

A key competitor, as it were, of UWB is Certified Wireless USB, a technology managed by USB Implements Forum, Inc. Yet, although both technologies address a similar need—reliable wireless delivery for high-bandwidth applications—they actually may be more complimentary than competitive.

 

That’s what ABI analyst Stuart Carlaw found in a report this past summer, in which he predicted that UWB will be most important to the cellular handset market, while Certified Wireless USB will of most interest to the PC peripherals market.

 

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Mae Kowalke previously wrote for Cleveland Magazine in Ohio and The Burlington Free Press in Vermont. To see more of her articles, please visit Mae Kowalke’s columnist page. Also check out her Wireless Mobility blog.