New high speed versions of the Bluetooth short-range wireless comms technology standard will look increasingly like an alternative wireless standard that is WiMedia ultra wideband (UWB).

The alignment of low data rate Bluetooth technology with UWB technology which supports 480Mbit/s data rates began last year when the Bluetooth industry realised they needed to dramatically up the data speed.

UWB based on the WiMedia industry standard was the only game in town and now there seems to be an unstoppable momentum behind plans to combine the two standards.     

“The WiMedia ultra wideband (UWB) wireless comms technology will form the basis for a future version of the Bluetooth specification that is set to offer ultra-fast data transfer rates of up to 480Mbit/s,” said Eric Janson, senior v-p sales and marketing for CSR, the market leading Bluetooth silicon supplier.

Last year, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which represents the interest of suppliers and users, started working with its counterparts in the UWB community. At that time there were technology and spectrum issues to be sorted out for UWB.

Many of these have been resolved in Bluetooth’s favour with the widespread acceptation of the WiMedia version of UWB. The Bluetooth SIG has now formally selected WiMedia's MB-OFDM-based platform for high-speed Bluetooth applications.

"The aims of the WiMedia Alliance of creating a fully interoperable, standardised UWB technology align perfectly with the challenges that Bluetooth has successfully overcome,” said Janson.

CSR has made no secret of its desire to see a common standard and already has development teams working on its first WiMedia UWB/Bluetooth products. These should probably hit the market next year, but no one would be surprised if CSR made a quicker move. It is determined to maintain its leadership role in the Bluetooth market and it is convinced a merging with the higher speed UWB technology is key to the future.   

CSR has put its full weight behind WiMedia UWB and the creation of a common radio standard which will take Bluetooth forward as a high speed wireless interface technology for PCs and mobile phones. Significantly, the Cambridge-based firm has joined the WiMedia Alliance Advisory Board where it will play a role in the shaping of the common Bluetooth/UWB standard.