Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Ultrawideband's Standards Battle

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 13:54:33 -0500

Ultrawideband's Standards Battle 

A struggle between two schemes has
mired the IEEE's efforts to move the
broadband wireless technology forward,
and further delays could slow consumer
product debuts. 
 
By Karen Brown
November 1, 2003

For a technology that proposes lightning-speed wireless connections,
ultrawideband doesn't appear to be going anywhere fast.

Following the FCC's approval in February of UWB for certain commercial
uses, the technology's progress toward standardization has slowed to a
crawl–caught in a struggle between two schemes. 

At a meeting later this month, the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers standards body will take a second stab at deciding
whether a scheme proposed by the Multiband OFDM Alliance, including
Intel Corp. and Texas Instrument Inc., or a direct sequence CDMA scheme,
backed by Motorola Inc. and XtremeSpectrum, should become the basis for
the 802.15.3a UWB standard. With political maneuvering allegations
flying from both sides, few are counting on a quick resolution, and that
could further delay UWB's consumer product entry.

The stakes are equal to the technology's promise. Able to transmit 100
megabits within 10 meters at power levels as low as a half milliwatt,
the technology is a dead-on fit for data transfers between wireless
handheld devices and home entertainment systems.

But the difference between the two UWB schemes is like the difference
between a rifle and a shotgun. Direct sequence CDMA spreads the data
transmission throughout the 3.1 to 10.6 gigahertz UWB spectrum approved
by the FCC, while multiband orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing
cuts the band into distinct 528 megahertz channels and beams data on
individual bands, with the ability to switch between the bands to avoid
interference.

For XtremeSpectrum, wider is better. "By spreading it out over a greater
range of frequencies, it [spread spectrum CDMA] has less of an
interference characteristic in any one particular band," says Chris
Fisher, vice president of marketing.

On the other side, multiband OFDM backers say their advantage is the
system only has to deal with 528 megahertz chunks of bandwidth at any
one time.

"That helps to greatly simplify your radio," says Anuj Batra, a member
of TI's digital signal processing solutions research and development
technical staff. The alliance has taken steps "to simplify the
complexity so that we can actually achieve low-cost solutions in
standard CMOS."

Meanwhile, Fujitsu's decision to side with the Multiband OFDM Alliance
has to do with momentum, according to Aditya Agrawal, Fujitsu
Microelectronics America Inc.'s senior marketing manager for wireless
products.

"We looked at the technologies, and our take was that this was a much
more flexible approach to using the spectrum, and also it has the
broadest support right now," he says.

MANEUVERING

There has been no shortage of political maneuvering between the two
camps. XtremeSpectrum and Motorola filed a request in July asking the
FCC to decide between the two schemes. But the FCC turned down the
request, sending the matter back to the IEEE.

At a July IEEE meeting in San Francisco, a vote to ratify the OFDM
scheme as the standard only managed a 60 percent approval, well short of
the required 75 percent. Two months later at a meeting in Singapore, a
follow-up vote again turned up about 60 percent support. Under IEEE
rules, the two failed votes meant the floor had to be opened up to
evaluate both schemes.

But that didn't happen in Singapore, mostly because of procedural
questions raised by XtremeSpectrum, according to Steve Turner, TI's UWB
business development manager.

"It was a filibuster, and really nothing could advance in the process as
long as that filibuster was going on," he says. 

In contrast, XtremeSpectrum argues that the Multiband OFDM Alliance
companies have been the ones drawing out the process.

"Much of the activity in the IEEE–and I know this is going to sound
biased–is quite honestly an attempt by the larger companies to slow us
down," Fisher argues. "So the debate is no longer about really which
technology is better or which offers better performance; it's more about
a small company and a small group of other companies that have a
distinct time-to-market advantage over major players."

The stakes are especially high for XtremeSpectrum–if the IEEE doesn't
choose direct sequence CDMA as the standard, the company's existing
product line and future prospects face a difficult market road.

"At the end of the day, what's really most important is what the
marketplace adopts," Fisher says. "Are we going to stop what we are
doing? The answer is no, we won't, because we have a pretty strong base
of customer support right now."

Similarly, TI has plans to move forward with its UWB products regardless
of the standards outcome. "Our goal, of course, is to be out there with
standards-compliant product, but we are not going to let politics and
the IEEE really damage what is really a promising, developing market,"
Turner says.

DUAL STANDARD?

Given the two sides will find it hard to gain enough votes to win the
war, there has been some talk of creating a dual standard, with options
for direct sequence CDMA and multiband OFDM.

"It gets us out of a stalemate and allows us to go compete based on a
different set of characteristics," Fisher says.

But Turner argues that two standards versions will only lead to consumer
confusion.

"You can't have a consumer go into a Circuit City and try to figure out
if the TV he just bought is going to work with the DVD record he has
just bought–or worse yet, taking it home having been told they will
interoperate and then find out that they don't," he says.

Meanwhile, XtremeSpectrum has upped the ante, challenging the Multiband
OFDM Alliance to a "bakeoff" test pitting both schemes in a performance
test.

"We are trying to do this between now and the next IEEE," Fisher says.
"It is doable. We are having dialog right now. We have extended the
invitation to the multiband community to participate in this."

But TI is somewhat dubious given the complexity of such a test is no
small matter.

"What we need to do is figure out the right way to do this, and the most
efficient way to do this, and that is exactly the activity that is going
on right now," Turner says.

With the struggle continuing, there is considerable doubt the
Albuquerque, N.M., meeting Nov. 10-14 will result in a UWB standards
decision. Whether the infighting will delay UWB and close its market
opportunity window also is up in the air.

"There is a need for this technology out there, and if people keep that
in mind, it gives them a motivation to move through this," Turner says.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA333047&spacedesc=Departments&stt=000

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