Bluetooth technology backers are seeking common ground with the emerging Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless standard in an attempt to boost the capabilities of short-range connectivity through super high-speed networks.

The Bluetooth special interest group (SIG) and the UWB Forum today announced a collaboration to create interoperability between the two technologies and to develop products built to the Bluetooth SIG specification.

Wireless Compatibility Issues

"The ultimate goal is to reduce fragmentation in the industry and eliminate confusion among consumers regarding Bluetooth and UWB," said Anders Edlund, marketing director for the Bluetooth SIG.

He pointed out that some of the group's 3,000 members also belong to the UWB Forum and WiMedia Alliance, which offers competing personal-area-network standards.

UWB is touted as a wireless technology for the enterprise, delivering high-speed wireless connections at short distances. Still in the nascent stage, it is used for running multiple high-definition video streams among several devices, or to wirelessly display multimedia content.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is still evaluating both the WiMedia and UWB Forum offerings as it develops the working IEEE 802.15.3a specification.

Win-Win Scenario

While Bluetooth, commonly used to link mobile phones and other portable devices to headsets at short range, transmits data at speeds of up to 1 Mbps, UWB reaches speeds of 100 Mbps.

Edlund said the plan is to create a software conversion layer that runs on top of UWB networks, providing a win-win scenario for the two technologies. He acknowledged that such interoperability faces some challenges.

Problems associated with combining the two distinct radio technologies can be solved by putting Bluetooth profiles on UWB, he said, making backward compatibility possible for some 500 million Bluetooth-enabled devices on the market.

Regulatory Hurdles

Another concern is regulatory issues, Edlund said, since at this point UWB has been approved only in the United States.

"UWB is still quite new, and there are no broad-based commercial applications," he said.

As mobile devices grow more powerful, higher data rates are required to deliver on expectations for performance. Seamless interoperability is one of the primary goals of the wireless industry.

The Bluetooth SIG expects that with UWB compatibility, bandwidth will increase to the point where multimedia downloads and other massive data files can be easily handled without cables.