West technology Research Solutions LLC, a market research firm focusing solely on emerging technologies, announced the availability of the new edition of its ultra-wideband market report that includes an in-depth analysis of the two groups vying for the IEEE UWB specification. “Our analysis demonstrates that the Multiband OFDM Alliance will likely win the standards race in the IEEE 802.15.3a working group because its main proponents have long planned for future integration of UWB into cognitive radio architectures also preferred today by the FCC,” said Kirsten West, one of the principals of WTRS. “The opposing group favoring direct-sequencing UWB (DS-CDMA), led by Motorola, chose the short time-to-market solution that will enable them to gain market share early in consumer electronics applications, which explains the strong support from Japanese companies. The DS-CDMA architecture in combination with a silicon/germanium substrate is not today capable of integrating multiple radio front ends. Not only is the multiband OFDM technology capable of this, it can also support the development of a multi-protocol baseband architecture to support the utilization of cognitive radio methodologies.”
West maintains that in spite of these issues, market adoption of UWB will proceed as previously forecast. WTRS estimates that, given a four percent global GDP growth rate, annual shipments for ultra-wideband chipsets into the communications segment alone will exceed 63 million units by 2007. This newly expanded edition of the ultra-wideband market report and analysis adds strategic analysis. The report also details sales volume, unit shipments and average selling price by vertical market segment as well as geography, segmented into three global GDP growth scenarios. Additionally, the report analyses macroelectronic factors that include the current economic climate as it relates to UWB, regulatory influences and an analysis of companies selling UWB-compliant products. It provides a comprehensive OEM analysis and corporate profile information on some of the companies currently developing UWB products and components.