Still more sad news to pass on from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society… I am very sorry to tell you that we have lost another great person in the IEEE AP-S family. On December 1st, Dr. Carl Baum passed away. The doctors believe that a blood clot started in […]
UWB
45 posts
Passing on some sad news from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society… Dr. Robert E. Collin passed away Monday night after a short fight with lung cancer. The funeral service will be at the DiCicco Funeral Home, 5975 Mayfield Road, Mayfield Heights, OH 44124, (440) 449-1818. Visitation 5-7pm, service at […]
Here are a few RTLS and wireless updates: UWB RTLS vendor Ubisense raised £5M to fund expansion. And 50 Ubisense tags are available on eBay with a starting bid of $9.99. Another UWB RTLS vendor, decaWave, was honored for “best technology development” at a tradeshow. It’s Nearly Time for Near-Field […]
Steven J. Crowley once again has an update on Experimental License Applications before the FCC. A couple of highlights include: “Zimmerman Associates filed an application (with supporting exhibits) for special temporary authority to test the capability of using a full polarimetric UWB radar system for identifying roadside bombs and improvised […]
Ultra-wideband (UWB) data products are coming to market at last. Last month, Alereon (Facebook, Twitter) announced that their UWB “NoWire(TM)” technology will be used in Imation’s Wireless Video/Audio Extender providing an up to 220Mbps link. Here’s a review. Alereon chips will also power Toshiba’s Wireless Dynadock W20. Now, Alereon’s competitors […]
A few updates: The FCC has granted Garmin’s request for an extension of the waiver allowing transmission of digital GPS coordinate data on GMRS. Hat Tip: Steven J. Crowley Trimble acquired RFID vendor ThingMagic. Hat Tip: VeryFields RFID GS1 Hong Kong announced the winners of the Hong Kong RFID Awards […]
Spread-spectrum and ultra-wideband (UWB) technology arose during the Second World War. Actress Hedy Kiesler Markey (better known by her screen name, Hedy Lamarr) and George Antheil invented a frequency-hopping secret communication system. [1] The Figure below shows their frequency hopping transmitter. A record tape encodes a unique coding pattern to […]
Mitchell Lazarus over at CommsLaw Blog notes that although the FCC’s final UWB authorization is set to take effect November 12, determined opponents may yet ask the FCC to reconsider. If (as seems likely) the FCC rejects their petition, opponents may pursue an appeal through the courts. Here’s a lengthy […]
It was a busy week to have been out on vacation. Here are some RTLS and Location-Based Services links to help get caught up: My employer, NFER® RTLS vendor Q-Track, unveiled an updated website, took second place in the Global Security Challenge, West Coast Final, and was featured in RFID […]
Here are some updates: Not only does Steve Crowley have his monthly review of experimental license applications at the FCC, he also draws attention to a review of the proportion of lawyers, economists, and engineers at the FCC compared to other country’s telecommunications regulatory bodies. MP Antenna partners with TESSCO […]
In 1898, Sir Oliver Lodge (1851-1940) patented the first syntonic or tuned radio system. Ironically, the very patent that inaugurated this fundamental concept of narrow-band, frequency-domain radio also disclosed some of the first ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas: As charged surfaces or capacity areas, spheres or square plates or any other metal […]
This piece from Popular Mechanics on the evolution and development of the Leatherman Tool inspired me to draft this post about the evolution of one of my UWB antenna designs from conception, through prototyping, and finally to production. This paper describes the end result, and the design is covered in […]
A few quick updates, while I recover from Wireless Wednesday on Twitter: New Scientist explains the history of complex numbers in a fascinating piece, “Putting the ‘i’ in iPods.” But since the iPod is more an accomplishment of engineering instead of physics, shouldn’t it be called the” jPod?” To learn […]
On August 11, 2010, a major wireless milestone passed largely unnoticed: the end of a tumultuous twelve year regulatory process to authorize ultra-wideband (or “UWB”) wireless systems. The FCC ordered ET Docket No. 98-153 “TERMINATED.” By dismissing the last outstanding Petitions for Reconsideration, the FCC has finally and firmly secured […]
Apple has been justly criticized for not responding promptly to the iPhone’s antenna problems, and for problems in the way they handled the crisis. But with so many piling on Apple for their iPhone antenna problems, I’d like to reiterate and expand on what I said Monday: The antenna design […]
Zebra Enterprise Solutions announced last week that they will be releasing the DART Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) this Fall. Zebra acquired UWB pioneer MSSI in 2008.
One of the pioneers in ultra-wideband (UWB) real-time location systems (RTLS) is Æther Wire and Location, Inc. In the Æther Wire approach, an antenna differentiates current pulses so as to yield equal and opposite impulses time-spaced according to the duration of the current impulse. This produces a time varying series […]
In his guest post last week, The Rise and Fall of UWB, Kai Siwiak traced the history of wireless – from the original wideband spark transmissions, to narrowband carrier signals with compact modulations, coming full circle back to spread spectrum and ultra-wideband signals. This history is correct in its description […]
Updating last week’s post on the Rise and Fall of UWB, the Huntsville Times reports that Time Domain’s new president, Adrian Jennings, is upbeat about the future. Update: a slightly reworked version is here.
[iframe: src=”http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=uwbantennacom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=0470859318″ frameborder=”0″ width=”120px” height=”240px” scrolling=”no”] AetherCzar is grateful to Dr. Kai Siwiak for his comment provoking guest post on ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. In thanks for his contribution, we’d like to draw our readers’ attention to Kai’s excellent introductory UWB technology text (by way of a review originally posted at […]
Guest Post by Kai Siwiak, TimeDerivative, Inc. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes are from: K. Siwiak and D. McKeown, UWB Radio Technology, (Wiley, 2004) We pause to reflect on the rise and fall of ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, and especially on the recent reorganization of Time Domain Corporation, a UWB pioneer […]