ITU approves UWB standard

The International Telecommunications Union's Study Group 1 has approved a series of draft recommendations from an October spectrum-management meeting that gives ultrawideband (UWB) radio the status of a Global Regulatory Standard.

ITU's approval comes in stark contrast to the IEEE's 802 group decision last month to give up on a UWB standard, with no agreement in sight between two modulation camps.

Member states have a wide latitude for the implementation of the spectral power density, power budgets and other features. The ITU recommendations, which were approved Feb. 22, include guidelines on calculating energy margin loss in shared frequency bands, new definitions of spectra and bandwidth of emissions, limits for free-space unwanted emissions, frequency-independent methods of measuring radio noise, UWB transmission measurement, key characteristics of UWB, impact of UWB devices on other RF systems, and a framework for the introduction of UWB systems.

G. Smith Anderson, chairman and chief executive of Uraxs Communications Inc., said that the most utilitarian aspect of the standard, as well as the weightiest, is an 800-page section describing impact of UWB on existing RF systems. The standards are useful both for giving precise definitions of monitoring techniques, and for providing guidelines on implementing practical systems, Anderson said.

- Loring Wirbel
EE Times