Wireless USB
With more than 2 billion legacy wired USB connections in the world today,
USB is the most successful interface in the personal computing industry. Soon,
these same fast, interoperable connections will become available in the wireless
world, with the introduction of Wireless USB from the USB Implementers
Forum. This new wireless extension of USB ensure consumers have an easy, secure
way to connect their home, office and mobile devices without a cable - without
sacrificing speed.
Background
The Wireless USB application is based on WiMedia's
Ultrawideband common radio platform, enabling PCs, peripherals, consumer electronics and mobile devices
to connect using a common interface at up to 480 Mbps at 3 meters. This technology
was created by the Wireless USB Promoter Group – Agere Systems, Hewlett
Packard, Intel, Microsoft, NEC Electronics, Philips, and Samsung - aided by
over 100 contributing companies. The group is focused on ensuring backward
compatibility, interoperability, security, and maintaining the guiding principles
of ease-of-use and low-cost.
Benefits
Speed
Wireless USB delivers speeds of 480 Mbps at 3 meters (10 feet), and 110 Mbps
at 10 meters (33 feet). At close range, that's the same rate as Hi-Speed USB.
Power Management
Like all USB connections, Wireless USB
is designed to conserve power. Sleep, Listen, Wake and Conserve modes enable
users to use power only when the connection is needed.
Security
Wireless USB provides optimum data security through
built-in protocols and authentication procedures, as well an encryption process
during transmission.
Ease of Use
Like traditional USB, Wireless USB is simple
to install and set up, with the additional ease that comes with a cable-free
environment.
Backward Compatibility
Wireless USB is backward compatible
to wired USB devices.
A Diverse Range of Product Categories
As Wireless USB begins to make inroads into the market segment for wired
USB, manufacturers could ship hundreds of millions of units within a few years.
Eventually, every PC, camera, printer, camcorder, hard drives, flat panel television,
set top boxes, gaming machines, mobile phone and PDA will have a Wireless USB
connection.
New challenges for developers
As most cutting-edge technologies, Wireless USB implies facing challenges
that have never been seen before. Ellisys has developed state of the art protocol
analysis solutions to help developers in their intricate tasks of producing
better devices more efficiently.
The Ellisys WiMedia Explorer 300 Analyzer is
the world's first over-the-air MB-OFDM protocol analyzer for WiMedia Alliance's
Ultrawideband common radio platform and Wireless USB protocol. Its
high-quality Ultrawideband RF front-end records traffic exchanged over the
air between devices so you can display the resulting decoded information in
your choice of several convenient formats.
Ellisys released an article demystifying
this new protocol by comparing it to wired USB. This article helps USB
developers willing to jump to this new cutting edge technology by explaining
its basic concepts.
Find out more about Ellisys Wireless USB analyzers »
Links
USB-IF website
Wireless USB homepage
Wireless USB specification
Wireless
USB DevCon presentations
Intel Wireless USB homepage
Ellisys WiMedia Explorer 300 Analyzer
homepage
Challenges of Migrating to Wireless
USB, Ellisys (article)
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