UWB technology features mix of 2D and 3D precise positioning with low power consumption

NXP Semiconductors N.V. announced at its annual developer conference in the Silicon Valley its development of UWB technology designed for a broad range of markets, including mobile, automotive, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and industrial. NXP’s new UWB technology brings secure ranging and precision sensing creating a new dimension of spatial context for wireless devices. This strategic announcement sets the stage for UWB-enabled use cases likely to emerge in the market as soon as 2020.

This new generation of UWB is a major evolutionary step from the existing wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Its ability to process contextual information such as the position of the UWB anchor, its movements, and distance to other devices with an unprecedented precision of a few centimeters, enables decision making and management of these devices to take place with high granularity.

NXP UWB enables accurate localization capabilities. Doors and points of entry will open once approaching them. Lights, audio speakers and any other connected devices with sensors will be able to follow consumers from one room to another, and smart connected technology will blend in more intuitively in people’s lives.

NXP UWB benefits:

• UWB higher bandwidth channel provides greater instantaneous precision than existing wireless technologies in challenging environments, leading to an accuracy of a few centimeters.
• UWB enables latency sensitive applications, such as access, gaming, and AR, by an efficient Time-of-Flight calculation.
• UWB adds a new level of security to car key fobs and can prevent relay attacks by distinguishing the authentic signal from the relayed/spoofed signal.

NXP’s UWB technology builds on an emerging connectivity portfolio with a leading position in NFC and recent announcements in 5G RF Power and intent to acquire Marvell’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth assets.

NXP is sampling solutions to its early access partners and will be demonstrating UWB capabilities at NXP Connects.