FCC CERTIFIES FREESCALE UWB CHIP IN BIG WIN FOR TECHNOLOGY
In what’s being promoted as a “historic first” the FCC has certified Freescale’s XS110 chipset, which uses the company’s version of ultra-wideband technology, Freescale planned to announce today (Mon.). The development means limited products using the chips could be shipped in the next 6 months, sources said.
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The FCC certification is the 2nd major victory in a month for Freescale, recently spun off by Motorola. In July the 802.15.3a task group voted to make Freescale’s DS-UWB technology the straw man technology before the group, edging out the Intel-Texas Instrument-led MBOA (CD July 22 p1). The task force has a critical meeting in Sept. in Berlin when it will again consider the standard.
“This FCC certification represents a tremendous milestone for both Freescale and the ultra-wideband industry,” said Martin Rofheart, dir.-UWB operations for Freescale. “Just 2 years ago the FCC made an historic ruling by approving the use of Ultra-Wideband for commercial applications. Working closely with the FCC on these rules, we felt confident that our direct sequence UWB approach would comply and enable co-existence with existing wireless technologies.”
“We have finally got the device certified under the rules,” said an official representing Freescale. “In the debate [over] which standard to apply we've always said that the MBOA frequency-hopping modulation doesn’t comply with the FCC standards. This certification is now definitive proof the Freescale modulation does comply.”
The co-founder of a UWB company that could use either the Freescale or the MBOE technology said the certification is a big development for the nascent UWB industry. The executive said the development could affect the vote at the upcoming IEEE meeting. The group deadlocked 74-73 in July in favor of the Freescale technology. Under the IEEE’s complicated rules selection as a standard requires a 75% supermajority of delegates. The source said many delegates cited the Freescale chipset’s lack of FCC certification as a main reason for voting against it.
“This removes one of the main arguments that MBOE had against Freescale,” the source said. “What this means is that for the first time ever there is a chip available that is certified by the FCC to go into a commercial product. We should expect we'll start to see product announcements that companies will be putting these chips in commercial products.”
Rofheart said: “Now that Freescale’s UWB solution has been authorized for use in the United States, we are focusing on commercial shipments to our consumer electronics customers to enable their consumer products to reach the market as early as the holiday season.”
Eric Brookman, CEO of Aleron, a leading member of the MBOE forum, told us MBOE will continue to fight to be certified as the standard for UWB, with a chipset of its own likely completing FCC certification in early 2005. “My belief is that in Berlin there will still be a deadlock,” he said. “It would be a misrepresentation to say the [pro- Freescale] votes were indicative of the entire industry. There were a lot of Freescale employees along with Freescale [retained] consultants… The IEEE process lends itself to there being stalemated for a long time.”
Brookman said the MBOE coalition is much broader, representing many more companies, and the technology will more easily be adapted for use in nations other than the U.S. Brookman also said initially the Freescale chips will be made available only in high-end products, such as an $8,000 plasma-screen TV connected to a DVD player. He said the MBOE chips will see more use on a mass scale.