Wireless USB could be the future of device communication

Wireless USB, or WUSB, is a new technology that enables the speed and security of wired technology with the ease of wireless technology. Just as Wi-Fi was designed to replace the Ethernet cable, WUSB is intended to replace current USB cable technology. Eventually, you will find wireless USB implemented in game controllers, cameras, hard drives, flash drives, printers, scanners, MP3 players, and even mobile phones. WUSB technology will work over UWB or Ultra Wide Band. UWB is a wireless communication technology that enables the transmission of large amounts of digital data in a wide spectrum of frequency bands with very low power consumption. This allows wireless technology to break free from the restrictions associated with line-of-sight wireless connections. This means that the intervening objects will not adversely affect the wireless connection as much as it currently does in some technologies such as Bluetooth. Unlike Bluetooth technology, WUSB will not require the consumer to struggle with a pairing process and is considered more secure. It has also been shown to be faster than Bluetooth. Wireless USB throughput targets 480 Mbps at 3 meters and 110 Mbps at 10 meters. It is designed to operate in the 3.1 to 10.6 GHz frequency range, although local regulations may limit this operating range for a given country or region.

Belkin has developed a WUSB combo that requires a USB antenna to be connected to your PC and a separate wireless USB hub that has 4 normal wired USB ports. This allows the Wireless USB-enabled PC to connect and communicate with whatever device is connected to it. In early 2011, we will begin to see laptops with built-in wireless USB antennas for use with wireless USB devices. Lenovo has announced the production of one of those units.

WUSB is a fairly mature technology whose initial development began in 2004. At that time, the Wireless USB Promoter Group was formed to define the specifications involved in Wireless USB. This group consisted of organizations such as Microsoft, HP, Intel, NEC Corp., Philips, Agere Systems, and Samsung. The specification process was completed in May 2005, with initial test models produced in June 2006. With the first models available for FCC testing, in October 2006 we approved the first host cable adapter and host cable adapter. complete device. Surprisingly, IOGear launched the first retail product in mid-2007.

A powerful feature designed in the WUSB architecture is the ability to connect a maximum of 127 devices directly to a host. WUSB also supports dual-role devices, or the ability of a device when connected to a PC to act as a device, and at other times, when connected to another device, it acts as a limited capacity host. An example of this would be a camera when it is connected to a PC as a device and yet when it is directly connected to a printer as a limited host. It is expected that within the year we will start to see a large number of wireless USB devices on the market for consumers. This is exciting technology designed to help consumers become truly mobile, and I, for one, am tired of cables.