Although Bluetooth wireless connectivity is still in its infancy, a technology that some regard as a potential successor will come into view shortly at the first international conference dedicated to UWB radio technology.

UWB, or Ultra Wideband, is touted by proponents as a way to offer very fast data transfers without a physical connection. It will be the subject of UWB 2003, a one-day event to be held on 13 March, following the WLAN Congress in Amsterdam.

Advocates say UWB can operate at speeds up to 1Gbit/s at low power levels, leading to speculation that it could overtake Bluetooth by becoming a link for high-speed video, Internet, voice communications and other equipment. UWB also has possibilities for wireless LANs, according to some observers.

At last month's Intel Developer Forum, Intel described its UWB initiative but said that Bluetooth and UWB were not necessarily competing with each other, pointing out that Bluetooth has a complete software infrastructure. However, the chip manufacturer conceded that the technologies overlap for personal-area networking.

Intel mobile evangelist Simon Ellis said Bluetooth components will soon cost under $5 for system makers. "We're getting to the second part of the progression - the volume ramp," Ellis noted. He added that Intel was working to put Bluetooth on motherboards in future low-power, 802.11 wireless LAN-enabled Centrino notebook PCs, although this will not appear in the first models that ship on 12 March.

Ben Manny, leader of Intel's UWB initiative, said, "I don't know if [UWB and Bluetooth] are complementary. They build on each other but there's a different radio. The concept of UWB is a unique opportunity but we now have to address issues of backwards-compatibility. It's going to be very difficult to get all of these companies in the industry to agree [on deployment standards]."

Intel does not expect commercial shipments of UWB personal-area links before 2005 or 2006.

Most experts believe that peaceful co-existence between Bluetooth and UWB is possible. "[UWB hasn't] got very far yet, and what a lot of people miss is that Bluetooth is a very low-power [and low-cost] solution, so phones with infrared ports are gradually moving over to it," commented Tony Dennis, managing editor of online newsletter 3G Insight.

Nick Hunn, managing director of TDK Systems Europe, said, "UWB's place is in wireless video but I'm sceptical. The patents are 10 to 15 years old. If it's such a great idea, why haven't we seen anything yet?"

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