My missives have been pounding away at the idea of a connectionless world that surpasses the capabilities of bluetooth. Not a little bit but by magnitude leaps in bandwidth for short distances. Not only that but the ability to do ad hoc networking between device by mere proximity to each other. Well its no longer a Arthur C. Clarke dream. Its here –

National Taiwan University announced their latest invention System on a Chip (SOC) yesterday, the smallest such product at the lowest cost and consuming the least electricity. The NTU research team claims that the transmission speed of the chip is 100 times as fast as WiFi and 350 times as fast as a 3.5G cell phone. Lee indicated that the chip size has been reduced to 0.5 millimeter, one-tenth of that of existing chips, and the cost is less than one-tenth of the traditional communication module and could be further lowered to only US$1. The SOC successfully combines RF Front-End Circuits and an antenna array to reach the highest transmission speed.

A tad more power and an matching antenna design to marry to the system would extend the range. But if you really wanted to boost the range why not develop an external adapter? Pair it to the antenna, provide external power and connect it with fiber. Now we’re line of sight capable to a backhaul node. Use the inchip system strictly for your 20′ needs.

Linky.

As reported here earlier, the future of very short range communication may very well be UWB. When cheaper chip sets are embedded into consumer devices, we may very well see an and to interconnecting wires in many applications. New speeds claimed by Pulse link may very well obsolete the HDMI cable in HDTV apps. As an interesting side note, there is no DRM in the UWB spec.

Pulse~LINK, one of the many entrants in the wireless HD technology race, has announced a new, ultra-wideband-based chipset that it claims can outdo the competition. According to an independent performance comparison (PDF) conducted by the EE Times and released by Pulse~LINK, the company’s UWB implementation, called CWave, delivers sustained close-range performance that’s more than 20x higher than its next-closest competitor. Specifically, Pulse~LINK promises between 480Mbps and 890Mbps, depending on transmission range. (from ARS Technica)

How does this improve access from the Third Pipe view point? Advances like this tend to migrate to other technologies, and technologies tend to migrate into unintended applications. How about 890MBPS hot spots at your local burger place or coffee stop?

ThirdPipe reports to keep you ahead of new technology. There are wireless efforts beyond just WiFi and WiMax. Intel for example is working with a team to develop a specification for Wireless USB (WUSB). An overall topology for such a development –

If Intel and the rest of the working group are able to get this technology into chip form our usual tangle of wires that clutter our lives will disappear. Stereo equipment that is ‘wired’ using electronic keys rather than cable. Routers whose command and control functions eat up wiring will instead be connected wireless. Auto makers should all over this — the ability to eliminate wiring harnesses would be a boon. Even toys would find a use for this technology.

Would one consider this a replacement for WiFi? Probably not. Its expected distance will be too short to take over that space. Think of this as more of a high bandwidth replacement for bluetooth with all the advantages of USB protocols.

Link to Intel White Paper on WUSB.