You may not have noticed, but there’s a new chip that’s been quietly included in new mobile devices over the last year or so. And there are more devices that will have it, including ones for the smart home. It’s called an Ultra Wideband, or UWB, chip and it’s about to kick off new useful features for the internet of things.
What is UltraWideband, or UWB, technology?
To understand what I mean by that, you first have to know what UWB is, and what devices do or will use it.
UWB, as its name implies, can send or receive a relatively large amount of data, but only over short distances. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi, for example, which uses 2.5 and 5 GHz radio waves, UWB transmissions occur way up in the 60 GHz frequency band. So a lot of information can be packed into those radio waves. Unfortunately, those waves aren’t good over distance nor can they easily penetrate through multiple obstacles such as walls and other objects.
That sounds kind of limiting, and it is. However, UWB offers two key benefits over current wireless technologies: It uses less power than most radios, such as Wi-Fi, and it can be used to measure “time of flight”. This means UWB can be used for very accurate distance, direction, and location measurements within its range. Think of it as a very localized form of radar. And that’s where the IoT comes into play.
There are UWB devices now and more are on the way
Before I get into that though, I want to point out those devices that integrated UWB chips of late.
Apple’s entire iPhone 11 product line from a year ago all include a UWB chip. Apple says this chip is “for spatial awareness” and it implemented this with what it calls the U1 chip. I fully expect the iPhone 12 lineup to keep the U1 chip, or get an upgraded one when the handsets are announced next week at a scheduled press event.
One of Samsung’s newest phones, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, also has UWB capabilities. And to an extent, Google’s Pixel 4 phones used UWB technology as part of its Project Soli effort: That’s how the Motion Sense gestures on those handsets are recognized.
So there are devices with UWB available today. And there are more coming. Aside from the iPhone 12, it’s widely expected that a new Nest Thermostat model from Google will use UWB: An FCC filing found by Engadget last month clearly shows the testing of a 60 GHz chip for the device. And we’ve heard rumor after rumor about Apple’s yet-unannounced AirTags product, which sounds similar to small Bluetooth-based tracking tags that have been around for several years.
What can UWB bring to the smart home and the IoT?
If you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ll already know why UWB is a better option for tracking tags. Bluetooth implementations for these products certainly work, but they’re currently limited to providing you a distance range between your phone and a tracking tag. By using UWB in tracking tags, you can get not only that distance but also a more precise location and direction.
Take the example of misplacing your car keys with a tracking tag under a couch. Bluetooth may get you to the general area of the couch, but UWB can essentially tell you to look beneath the couch.
That’s one scenario that will likely be common as tracking tags with UWB capabilities hit the market. But when you expand to the smart home, you start seeing the broader possibilities that will help deliver a smarter home.
Google’s expected thermostat with a UWB chip could potentially sense, not just if someone is home but who is at home. And that could lead to more customized heating and cooling profiles, simply by having a UWB-enabled phone. Google could even add gestures for HVAC control on the thermostat.
Speaking of gestures, future televisions could use UWB technology to recognize them, rendering voice controls as a secondary input and relegating physical remotes to the recycle bin. Smart bulbs or lamps could use UWB radios to detect when you’ve sat in your favorite reading chair in a dim room or after sunset, automatically turning on that reading light for you.
You might walk out the garage to your car and have it unlock simply based on the presence of that UWB chip in your phone. Oh wait, that’s not a “might” but a “will”: Apple’s CarKey feature uses NFC technology in older phones, but the company says it will use UWB in new vehicles next year.
Simply put, UWB brings us closer to that idea of personal presence in IoT and a “smarter” smart home that I’ve longed for. If these chips continue to find homes in new devices, UWB will kick off a revolution of presence that the IoT has sorely lacked and still needs. So while UWB started to go mainstream to a degree in 2019, it’s only in the coming months that we’re really going to see the benefits. I can’t wait.