SPARK Microsystems' UWB Technology Takes Aim at Bluetooth with Big Claims for Efficiency, Throughput
Ultra-wide band transceivers claim to offer a dramatic improvement over Bluetooth in fields including sensor networks and gaming.
Montréal-based SPARK Microsystems believes it has what it takes to topple Bluetooth in the short-range low-power wireless communication ring, boasting of an order-of-magnitude improvement in efficiency, latency, and throughput for its SPARK UWB technology.
Named for the ultra-wide band technology they employ, SPARK Microsystems' SR1000 family - brought to our attention by CNX Software — come with some bold performance claims: a fortyfold boost in energy efficiency, sixtyfold reduction in latency, and tenfold improvement in data throughput compared to the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with which the company hopes to compete.
Translated into measured figures, those claims equate to a 10Mb/s data rate at 1.5nJ/bit — allowing the transceivers to operate at 2mW for 1Mb/s communications and as little as 6μW for 1kb/s. Latency, meanwhile, can be as low as 50μs at the same 1kb/s rate, and built-in time-of-flight (ToF) positioning technology offers a 30cm accuracy at ranges up to 100m (around 11.8in at up to 328ft).
SPARK has been working on its technology for a while, demonstrating four key applications at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last year: A ToF range-finding application; a battery-free energy-harvesting sensor platform; a PC gaming hub which connects audio, mouse, keyboard, and a controller via a single USB port; and a high-quality gaming headset demo, which when compared to state-of-the-art Bluetooth headsets offered a claimed boost in battery life, reduction in latency, and support for uncompressed audio streams.
Documentation for each of its demonstrations can be found alongside datasheets for its 3.1-6GHz and 6-9.25GHz SR1010 and SR1020 transceivers on the company website; interested parties can also request an evaluation kit for either part.