Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and the Galaxy S21 Plus and S21 Ultra both have ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, which isn’t as well known as it should be. As the first phones to use the wireless communication standard, the new phones join Apple’s iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 series as the first group of phones to use the technology.
Wireless standards like NFC and Bluetooth Low Energy have been around for a long time, but UWB is a new technology that is competing with them. It’s not the same as Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G service, which has the same name. UWB claims to be able to do the same things as existing standards, but it has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Now that the feature is on its way to becoming more widely supported, it’s good to have an understanding of it and how it works.
How does UWB work?
There are a lot of differences between how UWB works and how other types of wireless data transfers work. It is a radio-based technology based on pulse patterns that transmit data in the time domain and operate in the frequency range of 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. Data is encoded using sinewave modulation rather than basic pulses in conventional wireless transfers.
People call the pulse method “ultra-wideband” because it needs a lot of space to work well. As a comparison, 4G LTE has a 5 to 20MHz band, and WiFi has bands of up to 80MHz. Because pulsed data has a wide range, it can be sent very quickly and not lose its accuracy. 4Mbps to 675Mbps or more, depending on the frequency. UWB can reach these speeds, and more, depending on how often it is used. WiFi-6 can reach speeds of 2Gbps, which is far faster than NFC and Bluetooth’s standard 2.1Mbps speeds. This is far faster than NFC’s 424Kbps and Bluetooth’s standard 2.1Mbps speeds.
People usually don’t use a lot of wireless technology at the same time, so they don’t interfere with each other. In this case, UWB doesn’t have this problem because it runs at very low power levels that are close to the noise level of other wireless applications. This means that the spectrum is so big that it’s easy to see but at a low enough level that it doesn’t interfere with other signals.
It is also feasible to calculate time-of-flight information from the received data using pulse-based transfer. Using the time and speed of data transfer, you can calculate the distance between the transmitter and receiver using simple math. Even though getting more precise 2D or 3D location data is a lot more complicated. UWB has a measuring precision of 10cm or less, compared to Bluetooth or WiFi’s one-meter accuracy (Bluetooth 5.1 can be as accurate as UWB in some instances).
Ultra-wideband is said to be a good idea for wireless car entry and front-door technologies because it has a good sense of where things are. Other things you can do with it are look for lost phones, NFC-style tags that can be used for indoor navigation and mobile payments, and interact with connected objects in a store or your smart home.
Apple’s Airdrop and some Samsung Galaxy phones already use the technology to send large files over the air. Samsung is working on a “digital key” that will open your front door and unlock your automobile when you get close enough. Audi, BMW, Ford, and Hyundai’s Genesis Motor are among the companies that Samsung has announced digital key collaborations with. UWB is gaining popularity among chipmakers, gadget designers, and standards bodies. We can only hope that this doesn’t lead to a market that is too fragmented.
UWB vs. NFC and Bluetooth: Which is better for you?
You may recognise some of these ultra-wideband use cases because they can already be implemented using NFC and Bluetooth. So, why do we need yet another wireless standard to use?
When Bluetooth is used indoors, it works in the 2.4GHz band, which gives it a good range. Some WiFi transmissions may conflict with this, as it’s in the same frequency band. UWB has a wide range of frequencies, which makes it less likely to be interfered with. This is why it was used in industrial applications early on. As a side note, Bluetooth’s range is not as long as that of this app. On the other hand, NFC runs at 13.56MHz and has a range of just 4 cm. So, UWB has a longer range than NFC.
NFC and Bluetooth are both cheap to use, especially for low-power beacons or passive-powered NFC tags. This is a good thing for the old technology. UWB is more expensive, as it necessitates external power. Because of this, NFC is here to stay for contactless payments. Bluetooth can do a few things that UWB can’t, because it has a lot of support for older devices, audio, and a longer range. For now, these two solutions will likely be the most popular choices for existing use scenarios.
Using UWB makes sense when you need high-speed data transmissions, rapid position recognition with high accuracy, and/or minimal interference. This makes the technology the best choice for situations that need more security, like wireless vehicle access. Because ultra-wideband has its own advantages and disadvantages, it cannot be considered a direct replacement for any of the existing wireless technologies.
Smartphones with UWB capability
Ultra-wideband technology has been around for a while, but it’s only recently been used in phones. It’s for the most expensive phones on the market right now. You can see a list of phones (Apple and Samsung) that are compatible with the system below.
- iPhone 11, Pro, and Pro Max
- iPhone 12, Pro, and Pro Max
- Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- Galaxy S21 Plus and S21 Ultra
UWB is only as good as its devices. It will be a long time before it’s common and widely used. It’s likely that phones made by other companies (not mentioned above) will have this feature in their future flagship models. Mid-tier and cheaper phones are still a few years away, though.
